Lap-By-Lap the Kobalt Tools 400

GREEN FLAG is in the air as Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle will lead the field around for the first lap on the track.

Lap 3 last week’s winner at Phoenix, Jeff Gordon powers past teammate Jimmie Johnson to take 13th. Biffle takes the lead.

Lap 5 we see that two race lines are forming on the track. Biffle leads Kenseth by almost one second.

YELLOW FLAG lap 9 as Robby Gordon who has been in the hot seat with NASCAR with an incident with another driver and on probation for the rest of the season, solo spins out in turn four but no contact.

Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch, David Reutimann and Dale Earnhardt Jr. remain on track while the majority of the leaders head down pit road. Kenseth is out first followed by Biffle, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano.

GREEN FLAG lap 13 as Gordon leads the field back up to speed. Kenseth is off pace for some reason and has to head to pit road. Tony Stewart takes the lead by turn three.

YELLOW FLAG lap 15 as Andy Lally is lightly tapped from behind by David Gilliland in turn two causing a solo spin. Robby Gordon is the lucky dog. Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray and a few others head to pit road.

GREEN FLAG lap 18 as Stewart and Kurt Busch bring the field back up to speed. Jeff Gordon tries a three wide move for the lead heading into turn one. Gordon slips back to 6th as he has to lift.

Lap 22 Stewart pulls away from Kurt Busch by 8/10th’s. An early mover on the field is David Ragan currently 22nd from his start of 42nd. Clint Bowyer is on the move as well up 12 spots to 16th.

Lap 25 your top ten drivers are Stewart, Kurt Busch, Montoya, Biffle, Ambrose, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. Reutimann has been moving up in the field from his start of 25th.

Lap 29 Jeff Gordon challenges Reutimann, or should we say the other way around as Reutimann passes Gordon. Kyle Busch follows Reutimann to take 7th.

Lap 33 Matt Kenseth is down a lap in 41st. Kenseth is not the lucky dog though. Michael McDowell and Landon Cassill take their cars to the garage.

Lap 36 Stewart leads the field by 3 seconds. Joe Nemechek takes his car to the garage.

Lap 38 Carl Edwards takes 8th from Jeff Gordon.

Lap 43 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne is currently 14th. Stewart increases his lead over 2nd place Kurt Busch to 3.7 seconds, 3rd place Biffle by 4.8 seconds, 4th place Montoya by 5.4 seconds and 5th place Ambrose by 6.5 seconds. J.J. Yeley takes his car to the garage.

Lap 46 Kurt Busch heads to pit road. Lap 49 Reutimann is in for his stop. Those who made the first stop can go an extra 20 laps. Lap 51 Montoya and Jeff Gordon are in. Lap 52 Stewart is in, leaving Biffle to lead.

Lap 53 Kasey Kahne is in for his stop along with Robby Gordon, McMurray, Regan Smith. Lap 54 Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Edwards are in.

Lap 55 many others head into pit road. Lap 58 as Kevin Harvick heads to pit road, Bayne’s tough racing hits him again as he is busted for speeding.

Lap 61 pit stops for the leaders have completed out. Stewart is back in the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Biffle, Bill Elliott, Montoya, Reutimann, Edwards, Ambrose, Truex Jr., Logano, Gordon, Allmendinger, Paul Menard, Harvick, Brian Vickers, Kahne, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer round out the top twenty.

Lap 72 currently there are 29 drivers on the lead lap. We have had 10 lead changes among 8 leaders. Stewart so far has led the most laps with 51.

Lap 75 “5-Time” Johnson has slipped back to 24th and just a few cars separate him from leader Stewart. We hear that the #48 team might be trying a new setup like they did in Phoenix.

Lap 81 Smith takes his car to the garage.

Lap 83 in the garage we see Cassill, Nemechek, McDowell, Yeley and Smith. Down laps we see Lally, Tony Raines, Travis Kvapil, Elliott, Mike Skinner, Dave Blaney more than 2 laps down along with 1 lap down drivers of Kenseth, Robby Gordon, Bayne, Casey Mears, Brad Keselowski, Gilliland, Bobby Labonte and McMurray.

