After getting rained-on on Saturday night, the Quaker State 400 in Kentucky moved to a pleasant Sunday afternoon start time. It was well worth the wait. There was no lack of on track action. Kurt Busch with an idiotic move took out many contenders early on. Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit debris while leading the race and was never the same. Jimmie Johnson spun out late in the race and complained about a restart. And Matt Kenseth with some great pit strategy was the race winner.
Kenseth took fuel only on a late pit stop with only 21 laps remaining and came out of the pits the race leader. Johnson accused Kenseth of slowing down before taking the green flag. Kenseth denied any part of that. Johnson who had led 182 of the 243 laps of the race ended up spinning out and finished a disappointing 9th place.
And tough luck found Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Jr. as a chunk of tire off the car of Denny Hamlin found the splitter of the #88 car and many in the sparse crowd in Kentucky were disappointed. Johnson’s car also found the debris but his car did not seem to be impacted. Junior and his team worked on the car throughout the race and were able to finish a respectable 12th.
Kurt Busch gets the “What the hell are you doing?” award for the week with a bonehead move which caused a serious crash. Early in the race Busch drove onto the apron, and when he drove back onto the track he banged into the side of Brad Keselowski. Keselowski spun in front of the field collecting several cars, including Greg Biffle.
Busch, to his credit, quickly took the blame for the accident. “That didn’t work out so good.” Busch told his crew on the radio. “The track just threw me back into him. That was all my fault.”
Brad Keselowski did not take much comfort in Busch’s apology. “I know he didn’t wreck me intentionally but we all know the track has a real bad bump there and there’s no reason to go down there, but he did. He’s smarter than that.”
The wreck was a big hit for the defending Sprint Cup Champion as he fell to 13th in the Sprint Cup point standing with 9 races remaining before the Chase. If the Chase were to be held today, these would be the seedings.
- Matt Kenseth – 4 wins
- Jimmie Johnson – 3 wins
- Kevin Harvick – 2 wins
- Kyle Busch – 2 wins
- Carl Edwards – 1 win
- Martin Truex Jr. – 1 win
- Greg Biffle – 1 win
- Clint Bowyer – 0 wins
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 0 wins
- Joey Logano – 0 wins
- Kasey Kahne – 1 win
- Tony Stewart – 1 win
The race for the Chase is shaping up as one of the best ever. There are very few drivers with 1 or more victories as Tony Stewart is the only one currently outside the top 12 and in the top 25 with at least 1 victory. Any of those drivers ahead of Stewart could capture a win and kick Stewart out of the Chase’s wild card spot.
Also, the race for 10th is shaping up as a good one as well. Gordon (3 pts), Keselowski (14 pts), Kurt Busch (16 pts), and Paul Menard (20 pts) are all within striking distance of 10th place Joey Logano. Factor in the two wild card spots and this is a wide open field.
The series visits Daytona for some night racing this week. Once again the restrictor plate race will make this anybody’s race. Avoiding the “BIG ONE” should be on the minds of those fighting for a spot in the Chase.
My picks:
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Kyle Busch
- Jeff Gordon
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