Category: RC NASCAR Cup

After a controversial race last week at Phoenix, Jeff Gordon stretched his fuel mileage and won Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Oh my gosh, it means so much. This is for DUPONT right here. 20 years. That is a long time to be together with a sponsor. For them to commemorate that with this awesome paint scheme, this silver car means so much. I knew we had a great race car going into the race.” Gordon said.

Gordon crossed the finish line 1.028 seconds ahead of Clint Bowyer for his second win of the season.

“Can you believe that? There was one restart where I had Joey (Logano) and maybe Aric (Almirola) and Clint right there surrounding me. That thing is going to work itself out some way through racing. I felt terrible how I went about it, and I still regret the way I went about it. But, I can’t take it back. But what we can do is look forward and race guys as hard and clean as we possibly can.” Gordon said.

Ryan Newman finished third, Kyle Busch fourth and Greg Biffle finished fifth.

The day, the battle, was between 5-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and the new contender, Brad Keselowski.

Johnson was leading the race and the championship until lap 213 during a schedules green flag pit stop. The pit crew left off a rear lug nut and Johnson had to come back in to pit again. Johnson lost a lap and the title started fading at that point. Then on lap 226 Johnson slowed and went to the pits for repairs……the championship was over for Johnson and the No.48 team.

“Pretty heartbreaking. We were doing what we needed to do, certainly in a position to put a lot of pressure on the 2 car. But that’s racing.” Johnson said.

Keselowski finished 15th, but more importantly, he finished first in the standings, 39 points ahead oh Johnson. This championship marks the first-ever Sprint Cup Series title for legendary car owner Roger Penske.

After exiting his car, Keselowski summed his life long story up.

“I saw this really cool video that Ray Lewis did and he said, ‘Throughout my whole life I’ve been told that I’m not big enough, I’m not fast enough, I’m not strong enough and I don’t have what it takes.’” Keselowski said.

“I’ve used that as a chip on my shoulder that’s carried me through my whole career. It took ’til this year for me to realize, they’re right. I’m not big enough, fast enough, strong enough. No person is. Only a team can do that. And these guys up here, they make me big enough, fast enough, strong enough to do anything we want to do.” Keselowski added.

Unofficial top-12 standings after Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Pos	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top5	Top10
1	—	Brad Keselowski	2400	0	36	0	5	13	23
2	2	Clint Bowyer	2361	-39	36	0	3	10	23
3	-1	Jimmie Johnson	2360	-40	36	4	5	18	24
4	-1	Kasey Kahne	2345	-55	36	4	2	12	19
5	2	Greg Biffle	2332	-68	36	3	2	12	21
6	-1	Denny Hamlin	2329	-71	36	3	5	14	17
7	-1	Matt Kenseth	2324	-76	36	1	3	13	19
8	—	Kevin Harvick	2321	-79	36	0	1	5	14
9	—	Tony Stewart	2311	-89	36	1	3	12	16
10	1	Jeff Gordon	2303	-97	36	2	2	11	18
11	-1	Martin Truex Jr.	2299	-101	36	1	0	7	19
12	—	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2245	-155	34	1	1	10	20

Unofficial Race Results
Ford EcoBoost 400, Homestead-Miami
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	15	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	47
2	6	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	42
3	19	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	42
4	8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	42
5	13	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	39
6	7	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	39
7	5	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	37
8	23	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	36
9	26	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	35
10	16	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	34
11	18	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	33
12	4	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	32
13	2	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	32
14	1	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	30
15	3	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	29
16	9	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	28
17	35	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	27
18	11	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	27
19	33	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	25
20	14	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	24
21	12	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	24
22	17	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	0
23	20	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0
24	41	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	20
25	32	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	19
26	38	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	18
27	30	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	17
28	21	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	16
29	28	13	Casey Mears	Ford	15
30	24	51	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	14
31	34	34	David Ragan	Ford	13
32	31	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	12
33	40	38	David Gilliland	Ford	11
34	37	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	10
35	39	37	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	9
36	10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	9
37	42	32	Ken Schrader	Ford	7
38	22	30	David Stremme	Toyota	6
39	27	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	0
40	36	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	4
41	25	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	3
42	43	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	2
43	29	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	0

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”221″][/media-credit]Joey Logano captured the pole for Sundays NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a lap of 176.056 MPH, 30.672 seconds.

“These guys have given me a really good RedBeacon.com Toyota here. We were good in practice and they made the right adjustments for us to make sure it was good when the sun went down. They did their part and I did my part, and it came out perfect. I appreciate it. My last run with them, so it’s awesome to get a pole for them again.” Logano said.

Marcos Ambrose qualified second, series points leader Brad Keselowski third, Carl Edwards fourth and Aric Almirola qualified fifth.

Both championship contenders qualified in the top-10. Keselowski third and Jimmie Johnson qualified 10th.

Keselowski expected Johnson to qualify better than he did.

“I totally expected him to out-qualify us, to be quite honest. I was going to be fine with that. At least we were prepared for the worst and that’s not what happened so I guess we’re okay.” Keselowski said.

With a 20 point advantage heading into Sunday, Keselowski is feeling the pressure to win his first championship and the first for team owner Roger Penske.

