Alex Bowman started on the pole. It was Bowman's second NASCAR Nationwide Series pole in his rookie season. The race went green and Bowman came around to lead the first lap. He drove away from the field a little bit early, but Sam Hornish Jr. chased him down and passed him for the lead on lap 5. Brad Keselowski followed Hornish and was able to get past his teammate for the lead on the next lap. The lead stayed constant at this point and Keselowski powered away from the field. The action stayed pretty calm to begin the race with the field flying around the track. The laps clicked by quickly before the first round of green flag pit stops of the race began on lap 50. Sam Hornish Jr., the main contender for Austin Dillon's points lead, made a costly mistake. Coming into pit road, Hornish knocked the commitment cone out of the way. This automatically resulted in a penalty for Hornish and he would have to make a pass through down pit road. His team performed the stop and he came back around to make the pass through. He returned to the track, but he had lost a lap and a lot of spots. It would be interesting to see if he could get back to the front and pass Austin Dillon. Brad Keselowski cycled back to the lead after the pit stops.
Keselowski continued to lead as the field raced behind him. He stayed the leader as the second caution waved a few laps later on lap 71. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 2. Parker Kligerman received the lucky dog. A little bit of strategy occurred during the caution. Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Trevor Bayne took fuel only while the rest of the lead lap drivers took tires. It would be interesting to see how this move worked out for the leaders. The race went back green and it immediately did not work for Dillon and Bayne. Both started to fall back as Busch and Keselowski began to battle for the lead. Keselowski was able to best Busch to hold the lead. Busch began to fall back as Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth were able to move up. Denny Hamlin passed Keselowski for the lead on lap 81. Hamlin streaked away from the field a little bit before Matt Kenseth chased him down and passed him for the lead on lap 95. Kenseth moved away from the field and held the lead until the second caution waved on lap 110. Kyle Busch, who had not taken tires during his first stop, lost a tire in turn 4. His car drifted up the track and piled into the outside wall back first. He slid down the frontstretch and into the grass. Busch rode through the grass and pulled into his pit stall, but he had huge amounts of damage and he would not return to contention. Nelson Piquet Jr. received the lucky dog. All the lead lap drivers came to pit road for four tires and fuel with Denny Hamlin coming out as the leader. The caution was a break for Sam Hornish Jr. He had not yet pitted and was still on the lead lap. This allowed him to pit with the leaders and return to contention. It would be interesting to see if he returned to the front of the field.
The race went back green and Denny Hamlin held onto the lead. Hamlin cruised away from the field a little bit, but Matt Kenseth was able to pass him for the lead on lap 131. Kenseth was in control of the field, but Brad Keselowski was coming. Keselowski finally made his way up to Kenseth and was able to pass him for the lead on lap 156. Keselowski held the lead a few laps before the second and final round of green flag pit stops began on lap 163. The stops went smoothly and Denny Hamlin was able to cycle to the lead after Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth had trouble on pit road. The stops ended just as the third caution of the race waved on lap 171. Trevor Bayne bumped Joe Nemechek exiting turn 2. Nemechek slid around and drifted down the track. His car made slight contact with the inside wall and tilted around. He turned it back straight and drove to pit road, but his car was too damaged to return. Brad Sweet received the lucky dog. None of the drivers came to pit road since they had just pitted. The race went back green and Denny Hamlin held the lead. The race only went a couple of laps before the fourth and final caution waved on lap 177. Travis Pastrana had a run on Jeff Green exiting turn 2. Green broke loose and made contact with Pastrana. Pastrana shot down the track and slammed the inside wall. He rolled to a stop at the bottom of the backstretch with heavy damage. He was okay, but he would not return to the race. Kevin Swindell received the lucky dog. None of the drivers came down pit road. Now, the final run to the checkered flag was set up.
The race went back green and Denny Hamlin began to battle hard with Brad Keselowski. Hamlin was able to overtake Keselowski for the lead for the moment. Keselowski still ran in his tire tracks with teammate, Sam Hornish Jr., behind him. Hornish gave Keselowski a huge push the next few laps after the restart and Keselowski was able to use the momentum to catch back up to Hamlin. Keselowski flew past Hamlin on the frontstretch on lap 185. Now, he would just have to hold the lead from the wild pack behind him and hope the caution did not wave. Hamlin stayed close to Keselowski as the laps clicked by. Soon, only ten laps remained with Keselowski still holding the lead. Five laps to go flashed across the board with Keselowski still in control. Finally, Keselowski powered his car to the white flag. The white flag lap was flawless and Keselowski took his second NASCAR Nationwide Series win of 2013. It was a very dominating victory for Keselowski, but one that almost fell out of his hands.
Give a call to Brad Keselowski this season. Even though he has had a tumultuous season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, he has been able to come over to the Nationwide Series and take a lot of victories. Even though the wins don't really mean anything since he isn't doing well in the highest division of the sport, it still goes a long way in terms of momentum. Kyle Busch had significant struggles in the race. He did battle up front for a lot of the race, but the damage in his wreck was too significant to overcome. He was left with a terrible finish, but he still has the designation of having the most wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this year. What a comeback it was for Sam Hornish Jr. After receiving a pass through penalty, Hornish fell a lap down, but he caught a break and rallied to a third place finish. Plus, he finished ahead of Austin Dillon to move closer to the points lead. Speaking of the points lead, Hornish now sits six points away from tying Dillon for the points lead with only two races left. If the two do tie after the race at Homestead, Hornish will win the title based on his win at Las Vegas. If I was Dillon, I would work hard to make sure that didn't happen. The series heads to Phoenix next week for the penultimate round of the season. Will Austin Dillon move farther away from Sam Hornish Jr. in the points, will Sam Hornish Jr. surpass Dillon in the points, or will another driver take over the show and win the race? We will have to wait until next Saturday to find this out and a whole lot more.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 71- Debris was spotted in turn 2.
2nd Caution: Lap 110- Kyle Busch backed into the outside wall in turn 4 after he blew a tire.
3rd Caution: Lap 171- Joe Nemechek spun around in turn 2 and slammed the inside wall after contact with Trevor Bayne.
4th Caution: Lap 177- Travis Pastrana spun around in turn 2 and piled into the inside wall after contact with Jeff Green.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Parker Kligerman
2nd Caution: Nelson Piquet Jr.
3rd Caution: Brad Sweet
4th Caution: Kevin Swindell
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Brad Keselowski
2nd: Denny Hamlin
3rd: Sam Hornish Jr.
4th: Matt Kenseth
5th: Austin Dillon
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Regan Smith
7th: Elliott Sadler
9th: Kyle Larson
11th: Trevor Bayne
17th: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
26th: Kyle Busch
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/lapbylap/view-all-laps.html?intid=lapbylap_lapbylapleaderboard_08292013
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/live-standings.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_OReilly_Auto_Parts_Challenge/B
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f01186142c60710511a3e7fb77bf49cd1008c9aa/c=474-364-2580-1944&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2013/11/02/1383432041000-11-2-13-brad-keselowski.jpg
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