Brad Keselowski started on the pole. It was his first pole of 2013 and his third career. He was able to get out and lead the first lap. It was a short time before the first caution of the race came out on lap 4. Joey Logano had an apparent tire failure in turn 1 and went for a spin. He slammed the outside wall and received a good bit of damage which eliminated his chances for a good finish. No drivers received the lucky dog. The race went back green and went for a short time until the second caution of the race on lap 14. Kevin Harvick bumped Marcos Ambrose coming out of turn 4. Ambrose slid down the frontstretch and went back up the track into Casey Mears. A.J. Allmendinger also made contact with the wall trying to avoid the two, but it was very slight. No drivers received the lucky dog. Early on in the race, it looked like nobody would take anything from their fellow competitors and that theme continued on throughout the race.
The race went back green and continued on until the first round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 73. Two contenders would have trouble during the stops. Denny Hamlin had to come back in a second time because one of his lug nuts had not been tightened. Brian Vickers had taken equipment out of the box and had to come back down pit road for a pass through penalty. Immediately after the stops, the third caution of the race came out on lap 78. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 1. Joe Nemechek received the lucky dog. The race went green once again and continued on until the fourth caution of the race on lap 122. Denny Hamlin blew a tire coming into turn 3, but he had slowed the car down enough to avoid the wall and continue on after replacing the tire. David Ragan received the lucky dog. This is where strategy began to take shape in the race. Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, and Juan Pablo Montoya decided to take two tires while the rest of the drivers took four tires. It would be interesting to see which strategy would work out for the win.
The race went back green and continued on until the fifth caution of the race on lap 156. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 3. Joe Nemechek received the lucky dog. Most of the drivers up front took two tires with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. taking fuel only. This decision would hurt him as he fell back on the restart. The race went back green once again and continued on until the sixth caution of the race on lap 202. Debris was spotted on the backstretch. Travis Kvapil received the lucky dog. Most of the front runners took only two tires. The race went back green and it was a short time before the seventh caution of the race on lap 210. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 2. Denny Hamlin, who had a tire problem earlier, received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and continued on until the eighth caution of the race on lap 217. A.J. Allmendinger made contact with Danica Patrick which caused Patrick to spin in turn 2. She avoided the cars around her and continued on without damage. A.J. Allmendinger received the lucky dog. This is where the strategy really decided the race. Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Juan Pablo Montoya, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman, and Brian Vickers decided to stay out. Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, and others decided to just take fuel. It would once again be interesting to see who could win the race with their strategy.
The race went back green and went a short time before the ninth caution of the race on lap 225. Matt Kenseth made slight contact with Kurt Busch causing Busch to go up the track on Ryan Newman in turn 2. Busch and Newman went for a spin and Newman slammed the wall as Busch slid to a stop. It was pretty unfortunate for the two and revenge could come to Kenseth soon. David Stremme received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and a contender would have trouble. Kasey Kahne, who had run up front all day, got turned coming out of turn 2. Somehow, he made an amazing save and was able to save the car. He continued on, but he lost a lot of positions and his chances for a top 10 were pretty much gone. The race went a short time before some relationship drama occurred with the tenth caution on lap 237. Danica Patrick got loose under braking coming into turn 1 and bumped Ricky Stenhouse Jr. causing Stenhouse to slide up into Travis Kvapil. All three drivers slammed the outside wall and received a good amount of damage. Kvapil was pretty unhappy with Patrick, but his revenge would have to wait another day. Joe Nemechek received the lucky dog. Now, the race moved into the late stages and a winner would be decided.
