Kasey Kahne Redeems Himself From Las Vegas With a Win at Bristol

        After dominating at Las Vegas and not capturing the win, Kasey Kahne redeemed himself with a win at Bristol. A threat at the front all day, Kahne made sure that he was there when the moment was right. From being at the front on the last restart to getting away from the leaders who were wrecking with the lead, everything seemed to go his way. Instead of having just problems with lapped cars, the field had trouble with blowing tires. In fact, five drivers blew tires and got into the wall. These are just a few of the storylines that made this one of the most interesting races of the year so far.

        Kyle Busch, who won the Nationwide Series race the day before, started on the pole. When the race went green, he jumped out to a quick lead and was able to lead the first lap. The race had just begun when the first caution of the day came out on lap 8. Tony Stewart drifted up the track in turn 3 and it was apparent that he had a tire going down. Coming into turn 1, the tire blew and Stewart went into the wall. He received some damage and went twelve laps down fixing the damage. Michael McDowell also spun, but he did not receive any damage. No drivers received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the second caution on lap 54. On the frontstretch, David Gilliland got into Casey Mears and Mears got loose. The cars began to stack up and Jeff Burton could not stop and hit Juan Pablo Montoya in the back. Carl Edwards bumped Burton into the wall in turn 1. Marcos Ambrose, Aric Almirola, and Joe Nemechek also got involved. Burton received the majority of the damage from the wreck. Danica Patrick received the lucky dog. The major thing that happened during this caution was on the pit stops.

        Kyle Busch came into the pits and had a very routine stop. But what happened afterwards changed his race. NASCAR penalized him for speeding in three segments of pit road. He had to move to the back of the lead lap, which put him deep in the field. The race went back green and went a short time before the third caution of the race on lap 70. Jamie McMurray, who was running in third at the time, got up a little too high in turn 3 and went for a spin. He barely tapped the wall and was able to continue on. Terry Labonte received the lucky dog. The race went back green and the second longest green flag run of the race ended with the fourth caution on lap 151. David Gilliland got into the wall in turn 2. He was able to continue, but with some damage. David Ragan, Gilliland's teammate, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and three drivers had terminal problems.

        After the restart, Bobby Labonte's car puffed out a huge billow of smoke, which is typically a sign that the engine has let go. He was able to get the car to pit road and no caution came out. Then, David Reutimann began to slow down on the top side and showed signs of a blown engine as well. He was also able to get it to pit road and not cause a caution. Finally, Scott Speed began to slow on the track and he also showed signs of a motor letting go. He was able to pull it down pit road and avoid a caution. All three drivers dropped out of the race. The race continued on until Kurt Busch, who was running up front, had to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 224. He thought that he had a flat tire, which was a good reason to stop with all the tire problems. Right after this, the fifth caution of the race  ended the longest green flag run of the day on lap 236. Landon Cassill blew a tire in turn 4 and hit the wall. Jamie McMurray, who was involved in a previous incident, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and one of the contenders in the race fell out.

        Aric Almirola had a tire go down, but he was able to make it into the pits to change it. He came back on the track and ran a couple of laps. When he was going into turn 3 on lap 249, he got loose and slammed into the wall. His car was destroyed and the chances he had of getting a good finish completely went away. This brought out the sixth caution of the day. Brian Vickers received his first of two lucky dogs on the day. The race went green and it continued until the seventh caution on lap 320. Dave Blaney blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed into the wall. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received his first of two lucky dogs on the day. The race went back green and the incident that caused a confrontation, yes, a confrontation to occur happened.

        Coming out of turn 4, Joey Logano put a slide job on Denny Hamlin on lap 347 to grab the second spot. Denny did not take too kindly to this and going into turn 1, he retaliated. He tapped Logano and Logano went into the wall. Logano's bumper ripped off, but he received no other damage. Logano was not happy with Hamlin and it showed for the rest of the race. This caused the eighth caution of the day to come out on lap 348. Brian Vickers received his final lucky dog of the race. The race went back green and continued on until the two leaders got involved in an accident.

         Jeff Gordon had been with the same set of right side tires for a while. His car had begun to start handling bad and Matt Kenseth was there and ready to pounce. But something unlucky happened to both drivers. Going into turn 3, Jeff Gordon blew a right front tire on the bottom of the track and drifted up. Kenseth was there and he could not avoid. Kenseth plowed into the back of Gordon, which caused Kenseth's hood to be completely ripped off the car. Both cars were destroyed beyond repair. This caused the ninth caution of the race to come out on lap 390. Casey Mears received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the tenth and final caution of the race on lap 455. Jimmie Johnson, the fifth and final driver to blow a tire and wreck, blew a tire in turn 3 and slammed into the wall. This led to the final restart of the race and the move to win the race. 