“There’s always pressure. There was pressure all year long. I don’t feel drastically more than what I have. But the pressure is what makes it worth it. That’s part of what makes it special, what makes it mean something, so I’m not going to try to run from it. But I can deal with it very well.”

Johnson will be looking to score his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship on Sunday and wanted to keep the pressure on Keselowski by capturing the pole.

“The best pressure I could put on him would be winning the pole. But we didn’t do that. Hopefully we’ll stay there in the top 10, which is good for us. We’ll get a good pit stall on pit road and go into race trim tomorrow and make sure we’ve got our race car right.”

[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Wow! That is all I have to say! What a chaotic finish to the end of the AdvoCare 500! It was so insane, I can’t even speak! It was simply heart-pounding what happened. Lets first begin with the recap of the race.

Martin Truex Jr. began complaining of his engine starting to lay down by the second lap. By Lap 10, Truex Jr. said that “something broke in the top end and just started eating itself up, so we’re done for the day. “It’s just a shame. We’ve had such a good race car all weekend long and really felt like we were going to have a shot at maybe challenging for the win today.”

The race was dominated for most of the event by the No.18 of Kyle Busch. Busch won the pole on Friday evening and led all three practice sessions on Saturday.

The tide turned when the No.48 of Jimmie Johnson blew a right-front tire off turn 4 and slammed the outside wall. The crowd cheered as the No.48 team was unable to fix the damage on pit road and spent over 30 laps behind the wall. The No.48 finished in 33rd and Brad Keselowski now has a 20 point lead coming into Homestead after finishing in sixth place.

Near the end of the race, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon tangled coming out of turn 2. Bowyer put Gordon into the wall. A very unhappy Gordon attempted to retaliate, but cut a tire and slammed the wall a second time. Gordon waited for Bowyer to come back around the track to retaliate and Gordon was successful.  But the retaliation also took out Joey Logano and Aric Almirola in the process.

Gordon drove back to the hauler where a huge fight broke out between the crews and Gordon.  Bowyer parked his destroyed No.15 in the pit lane before sprinting to the No.24 hauler, but was held back by NASCAR officials and Gordon’s crew. Logano later said on Twitter after the race, “When I was young, I thought Jeff Gordon was the best driver. Now, I’ve lost a lot of respect for him.”

This takes Bowyer out of the championship, but he can’t say that he didn’t see this coming. Bowyer and Gordon have been getting together all season and enough was enough. I think Gordon was justified to take out Bowyer, but he could have done it in a way to not take out other drivers.

Jeff Burton spun out Danica Patrick coming to the white flag and she backed it into the turn 3 wall. She was able to re-fire the engine and keep going, but was dropping oil all over the race track.

Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag as Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, and Paul Menard all crashed across the finish line. Harvick stated afterwards that, “There was more oil than asphalt and it was very visible.” Richard Childress, who was sitting next to Harvick said, “It was dangerous.” Harvick also chimed in that the people officiating the race, “Need to go look themselves in the mirror and check if they are really doing a good job.”

Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Newman rounded out the top-5. Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, and Mark Martin rounded out the top-10.

Dustin Long from SI was able to catch up with Jeff Gordon. When asked if he was concerned about penalties Gordon responded, “They have to do what they got to do.”

Gordon needed to stand up for himself. I just think that he could have retaliated in a better fashion. It will be interesting to see if this carries on to Homestead. It gave me a headache just trying to process everything that happened!

Unofficial Race Results
AdvoCare 500, Phoenix Int’l Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=35
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	19	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	47
2	3	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	43
3	1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	43
4	4	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	40
5	12	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	40
6	14	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	39
7	20	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	37
8	6	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	36
9	7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	35
10	10	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	35
11	13	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	33
12	21	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	32
13	33	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	31
14	22	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	30
15	30	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	29
16	5	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	28
17	37	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	0
18	17	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	26
19	39	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	26
20	9	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	24
21	23	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	23
22	25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	22
23	18	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	21
24	8	51	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	20
25	27	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	19
26	42	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	18
27	15	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	17
28	16	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	16
29	41	32	Timmy Hill	Ford	15
30	11	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	14
31	26	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	0
32	24	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	12
33	29	34	David Ragan	Ford	11
34	32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	10
35	35	33	Stephen Leicht *	Chevrolet	9
36	31	38	David Gilliland	Ford	8
37	38	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	7
38	28	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	6
39	43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
40	34	144	David Reutimann	Ford	4
41	36	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	0
42	40	191	Jason Leffler	Toyota	0
43	2	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	1

[media-credit name=”Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Kyle Busch captured the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway with a lap of 138.766 mph.  Busch is trying to gain some momentum carrying on to the 2013 season after missing the Chase for the third time in his career.

“We’ll take it and it will be a good starting spot for us. Obviously, getting first pit selection and all that’s good for us. The M&M’s Camry was awesome all day today. Can’t wait for tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get this thing dolled up for race trim and have a good race car come Sunday.” Busch said.

Martin Truex Jr. qualified second and is in the Chase, but is too far back in the lineup to make a charge for the championship as the duo of Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski continue their dominance.

The weather played a huge factor in the qualifying today. A cold front has hit Arizona this past weekend and it ha been raining off and on all day. Areas like Prescott and Flagstaff even saw snow. The cloud coverage disrupted the handling on Jimmie Johnson’s car during his qualifying lap, and he wound up in 24th, his worst qualifying effort since Bristol. Brad Keselowski qualified his #2 Miller Lite Dodge in the 14th position. He also had some trouble on his qualifying lap, but Mother Nature was a little more lenient to Keselowski.

