[media-credit name=”Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”218″]
[/media-credit]Matt Kenseth survived the “new” Kansas Speedway on Sunday. The fast, smooth new surface brought out a record 14 caution flags, a season high in the Sprint Cup Series.
Kenseth lead a race-high 77 laps, including the final 20 laps. This was Kenseth’s third win of the season and his second in the chase and his 24th career Sprint Cup victory.
“It really means a lot,” said an emotional Kenseth in victory lane. “I have to thank God for all of the opportunities and guidance. I want to thank Jack Roush, Robbie Reiser and Mark Martin; without those guys I would have never been at Roush Fenway Racing.” Kenseth said when asked what this win meant to him.
Martin Truex Jr. finished second and also finished second in the spring race. Truex Jr. moved up one position to 6th, 43 points behind.
“Proud of the guys on the NAPA Toyota — they never gave up. Just kept digging all day long. That’s a good run for us, for sure. Just a little bit too tight there at the end there to run with Matt. A good run and we’ll go on to Martinsville.” Truex Jr. said.
Kasey Kahne finished fourth after a late miscue. Kahne was trying to save fuel (while in the second position) and the car would not re-fire. He did not retain his position while running under caution and NASCAR placed him in 6th place on the restart.
“Yes, it just wouldn’t re-fire. Disappointing. But we got through there. We had a good car; we got back to fourth.” Kahne said. “It was a little loose there taking off. It was coming to me and getting good there at the end. We just weren’t close enough at that point in time. But still, a solid day.”
Tony Stewart, who overcame both a spin during the race and a pit road penalty for leaving his stall with equipment still attached to his car, finished fifth.
“Our guys led by Steve Addington, they never gave up today. Really proud of the effort they gave. That’s how we won a championship last year, by never giving up.” Stewart said.
Clint Bowyer finished sixth and maintained fourth in the standings, 25 points behind.
“We’ve just got to keep digging. You’ve got to keep gaining on them. I was hoping to gain a little bit more than that, but we had a solid day and just frustrating though.” Bowyer said after being asked what his plans were for the upcoming races.
Brad Keselowski finished 8th and holds onto the series points lead by seven points over
Jimmie Johnson with only four races remaining.
But it was not without its close calls for the two front runners. Keselowski went in-between two wrecking cars without any damage.
“I’m glad to have survived the carnage and brought back a decent car. Whew! Just a tough day.” Keselowski said.
Johnson was back in the field after a caution flag and spun himself back into the outside wall while trying to make a pass. The damage looked to bad to make repairs on pit road, but crew chief Chad Knaus called him to pit road to get a look at the car first. It turned out to be the cal that saved the team from a serious setback. It was not pretty after several pit stop, but Knaus radioed to Johnson, “That looks good, man. They did a much better job than I thought they would. There’s really nothing wrong with that thing.” Johnson finished 9th.
Jeff Gordon finished 10th, Kevin Harvick 11th, Denny Hamlin 13th and Greg Biffle finished 27th after a hard crash.
Hamlin remains third in the standings but lost 5 more points to the lead. Hamlin is now 20 points behind.
“’This is a race where when you’ve got the other guys you’re racing finishing eighth and ninth, you’ve got to beat them, especially wrecked race cars. We just shot ourselves in the foot a lot today.” Hamlin said. “We’ll just try to rebound at Martinsville. It’s been a good track for us. And not a complete destroyed day, but we’ll try to make the best of it.”
Official Chase Standings/Stats
After race 6 of 10
Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/chase.php
| Pos. | Driver | (+/-) | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 | Bon. | Avg St | Ave Fin | Laps | Ttl Laps | Points | Bnd |
| 1 | Brad Keselowski | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 17.5 | 5.7 | 1756 | 1757 | 2250 | 0 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 10.2 | 6.2 | 1757 | 1757 | 2243 | -7 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13.7 | 9 | 1756 | 1757 | 2230 | -20 |
| 4 | Clint Bowyer | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 5.5 | 8.8 | 1755 | 1757 | 2225 | -25 |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5.5 | 7.8 | 1753 | 1757 | 2220 | -30 |
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 10.2 | 9.5 | 1756 | 1757 | 2207 | -43 |
| 7 | Tony Stewart | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 20.8 | 12.2 | 1752 | 1757 | 2203 | -47 |
| 8 | Jeff Gordon | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10.8 | 11.7 | 1678 | 1757 | 2199 | -51 |
| 9 | Matt Kenseth | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 12.3 | 13.8 | 1726 | 1757 | 2195 | -55 |
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17.7 | 12.3 | 1753 | 1757 | 2191 | -59 |
| 11 | Greg Biffle | -5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9.7 | 14 | 1714 | 1757 | 2188 | -62 |
| 12 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 23.2 | 21.3 | 1308 | 1757 | 2128 | -122 |
*Note: These stats consist of only the final 10 chase races.
(http://www.speedwaymedia.com/cup/chase.php)
Biggest loser(s) after race 6: Greg Biffle. After the hard crash, Biffle dropped five spots in the standings.
Biggest gainer after race 6: No real standout, but Bowyer gains three more points on the leader.
Biggest movers after race 6 (+/-): With the win, Kenseth moves up two spots to 9th in the standings.
