Ryan Newman started on the pole. It was Newman's second pole of 2013. The race went green and he was able to come around and lead the first lap. He would not stay the leader long as Kasey Kahne was able to get past him on lap 3 to take the lead. Kahne streaked away from the field and held the lead until the first caution on lap 30. Michael McDowell made contact with Josh Wise in turn 4. Wise went for a spin and slid the car down the track. Wise ended up stopped on the apron, but he was able to continue on without damage. Since Wise was in the lucky dog position, no drivers received the lucky dog. This began the strategy in the race. The lead lap drivers came to pit road and most took two tires and fuel with Kasey Kahne coming out as the leader. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a bit of trouble on his stop. The team planned on changing two tires, but the right rear tire changer had trouble and missed some lug nuts. The team found out the mistake and brought Junior back in and replaced the other two tires. It was early in the race, but he was stuck back in traffic at a track that it is almost impossible to pass at. The race went back green and Martin Truex Jr. was able to beat Kasey Kahne on the restart and take the lead. The race would only go a short time before the second caution waved on lap 37. Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray made contact in turn 4. McMurray slid around and made slight contact with the outside wall. McMurray had a good bit of rear end damage, but he would continue on in the race. Kevin Swindell also received damage in the accident when he hit McMurray while trying to avoid him. Michael McDowell received the lucky dog. The leaders stayed out and the accident was cleaned up before the restart.
The race went back green and Martin Truex Jr. was able to hold onto the lead he had grabbed on the previous restart. The race went a short time again before the third caution on lap 51. Bobby Labonte had a tire go down on the frontstretch in front of Casey Mears and David Gilliland. Mears bumped Labonte and caused him to go across the hood of Gilliland. Labonte slammed the outside wall and slid around to the inside of the track as Gilliland went by with heavy hood damage. Nobody hit Labonte while he slid around, but he had a good bit of damage. Josh Wise received the lucky dog. None of the leaders came down pit road and the wreck was cleaned up. The race went back green and Martin Truex Jr. was able to hold onto his lead once again. This time, the race would go a good bit longer and continue on until the first round of green flag pit stops on lap 110. The pit stops finished pretty quick for the leaders, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. was going to stay out and see if he could make it into a one stop race. He made it to lap 130, but this would not allow him to make it on one more stop. This allowed Martin Truex Jr. to cycle back around to the lead.
The race continued on until Matt Kenseth took the lead away from Martin Truex Jr. on lap 153. It was the first time Kenseth had led in the race and it surely wouldn't be the last. The race went a few more laps before the fourth caution of the race waved on lap 163. Debris was spotted in turn 1 due to a driver hitting the outside wall. Marcos Ambrose received the lucky dog. A good bit of strategy was used during the caution. Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, and Joey Logano took two tires while Martin Truex Jr. and the rest of the lead lap drivers took four tires. This allowed Gordon to become the leader of the race. On the restart, Jeff Gordon was able to hold the lead. The race continued on for a good bit before the fifth caution waved on lap 200. Debris was spotted on the backstretch of the track. Mark Martin received the lucky dog. More strategy was used during the caution. Clint Bowyer and Marcos Ambrose stayed out with Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, and others taking two tires while Jeff Gordon and two others took four tires. Because of this move, Gordon was mired deep in traffic. It would be interesting to see if he could make it back to the front of the field.
The race went back green and Clint Bowyer was able to use his strategy to hold onto the lead. His lead would be short lived as Matt Kenseth took it from him on lap 208. The race would go a little while before the sixth caution waved on lap 246. David Gilliland's car began to smoke in turn 2 due to a busted oil cooler. The damage was too much to fix and Gilliland would not return to the race. Clint Bowyer received the lucky dog. Bowyer, who had been up front, decided to come down pit road a lap before the caution waved. Bowyer had four tires and fuel, but he would have to start at the back of the pack and would need a caution to get back up front. The caution also held the final pit stops of the race. Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, and the rest of the drivers who pitted took two tires. It would be interesting to see if this move would work. The race went green and Matt Kenseth was able to hold the lead. The race went a few laps before the seventh and final caution of the race waved on lap 252. Kasey Kahne got loose exiting turn 4 while trying to pass Brian Vickers. Kahne went for a slide and made slight contact with the inside wall. The contact with the wall caused Kahne to have something break in his steering. He would return to the event, but he fell into a deep hole concerning the Chase for the championship. Travis Kvapil received the lucky dog. None of the drivers came to pit road and the final run to the finish was set up.