If Keselowski wants to gain any momentum, he needs to do it on Sunday. Johnson is already ten spots behind Brad when the race begins, and he can’t hesitate when Johnson is a 4-time winner at this track.

Spring winner Denny Hamlin will start from the third position. Kasey Kahne (2011 winner of this event), Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, Regan Smith, Mark Martin, and Tony Stewart will round out the Top 10 for Sunday’s race.

Notables: Jeff Gordon (11th), Ryan Newman (12th), Carl Edwards (13th), Joey Logano (15th), Clint Bowyer (16th), Kevin Harvick (19th), Greg Biffle (20th), Matt Kenseth (22nd), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (23rd), Danica Patrick (37th).

For you Kyle Busch fans, I asked him in the media center the following question: How important is it for you and your team to get a win before the season is out to carry momentum for 2013?

“I think getting a win would be nice. We don’t necessarily need a win, but we need to finish well these final few races. I think we actually have performed well enough these past couple weeks. We were up there battling Brad and Jimmie at Texas all night long, but we just didn’t have the car in the end and of course we’ve been bitten by fuel in the past, but to win would definitely be a big boost to this team.”

Starting Lineup
AdvoCare 500, Phoenix Int’l Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=35
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	138.766	25.943
2	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	138.217	26.046
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	137.578	26.167
4	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	137.478	26.186
5	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	137.211	26.237
6	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	137.007	26.276
7	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	136.992	26.279
8	51	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	136.872	26.302
9	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	136.867	26.303
10	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	136.867	26.303
11	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	136.83	26.31
12	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	136.721	26.331
13	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	136.679	26.339
14	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	136.622	26.35
15	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	136.488	26.376
16	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	136.436	26.386
17	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	136.359	26.401
18	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	136.353	26.402
19	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	136.271	26.418
20	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	136.219	26.428
21	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	136.003	26.47
22	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	135.906	26.489
23	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	135.547	26.559
24	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	135.44	26.58
25	13	Casey Mears	Ford	135.211	26.625
26	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	135.171	26.633
27	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	134.948	26.677
28	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	134.948	26.677
29	34	David Ragan	Ford	134.932	26.68
30	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	134.449	26.776
31	38	David Gilliland	Ford	134.374	26.791
32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	134.343	26.797
33	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	134.198	26.826
34	144	David Reutimann	Ford	134.008	26.864
35	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	133.62	26.942
36	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	133.576	26.951
37	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	132.954	27.077
38	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	132.817	27.105
39	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	132.387	27.193
40	191	Jason Leffler	Toyota	131.329	27.412
41	32	Timmy Hill	Ford	129.945	27.704
42	36	Dave Blaney+	Chevrolet	128.691	27.974
43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	130.067	27.678

[media-credit name=”Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”235″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson won from the pole for the second week in a row on Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson restarted on the outside of Brad Keselowski on the final green-white-checkered restart. Johnson made the pass and pulled away while exiting turn-2 and held onto the lead for the final laps.

“I got a great restart and got by him. I knew we had the speed if I could just get by him.” Johnson said.

After contact on the previous restart, Keselowski kept it honest.

“I had to choose between wrecking him and winning the race and it didn’t seem right to wreck ‘em. Ran ‘em hard and we’re going to keep him honest. I know if we keep running like this that we won’t be beat.” Keselowski said. “It’s going to be a dogfight all the way down to Homestead.”

Johnson led 168 laps and stretched his lead in the series standings to 7 points over Brad Keselowski with two races remaining.

“It was an awesome race. It’s a great way to do it when the gloves are off and it’s bare-knuckle fighting,” Johnson said.

Kyle Busch finished third and Kurt Busch finished eighth and were the only two top-10 finishers that were not in the chase.

Matt Kenseth finished fourth and Tony Stewart finished fifth.

“I didn’t think we would ever be standing here with a top-five the way our day started. We started way off and these guys never gave up. They battled hard all day long and got me a good finish.” Kenseth said.

Other chase contenders that still had a shot entering Texas were Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne. Bowyer finished sixth and is now 36 points out and Kahne finished 25th and is now 58 points out.

Unofficial Race Results
AAA Texas 500, Texas Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=34
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	–	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	48
2	–	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	43
3	–	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	42
4	–	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	41
5	–	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	39
6	–	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	38
7	–	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	37
8	–	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	36
9	–	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	35
10	–	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	34
11	–	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	33
12	–	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	33
13	–	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	31
14	–	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	30
15	–	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	29
16	–	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	28
17	–	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	0
18	–	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	26
19	–	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	25
20	–	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	24
21	–	13	Casey Mears	Ford	23
22	–	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	0
23	–	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	22
24	–	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	0
25	–	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	19
26	–	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	18
27	–	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	17
28	–	34	David Ragan	Ford	16
29	–	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	15
30	–	195	Scott Speed	Ford	14
31	–	32	Ken Schrader	Ford	13
32	–	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	12
33	–	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	11
34	–	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	10
35	–	38	David Gilliland	Ford	9
36	–	51	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	8
37	–	26	Josh Wise *	Ford	7
38	–	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	6
39	–	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	5
40	–	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	0
41	–	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	0
42	–	37	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	2
43	–	191	Reed Sorenson	Toyota	0

[media-credit name=”Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”215″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson captured the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) with a lap of 191.076 MPH (28.261 SECS). This is Johnson’ first pole at TMS and the 29th of his career.  Johnson also captured the pole last week at Martinsville and won the race.

