Johnson Crashes the Party

Originally written for CLNS Radio.
 

Jimmie Johnson dominated the Party in the Poconos 400 on Sunday afternoon, leading 129 of 160 laps on his way to his third win of the season.

Nick Laham/Getty Images

Johnson's dominance started as soon as the green flag fell.  He started on pole after qualifying was rained out on Friday and the starting order was set by points.  Johnson quickly jumped out to the lead, and he only ever lost the lead during pit stops.

Johnson was flawless all day, beating everyone on the restarts with the race on the line.  Johnson said that while he had a great racecar, his engine was also very good.

"That's the best car I've had in a long time," Johnson told TNT.  "Not just a good racecar, but a good engine.  It's been a long time since I've won here, and I'm excited to do it."

Last week, Johnson lost the race after a questionable penalty on the final restart.  While it didn't make up for last week's frustration, Johnson said that it helped them move on.

"It doesn't make up for much, but we're a great race team and things don't keep us down," Johnson said.

The race started with long green flag runs, with the first caution not coming until lap 66.  The next caution fell on lap 125, and that kicked off a group of cautions that helped drivers save enough fuel to make it to the finish.

The final restart came with five laps to go, and Greg Biffle tried to get the lead away from Johnson, but Johnson drove away from Biffle's No. 16 car.  Biffle knew that he probably couldn't have done anything to get the lead.

"I really didn't have anything for Jimmie," Biffle said.  "I just wanted to get to his bumper and rough him up.  Jimmie was in a league of his own."

Biffle wound up finishing second, holding off a charge from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who ran up front all day.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson                                                                                   

2. Greg Biffle

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

4. Tony Stewart

5. Ryan Newman

6. Kyle Busch

7. Kurt Busch

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Joey Logano

11. Jeff Burton

12. Jeff Gordon

13. Jamie McMurray

14. Juan Pablo Montoya

15. Clint Bowyer

16. Brad Keselowski

17. Marcos Ambrose

18. Carl Edwards

19. Mark Martin

20. Travis Kvapil

21. Aric Almirola

22. Casey Mears

23. Martin Truex Jr.

24. David Gilliland

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

27. Bobby Labonte

28. David Stremme

29. Danica Patrick

30. Paul Menard

31. Dave Blaney

32. David Reutimann

33. AJ Allmendinger

34. Josh Wise

35. Timmy Hill

36. Kasey Kahne

37. David Ragan

38. Landon Cassill

39. J.J. Yeley

40. Michael McDowell

41. Scott Riggs

42. Joe Nemechek

43. Jason Leffler

Next week, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway for the first of two races there this season.  The Quicken Loans 400 can be seen next Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET, only on TNT.

Stewart Wins at Dover

 Originally written for CLNS Radio.

 

Tony Stewart won the FedEx 400 after a late-race pass to get around Juan Pablo Montoya allowed him to pick up his first win of 2013.

Courtesy Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Stewart passed Montoya with just three laps to go, and he was able to run away from Montoya over the last few laps.  Stewart had to work on Montoya over the last 10 laps, and he was able to get around Montoya for the lead going into Turn 3.

For Stewart, the victory was his first Top 5 of the season.  Stewart has had a terrible start to the season but he hopes he can start to turn things around with this victory, especially because he had to outrace Montoya to do so.

"It's been such a tough year," Stewart told FOX Sports.  "Hopefully we'll build that momentum back up.  It's not many times you get to outrace Juan Montoya."

For most of the race, it seemed as if Jimmie Johnson would pick up his eighth career victory at Dover.  Johnson led 143 laps, but a late-race penalty cost him a chance at the win.  Johnson jumped out to the lead on the final restart, beating leader Montoya to the line.  It is illegal to beat the leader to the line on a restart, so Johnson was issued a pass-through penalty.  Johnson told FOX Sports that there was nothing he could have done.

"I was half-throttle for the whole frontstretch and at some point you just gotta go," Johnson said.  "I'm running half-throttle down waiting for him, and he just never came."

The race was dominated early by Kyle Busch, who led 150 laps throughout the day, the most of any driver.  He took the lead from pole-sitter and teammate Denny Hamlin on lap 25, and he led until his other teammate Matt Kenseth beat him off pit road on lap 127.  Kenseth led until lap 160, when his engine blew up to bring out the third caution.

Kenseth's engine wasn't the only Toyota engine to blow up over the long 400 mile race.  On lap 279, Martin Truex Jr., who was also running up front at the beginning of the race, also had his engine blow up.  

Johnson took the lead after Kenseth's engine let go, and he led for most of the race until his penalty.  The penalty relegated Johnson to a 17th place finish, the first car one-lap down.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Tony Stewart

2. Juan Pablo Montoya

3. Jeff Gordon

4. Kyle Busch

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Joey Logano

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Mark Martin

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

11. Jeff Burton

12. Kurt Busch

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Carl Edwards

15. Greg Biffle

16. Casey Mears

17. Jimmie Johnson

18. Aric Almirola

19. Marcos Ambrose

20. Paul Menard

21. Bobby Labonte

22. David Ragan

23. Kasey Kahne

24. Danica Patrick

25. Josh Wise

26. David Reutimann

27. Austin Dillon

28. David Stremme

29. Dave Blaney

30. J.J. Yeley

31. Joe Nemechek

32. Landon Cassill

33. Jamie McMurray

34. Denny Hamlin

35. Timmy Hill

36. Ryan Newman

37. David Gilliland

38. Martin Truex Jr.

39. Travis Kvapil

40. Matt Kenseth

41. Mike Bliss

42. Michael McDowell

43. Scott Riggs

Sunday was FOX's last Sprint Cup Series race of the season.  Next week the Cup Series will roll into Pocono Raceway, and TNT will take over TV duties.  The Party in the Poconos 400 can be seen next Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Harvick Wins the Coca-Cola 600

Written for CLNS Radio.

