After dominating at Las Vegas and not capturing the win, Kasey Kahne redeemed himself with a win at Bristol. A threat at the front all day, Kahne made sure that he was there when the moment was right. From being at the front on the last restart to getting away from the leaders who were wrecking with the lead, everything seemed to go his way. Instead of having just problems with lapped cars, the field had trouble with blowing tires. In fact, five drivers blew tires and got into the wall. These are just a few of the storylines that made this one of the most interesting races of the year so far.
Kyle Busch, who won the Nationwide Series race the day before, started on the pole. When the race went green, he jumped out to a quick lead and was able to lead the first lap. The race had just begun when the first caution of the day came out on lap 8. Tony Stewart drifted up the track in turn 3 and it was apparent that he had a tire going down. Coming into turn 1, the tire blew and Stewart went into the wall. He received some damage and went twelve laps down fixing the damage. Michael McDowell also spun, but he did not receive any damage. No drivers received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the second caution on lap 54. On the frontstretch, David Gilliland got into Casey Mears and Mears got loose. The cars began to stack up and Jeff Burton could not stop and hit Juan Pablo Montoya in the back. Carl Edwards bumped Burton into the wall in turn 1. Marcos Ambrose, Aric Almirola, and Joe Nemechek also got involved. Burton received the majority of the damage from the wreck. Danica Patrick received the lucky dog. The major thing that happened during this caution was on the pit stops.
Kyle Busch came into the pits and had a very routine stop. But what happened afterwards changed his race. NASCAR penalized him for speeding in three segments of pit road. He had to move to the back of the lead lap, which put him deep in the field. The race went back green and went a short time before the third caution of the race on lap 70. Jamie McMurray, who was running in third at the time, got up a little too high in turn 3 and went for a spin. He barely tapped the wall and was able to continue on. Terry Labonte received the lucky dog. The race went back green and the second longest green flag run of the race ended with the fourth caution on lap 151. David Gilliland got into the wall in turn 2. He was able to continue, but with some damage. David Ragan, Gilliland's teammate, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and three drivers had terminal problems.
After the restart, Bobby Labonte's car puffed out a huge billow of smoke, which is typically a sign that the engine has let go. He was able to get the car to pit road and no caution came out. Then, David Reutimann began to slow down on the top side and showed signs of a blown engine as well. He was also able to get it to pit road and not cause a caution. Finally, Scott Speed began to slow on the track and he also showed signs of a motor letting go. He was able to pull it down pit road and avoid a caution. All three drivers dropped out of the race. The race continued on until Kurt Busch, who was running up front, had to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 224. He thought that he had a flat tire, which was a good reason to stop with all the tire problems. Right after this, the fifth caution of the race ended the longest green flag run of the day on lap 236. Landon Cassill blew a tire in turn 4 and hit the wall. Jamie McMurray, who was involved in a previous incident, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and one of the contenders in the race fell out.
Aric Almirola had a tire go down, but he was able to make it into the pits to change it. He came back on the track and ran a couple of laps. When he was going into turn 3 on lap 249, he got loose and slammed into the wall. His car was destroyed and the chances he had of getting a good finish completely went away. This brought out the sixth caution of the day. Brian Vickers received his first of two lucky dogs on the day. The race went green and it continued until the seventh caution on lap 320. Dave Blaney blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed into the wall. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received his first of two lucky dogs on the day. The race went back green and the incident that caused a confrontation, yes, a confrontation to occur happened.
Coming out of turn 4, Joey Logano put a slide job on Denny Hamlin on lap 347 to grab the second spot. Denny did not take too kindly to this and going into turn 1, he retaliated. He tapped Logano and Logano went into the wall. Logano's bumper ripped off, but he received no other damage. Logano was not happy with Hamlin and it showed for the rest of the race. This caused the eighth caution of the day to come out on lap 348. Brian Vickers received his final lucky dog of the race. The race went back green and continued on until the two leaders got involved in an accident.