“I knew I put down a good lap. Very proud of the effort my Lowe’s team put into this race car today. We didn’t unload like we wanted to. We made a lot of progress through the practice session, and then got it right there for qualifying.” Johnson said.

Greg Biffle qualified second with a lap of 190.382 MPH.

“I drove it down in there and committed but couldn’t hold it down from the center out. The car was sliding and skating and I probably carried too much speed on entry and paid the price on exit. I backed it up a little in three and four and got a better three and four but the 48 put down a heck of a lap going that early. I am sure some guys that are faster here are coming up but we will have to wait and see.” Biffle said of his qualifying run.

Kyle Busch qualified third, Clint Bowyer fourth and Martin Truex Jr. qualified fifth.

“It was really good in (turns) one and two and anytime you get in it like that. You know, you got one and two that’s got all that grip and the shade, and you get down to (turns) three and four.” Bowyer said.

Second place in the series points, Brad Keselowski qualified eighth.

“It feels like the pole. It may not be the pole, but it feels like the pole for us. Our car has had a ton of speed since we’ve been here in race trim. Qualifying trim has been our weakness all year. I think that bodes very well for us on Sunday.” Keselowski said.

Starting Lineup
AAA Texas 500, Texas Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=34
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	191.076	28.261
2	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	190.382	28.364
3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	190.128	28.402
4	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	190.067	28.411
5	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	189.994	28.422
6	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	189.76	28.457
7	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	189.607	28.48
8	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	189.533	28.491
9	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	189.474	28.5
10	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	189.46	28.502
11	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	189.294	28.527
12	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	189.274	28.53
13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	188.99	28.573
14	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	188.976	28.575
15	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	188.923	28.583
16	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	188.798	28.602
17	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	188.626	28.628
18	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	188.396	28.663
19	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	188.357	28.669
20	13	Casey Mears	Ford	188.337	28.672
21	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	188.042	28.717
22	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	187.996	28.724
23	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	187.78	28.757
24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	187.565	28.79
25	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	187.435	28.81
26	51	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	187.389	28.817
27	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	187.35	28.823
28	37	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	187.266	28.836
29	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	187.227	28.842
30	38	David Gilliland	Ford	186.858	28.899
31	195	Scott Speed	Ford	186.858	28.899
32	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	186.541	28.948
33	34	David Ragan	Ford	186.477	28.958
34	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	186.471	28.959
35	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	186.413	28.968
36	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	186.368	28.975
37	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	186.066	29.022
38	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	185.867	29.053
39	191	Reed Sorenson	Toyota	185.714	29.077
40	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	184.906	29.204
41	83	Landon Cassill+	Toyota	184.382	29.287
42	32	Ken Schrader+	Ford	181.843	29.696
43	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	185.586	29.097

[media-credit name=”Tyler Barrick/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson would take the lead late in the TUMS Fast Relief 500 to take the victory and the points lead, two points ahead of Brad Keselowski.

 

Lap 1 Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers side-by-side for the lead; Johnson leads at the line by a nose

Lap 2 Johnson clears Vickers for the lead

Lap 6 Johnson leads Vickers, Kyle Busch, Burton, Hamlin, Bowyer, Stewart, Kenseth, Gordon and Menard

Lap 12 Johnson leads Vickers, Kyle Busch, Burton, Hamlin, Bowyer, Gordon, Stewart, Menard, Logano, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr., Almirola, Kenseth.

Lap 14 Keselowski runs 30^th after starting 32^nd

Lap 15 Hamlin, Bowyer and Gordon by Burton for position

Lap 17 Bowyer and Gordon pass Hamlin for position

Lap 18 Keselowski 29^th

Lap 29 Johnson leads Vickers, Gordon, Bowyer, Hamlin, Busch, Stewart, Menard, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 31 Keselwoski 27^th

Lap 34 Gordon passes Vickers for second

Lap 37 Keselowski 28^th

Lap 39 Bowyer passes Vickers

Lap 40 Hamlin passes Vickers so it’s Johnson leading Gordon, Bowyer, Hamlin, Vickers, Busch, Stewart, Menard, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 41 Busch passes Vickers

Lap 44 Kahne passes Earnhardt Jr. Keselowski 27^th.

Caution Lap 45 David Stremme slows in turn one with a flat tire…..leaders head down pit road. Johnson leads Gordon, Hamlin, Busch, Bower, Vickers, Truex Jr. and Stewart off pit road. Hamlin caught speeding on pit road, restarts 30^th. Keselowski up to 17^th after changing left side tires

Lap 52 Restart as Johnson and Gordon side-by-side into turn one, Johnson clears Gordon into turn three

Lap 53 Busch passes Gordon for second

Lap 57 Johnson leads Busch, Gordon, Bowyer, Vickers, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Kahne and Menard.

