Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started on the pole. It was his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole. The race went green and Juan Pablo Montoya was able to get past Stenhouse in turn 1 to lead the first lap of the race. Montoya ran away from the field a little bit, but a hard charging Joey Logano passed Montoya on lap 25 to get the lead. This led to the first caution of the race on lap 26. NASCAR waved a competition caution due to the new tire for the race and the earlier rain. Josh Wise received the lucky dog. Like the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, there would be very limited strategy because four tires are super important at Atlanta. This caution was no different as all drivers who pitted took four tires, but the line up did shuffle. Juan Pablo Montoya was the first driver out as Joey Logano's team lost him some spots. It would be interesting to see if Logano's team could improve over the course of the night. The race went back green and it was a short time before a few championship contenders were affected with the second caution on lap 31. Jeff Gordon did not get going on the restart and caused the field to get stacked up. Kasey Kahne ran into the back of Jimmie Johnson in the stack up and Kahne's radiator and oil cooler immediately punctured. His car began to smoke heavily and he made it back to pit road, but he had to go to the garage and would lose a lot of laps. Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, and Jimmie Johnson also received damage. Joe Nemechek received the lucky dog. Jimmie Johnson's struggles continued and he has no momentum heading to the Chase.
The race went back green and Carl Edwards took the lead on the restart. The race went a short time until the third caution on lap 58. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 2. Joe Nemechek received the lucky dog. The drivers came down pit road and and all of them took four tires. Jeff Gordon came out ahead of Carl Edwards and took the lead. During the caution, Denny Hamlin had some trouble. Hamlin had to come to pit road because he had a vibration. His team was working on the car when it slid out of the box. The team continued to work on the car even though it was out of the box, which is a 1 lap penalty. The NASCAR official noticed and the penalty was handed down. Hamlin's team had words with the NASCAR officials, but the penalty was not revoked and Hamlin went a couple laps down. The race went back green and Jeff Gordon held the lead. The race continued on until the fourth caution on lap 76. Paul Menard blew a tire and the carcass fell off in turn 4. It rolled up the track and hit Jimmie Johnson's car and then stopped on track. Mark Martin received the lucky dog. All of the drivers who came down pit road took four tires and Carl Edwards came out as the leader. The race went back green and Carl Edwards held onto the lead on the restart. A short time later, one of the contenders in the race had trouble.
On lap 102, Joey Logano reported to his team that he had a vibration. His team finally decided it was too risky to ride around with and brought him to pit road. Logano's team changed all four tires and they found out later three lug nuts on one of the tires had not been tightened. He was able to get back on track with no damage, but he lost a lot of time. A few laps later on lap 106, Matt Kenseth also had trouble. Kenseth reported to his team that he had a right front tire going down and he came to pit road. His tires were replaced and he was able to go back on track, but he had lost a good bit of time. This led to the first round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 119. Joey Logano cycled to the lead with Matt Kenseth running second after they were forced to short pit. Clint Bowyer was able to pass Logano on lap 140 for the lead. Logano finally decided to come to pit road on lap 152. This led to the second round of green flag pit stops on lap 163. Joey Logano once again cycled back to the lead since he was off sequence. Clint Bowyer was once again able to pass him for the lead on lap 173. Bowyer's night was looking good, but it would soon fall all the way downhill.
A few laps before lap 190, Bowyer, who was leading, radioed to his team that he thought he was having engine problems. The team did not take it too seriously because of Bowyer's humorous attitude and the way Atlanta was. The team would soon find out they should have believed him. On lap 193 entering turn 1, Bowyer's engine expired and a puff of smoke went out the back. Bowyer almost hit the wall, but was able to save the car and avoid further damage. Bowyer went to the garage and his night was finished. This resulted in the fifth caution of the race. David Gilliland received the lucky dog. All the drivers who pitted took four tires with Carl Edwards coming out as the leader. For the third time in the race, Joey Logano's crew had cost him spots on pit road. The race went back green and Carl Edwards held onto the lead. Joey Logano quickly fixed his team's mistake when he passed Edwards for the lead on lap 204. This led to the sixth caution of the race on lap 206. Paul Menard bumped Denny Hamlin entering turn 3 and caused Hamlin to spin. Hamlin slid along turn 4 and stopped at the entrance to pit road. He was able to drive away without damage, but he lost a tire getting back to pit road and received a good bit of damage. Greg Biffle received the lucky dog. The first bit of strategy occurred during the caution. Joey Logano and Carl Edwards stayed on track while the rest of the drivers pitted for four tires. It would be interesting to see if this move would work out for the two drivers.