         Kasey Kahne started on the bottom with Brad Keselowski to his outside. They began to take off and Keselowski spun the tires. Hamlin, who had Logano behind waiting to wreck him, pushed Keselowski and he got extremely loose. Kasey Kahne pulled away and never looked back, but Hamlin did have a moment that could have brought out a caution. Hamlin had what appeared to be a tire going down with six laps to go. He stayed on the track and was able to finish, but he hit ever wall in those six laps. With the end of the race, Kasey Kahne won his first Bristol race and captured his fifteenth career victory. The race was not over yet, though. After the race, Joey Logano walked up to Denny Hamlin, who was still in his car. Logano began talking to Hamlin and Hamlin's crew pushed him away. The two crews started a shoving match, but no fighting ensued and the thoughts went back to Kasey Kahne's win.

         What a finish, what a race, and what a win for Kasey Kahne. I was absolutely stoked. In case you guys did not know, Kasey Kahne is my favorite driver along with Kevin Harvick. If you would have been in my room, you would have heard me yelling at the television to push Kasey on and urge him on. It was one of those moments that I will always cherish and remember as being one of Kasey's coolest wins. Enough reminiscing for me. I was glad that the race turned out the way it was with all the excitement. Hopefully, this tells the tale for the rest of the season and we will be constantly filled with excitement.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 8- Tony Stewart blew a tire in turn 1 and slid up into the wall.

2nd Caution: Lap 54- David Gilliland bumped into Casey Mears on the frontstretch and Mears got loose. Cars started stacking up and Jeff Burton could not avoid running into Juan Pablo Montoya. Carl Edwards bumped into Burton and pushed him into the wall in turn 1. Marcos Ambrose, Aric Almirola, and Joe Nemechek also got involved.

3rd Caution: Lap 70- Jamie McMurray got a little too high in turn 3 and went for a spin.

4th Caution: Lap 151- David Gilliland got into the wall in turn 2.

5th Caution: Lap 236- Landon Cassill blew a tire in turn 4 and hit the wall.

6th Caution: Lap 249- Aric Almirola got loose in turn 3 and slammed into the wall.

7th Caution: Lap 320- Dave Blaney blew a tire in turn 1 and slammed into the wall.

8th Caution: Lap 348- Denny Hamlin bumped Joey Logano in turn 1 and put Logano into the wall.

9th Caution: Lap 390- Jeff Gordon blew a tire on the bottom of the track in turn 3. He slid up the track and Matt Kenseth could not avoid, damaging both cars. 

10th Caution: Lap 455- Jimmie Johnson blew a tire in turn 3 and slammed into the wall.

Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Danica Patrick
3rd Caution: Terry Labonte
4th Caution: David Ragan
5th Caution: Jamie McMurray
6th Caution: Brian Vickers
7th Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
8th Caution: Brian Vickers
9th Caution: Casey Mears
10th Caution: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kasey Kahne
2nd: Kyle Busch
3rd: Brad Keselowski
4th: Kurt Busch
5th: Clint Bowyer

Notables Not in Top 5:
14th: Kevin Harvick
22nd: Jimmie Johnson
23rd: Denny Hamlin
28th: Danica Patrick
31st: Tony Stewart
34th: Jeff Gordon
35th: Matt Kenseth



Credits:
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Food_City_500/W
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/03/17/3-17-13-kasey-kahne-bristol1-x-large.jpg

Kyle Busch Holds Off a Late Charge From Kyle Larson To Win at Bristol

        After a stellar race at Bristol, Kyle Busch was able to barely hold off Kyle Larson to win his second NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the year. In this case, barely means barely. The eventual margin of victory was twenty three hundredths of a second. It was the second closest finish in Bristol Nationwide Series History behind the 2011 Food City 250 finish between Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, which had a margin of victory of nineteen hundredths The other story behind the race was the way that lapped cars affected the picture of the race. From causing tremendous battles to occur to causing the leader to have an incident, the lapped cars affected every aspect of the race. If you aren't interested yet, you might want to check your pulse.

        Qualifying had occurred a couple of hours before the race and Justin Allgaier grabbed the pole position. The race began and he was able to lead the first lap. From the drop of the green flag, the top ten were getting very dicey. Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon traded a little paint early, but it did not affect anything that happened in the race. The first caution of the race came out on lap 27. Mike Harmon, one of the lapped cars who affected the race, was going very slow in turn 3. Sam Hornish Jr. tried to pass him, but Hornish got tapped while he was going by. Hornish saved his car, but he was forced up into Jamie Dick. Jamie spun harmlessly and continued on. Brad Sweet, who was involved in a nasty wreck in practice on Friday, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the second caution of the afternoon on lap 59. Brad Sweet got loose in turn 2 and went for a spin. He was able to keep the car from receiving major damage and he continued on. No drivers received the lucky dog. After the caution, one of the contenders to begin the race had trouble.