Lap 59 Keselowski 17^th

Lap 60 Hamlin 29^th

Lap 62 Gordon passes Busch for second; Earnhardt Jr. passes Truex for sixth

Lap 70 Gordon passes Johnson for the lead

Lap 75 Gordon leads Johnson, Busch and Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 78 Gordon leads Johnson, Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Vickers, Bowyer, Truex Jr., Kahne

Lap 90 Gordon leads Johnson, Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Vickers, Bowyer, Truex Jr., Kahne, Stewart and Kurt Busch

Lap 91 Montoya passes Kurt Busch for 10^th; Keselowski 20^th

Lap 95 Hamlin 14^th

Caution Lap 98 David Gilliland has a flat right front tire……leaders pit. Johnson leads Kyle Busch, Gordon, Vickers, Bowyer, Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Earnhardt Jr. off pit road.

Restart lap 104 as Johnson and Kyle Busch are side-by-side for the lead

Lap 105 Johnson clears Busch for first, Gordon clears Busch for second

Lap 106 Gordon looking inside of Johnson for the lead,

Lap 107 Gordon clears Johnson outta turn two; Busch clears Johnson for second

Lap 108 Johnson and Vickers make contact battling for third

Lap 109 Vickers clears Johnson for third

Lap 110 Gordon leads Ky Busch, Vickers, Johnson, Bowyer, Ku Busch, Truex Jr., Montoya, Kahne, Newman, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 112 Keselowski 21^st

Lap 115 Vickers alongside Busch for second….Gordon leads Vickers, Busch, Johnson, Bowyer, Ku Busch, Montoya, Kahne, Truex Jr. and Hamlin.

Lap 118 Keselowski 20^th

Travis Kvapil spins in turn two…..Gordon, Ky Busch and Truex Jr. stay out as the leaders pit. Landon Cassill gets the lucky dog…….Johnson back to 11^th due to taking four tires against those who took two

Restart lap 137 as its Gordon and Ky Busch side-by-side for the lead

Lap 138 Gordon clears Busch going into turn one

Lap 146 Gordon leads Vickers, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Montoya, Ku. Busch, Ky. Busch as Vickers look for the lead from Gordon

Lap 147 Vickers passes Gordon for the lead

Lap 148 Hamlin passes Gordon for second

Caution lap 150 Ky. Busch goes around in turn two after getting loose…..Keselowski, Kahne, Gordon, Montoya and Truex Jr. pit with some other drivers. Kahne first off pit road, will restart 17^th with Gordon 18^th.

Restart Lap 156

Lap 157 Vickers clears Hamlin for the lead with Earnhardt Jr. third, followed by Johnson and Bowyer.

Lap 161 Vickers leads Hamlin, Johnson, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Ku Busch, Newman, McMurray, Hornish Jr. and Edwards.

Lap 163 Keselwoski 22^nd.

Lap 165 Hamlin passes Vickers for the lead

Lap 166 Johnson passes Vickers for second so it is Hamlin leading Johnson, Vickers, Bowyer, Ku Busch, Earnhardt Jr., McMurray, Newman, Hornish Jr. and Edwards.

Lap 170 Johnson passes Hamlin for the lead

Lap 183 Bowyer and Johnson are side-by-side for the lead and Bowyer clears Johnson going into turn three

Lap 184 Gordon passes Ku Busch for sixth

Lap 185 Bowyer leads Johnson, Hamlin, Vickers, McMurray, Gordon, Ku Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards and Hornish Jr. Hamlin passes Johnson for second.

Lap 187 Keselowski 18^th

Caution Lap 199 Marcos Ambrose spins in turn two by himself……leaders pit……Hamlin leads Johnson, Gordon, Bower, Ku Busch, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr. off pit road. Hamlin caught speeding, will restart at the back of the field.

Restart Lap 205 as Johnson and Gordon are side-by-side for the lead. Gordon clears Johnson off of turn four on the outside.

Lap 210 Gordon leads Johnson, Bowyer, Ku Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Kahne, Truex Jr., Harvick, Vickers. Keselowski 13^th.

Lap 212 Hamlin 26^th as Johnson is all over Gordon’s back bumper.

Caution #6 Lap 213 Travis Kvapil and Marcos Ambrose spin in turn two. Allmendinger got into Smith, cutting Ambrose’s tire, resulting in Ambrose’s spin. Leaders stay out.

Restart Lap 219 as Gordon holds serve ahead of Bowyer and Johnson

Lap 220 Bowyer clears Johnson for second

Lap 223 Gordon leads Bowyer, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Ku Busch, Kahne, Edwards, Vickers, Harvick and Montoya.

Lap 224 Keselwoski passes McMurray for 11th

Lap 225 Hamlin 23^rd

Lap 226 Bowyer passes Gordon for the lead

Lap 228 Bowyer leads Johnson, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne

Caution Lap 229 Kurt Busch goes for a spin virtue of contact with Kevin Harvick. Some of the leaders stay out, some of the leaders pit. Vickers is the first of the leaders to pit out of sixth

Restart lap 235 as Johnson and Bowyer are side-by-side for the lead. Truex Jr. to receive a penalty for changing lanes before the restart.

Lap 238 Bowyer clears Johnson ahead of Gordon, Eanhardt Jr. and Kahne

Lap 240 Bowyer leads Johnson, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Harvick, Edwards, Keselowski, Vickers, Hornish Jr. and Biffle. Hamlin 12^th. Gordon mentioned a valve train pop about 30 laps ago.