The race went back green once again and continued on until the eleventh caution on lap 258. Paul Menard bumped Jeff Gordon in turn 2 causing Gordon to go for a spin. There were a lot of people angry with that move, but Gordon was being too aggressive and he took the damage. Joe Nemechek received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and Brian Vickers began to become the class of the field. He made it past Kyle Busch for second late in the race and he finally passed Tony Stewart with fourteen laps to go for the lead. He started to run away and it looked like he would cruise to his first win since 2009. But all that changed with the twelfth and final caution of the race on lap 296. Debris was spotted on the backstretch. Joe Nemechek received the lucky dog. Now, Vickers would have to hold off the field on a green-white-checkered finish.
The race went back green for the final time and the action began to ramp up. Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, and Brian Vickers ended up three wide going into turn 1. Somehow, Vickers got the run on the outside coming out of turn 2 and went straight to the lead. Tony Stewart, who had lead some of the race, ran out of fuel on the restart and ended up finishing 26th. This did not affect Vickers as he cruised to his third career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. It was a popular win among the drivers. On the cool down lap, Vickers was congratulated by most of his closest rivals. He burnt the tires down and gave high fives to fans and his pit crew. It was an exciting win and one of the coolest of the year.
With this win, it looks like Brian Vickers will get the full time ride in Michael Waltrip's #55 next year. He has the experience and he has the ability to win races and finish good. Also, the points were shaken up a lot. Kasey Kahne moved into the top 10 in points with Tony Stewart running out of gas and Brad Keselowski also moved into the top 10 with his good run. Finally, Jimmie Johnson was able to move his way from the back of the field to the sixth place and stay on top of the points. It was an awesome race and the series needs a week off to relax and they get it. In two weeks, the series heads to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Will Jimmie Johnson repeat at the Brickyard, will Paul Menard win his second race at the Brickyard, or will another driver further solidify their chase hopes? We will have to find out in two weeks.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 4- Joey Logano blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed the outside wall after a spin.
2nd Caution: Lap 14- Kevin Harvick bumped Marcos Ambrose coming out of turn 4 which caused Ambrose to spin and slide up into Casey Mears. A.J. Allmendinger received some damage as well.
3rd Caution: Lap 78- Debris was spotted on the track in turn 1.
4th Caution: Lap 122- Denny Hamlin blew a tire coming into turn 3, but he avoided the wall.
5th Caution: Lap 156- Debris was spotted at the entrance to turn 3.
6th Caution: Lap 202- Debris was spotted on the backstretch.
7th Caution: Lap 210- Debris was spotted in turn 2.
8th Caution: Lap 217- A.J. Allmendinger bumped Danica Patrick in turn 2 and sent her for a spin.
9th Caution: Lap 225- Matt Kenseth made slight contact with Kurt Busch causing Busch to slide up into Ryan Newman and both drivers to hit the wall in turn 2 with Newman receiving the most damage.
10th Caution: Lap 237- Danica Patrick got loose coming into turn 1 and slammed into Ricky Stenhouse Jr. which caused Stenhouse to slide up into Travis Kvapil. All three drivers slammed the outside wall.
11th Caution: Lap 258- Paul Menard bumped Jeff Gordon in turn 2 causing Gordon to go for a spin.
12th Caution: Lap 296- Debris was spotted on the backstretch.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: None
3rd Caution: Joe Nemechek
4th Caution: David Ragan
5th Caution: Joe Nemechek
6th Caution: Travis Kvapil
7th Caution: Denny Hamlin
8th Caution: A.J. Allmendinger
9th Caution: David Stremme
10th Caution: Joe Nemechek
11th Caution: Joe Nemechek
12th Caution: Joe Nemechek
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Brian Vickers
2nd: Kyle Busch
3rd: Jeff Burton
4th: Brad Keselowski
5th: Aric Almirola
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Jimmie Johnson
9th: Matt Kenseth
10th: Jeff Gordon
11th: Kasey Kahne
14th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
26th: Tony Stewart
37th: Danica Patrick
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Camping_World_RV_Sales_301/W
-Image:
http://abcnewsradioonline.com/storage/sports-news-images/brian_vickers_loudon_71413_nscs_victory_lane.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1373838275851
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