Kevin Harvick won the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night after using late pit strategy to get around Kasey Kahne on the final restart with 11 laps to go.

Stretter Lecka/Getty Images

Harvick only led 28 laps, while Kahne and Matt Kenseth had the dominant cars all night, combining to lead 268 of 400 laps.  It looked as if Kahne was going to run away with the victory late in the race, but a late caution  proved to be the deciding factor.  Harvick was able to get around Kahne on the final restart, and he led the final 11 laps on his way to victory.

Harvick is now a two-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600, but the last time he won was in 2011.  In that race, Harvick beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a fuel mileage race.  Harvick knew that this time was different.

"We just went out and won it this time," Harvick told FOX Sports.  "It was a good strategy call there, and Kahne stayed out and we were able to have a little fresher tires and get in front of him on the restart."

The race was marred by bizarre events throughout the night.  On lap 122, NASCAR threw the caution for debris.  It turned out that the debris was some cable from FOX's camera that ran along the frontstretch.  The cable had damaged multiple cars, including Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, and Marcos Ambrose.

The race was red-flagged while NASCAR cleaned up the cable from off the track.  The race was then red-flagged for another 15 minutes while teams were allowed to work on their cars if they were damaged by the cable.  

The cable also injured 10 fans who were in attendance.  7 fans were treated and released from the infield care center, while 3 fans were sent to a local hospital for further evaluation.  They were all later treated and released.

The race continued until lap 259, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew an engine, and Greg Biffle hit the wall after getting caught in Earnhardt's oil.  Dave Blaney and Travis Kvapil also got together after sliding through Earnhardt's oil.

The next major caution came on lap 319 for a crash between Danica Patrick and Brad Keselowski.  Patrick and Keselowski were three-wide with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. when he got loose in the middle of the corner.  Stenhouse got into Patrick, and she and Keselowski made hard contact with the outside wall.

The race was red-flagged again on lap 326 after a big crash that started when Mark Martin and Aric Almirola got together going through the trioval.  Martin turned Almirola into Jeff Gordon, and they both made hard contact with the outside wall.  Stenhouse and Bobby Labonte also spun through the corner.

The final caution came out with 16 laps to go, and everyone pitted except for Kahne.  When the race restarted, Kahne was no match for Harvick's fresher right-side tires.  Harvick ran away from the field, while Kahne had to hold off a tough challenge from Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kasey Kahne

3. Kurt Busch

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Joey Logano

6. Ryan Newman

7. Tony Stewart

8. Clint Bowyer

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Marcos Ambrose

11. Carl Edwards

12. Jeff Burton

13. Paul Menard

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Matt Kenseth

16. Trevor Bayne

17. Regan Smith

18. Juan Pablo Montoya

19. Jamie McMurray

20. David Gilliland

21. David Reutimann

22. Jimmie Johnson

23. Casey Mears

24. Bobby Labonte

25. David Ragan

26. Josh Wise

27. Timmy Hill

28. J.J. Yeley

29. Danica Patrick

30. Dave Blaney

31. Greg Biffle

32. David Stremme

33. Aric Almirola

34. Mark Martin

35. Jeff Gordon

36. Brad Keselowski

37. Landon Cassill

38. Kyle Busch

39. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

40. Travis Kvapil

41. Joe Nemechek

42. Michael McDowell

43. Scott Speed

Next weekend, the Sprint Cup Series heads to the Monster Mile, Dover International Speedway.  The FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks can be seen at 1:00 p.m. ET, only on FOX.

Kanaan Wins the Indianapolis 500

Written for CLNS Radio.

For 11 years, Tony Kanaan went to Indianapolis with hopes of winning the Indianapolis 500, but every year something went wrong and he was kept out of victory lane.  On Sunday afternoon, he was finally able to break through and win the Indianapolis 500.

Tony Kanaan drives under Marco Andretti (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kanaan started 12th, but he quickly worked his way to the front and took the lead on lap nine.  He ran up front most of the day, but it was not an easy race to win.  This year's race nearly doubled the old record for lead changes, with the lead changing hands 68 times among 14 drivers.  

Kanaan also had a good luck with him in the car on Sunday.  9 years ago, he gave a little girl his lucky medal before she went in for surgery.  The girl, now 24, mailed the medal back to Kanaan, and it was with Kanaan in the car during the race.

When Kanaan was in victory lane, he couldn't find the words to describe how he felt after winning the race that had eluded him his whole career.

"I'm speechless," Kanaan told ABC.  "Finally I'm going to put my ugly face on that trophy."

Rookie Carlos Munoz finished second, and was followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay.  Hunter-Reay was leading when the race restarted after a late-race caution, but he was passed on both sides by Kanaan and Munoz.  Kanaan was leading when the final caution of the race came out just two laps from the finish.  The race never went back green, and Kanaan won the race under caution.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Tony Kanaan

2. Carlos Munoz

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay

4. Marco Andretti

5. Justin Wilson

6. Helio Castroneves

7. AJ Allmendinger

8. Simon Pagenaud

9. Charlie Kimball

10. Ed Carpenter

11. Oriol Servia

12. Ryan Briscoe

13. Takuma Sato

14. Scott Dixon

15. Ana Beatriz

16. Tristan Vautier

17. Simona De Silvestro

18. EJ Viso

19. Will Power

20. James Jakes

21. James Hinchcliffe

22. Conor Daly

23. Dario Franchitti

24. Alex Tagliani

25. Graham Rahal

26. Katherine Legge

27. Townsend Bell

28. Josef Newgarden

29. Sebastien Bourdais

30. Pippa Mann

31. Buddy Lazier

32. Sebastian Saavedra

33. JR Hildebrand