Lap 246 Hamlin alongside Biffle for 11^th

Lap 249 Kahne passes Earnhardt Jr., Vickers passes Keselowski, Hamlin passes Hornish Jr.

Lap 250 Kahne passes Johnson for third

Lap 251 Hamlin and Ky. Busch pass Keselowski

Lap 253 Bowyer leads Gordon, Kahne, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Vickers, Edwards, Hamlin, Ky. Busch, Keselowski

Lap 254 Vickers passes Harvick

Lap 256 Vickers passes Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 267 Bowyer leads Gordon, Kahne, Johnson, Vickers, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Ky. Busch, Harvick, Keselowski

Lap 269 Vickers alongside Johnson for fourth

Lap 272 Vickers clears Johnson for fourth; Hamlin passes Earnhardt Jr. for sixth

Lap 277 Bowyer leads Gordon, Kahne, Vickers, Johnson, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Ky. Busch, Harvick, Keselowski

Lap 281 Hamlin passes Johnson for fifth

Lap 289 Bowyer leads Gordon, Kahne, Vickers, Hamlin, Johnson, Ky. Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick and Keselowski

Lap 296 Hamlin passes Vickers for fourth

Lap 302 Bowyer gets into Stewart trying to lap him

Lap 316 Kahne passes Gordon for second

Lap 321 Bowyer leads Kahne, Gordon, Hamlin, Vickers, Johnson, Ky. Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick and Keselowski

Lap 324 Hamlin passes Gordon for third

Lap 326 Vickers gets alongside Gordon for fourth, clearing him coming out of turn four

Lap 335 Harvick pits

Lap 337 Gordon pits

Lap 339 Allmendinger pits

Lap 340 Bowyer leads Kahne, Hamlin, Vickers, Ky. Busch, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Edwards and Labonte

Lap 341 Biffle and Cassill pit

Lap 342 Hornish Jr. pits

Lap 343 Edwards and Earnhardt Jr. pit

Lap 344 Hamlin gets into Kahne, trying to pass him.

Lap 345 Kahne pits to hand second over to Hamlin.

Lap 346 Bowyer leads Hamlin and Vickers. Keselowski up to sixth.

Lap 347 Labonte pits.

Lap 349 Burton goes way up the race track, keeps it off the wall, makes it to the pits….Ambrose pits.

Lap 350 Bowyer pits to hand the lead over to Hamlin. Hamlin leads Vickers, Ky. Busch, Johnson

Lap 353 Johnson pits.

Lap 356 Hamlin leads Vickers, Ky. Busch, Keselowski, McMurray…..Hamlin and Keselowski head down pit road. Vickers leads.

Lap 360 McMurray pits as Vickers leads Almirola and Kenseth.

Lap 361 Stewart pits

Lap 364 Vickers pits to hand the lead over to Kenseth.

Lap 366 Kahne passes Kenseth for the lead

Lap 367 Kenseth pits.

Lap 369 Kahne leads Bowyer, Hamlin, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Ky. Busch, Johnson, Harvick, Hornish Jr., Newman, Keselowski

Lap 372 Hamlin runs into problems as the car shuts off, loses multiple spots, but gets it back running. Now back to eighth.

Lap 383 Hamlin once again slows, though gets it back going as Bowyer is just about to put him a lap down. Hamlin runs 15^th.

Lap 388 Hamlin goes a lap down as it shuts off again.

Lap 389 Bowyer leads Kahne, Gordon, Johnson, Ky. Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Vickers, Keselowski, Hornish Jr.

Lap 391 Hamlin warned that he is not making minimum speed.

Caution Lap 392 Hamlin stalled on the front stretch……leaders head down pit road. Johnson leads Bowyer, Ky. Busch, Kahne, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Vickers off pit road.

Restart lap 400 as Johnson pulls ahead of Bowyer and Busch.

97 laps to go Johnson leads Bowyer, Ky. Busch, Gordon, Kahne, Earnhardt Jr., Vickers, Keselowski, Biffle, Harvick

91 laps to go Hornish Jr., Allmendinger, Edwards, Labonte and Logano pass Harvick for position

79 laps to go Johnson leads Bowyer, Gordon, Ky. Busch, Kahne, Vickers, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Biffle and Hornish Jr. as Harvick goes a lap down with reported engine issues.

77 laps to go Hamlin back on track as they have fixed the “master switch”

74 laps to go Biffle passes Earnhardt Jr. for ninth

72 laps to go Gordon passes Bowyer

62 laps to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Ky. Busch……Montoya spins after contact with Johnson in tight quarters with Travis Kvapil…..leaders pit…….Johnson leads Gordon, Ky. Busch, Bowyer, Kahne, Vickers, Keselowski, Hornish Jr. off pit road

Restart 55 laps to go

51 laps to go Johnson leads Gordon, Ky. Busch, Bowyer, Kahne, Vickers, Keselowski, Hornish Jr., Earnhardt Jr. and Biffle. Allmendinger instructed to come to pit road to get bumper bar removed

47 laps to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Hornish Jr.; Vickers passes Kahne

45 laps to go Bowyer passes Ky. Busch; Keselowski passes Kahne

44 laps to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Kahne

42 laps to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Ky. Busch, Vickers, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Hornish Jr. and Biffle.

