Kyle Busch started on the pole. It was Busch's seventh pole of the NNS season and in the previous six he had captured the flag at the end of the race. The race went green and Busch was able to lead the first lap. Early on, Busch ran away from the field and it looked like he would be dominating once again. The race continued on until a rookie of the year contender had trouble on lap 34. Alex Bowman, who was running near the top 10, made an unscheduled pit stop. His car was smoking as it sat on pit road and his team started checking under the hood. The smoke was diagnosed as a engine problem and Bowman would not be able to return to the race. It was a short time after this that the first caution of the race waved on lap 36. Robert Richardson Jr. got loose exiting turn 2 and slid down the track. He slammed his front nose into the inside wall and slid back on track. Richardson was not hit by any other drivers, but he had a little bit of front end damage. Reed Sorenson received the lucky dog. This race was a little different in terms of strategy. Since the surface of Atlanta hasn't been paved since 1997, tires are key. Because of this, four tires would be a mainstay in the race. This was the case on the first caution as all the drivers who pitted took four tires. This would be interesting as the race entered the late stages because each pit crew knew what they would have to do, but they had to be perfect doing it.
The race went back green once again and Austin Dillon was able to get by Kyle Busch on the restart. Busch fought back and was able to lead the lap, but Dillon continued to fight back. Their battle continued until the second caution of the race on lap 43. Kasey Kahne got loose in turn 3 and went for a slide. He went down the track, but all the drivers behind him were able to avoid. He was able to get his car stopped just at the exit of turn 4 and he did not have damage, but his all important tires were down. Nelson Piquet Jr. received damage when he went up the track trying to avoid the wreck and made contact with Travis Pastrana. Piquet's damage was not too significant. Jeff Green received the lucky dog. Kasey Kahne and Nelson Piquet Jr. were the only drivers to come to pit road during the caution. Like previously stated, Kahne had flattened all his tires and had a limited amount of sets. Luckily for him, NASCAR allowed his team to get an extra set since the previous set had only went four laps. This could be a key moment for Kahne at the end of the race. The race went back green and Kyle Busch jumped out to the lead on the restart. It was a short time after this that Kevin Harvick was able to reel Busch in and pass him for the lead on lap 60. Harvick immediately drove away from the field and proved he would be a dominator in the race. The race continued on until an Owners Points contender had trouble.
Joey Logano, who was running second and driving the #22 that was at the top of the Owners Points standings, had trouble on lap 87. Logano lost a right front tire and slammed the outside wall in turn 2. He made it back around to pit road with a little bit of damage. His night would not be affected because his team was able to replace all four tires and send him back out on track. This led to the first round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 90. Kevin Harvick cycled around to the lead after the stops with Joey Logano, who had just run into the wall, running second. It was a short time after this that the third caution of the race waved on lap 104. Debris was spotted on the backstretch of the track. Michael Annett received the lucky dog. All the drivers near the front decided to stay out and save their tires for later in the race. The race went back green once again and continued on until Kyle Busch would have some trouble.
Around lap 120, Busch, who had fallen back after leading the early part of the race, made contact with the wall exiting turn 4. He had noticeable damage on the right rear, but a peculiar thing happened because of this damage. Busch actually started to pick up at least three tenths of a second a lap on the leader Harvick. He made his way to the top 4 and it would be interesting to see if the damage actually propelled him to the victory. This led to the second and final round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 143. Kevin Harvick once again cycled to the lead with Joey Logano continuing to run in second. Harvick had enough fuel to make it to the finish and he had a nice, comfortable lead. The caution did not look like it would wave and Harvick would cruise to the win. The caution did not wave and scare Harvick immediately, but something else would.
