Joey Logano started on the pole. It was his first pole of the 2013 season and put him in the Sprint Unlimited. The race went green and Kurt Busch was able to get past Logano to lead the first lap of the race. The first lap was not without incident as the first caution of the race waved. Clint Bowyer got loose underneath Denny Hamlin exiting turn 4. Bowyer slid down the track and went through the grass, but he did not hit anything and was able to continue on after replacing his tires. No drivers received the lucky dog. The strategy started early in the race. Jimmie Johnson, who had to start at the back of the field because of a practice crash, came down to get fuel. He was hoping for a break to get track position and he might do it. The race went back green and Joey Logano did better on this restart. He got past Kurt Busch and took the lead. It was a short time before the second caution of the race waved on lap 8. David Reutimann got out of the groove and went up the track in turn 2. He slammed the outside wall and received a good bit of damage. No drivers received the lucky dog. Another session of strategy occurred. Jimmie Johnson, Austin Dillon, Trevor Bayne, Brendan Gaughan, and others came down pit road. The race went back green and the race went a short time until the third caution on lap 13. Austin Dillon got loose in turn 3 and went up the track. J.J. Yeley was there and the two made contact. Both went up and hit the wall. Yeley ended up backwards along the outside wall while Dillon slid down to the grass. Both had a little bit of damage and Yeley would not return to the race. David Reutimann, who had wrecked earlier, received the lucky dog. Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose, and others pitted to end the strategy for a while. After 3 cautions in 13 laps, the cautions would stay away for a little while.
The race went back green and Joey Logano jumped out to the lead. He held onto the lead and began to enter lap traffic twenty laps laps later. On lap 33, Kurt Busch was able to get past Logano for the lead due to the lap traffic. Shortly after this, the first round of green flag pit stops of the race began on lap 38. Kurt Busch finally pitted on lap 43 and surrendered the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt pitted on the next lap and gave the lead to Jimmie Johnson with Kasey Kahne running second. Both of these drivers pitted and gave the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt had only taken two tires and moved up front. Kurt Busch, who had been leading, lost a lot of spots and ended up in traffic. Shortly after this, a race contender and championship leader would have trouble. Jimmie Johnson went down pit road on lap 57. His team checked under the hood and sent him back on track. Johnson just rode down on the apron and didn't get up to speed. He reported to his team that his engine was gone and his race was finished. It was a tough break and he would end up finishing in 40th place. This gave drivers a real advantage for a win and it would be interesting to see who would.
The race continued on until the fourth caution on lap 71. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. blew a right front tire in turn 1 and slammed the outside wall. He received a lot of damage on the right side, but would continue on. Bobby Labonte received the lucky dog. Another strategy session happened during the caution. Most of the drivers came down to take two tires while Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya, and others took four tires. Denny Hamlin also decided to stay on track and take the lead. The race went back green and Hamlin was able to stay in the lead. On lap 78, Kurt Busch took the lead away and held it until the fifth caution on lap 106. Debris was spotted on the backstretch of the track. Mark Martin received the lucky dog. Another strategy session happened. Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and others took two tires while Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and others took four tires. This put Biffle in the lead and gave him his first lead of the day. The race went back green and he jumped out to the lead. He was able to lead until the sixth caution came out on lap 135. The cause of the caution was a race contender having trouble.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was running seventh, blew a tire in turn 2 and slammed the outside wall. Had had a good amount of damage and had to report to pit road. He would fall down a lot of laps and would not have a chance to win. Danica Patrick received the lucky dog. Most of the drivers took two tires while Jeff Burton and others took four tires. The race went back green and Joey Logano jumped out to the lead. The race continued on until the seventh caution on lap 149. Bobby Labonte got loose exiting turn 4. He went for a slide down the track, but he did not hit anything and continued on after replacing the tires on his car. Jamie McMurray received the lucky dog. Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Mark Martin, and others decided to come down pit road. They probably couldn't make it from here, but some would at least try.