30 laps to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Ky. Busch, Vickers, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Hornish Jr., Biffle.

Caution 25 laps to go Harvick blows up….Keselowski and Earnhardt Jr. stayed out while everybody else pitted.

Restart 19 laps to go as Keselowski clears the field with Johnson behind him. Kyle Busch alongside Earnhardt Jr. for third.

15 laps to go Johnson all over Keselowski’s bumper for the lead

14 laps to go Johnson passes Keselowski for the lead as Ky. Busch passes Keselowski for second.

13 laps to go Kahne passes Keselowski for third

12 laps to go Gordon passes Keselowski for fourth

11 laps to go Almirola under Keselowski for fifth as Johnson leads Ky. Busch, Kahne, Gordon.

Caution 9 laps to go Hornish got into Edwards, who then took Jr. around with him

Restart 5 laps to go as Johnson clears Ky. Busch out of turn two.

4 laps to go Ky. Busch holds Kahne off for second.

Johnson wins ahead of Ky. Busch, Kahne, Almirola, Bowyer, Keselowski, Gordon, Vickers, Labonte, Biffle, Newman, Menard, Hornish Jr., Ku. Busch, Kenseth, Logano, McMurray, Edwards, Casssill, Montoya, Earnhardt Jr.

Johnson leads Keselowski by two points, Bowyer by 26 points, Kahne by 29, Hamlin by 49

[media-credit id=100 align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Chase contender Jimmie Johnson sets fast lap in qualifying at Martinsville Speedway for the Sunday’s Tums 500. Johnson turned a lap of 97.598 MPH (19.402 SECS), edging out Brian Vickers who was fastest in practice and therefore was the last car to attempt qualifying.

Johnson waited patiently in the cockpit of his No.48 Lowes Chevrolet until Vickers completed his lap. Johnson said after, “The reason I stayed in the car, have you ever seen how many times a drivers does an interview, then gets knocked off the pole?” “I wasn’t going to do anything until it was over!” He also pointed, however, that he is definitely not superstitious.

Vickers missed the top spot by only .02 secs, still a great effort just a few hours after announcing that he would be back in the No.55 Micheal Waltrip Toyota for nine races again next season with Aarons as the sponsor for three of those races and Vickers noted they are looking for a partner for the other six.

Points leader Brad Keselowski, who holds a seven point lead over Johnson, will start 32nd Sunday at a track that he started seventh and finished ninth at in the spring. He will have a rather large hole to dig out of to maintain his lead on the championship standings.

“Certainly would like to qualify better and that’s at the forefront of my mind but I’d much rather race towards the front rather than qualify towards the front if I had to pick between the two. I feel like we’ll be capable of pulling that off once the race gets started.” Keselowski said.

“When the playoffs hit, it doesn’t matter what sport it is, crazy things happen. And with that being said, yeah, we come here thinking that we should be able to get some points on the 2 (Brad Keselowski), but you never know.” Johnson said.

There were four other Chase contenders in the top ten. Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, and Clint Bowyer placed fifth through eighth respectively.

Dale Earnhardt Jr returned to action this week and will take the green in 20th spot after being second fastest in practice. A team member noted the race setup is better than the qualifying setup and that they will race well on Sunday.

Starting Lineup
Tums Fast Relief 500, Martinsville Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=33
===========================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===========================================
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	97.598	19.402
2	55	Brian Vickers	Toyota	97.533	19.415
3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	97.427	19.436
4	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	97.392	19.443
5	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	97.382	19.445
6	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	97.272	19.467
7	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	97.257	19.47
8	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	97.247	19.472
9	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	97.158	19.49
10	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	97.108	19.5
11	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	96.968	19.528
12	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	96.964	19.529
13	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	96.959	19.53
14	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	96.904	19.541
15	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	96.869	19.548
16	34	David Ragan	Ford	96.84	19.554
17	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	96.835	19.555
18	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	96.835	19.555
19	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	96.751	19.572
20	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	96.716	19.579
21	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	96.706	19.581
22	13	Casey Mears	Ford	96.681	19.586
23	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	96.652	19.592
24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	96.578	19.607
25	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	96.533	19.616
26	51	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	96.391	19.645
27	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	96.273	19.669
28	32	Ken Schrader	Ford	96.156	19.693
29	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	96.141	19.696
30	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	96.112	19.702
31	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	96.063	19.712
32	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	96.015	19.722
33	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	95.985	19.728
34	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	95.976	19.73
35	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	95.922	19.741
36	38	David Gilliland	Ford	95.922	19.741
37	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	95.811	19.764
38	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	95.675	19.792
39	191	Reed Sorenson	Toyota	95.574	19.813
40	30	David Stremme	Toyota	95.545	19.819
41	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	95.54	19.82
42	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	95.204	19.89
43	195	Scott Speed	Ford	94.898	19.954

[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: John Harrelson” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]It was a beautiful autumn day but it would be one that many hope to forget. With a record number of cautions for the track, and the most of any race this season, the Hollywood Casino 400 more resembled a survival expedition than a NASCAR race. Matt Kenseth’s Ford was hurt. It was bandaged. It was bruised. But when the track opened in front of it, it did what all thoroughbreds do it ran. It ran fast and it ran hard and it had enough left to make it all the way to the end and give Matt what will be one of his last victories with Jack Roush.