The race went green for the final time and Matt Kenseth held onto the lead. Kyle Busch fell into second place with about fifty laps to go. While the field raced behind him, Kenseth ran away and built a one and a half second lead over Busch. With thirty laps to go, Kenseth still held the lead, but the advantage had stabilized. With twenty laps to go, lap traffic had allowed Busch to close a little bit, but Kenseth still held the advantage. With ten laps to go, Kenseth still held the advantage, but Busch was coming. Busch made it really close in the final laps and had one final chance on the last lap. He could not capitalize and Kenseth took the checkered flag. Kenseth became the third driver in the Chase era to win back-to-back races to start the Chase and he still holds the momentum. If he gets a chance, he could take his second Sprint Cup title.
What can you say about Matt Kenseth this year? If he hasn't been leading or winning this year, something was terribly wrong. He has went toe to toe with Jimmie Johnson and, so far, he is beating him. We don't know what the five time champion will do in the last eight races, but Kenseth could be looking to take his second championship. Kasey Kahne could be another driver eliminated thus far. As much as I hate to say it, he needs to win some races to get back in contention. With a few good races for Kahne coming up, he could very well do that. The performance of some Chase drivers really surprised me today. I was expecting all of them to run up front, but only six of thirteen ended up finishing in the top 10. With Kenseth running extremely well and showing no signs of stopping now, the championship could be well in his hands. Granted, we still have eight races to go and as we well know, the Chase will not be decided until the final laps at Homestead. The series heads to the high banked “Monster Mile” in Dover, Delaware next week. Will Jimmie Johnson redeem himself after a restart penalty left him without the win last time at Dover, will Matt Kenseth continue his dominance, or will another driver move into contention for the championship lead? We will have to wait until next Sunday to find out.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 30- Josh Wise went for a spin in turn 4 after contact with Michael McDowell.
2nd Caution: Lap 37- Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray made contact in turn 4, which caused McMurray to spin out and back into the outside wall. Kevin Swindell also received some damage while trying to avoid McMurray.
3rd Caution: Lap 51- Casey Mears bumped Bobby Labonte on the frontstretch and sent Labonte across David Gilliland's hood. Labonte slammed the outside wall and stopped on the inside of the track.
4th Caution: Lap 163- Debris was spotted in turn 1 due to a driver hitting the wall.
5th Caution: Lap 200- Debris was spotted on the backstretch of the track.
6th Caution: Lap 246- David Gilliland's car began to smoke in turn 2 due to a busted oil cooler.
7th Caution: Lap 252- Kasey Kahne got loose exiting turn 4 and went for a slide. Kahne made slight contact with the inside wall on the frontstretch.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Michael McDowell
3rd Caution: Josh Wise
4th Caution: Marcos Ambrose
5th Caution: Mark Martin
6th Caution: Clint Bowyer
7th Caution: Travis Kvapil
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Matt Kenseth
2nd: Kyle Busch
3rd: Greg Biffle
4th: Jimmie Johnson
5th: Jamie McMurray
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9th: Carl Edwards
13th: Kurt Busch
14th: Joey Logano
15th: Jeff Gordon
16th: Ryan Newman
17th: Clint Bowyer
20th: Kevin Harvick
37th: Kasey Kahne
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/lapbylap/view-all-laps.html
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/live-standings.html?intid=livestandings_livestandingsleaderboard_08292013
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Sylvania_300/W
-Image:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/rf/image_r/Boston/2011-2020/2013/09/22/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/bc9dc691c3ae432a9e9496d7a961330d-bc9dc691c3ae432a9e9496d7a961330d-0.r.jpg
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