On lap 165 with thirty laps to go, Harvick reported to his team that he had a pretty serious vibration. He said that the vibration was probably caused by a loose left side wheel. If he pitted to replace the tire, his chances for victory were completely losT. If he did not pit, the tire could come completely off or even cause the nut to not allow another tire to be put on. If the caution waved and saved him, he would have a chance to replace the tire, but his lead would be gone and he would have to hold off Logano and Busch. It looked like Harvick was in a lose-lose situation in all three scenarios, but his team was going to let it play out. Harvick did not have to pit, but the fourth and final caution waved on lap 181. Jeff Green thought he had cleared Ken Butler on the frontstretch, but he wasn't and the two made contact. Green hit the wall nose first and then slammed the passenger side of his car hard into the outside wall. His car stopped in the entrance to turn 1 with heavy damage, but Green was okay. Brian Scott received the lucky dog. Now, the final bit of strategy would be used to end the race.
Kevin Harvick, who now had a chance to replace the loose wheel, led the charge of nine lead lap drivers onto pit road. All nine of the drivers took four tires with Harvick coming out as the leader. He decided to take the inside line on the restart with Joey Logano on his outside. The green waved for the final time and Logano spun the tires. This left the battle for the win to Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Kasey Kahne. Kahne fell back early in the run, but Busch and Harvick began to battle hard. They stayed side by side for the first few laps after the restart, but Harvick was able to get out in front. Finally, the white flag waved for Harvick and Busch would have two chances to win. He dove hard into turn 1 and looked for the outside on Harvick. Busch got just a little loose and had to save it. This gave Harvick enough advantage to take to the line and win his second NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Atlanta. It was a very cool win for Harvick after having no NNS wins up to this point in the season.
Kevin Harvick has been very consistent and good this year in both Cup and Nationwide, but he has been very quiet. He has two wins and sits fourth in the Cup standings, but not too many people are talking about him. This could give him an advantage as the series heads to the Chase in two races to grab hold of his first Cup championship. It was a pretty quiet day for most of the Nationwide regulars. Trevor Bayne finished sixth, Austin Dillon finished seventh, Regan Smith finished ninth, Justin Allgaier finished eleventh, Brian Vickers finished fifteenth, and Elliott Sadler finished eighteenth. Sam Hornish Jr. was the only regular to have a very good day with a third place finish. This allowed him to hold an advantage over Austin Dillon in the points, but it is still very slim with nine races to go. The Owners Points battle stayed close still. Kyle Busch finished second while Joey Logano finished sixth, but the #22 of Logano still holds the advantage. With these two battles staying as close as ever, it should be a good battle for the rest of the season. The series heads to the always action packed Richmond International Raceway. Will Brad Keselowski return and repeat at Richmond, will Nelson Piquet Jr. and Brian Scott have another kick boxing match after the race, or will a points contender move ever closer to a championship? We will have to find out next week.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 36- Robert Richardson Jr. got loose exiting turn 2 and went for a spin down the track.
2nd Caution: Lap 43- Kasey Kahne got loose exiting turn 4 and went for a spin down the track. Nelson Piquet Jr. made contact with Travis Pastrana and received some damage while trying to avoid Kahne.
3rd Caution: Lap 104- Debris was spotted on the backstretch of the track.
4th Caution: Lap 181- Jeff Green made contact with Ken Butler after Green thought he was clear. Green slammed the outside wall hard twice and ended up stopped at the entrance to turn 1. Green was okay after the wreck.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Reed Sorenson
2nd Caution: Jeff Green
3rd Caution: Michael Annett
4th Caution: Brian Scott
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kevin Harvick
2nd: Kyle Busch
3rd: Sam Hornish Jr.
4th: Kasey Kahne
5th: Kyle Larson
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Joey Logano
8th: Austin Dillon
9th: Regan Smith
15th: Brian Vickers
17th: Travis Pastrana
18th: Elliott Sadler
34th: Alex Bowman
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Great_Clips_Grit_Chips_300/B
-Image:
https://twitter.com/amsupdates/status/373995027065630720/photo/1
No comments:
Post a Comment