Kasey Kahne
For the third week in a row, Kasey Kahne has finished in the top-5 among the Chase contenders. At the beginning of the race, Kahne did not have a great race car. He complained of “rear-end up and front-end down” handling issues. After green flag pit stops with 139 laps to go, the No. 4 crew made adjustments to correct the issues. “Oh yea, it’s going now” Kahne replied to the crew after exiting pit road. After pit stops, Kahne was in ninth position and was the fastest car on the track. On the fifth caution of the night, Kahne’s Red Bull crew was able to get him out of the pits in third position, securing him a finish of fourth position. Kahne won the Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race award for the Bank of America 500. Given to the winner of the race, or the next highest finishing driver with the Mobil 1 decal on their race car. Kasey moved up one spot in standings to 15th position.
Marcos Ambrose
Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose was destined to do well at Charlotte Motor Speedway, having ten top-10 career finishes at intermediate tracks coming into this race. Ambrose celebrated his fifth top-5 of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night. Ambrose qualified his Stanley Tools Ford in 12th position and was a front runner throughout the race. Although there were a few late-race cautions, Ambrose was able to hold his position and stay at the head of the field. Marcos finished the race in fifth position, his third straight top-10 of the season. The crew chief of the No. 9 car, Todd Parrott, received the Moog Problem Solver of the Race award. Given to the crew chief that improves the most from the first half of the race to the second half, utilizing the 40 best laps times(improving 0.155 seconds). Marcos moved two spots up in the points standings, to 18th position
AJ Allmendinger
Although AJ Allmendinger battled handling issues during the race, he was able to keep his Best Buy Ford in the top-10 throughout the night. On Lap 127 Allmendinger pitted to try and correct these handling issues, but couldn’t quite seem to get it fixed. AJ remained in the top-10 until just after Lap 200, when he fell to 12th position. The team remained patient, pitting again under Lap 238 to make more adjustments. With 100 laps to go, Allmendinger’s No. 43 car came to life, allowing him to finish the race in seventh position. This marks AJ’s eighth top-10 of the season. Leaving Charlotte, he rests in 14th position in points standings.