The race started off with promise and trepidation. The Nationwide race had a record number of cautions but at the end the track was very racey. It had a distinct 2 grooves and they were both very usable and at times and in places it was starting to get a third one in. The new track surface was rapidly maturing and going through growing pains. She was fast and smooth at times and she was wicked and slick at times. The tires Goodyear gave teams to tame her with she chewed up and spit out. It was the drivers that respected her and raced her with respect that ding or not came out on top.

One of the most courageous displays of championship ethic came from the 5 time champion, Jimmie Johnson’s Lowes Racing team. Jimmie took a hard crash on lap 137 in turn 4. The car was badly damaged and questions were raised could they get fuel in the car. Car owner Rick Hendrick said in his years in racing he had never seen such extensive surgery done so quickly on pit road. Johnson came back to finish in the top 10. Johnson said of his drive back to the front, “I had to get a look at it here. It’s pretty tore up. Definitely proud of this team and the fact that we never give up and continue to fight and try to get every point we can. I think yesterday’s Nationwide race showed that this thing isn’t over until the checkered flag falls and then again on Sunday. So all that said, I’m very proud but I was disappointed. I crashed the car. I spun out trying to get inside the 56. He bobbled a little in front of me and I thought that it was opportunity to jump in the gas real hard and when I did that, my car took off and I couldn’t catch it. All in all a good day but could have been a lot better. I think we could have been in victory lane and stretched some points on these guys.”

Martin Truex Jr again showed Toyota’s muscle finishing 2nd. “I’m happy with my team and my race car that we had all day. We really had to battle for this one. We got track position early — we got up towards the top five and we had a strong car, a little bit tight. The we got caught out by that caution deal and had to go all the way to the back. Just tough to pass. So, it was a battle all day long. Proud of the guys on the NAPA Toyota — they never gave up. Just kept digging all day long. That’s a good run for us, for sure. Just a little bit too tight there at the end there to run with Matt Kenseth. A good run and we’ll go on to Martinsville.”

Paul Menard held on to come home in third. He was the only non chase car in the top 10. “We kind of hit on something yesterday morning that we liked, thought was promising and stuck with it. Obviously running the Nationwide car on a new surface, we learned a lot about the tire pressures, what grooves come in. The second grooove came in a helluva lot better than I think anybody thought. You could make lap time and pass cars. Overall, just really happy with the weekend, the repave. The track came in real well and it’s just going to keep getting better. Real proud of my Menards guys” said Menard.

Kasey Kahne would bring the Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet home in the 4th spot. But not without a scare. On the final caution while saving fuel, Kahne turned the engine off and it wouldn’t refire. When it finally did refire, he had lost several positions. But once the green flag flew again Kasey was able to climb back up to 4th. “It just wouldn’t re-fire. Disappointing. But we got through there. We had a good car; we got back to fourth. We passed a lot of cars there. The Farmers Insurance Chevrolet team did an awesome job. Great pit stops; great pit calls. A lot a tire and fuel strategy race throughout. Our guys did a really nice job. I had an awesome car. It was a little loose there taking off. It was a little loose there taking off. It was coming to me and getting good there at the end. We just weren’t close enough at that point in time. But still, a solid day.” remarked Kahne.

Tony Stewart had two incidents that threatened his day. The first was a pit penalty for leaving the pit box with equipment when his team didn’t get the wrench out of the car from a chassis adjustment. Stewart would have to come back in and it there would confusion and chaos that caused the owner/driver to remark, “You all can get your heads out of your a**’s anytime now.” Restarting at the tail end of the longest line Stewart would again make his charge. Only to spin and blow out 3 tires on the back stretch on lap 166. Stewart would nurse the car around to the pits with minimal damage. Again he would start at the end of the pack. Stewart would climb as far back up as second and finish 5th. “Our guys led by Steve Addington, they never gave up today. Really proud of the effort they gave. That’s how we won a championship last year, by never giving up. We probably had to pass more cars than anybody today, but that seems to be our M.O. We seem to have to do that every week. We’ve got a little bit of work to do, but we’re gaining on it. Proud of my guys. We worked with a little different package this week. We still didn’t get it right, but we got pretty close.” said Stewart.

The points leader Brad Keselowski came home in 8th spot. “I don’t even know how to explain it. I’m ready to go home and have a couple beers. It’s just been a long day and you know, everybody has been asking all season long where the cautions have been. Well they flew to Kansas and they’ve been hanging out here because there was a caution after caution and it seemed like every wreck that happened today happened right in front of me. So I’m glad to have survived the carnage and brought back a decent car, my Miller Lite Dodge, in great shape and dodged a bullet of a race. That is the only thing I can use to describe it. Whew! Just a tough day.”

Keselowski would extend his points lead to 7 over Jimmie Johnson heading into Martinsville. Martin Truex Jr, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon all gained one spot in the points while race winner Matt Kenseth would gain 2 spots while Greg Biffle lost five spots.

The Hollywood Casino 400 was an exciting race. The new track was a bit like a moody teenager. It went through growing pains and temper tantrums it ate tires. It picked and played favorites. Obviously, Matt Kenseth suited her fancy today.