With a pass on Juan Pablo Montoya for the lead with three laps to go, Tony Stewart secured his first win of 2013 and his first since Daytona last July. Stewart battled his car all day long and made it to the front with a strategy call to get only two tires on the final pit stop. This put him up near the front and a good car propelled him to the lead. But it almost didn't happen. Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., who had two of the best cars in the race, lost engines before they had a shot to win. Jimmie Johnson, who battled from the back and had a good car at the finish, jumped the final restart and was black flagged. Kasey Kahne, who was top 10 all race, got loose with about 80 laps to go and wrecked, ending his chances to win. It was quite a race to end the season for FOX and it was certainly one of the best of the year.
Denny Hamlin started on the pole. It was his second consecutive pole on the season. The green flag waved and he was able to lead the first lap. He led until lap 24 when he was passed by his teammate, Kyle Busch. The race entered a long green flag spell and the first round of green flag pit stops began on lap 72. It was a short time before the first caution of the race came out on lap 79. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 2. Tony Stewart, the eventual winner of the race, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and it continued on until the second caution of the race on lap 126. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received the lucky dog. After this restart, one of the contenders in the race had race ending problems.
On lap 157, Matt Kenseth was leading the race ahead of Kyle Busch. As he was on the backstretch, he began to slow and Kyle Busch passed him. Subsequently, Kenseth had engine problems and his race was finished. This resulted in the third caution of the race so the track crew could clean the fluid off of the track from Kenseth's blown engine. At the same time as Kenseth's blown engine, Joey Logano blew a tire, but was able to make it down pit road and continue on. Jeff Burton received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again with one contender gone from the race. The race entered another long green spell and the second round of green flag pit stops of the race began on lap 233. Shortly after these pit stops, another contender and Toyota driver would have engine problems.
On lap 279, Martin Truex Jr., who had been near the front all race, was in third place. Truex began to slow and smoke began to pour out of his car. He also had engine problems and retired from the race. This resulted in the fourth caution of the race so the track crew could clean up oil on the track left by Truex's blown engine. Carl Edwards received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the fifth caution of the race. Ryan Newman, who had been put back in traffic due to an apparent bad shock, was running behind David Gilliland. On lap 298, Newman bumped Gilliland to let him know he was there and he wanted to go by. Gilliland did not let him by and Newman became more frustrated. On lap 299, Newman bumped Gilliland hard coming out of turn 2 and Gilliland slammed the outside wall. He slid down the track and Newman slammed into Gilliland's left side. The two, subsequently, made contact with the inside wall and slid to a stop. Their cars were destroyed. Gilliland got out of his car quickly and went over to Newman's stopped car. The two had a heated conversation, but an altercation did not occur. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received his second lucky dog of the race. The race went green and another contender would have trouble.
Coming into turn 1 on lap 316, Kasey Kahne got a little high on the track. The car began to go around and he went for a spin. He could not save it and the car backed into the outside wall. His car slid to a stop at the exit of the turn 2 with a good bit of rear end damage. He kept going in the race, but his chances for a good finish were destroyed. This resulted in the sixth caution of the race. Joey Logano received the lucky dog. The race went green once again and yet another contender would have trouble.
On lap 328, Jamie McMurray slowed due to what he thought was a flat tire. He pitted and the team saw smoke coming out of the exhaust pipes of the car. The team checked and the radiator had busted on the car. The team was able to repair it, but he lost a lot laps and was out of contention. The race continued on until the seventh and final caution of the race on lap 377. Denny Hamlin blew a tire in turn 1 and made significant contact with the outside wall. He drove away, but with a good bit of damage. Jeff Burton received his second lucky dog of the race. Now, a shootout was set up with some drivers with two tires and others with four.
The green flag waved and the cars got going, especially Jimmie Johnson. Johnson was going so good in fact that he jumped the restart. Juan Pablo Montoya, who was the leader and controlled the start, spun the tires and Johnson jumped way out in front of him. Since he was ahead of the leader before the start/finish line, NASCAR was forced to black flag him. Johnson pulled down pit road and his chances for a win were now over. Montoya was out front and looked good for a win. But there was a guy by the name of Tony Stewart looking to change that. Stewart was making tenths on Montoya every lap after the restart and he finally caught him. With three laps to go, Stewart made the move past him and nobody was going to catch Stewart. Stewart cruised to his forty eighth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win and his third at Dover. All in all, it was the best race Stewart has had all year and he will look to use this momentum to find his way into the Chase.
It was a good race for most drivers, but some of the championship contenders had days that can be forgotten. Luckily for Jimmie Johnson, most of his closest points contenders, including Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, and Martin Truex Jr., had troubles as well. The next few races should tell who should be at the top of the point standings and who shouldn't be. With this race, FOX ends their coverage and TNT will begin their Summer Series starting with Pocono next week. Will Joey Logano repeat at Pocono, will Brad Keselowski finally get his season going with a win at Pocono, or will Denny Hamlin push towards the Chase with a win at one of his favorite tracks? We will have to wait until next Sunday to find out.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 79- Debris was spotted on the track in turn 2.
2nd Caution: Lap 126- Debris was spotted on the track in turn 3.
3rd Caution: Lap 159- Fluid was spotted on the track due to Matt Kenseth's blown engine.
4th Caution: Lap 279- Fluid was spotted on the track due to Martin Truex Jr.'s blown engine.
5th Caution: Lap 299- Ryan Newman bumped David Gilliland coming out of turn 2. Gilliland hit the outside wall and then slid down the track. Newman slammed into his left side door and the two made contact with the inside wall.
6th Caution: Lap 316- Kasey Kahne got loose in turn 2 and made contact with the outside wall.
7th Caution: Lap 377- Denny Hamlin blew a tire in turn 1 and made significant contact with the outside wall.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Tony Stewart
2nd Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3rd Caution: Jeff Burton
4th Caution: Carl Edwards
5th Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
6th Caution: Joey Logano
7th Caution: Jeff Burton
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Tony Stewart
2nd: Juan Pablo Montoya
3rd: Jeff Gordon
4th: Kyle Busch
5th: Brad Keselowski*
(*: Keselowski's car was found to be too low in post race inspection. He might receive penalties so updates will be posted as soon as they come out.)
Notables Not in Top 5:
10th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
17th: Jimmie Johnson
23rd: Kasey Kahne
24th: Danica Patrick
34th: Denny Hamlin
38th: Martin Truex Jr.
40th: Matt Kenseth
(Update #1: Brad Keselowski was docked six driver points and Roger Penske was docked six owner points after Keselowski's car was found to be too low in post race inspection. Paul Wolfe, Keselowski's crew chief, was fined $25,000 and will remain on probation until December 31st. This moves Keselowski from eighth to tenth in the point standings.)
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_FedEx_400_Benefitting_Autism_Speaks/W
-Update #1:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2013/06/04/brad-keselowski-penalty-points-failed-inspection.html
-Image:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/dam/assets/130602165847-tonystewartdoverwinstory-single-image-cut.jpg
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