Lap 90 Johnson has leader Stewart on his heels. Lap 91 Johnson falls a lap down.

Yellow Flag lap 95 for debris after Kyle Busch tags the outside turn one wall with a flat tire. Kyle Busch is the first driver a lap down and the lucky dog. The caution was for debris. The leaders head to pit road. The race back is Stewart, Montoya, Kurt Busch, Biffle, Edwards and Jeff Gordon.

Lap 100 the rest of the top twenty is Ambrose, Logano, Harvick, Truex Jr., Menard, Vickers, Allmendinger, Martin, Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Bowyer, Burton, Newman and Kahne. So far there have been 3 cautions. Stewart has led 77 laps so far among the 12 lead changes in the race so far.

GREEN FLAG lap 101 as Stewart and Montoya get the show going again.

YELLOW FLAG lap 102 as Kurt Busch was way loose in turn three and solo spins. It looked like Kahne was tapped from behind who spins as well and both drivers make it through without issues. Johnson is the lucky dog.

GREEN FLAG lap 106 with Stewart along with Edwards, Biffle and Montoya in tow.

CAUTION lap 108 as Kyle Busch’s car blows up and the inside fills with smoke. Ragan is the lucky dog. Bayne might have picked up some oil on the track as he bounces off of McMurray in turn two.

Lap 114 we get to putt around the track for several laps to clean up the major oil on the track.

GREEN FLAG lap 116 as Stewart and Biffle bring the field back up to speed. Stewart is off like a rocket and he is more than a half second in front of the field within two laps.

Lap 119 we see that Johnson is not having a good handling day as he slips back to 17th. Lap 120 teammate Earnhardt Jr. is looking good at the time though as he runs up to the 9th position.

Lap 125 your top ten drivers are Stewart, Edwards, Biffle, Montoya, Truex Jr., Harvick, Menard, Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Logano.

Lap 130 Earnhardt Jr. takes 7th from Menard. Lap 135 Earnhardt Jr. is currently the biggest mover is Earnhardt Jr. up 26 from his race start of 33rd. Stewart runs 2 seconds in front of Edwards.

Lap 140 it looks like Edwards is closing in on Stewart. The gap is down to 1.4 seconds. Biffle is 3.1 seconds back in 3rd. Green flag stops are coming soon.

Lap 145 Harvick takes 5th place from Truex Jr. Earnhardt Jr. to 6th. Looks like an issue for Biffle as he is on fumes as his gas was not filled all the way. A bad break for Biffle as the team struggles to get the car started back up to get gas back into the engine.

YELLOW FLAG lap 149 as Gilliland’s car shoots flames from the bottom of the car after his car slams into the outside turn two wall from a flat right side tire. Bayne is the lucky dog. The field heads to pit road. Stewart, Edwards, Harvick, Truex Jr. and Montoya are the top five out.

Lap 150 we are up to 6 cautions, 13 lead changes among 10 leaders and 25 drivers on the lead lap. The top twenty drivers are Stewart, Edwards, Harvick, Truex Jr., Montoya, Earnhardt Jr., Menard, Logano, Vickers, Ambrose, Reutimann, Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Newman, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Burton, Martin and Bowyer.

Big trouble for Stewart as NASCAR busts the team as he left with the air hose getting hung up on the back of the car and he will go to the back of the pack. Big heart ache for his team and Edwards will be on point.

GREEN FLAG lap 156 as Edwards and Truex Jr. lead the field into turn one. Lap 165 Stewart has moved up into the top 20 in 9 laps, he is on a mission.

Lap 167 (100 laps to go) as Edwards runs 2 seconds in front of Truex Jr.

Lap 175 your top ten drivers are Edwards, Truex Jr., Montoya, Earnhardt Jr., Menard, Logano, Ambrose, Vickers, Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Lap 181 (86 to go) Stewart is up to 17th, no change in the top ten.

80 to go as Edwards leads Truex Jr. by 2.6 seconds, 3rd place Montoya is 3.3 seconds back, Earnhardt Jr. 4.7 seconds back and 5th place Ambrose 7.3 seconds back. The last round of pit stops should be in about 15 laps.