         When the green flag waved after the second caution, Elliott Sadler had trouble. He began to slow down and he reported to his crew that he had no fuel pressure. This meant that the fuel was not reaching the engine like it should be. This caused the car to run slow and he lost two laps. He was running so slow, in fact, that NASCAR had to black flag him for not reaching the minimum speed. He went into the pits and his crew sent him to the garage, ending his day. Shortly after this, the third caution of the day came out on lap 105. Coming out of turn 4, Brian Vickers had no room and Jamie Dick came down on him. Jamie slid down the frontstretch and slammed in to the inside wall, but the worst was yet to come. Nelson Piquet Jr. was attempting to slow down, but Parker Kligerman bumped him. Piquet slid down the track in turn 1 and plowed into Jamie. Both cars were destroyed beyond repair. Josh Wise received the lucky dog. The race went back green and it continued on until the fourth caution of the day on lap 121. Allen Bestwick and the guys in the booth were talking about Jeremy Clements, who was in twelfth position at the time. As they were talking about him, Clements blew a tire and went into the wall and brought out a caution for debris. Hal Martin received the lucky dog, but his race went bad right after this.

         The race went back green and continued on until the fifth caution on lap 159. Hal Martin went up on Brad Teague, another lapped car who affected the race, coming out of turn 4. Martin slid down the frontstretch and pounded into the inside wall. Martin went up the track and Jeffrey Earnhardt could not avoid. He hit Martin and received a good bit of damage. Reed Sorenson and Austin Dillon also got involved. No drivers received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and it was a short time before the sixth caution of the day came out on lap 177. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 4. Austin Dillon, who was in the previous wreck, received the lucky dog. The green flag went back out and it got dicey for the leaders on lap 189. Brad Keselowski and Regan Smith were running side by side and they were catching the lapped car of Dexter Stacey. Both drivers were deciding what line to use and when Stacey got close, Smith began to get loose. He was able to save it, but he had to use Keselowski's car to do it. Keselowski began to experience a tire rub and the tire eventually blew out. This resulted in the seventh caution of the day on lap 195 for debris from his tire. John Wes Townley received the lucky dog. The race went green once again and the longest green flag run of the day ended with the eighth and final caution on lap 264. Jason White got loose in turn 2 and went up into the wall. Alex Bowman received the lucky dog. Now, the final dash to the finish was set and it was one for the books.

        Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Brian Vickers started out as the top three on the restart. Kyle Larson was able to stay ahead of Vickers and make it a race between him and Busch. The two stayed on the top side just waiting to see what moves they should make. In a flash, the white flag was out and Larson had only two chances to get by Busch. Larson didn't make the move in turn 1, but he got ready for turn 3. But Kyle Busch did something that could have possibly taken the win out of his hands. He moved to the inside line in turn 3 and Larson had the top side, the preferred groove, to make the pass. Little did we know, Kyle Busch knew what he was doing. Two lapped cars, Reed Sorenson and Brad Teague, were battling in front of the two leaders. Sorenson, the faster of the two cars, was on the bottom. Thus, the quicker lane was the bottom. All four drivers shot out of turn 4 and the two Kyles began to beat and bang. It was close, twenty three hundredths to be exact, but Kyle Busch was able to win. It was by far one of the most interesting finishes this season and, like usual, “The World's Fastest Half-Mile” did not disappoint.

        The racing was great and we saw the present and future of the sport battle for a win at one of the most exciting circuits in the sport. You couldn't ask for a better race or a greater finish. Well, unless you wanted Kyle Larson to win, but that is not the point. With this win, Kyle Busch now has two awards from the weekend: the winning trophy from the Nationwide Series and the pole award for tomorrow's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Busch hopes to pull the sweep at Bristol tomorrow and I hope you can tune in to see it. Let me tell you, it won't disappoint and I have never been so sure of that.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 27- Sam Hornish got up into Jamie Dick in turn 3 and Jamie spun harmlessly.

2nd Caution: Lap 59- Brad Sweet got loose in turn 2 and spun out.

3rd Caution: Lap 105- Jamie Dick came down on Brian Vickers. Jamie slid down the frontstretch and slammed into the wall. Nelson Piquet Jr. piled into Jamie, destroying both cars.

4th Caution: Lap 121- Jeremy Clements blew a tire and hit the wall, leaving debris on the track.

5th Caution: Lap 159- Hal Martin went up the track on Brad Teague coming out of turn 4. Martin slid down the frontstretch and slammed into the wall. Jeffrey Earnhardt ran into him and received some damage. Reed Sorenson and Austin Dillon also got involved. 

