Matt Kenseth, who had an emotional week filled with all kinds of suspensions and penalties from the race at Kansas, started on the pole. Last week at Kansas, Kenseth started on the pole and was able to cruise to victory. He was able to lead the first lap of the race and immediately showed that he was going to be a contender in the race. The drivers started the race very friendly and allowed faster cars to go by, but that changed quickly. The first caution of the race came out on lap 42. Landon Cassill went under Josh Wise coming into turn 3 and they made contact. Wise went for a slide, but he was able to save it and avoid the wall. David Reutimann received his first of four lucky dogs in the race. The race went back green and continued on until the second caution of the race on lap 111. Marcos Ambrose stopped on the backstretch due to no oil pressure in the engine. The problem was terminal and Ambrose was not able to return to the race. Landon Cassill received the lucky dog. At this point, the track had just begun the change from day to night and the drivers hoped that they had the right setup for the rest of the race.
The race went back green and continued on until the third caution of the race on lap 147. Michael McDowell dropped some fluid on the backstretch. David Reutimann received his second lucky dog of the race. The race went back green and it was a short time before the fourth caution of the race came out on lap 159. Brad Keselowski blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed into the outside wall. He was able to avoid receiving catastrophic damage and was able to continue on after some minor repair. Oddly enough, the sprinkler system in the infield cut on during the caution. Even more odd, FOX stated that the sprinkler system was the reason for the caution. Nonetheless, Josh Wise received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the fifth caution of the race on lap 233. Greg Biffle, who had been fighting his car all night long, got loose coming out of turn 4 and went for a spin down the frontstretch. He was able to keep it out of the wall and avoid receiving damage. David Ragan received the lucky dog. The race went back green and the rash of cautions that led to the end of the race began.
The sixth caution of the race came out on lap 293. Travis Kvapil made contact with the wall in turn 2 and was slow. He could not get down to pit road and made contact with the wall in turn 4 causing the caution flag to wave. It was a good caution for most drivers, but one driver in particular did not want to see it wave. Brad Keselowski had just made his routine pit stop under green. He came out of the pits and on that lap the caution flag waved. He was a lap down, but he was able to get the lucky dog and return to the lead lap. The race went back green and continued on until the seventh caution on lap 309. Travis Kvapil blew an engine in turn 4 and was unable to make it back it around before the caution flag waved. David Reutimann received his third lucky dog of the race. The race went back green and a few contenders in the race fell out.
On lap 328, Tony Stewart got loose coming into turn 1 under Jimmie Johnson. Stewart slid up the track into Johnson. Both drivers went for a spin and slid down the banking. Kyle Busch had moved to the apron of the track and Johnson slid right down in front of him. Busch had no choice but to plow into Johnson. All three drivers had a little damage, with Johnson and Busch receiving the most. This resulted in the eighth caution of the race. David Reutimann received his fourth and final lucky dog of the race. The race went back green and it was a short time before the ninth caution of the race came out on lap 340. Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin made contact coming out of turn 2 and both drivers went for a spin. Brian Vickers ran into Martin and Martin and Kahne both made contact with the wall. Jimmie Johnson also received some slight damage. Kyle Busch received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and it was a short time before the tenth caution of the race came out on lap 347. Kurt Busch bumped Martin Truex Jr. in turn 3 and Truex went for a spin. Truex was able to keep the car out of the wall and continue on without damage. David Gilliland received the lucky dog. Now, the drivers prepared for the last fifty laps.
The race went back green and Juan Pablo Montoya jumped out to a quick lead. Kevin Harvick, who was on fresher tires at the time, made his way up to second place. For about thirty laps, Harvick would get closer to Montoya and then Montoya would begin to pull away. With only a few laps to go, it looked like Montoya had his first ever win on a NASCAR oval. But one caution would change all that. On lap 397, Brian Vickers made contact with the turn 1 wall, but was able to keep going. He went into turn 3 and the car went up the track and made hard contact with the outside wall. This resulted in the eleventh and final caution of the race. Kyle Busch received the lucky dog. Because of this caution, drivers on old tires were able to pit and get new ones, but a few drivers stayed out and made sure it going to be a mad dash to the finish.
The race went green and it looked like Jeff Burton, who had stayed out, could get ahead and get away. But coming into turn 1 after the restart, all the drivers would did not stop slowed the field up and Kevin Harvick was able to get by and grab the lead. He didn't look back and grabbed his twenty career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. But the action was very far from over.
Coming out of turn 4 to get the white flag, Kurt Busch got behind Tony Stewart and bumped him out of the groove. Stewart lost a few spots, but did not wreck. The race continued on and Matt Kenseth bumped Busch coming to the checkered flag and Busch lost a few spots. But it didn't end there. Busch drove up on Kenseth on the cool down lap and bumped him in the back. As this was happening, Stewart drove up next to Busch and shoved him up the banking until the two started smoking from the contact. Busch made sure to get the last word by bumping Stewart as they got onto pit road. Ironically, their haulers were parked next to each other and they shared words after they got out of their cars, but no altercation occurred. Now, the action had settled down and Harvick celebrated in style.
What a race, what a win for Harvick, and what a show afterwards. I think this was up there with California as one of the best races of the season. Hopefully, this momentum keeps Harvick in the winning groove and leads him to a championship as he leaves Richard Childress Racing. Plus, the feud between Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart could heat up in the next two races. Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to the always exciting Talladega Superspeedway. Then, they head to the track “Too Tough To Tame”, Darlington Raceway, for a Saturday night showdown. The action should pick up in the next two weeks and I hope you guys are ready because I am.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 42- Landon Cassill made contact with Josh Wise in turn 3 and Wise went for a slide.
2nd Caution: Lap 111- Marcos Ambrose stopped on the backstretch.
3rd Caution: Lap 147- Michael McDowell dropped some fluid on the backstretch.
4th Caution: Lap 159- Brad Keselowski blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed into the wall.
5th Caution: Lap 233- Greg Biffle got loose in turn 4 and spun on the frontstretch.
6th Caution: Lap 293- Travis Kvapil made contact with the wall in turn 4.
7th Caution: Lap 309- Travis Kvapil blew an engine in turn 4 and couldn't make it back around to the pits.
8th Caution: Lap 328- Tony Stewart got loose in turn 1 and went up into Jimmie Johnson. The two spun out and slid down the track. Kyle Busch could not avoid and slammed into Johnson.
9th Caution: Lap 340- Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin made contact coming out of turn 2. The two went for a spin and Brian Vickers slammed into Martin.
10th Caution: Lap 347- Kurt Busch bumped Martin Truex Jr. in turn 3 and Truex went for a spin.
11th Caution: Lap 397- Brian Vickers went up the track in turn 3 and hit the wall.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: David Reutimann
2nd Caution: Landon Cassill
3rd Caution: David Reutimann
4th Caution: Josh Wise
5th Caution: David Ragan
6th Caution: Brad Keselowski
7th Caution: David Reutimann
8th Caution: David Reutimann
9th Caution: Kyle Busch
10th Caution: David Gilliland
11th Caution: Kyle Busch
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kevin Harvick
2nd: Clint Bowyer
3rd: Joey Logano
4th: Juan Pablo Montoya
5th: Jeff Burton
Notables Not in Top 5:
10th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
11th: Jeff Gordon
12th: Jimmie Johnson
18th: Tony Stewart
21st: Kasey Kahne
24th: Kyle Busch
29th: Danica Patrick
33rd: Brad Keselowski
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Toyota_Owners_400/W
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/04/27/usp-nascar-sprint-cup-series_-toyota-owners-400-4_3_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81
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