75 to go as pit stops begin and Biffle is on pit road.

YELLOW FLAG lap 194 as Jeff Gordon will not win two weeks in a row as his right front tire and slams the outside turn four wall. Kenseth is the lucky dog. Bad break for Biffle as he is three laps down.

A big swing on pit road as Stewart and his team take two tires to jump back into the lead position followed by Montoya, Truex Jr., Edwards and Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 200 your top twenty drivers are Stewart, Montoya, Truex Jr., Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Ambrose, Menard, Logano, Newman, Hamlin, Vickers, Johnson, Allmendinger, Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Martin, Kahne, Bayne and Ragan. So far there have been 7 cautions, 17 lead change among 11 leaders and 23 drivers on the lead lap.

Bowyer has the top speed of the day at this track with 205 mph. Stewart has led the most laps so far with 133. Earnhardt Jr. remains the biggest mover on the track.

GREEN FLAG lap 203 as Earnhardt places some pressure on Edwards and Truex Jr. as they fight for 3rd place.

Lap 204 (63 to go) as Hamlin is on the bounce back up to 8th. Earnhardt Jr. takes 4th from Edwards.

60 to go as Earnhardt Jr. races on the inside of Truex Jr. for third place. 59 to go Earnhardt Jr. cannot complete the pass which allows Edwards to retake 4th from Earnhardt Jr.

58 to go a Stewart drops the hammer to leave 2nd place Montoya and the field behind by 2.2 seconds.

55 to go and the biggest mover changes to Hamlin who started from the back holds at 8th place.

50 to go and your top ten drivers are Stewart leading Montoya by 2.8 seconds, 3rd place Truex Jr. runs 3.8 seconds back, 4th place Edwards is 4 seconds behind, 5th place Earnhardt Jr. 5.4 seconds, 6th place Ambrose 5.7 seconds, 7th place Newman 7.2 seconds back, 8th place Hamlin 7.9, 9th place Logano 9.2 and Menard 9.8 back.

45 to go and we are in the window for last pit stops of the race. Edwards took 3rd from Truex Jr. a few laps ago.

44 to go Hamlin passes Newman for 7th.

40 to go Stewart leads by 3.6 seconds over Montoya who will be soon challenged by Edwards.

35 to go with Stewart is 4.3 seconds in front of the field.

32 to go as Stewart heads to pit road for the last stop. A four tire stop and he is off and going but could the pit stop be too long?

31 to go Harvick, Martin, Johnson, Burton, Biffle. It looks like the others took four tires and minimal fuel. We see that Biffle’s team may have not got all the gas he needs.

28 to go as Earnhardt Jr. is in followed by Newman.

26 to go with Edwards, Logano, Truex Jr. Montoya coming in. Logano is busted for letting a tire go out of the box. Logano was having a good day too.

23 to go as Reutimann heads to pit road, Edwards is the new leader with Montoya and Stewart 1.1 and 1.4 seconds back.

20 to go Edwards holds his lead over Montoya by 1.5 and Stewart 2 seconds back.

We have Edwards, Montoya, Stewart, Ambrose, Newman, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr., Vickers and Kurt Busch as the top ten.

15 to go Edwards took a two tire stop and continues his lead and no closure from Montoya and Stewart.

10 to go as Stewart closes in on Montoya for second. Both drivers are two seconds back.

8 to go as Stewart begins to setup Montoya for the pass.

7 to go Truex Jr. passes Hamlin for 6th. Ambrose is closing in on Stewart and Montoya.

5 to go as Stewart takes 2nd place.

4 to go Edwards leads Stewart by 1.5 seconds.

3 to go Ambrose is on Montoya for 3rd place. Kenseth versus Vickers for 10th.

2 to go as there is not enough time for Stewart to catch Edwards.

WHITE FLAG for Edwards. Four clean corners for Edwards and…

CHECKERED FLAG for Edwards.

Your unofficial top ten drivers are Edwards, Stewart, Montoya, Ambrose, Newman, Truex Jr., Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Vickers.

The race lasted for three hours. We saw 22 lead changes among 15 leaders. 22 drivers finished on the lead lap.

Unofficial Race Results