Sam Hornish Jr. started on the pole. It was his first pole of 2013 and second of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career. Before the race could even run a complete green lap, the first caution of the race came out. Joey Gase lost an engine as he crossed the line for the start of the race. No driver received the lucky dog. Sam Hornish Jr. was able to lead the first lap as it was under caution. The race went green and it finally entered a green flag stretch. The race continued on until the second caution of the race on lap 48. Harrison Rhodes lost an engine on the frontstretch of the track. Johanna Long received the lucky dog. The major effect of this caution was what happened during the first round of pit stops of the race.
Sam Hornish Jr., who had led the whole race up to the second caution, led the field onto pit road. He started off very slow down pit road and had the field immediately behind him. As he went down pit road, Hornish began to move a little out in front of the field. As the field was lined up after the stops, Hornish was given a penalty for speeding on pit road. He was forced to make a pass through and start at the rear of the field. It would be interesting to see if he could make his way from the back to the front of the field in only one hundred and fifty laps. The race went back green and went a little while before a rookie contender would have trouble. On lap 89, Alex Bowman made an unscheduled pit stop. It was reported to be a voltage problem on his car. The crew decided to replace the battery, which cost him a lot of time and a good finish. The race continued on until the first round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 102. There was an exchange for the lead. Elliott Sadler, who had been leading since pit stops after the second caution, had a slow stop which gave the lead to Austin Dillon. Shortly after this, a well known Nationwide Series regular would have trouble.
Travis Pastrana had been running decent all day. His day was about to take a turn for the worst. Pastrana blew a tire in turn 1 and made contact with the outside wall on lap 114. He was able to continue on with a little damage, but his chances for a top 15 were finished. This resulted in the third caution of the race. Mike Bliss received the lucky dog. This is where strategy began to take shape in the race. Regan Smith and Joey Coulter decided to pit while the rest of the field stayed out on the track. Smith did not get tires, but he did get some fuel. The plan was to save his two sets of tires for the end of the race. This decision would help him very soon. The race went back green and continued until the fourth caution of the race on lap 129. Regan Smith got loose coming out of turn 4 and went for a slide down the frontstretch. He slid through the grass, but his splitter was not ripped off the car and he continued on without damage. Luckily for Smith, he had not taken tires on the previous stop, so he could take tires after the spin and still have a set left for later in the race. Matt Crafton received the lucky dog. Even more strategy took place during the stops. Joey Logano decided to take two tires while the rest of the top 10 took four tires. Kyle Larson and Mike Bliss decided to stay out and gain some track position. The race want back green and the drivers who took four tires began to move up as Bliss and Larson fell back with no tires. As the run continued on, Joey Logano began to lose spots and he fell all the way back to fifth as the fifth caution of the race came out on lap 171. Mike Bliss, who had not pitted on the last set of stops, made the move to pit road, but he had too much speed. He made a quick move to avoid the entrance and the car went for a spin. He was able to get back going and avoid damage. Dakoda Armstrong received the lucky dog. Drivers decided to make their last stop of the race during the caution. It seemed like some drivers would take the gamble and get only two tires or just fuel, but all drivers in the top 10 took four tires. It would be interesting to see who could move to the front and take the lead and possibly the win.
The race went back green and it was a short time before the sixth and final caution of the race came out on lap 179. Reed Sorenson lost an engine on the frontstretch. Nelson Piquet Jr. received the lucky dog. Now, the final mad dash to the finish was set up and it would be a good one. The drivers lined up with Joey Logano on the inside of row 1 and Sam Hornish Jr. to his outside. Austin Dillon lined up behind Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler lined up behind Sam Hornish Jr. The race went green for the final time and Logano stayed side by side with Hornish until they made it to turn 3. Logano jumped out to the lead and he looked to hold on. Hornish made it close in the final laps, but Logano held on for the win. It was a dominating race for Penske as Logano and Hornish took the top 2 positions.
It was certainly a good day for Joey Logano. Since it was an off weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Roger Penske asked Logano if he would drive the car and boost their chances for the owner points championship. Logano did not disappoint with a win and a domination of the race. Plus, Sam Hornish Jr. came home second and gave himself the points lead. It was not a good day for former points leader Regan Smith. He finished thirteenth and lost his points lead that was 58 points at one time. He will look to gain it back while other Nationwide Series regulars will look to move into the points battle. It will be a good show as the series heads to the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Will Brad Keselowski back up his win from last year, will Elliott Sadler gain retribution after a restart penalty cost him the win last year, or will another driver win at the famed Brickyard? We will have to wait until this Saturday to find out.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 1- Joey Gase lost an engine on the frontstretch.
2nd Caution: Lap 48- Harrison Rhodes lost an engine on the frontstretch.
3rd Caution: Lap 114- Travis Pastrana blew a tire in turn 1 and made contact with the wall.
4th Caution: Lap 129- Regan Smith got loose coming out of turn 4 and went for a slide down the frontstretch.
5th Caution: Lap 171- Mike Bliss went for a spin after he missed the pit road entrance.
6th Caution: Lap 179- Reed Sorenson lost an engine on the frontstretch.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Johanna Long
3rd Caution: Mike Bliss
4th Caution: Matt Crafton
5th Caution: Dakoda Armstrong
6th Caution: Nelson Piquet Jr.
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Joey Logano
2nd: Sam Hornish Jr.
3rd: Austin Dillon
4th: Elliott Sadler
5th: Brian Vickers
Notables Not in Top 5:
7th: Trevor Bayne
8th: Justin Allgaier
10th: Matt Crafton
13th: Regan Smith
14th: Joey Coulter
18th: Travis Pastrana
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_STP_300/B
-Special thanks to thelp2008 for uploading the full race. I missed a few laps and I was able to finish watching because he had uploaded it and I got to thank him for it.
http://thelp2008.com/
-Image:
http://www.13wmaz.com/images/640/360/2/assetpool/images/130721091128_joey%20logano%20nationwide%20chicagoland.jpg
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