Jeff Gordon had been with the same set of right side tires for a while. His car had begun to start handling bad and Matt Kenseth was there and ready to pounce. But something unlucky happened to both drivers. Going into turn 3, Jeff Gordon blew a right front tire on the bottom of the track and drifted up. Kenseth was there and he could not avoid. Kenseth plowed into the back of Gordon, which caused Kenseth's hood to be completely ripped off the car. Both cars were destroyed beyond repair. This caused the ninth caution of the race to come out on lap 390. Casey Mears received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the tenth and final caution of the race on lap 455. Jimmie Johnson, the fifth and final driver to blow a tire and wreck, blew a tire in turn 3 and slammed into the wall. This led to the final restart of the race and the move to win the race.
Kasey Kahne started on the bottom with Brad Keselowski to his outside. They began to take off and Keselowski spun the tires. Hamlin, who had Logano behind waiting to wreck him, pushed Keselowski and he got extremely loose. Kasey Kahne pulled away and never looked back, but Hamlin did have a moment that could have brought out a caution. Hamlin had what appeared to be a tire going down with six laps to go. He stayed on the track and was able to finish, but he hit ever wall in those six laps. With the end of the race, Kasey Kahne won his first Bristol race and captured his fifteenth career victory. The race was not over yet, though. After the race, Joey Logano walked up to Denny Hamlin, who was still in his car. Logano began talking to Hamlin and Hamlin's crew pushed him away. The two crews started a shoving match, but no fighting ensued and the thoughts went back to Kasey Kahne's win.
What a finish, what a race, and what a win for Kasey Kahne. I was absolutely stoked. In case you guys did not know, Kasey Kahne is my favorite driver along with Kevin Harvick. If you would have been in my room, you would have heard me yelling at the television to push Kasey on and urge him on. It was one of those moments that I will always cherish and remember as being one of Kasey's coolest wins. Enough reminiscing for me. I was glad that the race turned out the way it was with all the excitement. Hopefully, this tells the tale for the rest of the season and we will be constantly filled with excitement.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 8- Tony Stewart blew a tire in turn 1 and slid up into the wall.
2nd Caution: Lap 54- David Gilliland bumped into Casey Mears on the frontstretch and Mears got loose. Cars started stacking up and Jeff Burton could not avoid running into Juan Pablo Montoya. Carl Edwards bumped into Burton and pushed him into the wall in turn 1. Marcos Ambrose, Aric Almirola, and Joe Nemechek also got involved.
3rd Caution: Lap 70- Jamie McMurray got a little too high in turn 3 and went for a spin.
4th Caution: Lap 151- David Gilliland got into the wall in turn 2.
5th Caution: Lap 236- Landon Cassill blew a tire in turn 4 and hit the wall.
6th Caution: Lap 249- Aric Almirola got loose in turn 3 and slammed into the wall.
7th Caution: Lap 320- Dave Blaney blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed into the wall.
8th Caution: Lap 348- Denny Hamlin bumped Joey Logano in turn 1 and put Logano into the wall.
9th Caution: Lap 390- Jeff Gordon blew a tire on the bottom of the track in turn 3. He slid up the track and Matt Kenseth could not avoid, damaging both cars.
10th Caution: Lap 455- Jimmie Johnson blew a tire in turn 3 and slammed into the wall.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Danica Patrick
3rd Caution: Terry Labonte
4th Caution: David Ragan
5th Caution: Jamie McMurray
6th Caution: Brian Vickers
7th Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
8th Caution: Brian Vickers
9th Caution: Casey Mears
10th Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kasey Kahne
2nd: Kyle Busch
3rd: Brad Keselowski
4th: Kurt Busch
5th: Clint Bowyer
Notables Not in Top 5:
14th: Kevin Harvick
22nd: Jimmie Johnson
23rd: Denny Hamlin
28th: Danica Patrick
31st: Tony Stewart
34th: Jeff Gordon
35th: Matt Kenseth
Credits:
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Food_City_500/W
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/03/17/3-17-13-kasey-kahne-bristol1-x-large.jpg
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