Matt Kenseth Grabs His Second Win of 2013 at Kansas

        After dominating the entire race at Kansas, Matt Kenseth was able to hold off a late charge from Kasey Kahne to grab his second victory of the season. It was his twenty sixth career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. To add to that, he started on the pole and it was the first time since 1985 that three straight winners had won from the pole. But it was not an easy victory for Kenseth. Strategy had out him out of the picture for part of the race and he had to contend with cautions that could happen at the wrong time. As well as these things, Kasey Kahne was breathing down his neck from the time the final green flag waved on the final restart until the checkered flag waved. All in all, it was a great fight for the win and a great race as well.

        Matt Kenseth started on the pole and he immediately proved his dominance. He jumped out to lead the first lap and led all but one of the first one hundred and eleven laps. The race had just begun when the first caution of the race came out on lap 4. Kyle Busch got loose coming out of turn 2 and went for a spin down the backstretch. He was able to keep the car out of the wall and continue on. No drivers received the lucky dog. Before the race could even go back green, one of the would be contenders in the race had trouble.

        Brad Keselowski had received a little bit of damage at the start of the race. He went down pit road twice on the first caution and had a very lengthy second pit stop. Apparently, the damage had made it difficult to get fuel into the car and his crew had to fix the problem. They held him in the pits until the cars were coming out of turn 4 for the restart, but he was able to leave the pits and make it out before the restart. Subsequently, he was not able to stay in front of the leaders and quickly went a lap down. The race continued on until the second caution of the day on lap 37. Dave Blaney blew a tire in turn 2 and slammed into the outside wall. He received a good amount of damage and retired from the race. Josh Wise received the lucky dog. The race continued on until the third caution of the race came out on lap 72. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 2. Josh Wise received the lucky dog. Soon after this restart, the action began to pick up. 

        On lap 79, Greg Biffle and Mark Martin made contact and Martin went up into the wall. The caution flag did not wave, but we knew the action would start to pick up. A short time after this the fourth caution of the race came out on lap 86. Elliott Sadler got loose in turn 2 and made significant contact with the back of his car in the outside wall. His car was pretty damaged and he was forced to retire from the race. Timmy Hill received the lucky dog. The race went back green and the worst accident of the race occurred.

        It was the fifth caution of the race and happened on lap 103. Kyle Busch had been fighting loose conditions all day including a spin early in the race. He once again lost the car in turn 3 and went up the track into the wall. Joey Logano, who assumed Busch would stay up the track, went down to the apron. But Busch went down the track and onto the apron. Logano could not avoid and slammed into the front of Busch's car. Both cars were immediately destroyed beyond repair. Landon Cassill received the lucky dog. The race went back green and Mark Martin had more trouble. On the restart, he and Jamie McMurray went down to the apron, but Martin was a bit faster. He bumped McMurray and McMurray almost spun down the apron, but he was able to save it and keep going. Both drivers lost a ton of spots, but both drivers were able to recover. The race continued on until the first round of green flag pit stops of the day on lap 155. Drivers were able to stop and the strategy for the rest of the race was set in place. Some drivers would have to make only one more stop, but others would have to make two. It was setting up for a mad dash to the finish.

         The race continued on until the sixth caution of the race on lap 173. Brian Vickers got into the wall in turn 2 and went for a spin down the backstretch. He was able to keep going, but he had a good bit of damage. Bobby Labonte received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the seventh caution on lap 181. Marcos Ambrose got loose coming out of turn 2 and Sam Hornish Jr. had nowhere to go. He slammed into Ambrose's door and slid down the track into the inside wall. Casey Mears got bumped by David Gilliland and Mears ran into Hornish, leaving both with significant damage. Regan Smith received the lucky dog. The race went back green and the eighth and final caution came out on lap 217. Debris from Brad Keselowski's car was spotted in turns 3 and 4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received the lucky dog. Now, the stage was set for a mad dash to the finish with every driver having a chance to win and all of them wanting it.

        The green flag waved for the restart and Matt Kenseth jumped out to a quick lead. Kasey Kahne was able to get into second and the chase began. The two would get closer to each other and then get farther away. Finally, Kahne made it extremely close with about fifteen to go. He made a final attempt to pass on the final two laps, but he was unable and Matt Kenseth grabbed his second win of the season. It was a mad dash that kept you on the edge of your seat and definitely did not disappoint in the end.

        The end actually turned out to be some crazy déjà vu from Kenseth and Kahne's battle at Las Vegas, but it was still worth watching. The new repaved Kansas definitely did not disappoint from last year's caution fest. The Sprint Cup drivers and teams will head to Richmond International Raceway for a show under the lights. Will Kasey Kahne grab redemption from this race, will Denny Hamlin return from injury to the track he has dominated in the past, or will Kyle Busch repeat at Richmond? We will find out this Saturday.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 4- Kyle Busch got loose coming out of turn 2 and went for a spin.

2nd Caution: Lap 37- Dave Blaney blew a tire in turn 2 and slammed into the wall.

3rd Caution: Lap 72- Debris was spotted in turn 2.

4th Caution: Lap 86- Elliott Sadler got loose in turn 2 and backed into the outside wall.

5th Caution: Lap 103- Kyle Busch got loose in turn 3 and went up the track. He slid down the track and Joey Logano was there and they made huge contact. Both cars were destroyed.

6th Caution: Lap 173- Brian Vickers got into the wall in turn 2 and went for a spin.

7th Caution: Lap 181- Marcos Ambrose got loose coming out of turn 2. Sam Hornish Jr. slammed into Ambrose and slid down the track. David Gilliland bumped Casey Mears and Mears went down the track and hit Hornish.

8th Caution: Lap 217- Debris from Brad Keselowski's car was spotted in turns 3 and 4.

Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Josh Wise
3rd Caution: Josh Wise
4th Caution: Timmy Hill 
5th Caution: Landon Cassill
6th Caution: Bobby Labonte
7th Caution: Regan Smith
8th Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Matt Kenseth
2nd: Kasey Kahne
3rd: Jimmie Johnson
4th: Martin Truex Jr.
5th: Clint Bowyer

Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Brad Keselowski
12th: Kevin Harvick
13th: Jeff Gordon
16th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
25th: Danica Patrick
38th: Kyle Busch



Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013-08/W
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/04/21/usp-nascar_-stp-400_002-4_3_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81