Johnson was dominant at Daytona and held on after several late restarts to win the Coke Zero 400. Johnson became the first driver to sweep both Daytona races since Bobby Allison in 1982.
With a surprising Sunday afternoon race thanks to Mother Nature on Saturday night, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 3rd Annual Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway.
Kenseth’s gamble to take no tires during pits stops on the final caution paid off handsomely, as he collected his fourth win of the year with a win at Kentucky. He is now fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 82 behind Jimmie Johnson.
This past weekend at Kentucky, crew chief Jason Ratcliff made the call to take two tires which put Matt Kenseth out front for a late race restart. Their call put Jimmie Johnson who had dominated the race up to that point in a vulnerable position starting on the inside which ended with him spinning out and losing all of his track position.
After a weekend of turning left and right at the road courses at Sonoma and Road America, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, joined by their NASCAR Camping World Truck Series counterparts, head back east to the 1.5 mile Kentucky Speedway for the second tripleheader of the season. This time around all three races will be under the lights of this oval that is a relative newcomer to the schedule, having only hosted all three series for the past two years.
Sprint Cup Series - Quaker State 400
After having races in three different states last weekend for the three national series, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series join back up for a companion weekend at Michigan International Speedway, the bad fast two-mile oval located in the Irish Hills of Michigan.
With a picture-perfect race day after a qualifying rainout, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 32nd annual Party in the Poconos 400.
After last weekend’s triple-header at Dover International Speedway, the three national series go their separate ways this weekend with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series headlining at Pocono Raceway, the NASCAR Nationwide Series heading to the Midwest for a Saturday night showdown at Iowa Speedway, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicking off the weekend in the Lone Star State with their race on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.
No one in chase history has made up the kind of deficit Hamlin faces and made the playoffs at this point of the schedule so Denny's chances seem slim to none. On the other hand, no driver the caliber of Denny Hamlin has ever found themselves in this kind of position 13 races into the season. Hamlin is very fast and will win this year but will it be enough to grab a wildcard spot?