6th Caution: Lap 177- Debris was spotted in turn 4.

7th Caution: Lap 195- Debris from Brad Keselowski's tire was spotted on the track.

8th Caution: Lap 264- Jason White got loose in turn 2 and went up into the wall.

Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Brad Sweet
2nd Caution: None
3rd Caution: Josh Wise
4th Caution: Hal Martin
5th Caution: None
6th Caution: Austin Dillon
7th Caution: John Wes Townley
8th Caution: Alex Bowman

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kyle Busch
2nd: Kyle Larson
3rd: Brian Vickers
4th: Sam Hornish Jr.
5th: Kevin Harvick

Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Regan Smith
11th: Austin Dillon
12th: Trevor Bayne
15th: Brad Keselowski 
16th: Travis Pastrana
36th: Elliott Sadler



Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Jeff_Foxworthys_Grit_Chips_300/B
-Image:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/dam/assets/130316173322-kyle-busch-single-image-cut.jpg

Kyle Busch Smashes the Track Record and Grabs the Pole at Bristol

        With a time of 14.813 seconds (129.535 mph), Kyle Busch set the track qualifying record for Bristol and grabbed the pole. In fact, two other drivers, Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin, bested the previous track record. Plus, six more drivers bested the fourteen second mark. One more thing, the top thirty six qualifiers bested last year's qualifying time. In case you haven't figured out, the new cars are really fast at Bristol. Now back to Kyle Busch's pole position. He went out early and set the fast time, but he had to dodge a lot of bullets throughout the session.

         The qualifying rules were once again changed. The 2012 Owner Points are no longer being used and the top 35 rule has been eliminated completely. Now, the thirty six fastest drivers are locked in and the final spots are based on provisionals for this year's owner points along with the past champion's provisional. The first driver out on the track was Mike Bliss. He immediately set the tone for the session by laying down a lap quicker than Greg Biffle's pole run at Bristol last year. The pole position switched back and forth between drivers to begin the session. This all changed when Kyle Busch, the ninth driver out, ran the first sub-fourteen second lap and beat the track record. One by one, the drivers attempted to beat his time, but they were unsuccessful. Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch's teammate, beat the track record, but came up short and had to settle for second. Well, before Kasey Kahne was able to surpass Hamlin's time. But even Kahne was unable to surpass Kyle Busch's time. With Casey Mears' run, Kyle Busch grabbed the pole and set his own track record at Bristol.

          Based on qualifying, the race should be filled with beating and banging and shear speed. Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Denny Hamlin showed today that they are serious about winning at “The World's Fastest Half Mile”, Bristol Motor Speedway. Not only that, but it is Bristol. Usually, some drivers reach the breaking point and there anger seeps out into a confrontation and objects start flying. Just ask Matt Kenseth where Tony Stewart's helmet landed at Bristol last year. I can't wait for Sunday's Food City 500 and I hope you are as anxious as I am.
(More Stats Down Below!)



Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Kyle Busch    14.813 (129.535 mph) *
2nd: Kasey Kahne    14.875 (128.995 mph) *
3rd: Denny Hamlin    14.879 (128.960 mph) *
4th: Brian Vickers    14.929 (128.528 mph)
5th: Paul Menard    14.949 (128.356 mph)
(*: Faster than the previous track qualifying record.)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
7th: Brad Keselowski    14.966 (128.211 mph)
11th: Jeff Gordon    15.006 (127.869 mph)
13th: Jimmie Johnson    15.010 (127.835 mph)
18th: Kevin Harvick    15.055 (127.453 mph)
32nd: Dale Earnhardt Jr.    15.235 (125.947 mph)
41st: Danica Patrick    15.395 (124.638 mph)

Provisional Starters (With Times): *
37th: Travis Kvapil    15.333 (125.142 mph)
38th: Joe Nemechek    15.363 (124.897 mph)
39th: Bobby Labonte    15.382 (124.743 mph)
40th: Josh Wise    15.386 (124.711 mph)
41st: Danica Patrick    15.395 (124.638 mph)
42nd: Landon Cassill    15.427 (124.379 mph)
43rd: Terry Labonte    15.560 (123.316 mph) 
(*: Based on 2013 Owner Points; ordered by qualifying speeds)

DNQ (With Time):
44th: Scott Riggs 15.418 (124.452 mph)



Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
http://www.jayski.com/news/stats/2013/story/_/page/04-Bristol-2013-Qualifying-Lineup
-Image:
http://www.autoweek.com/storyimage/CW/20130315/NASCAR01/130319860/AR/0/Kyle-Busch-wins-pole-for-Bristol.jpg