Monday, October 28, 2013

Jeff Gordon Wins at Martinsville Speedway

Originally written for CLNS Radio.


Jeff Gordon outran Matt Kenseth to win the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Jeff Gordon celebrates his victory at Martinsville.  The win was his eighth career victory at Martinsville. (Courtesy Geoff Burke/Getty Images)
Gordon led the final 20 laps after getting around Kenseth in lapped traffic late in the race.  The win was Gordon's first of the season, and his eighth career win at Martinsville, tying him with Jimmie Johnson for third on the all-time list.


"Man, it's hard to top what it feels like to win, especially with all this team had to go through," Gordon told ESPN in victory lane.  "I thought we'd given it away a couple times there, but we really fought back."
Gordon is now third in the points standings, behind Kenseth and Johnson.  Gordon said Kenseth made it hard for him to get the win on Sunday.

"I finally saw where [Kenseth] started struggling on the exit, but he did a heck of a job," said Gordon.  "He drove a real first-class race today."

Denny Hamlin won the pole for the race, and he led the field to the green flag.  He held the lead until lap three when Jimmie Johnson took the lead for the first time of the day.

On lap seven, the first caution of the day came out for Jeff Burton, who spun after contact with Carl Edwards.

Johnson led when the race went back green on lap 20, but Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 25.  On lap 37, Kenseth took the lead for the first time.

The second caution of the day came out on lap 88, when Travis Kvapil spun after contact with Edwards. 
Kenseth led everyone back to the green flag on lap 95.  He held the lead until Johnson passed him on lap 111.

Johnson led until the third caution of the day came out when David Reutimann spun on lap 140.  The leaders pitted, and Johnson won the race off pit road.

The race restarted on lap 147, and Johnson kept the lead until the next caution came out on lap 165.  Kyle Larson, making his second Sprint Cup Series start, blew an engine and spun out heading to the pits.  

The leaders pitted under caution, and Johnson won the race off.  Burton stayed out, and he led the field back to the green flag on lap 181.  Burton wasn't a match for Johnson, however, and he lost the lead coming out of Turn 2.

On lap 182, the field stacked up to bring out the fifth caution of the day.  Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Ken Schrader, Aric Almirola, Kvapil and Hamlin were all involved.

The race restarted on lap 192, and Johnson led until another caution came out on lap 204.  Kurt Busch spun in Turn 3, and he came down the track into Mark Martin.

Johnson led when the race restarted on lap 210, but the caution came back out on lap 219 when Kvapil spun again.

Kenseth took the lead when the race restarted on lap 222, and Reutimann spun again on lap 229 to bring out the eighth caution of the day.

Kenseth led the field back to the green flag on lap 235.  On lap 238, Clint Bowyer was able to get around Kenseth to take the lead.  Bowyer led until lap 282, when Gordon took the lead for the first time.

Reed Sorenson stopped on the track to bring out the caution on lap 284.

Gordon won the race off pit road, and he led the field back to the green flag on lap 291.
On lap 298, the caution came out again for debris.  

The race went back green on lap 304, but the caution came back out on lap 309 for a spin by Landon Cassill.

Gordon led when the race restarted on lap 315, but the string of cautions continued when, on lap 318, Ryan Newman spun after contact with Kevin Harvick.

The race restarted again on lap 325, but Truex spun on lap 328 to bring out the 13th caution of the day.
The green flag came back out on lap 333, and Gordon led until the caution came out again on lap 338 for debris on the frontstretch.  During the caution, Gordon pitted, handing the lead over to Hamlin.

Hamlin led the field on the restart on lap 342, but Bowyer took the lead on lap 351.  He led until the caution came out on lap 366 for a spin by Cole Whitt.  The leaders pitted under the caution, and Elliott Sadler took the lead after staying out.

Sadler led the field to the green on lap 373, but Kenseth took the lead away on lap 374.

On lap 380, J.J. Yeley hit the wall to bring out the 16th caution of the day.  

Kenseth led the field to the green flag on lap 386, and he led until the final caution came out on lap 417 for debris.  The leaders came down pit road to make their final pit stops, and Kenseth won the race off to keep the lead.