The race went back green and Joey Logano continued to lead. He held onto the lead until the eighth caution waved on lap 157. Kyle Busch got loose in turn 2 and went for a spin. He backed into the outside wall and had a good bit of damage. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received the lucky dog. A final bit of strategy was used during this caution. Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, and others took two tires and fuel while Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, and others took just fuel. Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Mark Martin, and Aric Almirola stayed out on track. This handed the lead to Brad Keselowski for the restart. The race went back green and Keselowski was able to hold the lead on the restart. He was looking to make it the rest of the way on fuel, but the ninth and final caution came out on lap 173. Kyle Busch got loose in turn 4 and spun down the racetrack. He ended up in the grass and didn't get damage, but his day ended up worse. This is where the strategy ended and the drivers were set for the end of the race. Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola decided to play it safe and come get fuel while Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and others came down to make sure they could make it. This handed the lead to Mark Martin, who had decided to stay out. He would have to last fifty laps and only time would tell if he could.
The race went back green and Joey Logano made a move on the leaders, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick. They were three wide going into turn 1, but Mark Martin came out on top with Joey Logano in second and Kevin Harvick running third. The drivers continued to battle behind Martin and he was able to get away. Eventually, Logano made up time, but Martin was still leading. All he had to do was save enough fuel to stay up front. With four laps to go, Martin found out that he had not saved enough and ran out of gas. This handed the lead to Joey Logano, but he was unsure if he had enough fuel. Logano took the white flag with Kevin Harvick behind him. Logano did have enough fuel and took his first checkered flag of 2013. It was a desperately needed win for Logano that could put him in the Chase, but it was also a terrible race for some other drivers on the Chase edge.
Joey Logano has had a pretty rough year in terms of points. He had a chance to win at Bristol, but he was spun out by Denny Hamlin. At Auto Club, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano ended up wrecked when Logano had a chance to win. Plus, he had twenty five points taken away due to an infraction early in the season. Now, he has a win that could add to his wild card hopes. Some other drivers also moved up the points leaderboard. Kasey Kahne moved up to eleventh after having an accident at Watkins Glens that caused him to fall to thirteenth in points. Kurt Busch moved into ninth in points, but he still doesn't have a win and needs one badly. Some drivers also lost a lot of points. Dale Earnhardt Jr. fell to seventh after having trouble during the race. Jeff Gordon fell back in the wild card battle after finishing seventeenth. It should be a crazy battle with only three races left. The action picks up even more with the series heading to Bristol next week. Will Kasey Kahne win both races at Bristol in a year, will Denny Hamlin win two Bristol night races in a row, or will another driver advance his Chase hopes? We will have to wait until next Saturday night to find out.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 1- Clint Bowyer got loose exiting turn 4 and spun down the track.
2nd Caution: Lap 8- David Reutimann got out of the groove in turn 2 and slammed the outside wall.
3rd Caution: Lap 13- Austin Dillon got loose in turn 3 and made contact with J.J. Yeley. Both drivers slammed the wall and had some damage.
4th Caution: Lap 71- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed the outside wall.
5th Caution: Lap 106- Debris was spotted on the backstretch of the track.
6th Caution: Lap 135- Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew a tire in turn 2 and slammed the outside wall.
7th Caution: Lap 149- Bobby Labonte got loose in turn 4 and went for a spin down the track.
8th Caution: Lap 157- Kyle Busch got loose in turn 2 and backed into the outside wall.
9th Caution: Lap 173- Kyle Busch got loose in turn 4 and spun down the racetrack.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: None
3rd Caution: David Reutimann
4th Caution: Bobby Labonte
5th Caution: Mark Martin
6th Caution: Danica Patrick
7th Caution: Jamie McMurray
8th Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9th Caution: David Stremme
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Joey Logano
2nd: Kevin Harvick
3rd: Kurt Busch
4th: Paul Menard
5th: Clint Bowyer
Notables Not in Top 5:
7th: Kasey Kahne
9th: Greg Biffle
12th: Brad Keselowski
15th: Matt Kenseth
17th: Jeff Gordon
23rd: Danica Patrick
31st: Kyle Busch
36th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
40th: Jimmie Johnson
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Pure_Michigan_400/W
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/0d4519c36912e02804d455cb343ec05357a7e7a6/c=1094-187-4583-2805&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2013/08/18/1376858368000-USP-20130818-pjca-aw3-273.JPG
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