The race went back green and it was obvious the move would not work for the two. Brad Keselowski got by Joey Logano for the lead and Carl Edwards really started to fall back. Brad Keselowski looked like he had finally got his season turned around and would get a win, but his race would go really downhill. On lap 244, Keselowski, who was still leading, began to slow down. He lost two cylinders in his engine and lost the lead quickly. Keselowski eventually came to pit road on lap 252, but he returned to the track. Even though he would return to the track, he would not be able to keep up the pace and he would not have a good finish. At the same time, the third round of green flag pit stops of the race began. Joey Logano cycled back around to the lead after the stops. The race continued on until the seventh caution on lap 288. Jeff Burton slowed down in turn 4 to enter pit road. Jimmie Johnson did not know Burton was coming down and came up on Burton's back bumper. Johnson tried to stop and did a pretty good job too, but he went for a spin after making slight contact with Burton. He was able to get his car straightened out and drive away with little damage. Matt Kenseth received the lucky dog. The final stops for the leaders came during the caution. All of the drivers pitted for four tires and Kyle Busch came out ahead of the field. Now, Logano would have to get back to the lead again after his team cost him and he would have a short time to do it.
The race went back green and Kyle Busch jumped out to the lead. It was a short time before the eighth caution of the race waved on lap 293. Brian Vickers got loose exiting turn 4. He slid through the frontstretch grass and was able to get to a stop without damage. He was able to get back going after replacing his tires. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and Kyle Busch jumped out to the lead. It was a short time after this that the ninth and final caution of the race waved on lap 298. Jeff Burton began to have a tire go down in turn 3. He drifted up the track and Austin Dillon was there. The two made contact and Dillon ended up in the wall with Burton sliding down the track. Burton ended up in the grass on the frontstretch with a pretty much destroyed race car. No drivers received the lucky dog. The race went back green and Kyle Busch jumped out to the lead, but Joey Logano was coming. On lap 310, Brad Keselowski's engine finally expired and he slowed down on the apron of the track. He made it to pit road and the caution did not wave. Around this time, Joey Logano moved from fourth to second and was looking to close on Busch. Unluckily for Logano, he would run out of laps and Kyle Busch would cruise to his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the year. With this win, Busch has the momentum with only one race to go before the Chase.
Like I have said before this year, Kyle Busch has raced and won in anything and everything in 2013. He has four Cup Series victories, nine Nationwide Series victories, three Camping World Truck Series victories, and even three late model victories. This is not an uncommon trend for Busch in his career, but this year seems a little bit different. Instead of seeming to hurt his chances for a Cup title, Busch has actually moved closer to a Cup this year and seems to be in prime position to win his first Cup championship. If all the cards fall right for him and he gets some good finishes in the Chase, we could be looking a new champion. The race to the Chase also heated up in the penultimate round. Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth clinched top 10 spots while Kasey Kahne clinched at least a wild card spot. This leaves three top 10 spots left and the two wild card positions. If Kahne stays in a wild card spot, it would put a lot of drivers in a tough spot. If Kahne moves into the top 10, it could give some one win drivers like Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman an easy chance for a wild card. With former champions Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, and Brad Keselowski sitting on the outside looking in, the final regular season race of the year could be one of the craziest. With that, I will leave you with my questions. Will the defending champion, Brad Keselowski, miss the Chase, will another champion miss the Chase, will Kasey Kahne move into the top 10 and allow some one win drivers a chance, or will someone defy all odds and make the Chase in the final race? The long awaited race will tell us after a major Saturday night battle.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 26- Competition caution thrown by NASCAR due to the new tire and rain.
2nd Caution: Lap 31- Kasey Kahne slammed into the back of Jimmie Johnson due to a stack up and the contact caused Kahne's radiator and oil cooler to puncture. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, and Mark Martin also received damage.
3rd Caution: Lap 58- Debris was spotted on the track in turn 2.
4th Caution: Lap 76- Paul Menard blew a tire in turn 4 and the tire carcass went on the track after Jimmie Johnson slammed into it.
5th Caution: Lap 193- Clint Bowyer, who was leading, lost an engine in turn 1.
6th Caution: Lap 206- Paul Menard bumped Denny Hamlin in turn 3 and caused Hamlin to slide across turn 4.
7th Caution: Lap 288- Jeff Burton slowed down in turn 4 to enter pit road and Jimmie Johnson slammed into the back of Burton because he was unaware of the move to pit road.
8th Caution: Lap 293- Brian Vickers got loose in turn 4 and slid across the frontstretch grass.
9th Caution: Lap 298- Jeff Burton lost a tire in turn 3 and drifted up the track and made contact with Austin Dillon, causing the two to hit the wall.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Josh Wise
2nd Caution: Joe Nemechek
3rd Caution: Joe Nemechek
4th Caution: Mark Martin
5th Caution: David Gilliland
6th Caution: Greg Biffle
7th Caution: Matt Kenseth
8th Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9th Caution: None
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kyle Busch
2nd: Joey Logano
3rd: Martin Truex Jr.
4th: Kurt Busch
5th: Ryan Newman
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Jeff Gordon
8th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9th: Kevin Harvick
12th: Matt Kenseth
28th: Jimmie Johnson
35th: Brad Keselowski
36th: Kasey Kahne
38th: Denny Hamlin
39th: Clint Bowyer
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_AdvoCare_500/W
-Image:
http://static.nascar.com/content/dam/nascar/articles/2013/09/01/main/nascar-nscs-atl-vl922.jpg/jcr:content/renditions/original
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