Kenseth led when the green flag came back out on lap 424.  He led until he came under fire from Gordon, who took the lead on lap 480.  Gordon led the final 20 laps to win the race.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9. Greg Biffle
10. Jamie McMurray
11. Jeff Burton
12. Carl Edwards
13. Juan Pablo Montoya
14. Joey Logano
15. Kyle Busch
16. Martin Truex Jr.
17. Danica Patrick
18. Kurt Busch
19. Marcos Ambrose
20. Aric Almirola
21. Casey Mears
22. Paul Menard
23. David Gilliland
24. Travis Kvapil
25. Elliott Sadler
26. Michael McDowell
27. Kasey Kahne
28. Ken Schrader
29. Landon Cassill
30. J.J. Yeley
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
32. Bobby Labonte
33. Joe Nemechek
34. Josh Wise
35. Cole Whitt
36. Mark Martin
37. David Reutimann
38. Ryan Newman
39. Dave Blaney
40. Reed Sorenson
41. Tony Raines
42. Kyle Larson
43. David Ragan

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

McMurray Wins at Talladega

Originally written for CLNS Radio.



Jamie McMurray held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the Camping World RV Sales 500 after the race ended under caution on Sunday afternoon.

Photo courtesy Getty Images
McMurray led the final 16 laps of the race, and he was ready to fend off a hard charge from Earnhardt on the final lap.  But when a wreck occurred coming out of Turn 2, a caution came out to freeze the field as they ran.

McMurray said he wasn't sure if he would have been able to hold off Earnhardt and Austin Dillon if they had tried anything, and that he had been thinking of what he could do for the final 10 laps.

"I saw the 88 [of Earnhardt] trying to figure out how to set me up to get around me," McMurray told ESPN.
McMurray said he had worked the entire race to get up front, and that he saw how Kenseth and Johnson had made the high line work throughout the race.

"I just could never get in the right line," said McMurray.  "I felt like I was pretty patient all day, and I was able to get myself into position.  Kenseth and Johnson showed that it was better to get hung out on the high side than the low side."

The victory was McMurray's first win of the season and the seventh of his career.

Aric Almirola started on the pole after qualifying was rained out on Saturday afternoon.  He was able to clear Jeff Burton when the green flag fell, and he led until the first caution of the day came out on lap three when Tony Raines blew an engine.

Almirola led the field back to the green flag on lap eight, but Burton was able to take the lead going through Turns 1 and 2.  

Points leader Matt Kenseth took the lead for the first time of the day on lap 12.  He lost the lead the lead to Greg Biffle and Joey Logano before regaining it until the first round of green flag pit stops began on lap 42.

When stops had cycled around by lap 49, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the leader of the race.  Earnhardt, Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson swapped the lead until the second caution of the day came out on lap 78.  Marcos Ambrose got loose going through the trioval, and he spun down into Juan Pablo Montoya.

The leaders brought their cars down pit road.  Johnson won the race off, and he led the field back to the green flag on lap 85.  Johnson, Earnhardt, and Kenseth swapped the lead during the run, until Johnson pitted under green on lap 122.

On lap 123, everyone else began to make their pit stops, and Almirola was the leader when stops had cycled around on lap 127.  He only held the lead for one lap, because Earnhardt took the lead again on lap 128.

On lap 147, Kyle Busch took the lead for the first time of the day.  Busch had a pit miscue earlier in the race, and he had to play catch-up for most of the day.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead on lap 148, but Earnhardt took the lead again on the next lap.

Earnhardt led the field around single-file until the final round of green flag pit stops began on lap 162.  By the time stops had cycled around by lap 166, Busch was once again the leader of the race.

Busch raced side-by-side with Carl Edwards for the lead until McMurray took them 3-wide for the lead on lap 175.  

McMurray led the field single-file until the final lap, when Dillon and Stenhouse got together, sending Dillon spinning across the track.  He made hard contact with Casey Mears, which sent Dillon's car airborne.  

The race ended under caution, freezing the field, and McMurray picked up his first victory of the season.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Jamie McMurray
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4. Paul Menard
5. Kyle Busch
6. David Ragan
7. David Gilliland
8. Martin Truex Jr.
9. Ryan Newman
10. Clint Bowyer
11. Greg Biffle
12. Kevin Harvick
13. Jimmie Johnson
14. Jeff Gordon
15. Michael McDowell
16. Joey Logano
17. Carl Edwards
18. Kurt Busch
19. Travis Kvapil
20. Matt Kenseth
21. Jeff Burton
22. Aric Almirola
23. Trevor Bayne
24. Justin Allgaier
25. Dave Blaney
26. Austin Dillon
27. Casey Mears
28. J.J. Yeley
29. Brad Keselowski
30. Josh Wise
31. Cole Whitt
32. Michael Waltrip
33. Danica Patrick
34. Bobby Labonte
35. Terry Labonte
36. Kasey Kahne
37. Landon Cassill
38. Denny Hamlin
39. Marcos Ambrose
40. David Reutimann
41. Juan Pablo Montoya
42. Joe Nemechek
43. Tony Raines

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Keselowski Out-Duels Kahne for the Win



Originally written for CLNS Radio

Brad Keselowski outran Kasey Kahne late in the Bank of America 500 on Saturday night to win his first race since October of last year.

John Harrelson/Getty Images
Keselowski had trouble early in the race.  He dragged his jack out of the pits and around the track on lap 88, and he had to go to the end of the field.

Keselowski said he knew they were going to have to come from behind after that, but that he had faith that his team could get it done.

"It was a never-give-up night," Keselowski told ESPN in victory lane.  "We kept working our way forward.  I knew we had a good car."

Jeff Gordon started the race on pole, and he cleared Kevin Harvick for the lead when the green flag fell.  He led until the first caution came out on lap 25 when J.J. Yeley hit the wall.

On the restart on lap 30, Kasey Kahne was able to get around Gordon for the lead.  Going through Turn 2, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kahne's teammate, took the lead.  Kahne took the lead back on lap 44.  Earnhardt and Kahne swapped spots because Earnhardt had debris on his grille that was causing his car to overheat.

On lap 68, the first round of green flag pit stops began.  Kahne gave up the lead on lap 75 to make his stop, and he cycled around as the leader.  

The second caution of the night came out on lap 84 when Mark Martin blew his engine.  

The race restarted on lap 90, and Earnhardt was able to get around Kahne for the lead.  On lap 96, Kahne was able to get back around Earnhardt for the lead.  

On lap 129, Kahne gave up the lead to make another green-flag pit stop.  Kahne re-took the lead on lap 134 when the pit stops had cycled around.  

The third caution of the night came out on lap 172 for debris.  Kahne brought the field down to make pit stops, and he led the field off pit road.

The race restarted on lap 178, and Jimmie Johnson took the lead away from his teammate.  

On lap 229 Johnson pitted under green, but he cycled back to the lead on lap 230.  He gave up the lead on the next set of green flag pit stops on lap 284, but he was back in the lead again by lap 286.

The fourth caution of the night came out on lap 307 for debris, and the field came down pit road.  Kahne led the field off pit road, and he was the leader when the race restarted on lap 312.  

On the restart, Kahne held off a hard charge from Gordon for the lead.  Keselowski quickly caught up to Kahne, and the two raced side-by-side for a few laps before Keselowski completed the pass with nine laps to go to win the race.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Kyle Busch
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Ryan Newman
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Carl Edwards
11. Clint Bowyer
12. Juan Pablo Montoya
13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
14. Kurt Busch
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
16. Greg Biffle
17. Marcos Ambrose
18. Joey Logano
19. Jamie McMurray
20. Danica Patrick
21. Jeff Burton
22. Martin Truex Jr.
23. Aric Almirola
24. Paul Menard
25. Brian Vickers
26. David Reutimann
27. Brian Scott
28. Bobby Labonte
29. David Gilliland
30. David Ragan
31. Casey Mears
32. Dave Blaney
33. Landon Cassill
34. Cole Whitt
35. Travis Kvapil
36. Timmy Hill
37. Kyle Larson
38. Blake Koch
39. Joe Nemechek
40. Michael McDowell
41. Josh Wise
42. Mark Martin
43. J.J. Yeley