Kenseth Holds off Kahne at Bristol

Originally written for CLNS Radio. 

Matt Kenseth held off a hard charge from Kasey Kahne late in the race to win the Irwin Tools Night Race from Bristol Motor Speedway.  

John Harrelson/Getty Images

Kenseth had to deal with a hard-charging Kahne over the last 15 laps.  Kahne caught up to Kenseth when he got caught up behind lapped traffic, but Kenseth was able to hold him off for the rest of the race.

Kenseth had messed up earlier in the race, and he said he was glad to overcome his mistakes.  

"It had just enough gas to hold on, just enough tires," Kenseth told ESPN.  "I messed up, but we were able to overcome that."

The win was Kenseth's fifth of the season.  Kenseth was strong earlier in the season, but he had seemed off for the past few weeks.  Kenseth said he hopes this win means his team is back.

"I hope we're back," said Kenseth.  "We led a lot of laps earlier this year, but not so much these last few weeks."

Denny Hamlin started the race on the pole, and he led the first 23 laps before Kurt Busch took the lead. 

The night's first caution came out on lap 40 when Ryan Truex hit the outside wall in his Sprint Cup Series debut.  Kurt Busch led the field back to the green flag on lap 47.  Carl Edwards worked his way around Busch to take the lead on lap 77, and he led until the second caution came out on lap 89 for Josh Wise, who hit the outside wall.

The race restarted on lap 97, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the leader after taking two tires under the caution.  The next caution came out just ten laps later, when Joey Logano and Kyle Busch got together.  

Earnhardt led when the race went back green on lap 112, but Clint Bowyer chased him down to take the lead on lap 127.  Bowyer was leading when he got spun by Travis Kvapil to bring out the fourth caution of the race.  In the aftermath of the accident, Bobby Labonte spun into Bowyer's car while it was sitting on the apron of the track.  

Carl Edwards led the field back to the green flag on lap 185.  The fifth caution of the race came out on lap 201 when Tony Raines hit the wall.  Edwards was the leader when the green flag flew on lap 209, and he held on until lap 240, when Kenseth took the lead for the first time of the night.

The sixth caution of the night came out for debris, and Paul Menard led the field to the green flag on lap 266 after he stayed out under the caution.  Edwards worked his way around Menard for the lead on lap 322.  The seventh caution of the night came out on lap 333 when David Gilliland and Labonte got together.  

During the pit stops, Kevin Harvick took two tires, and he was the leader when the green flag came out on lap 343.  Edwards took the lead again on lap 345.  The eighth caution came out when Brian Vickers spun David Reutimann on lap 358.  The incident also collected Jimmie Johnson.  

Edwards led again when the green flag came back out on lap 368.  Kenseth worked his way around Edwards for the lead on lap 275, at the same time that Jeff Burton spun to bring out another caution. 

Under the caution, Edwards was complaining of his car sputtering while driving around the track.  When the green flag came out on lap 382, Kenseth pulled away from Edwards as he quickly fell through the field.  Edwards' engine started to blow up, and he took his car to the garage on lap 389.

On lap 440, the caution came out for debris.  Kenseth restarted in first on lap 447, but the race didn't stay green for long.  Vickers and Hamlin got together going down the straightaway, and it cut down Hamlin's tire going into the corner.  Hamlin got into Ryan Newman, causing a chain-reaction wreck that collected Martin Truex Jr., Ken Schrader, Brad Keselowski, Casey Mears, and Harvick.

The race restarted on lap 456, and Kenseth held off a late-charge from Kahne to win the Irwin Tools Night Race.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Kasey Kahne

3. Juan Pablo Montoya

4. Brian Vickers

5. Joey Logano

6. Paul Menard

7. Jeff Gordon

8. Marcos Ambrose

9. Greg Biffle

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

11. Kyle Busch

12. David Ragan

13. Jeff Burton

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Aric Almirola

16. Travis Kvapil

17. David Stremme

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Mark Martin

21. Ryan Newman

22. Dave Blaney

23. Landon Cassill

24. J.J. Yeley

25. David Gilliland

26. Danica Patrick

27. Ken Schrader

28. Denny Hamlin

29. David Reutimann

30. Brad Keselowski

31. Kurt Busch

32. Tony Raines

33. Casey Mears

34. Kevin Harvick

35. Martin Truex Jr.

36. Jimmie Johnson

37. Josh Wise

38. Bobby Labonte

39. Carl Edwards

40. Scott Speed

41. Michael McDowell

42. Ryan Truex

43. Joe Nemechek

 

Next week, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for a special Sunday night race on labor day weekend.  The Advocare 500 will start at 7:30 p.m. EST, and can be seen only on ESPN.

Logano Wins from the Pole in Michigan

Written for CLNS Radio.

Joey Logano started on the pole and led 52 of 200 laps on his way to victory in the Pure Michigan 400.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Logano started on the pole, but he lost the lead when the green flag fell.  Logano was able to retake the lead when the restarted after the first caution of the day, and he would lead until lap 33 when Kurt Busch took the lead.  Logano wouldn't lead again until lap 139, but he lost the lead by lap 162.

Logano took the lead for the final time on lap 197 when Mark Martin ran out of gas just three laps from the finish.  Logano said he knew that Martin would run out, but that he wanted to get ahead of him before it happened.

"I knew he was two laps short, but I wanted to get by him just in case they were fooling me," Logano told ESPN.

The win also helps Logano's chances of making the Chase.  Logano said the win was a much-needed one for his team.

We needed this for our Chase hopes, and we're not out of it yet," said Logano.  "We have another good track coming for us.  We had a really good car at Bristol earlier in the year.  I don't see why we can't go back-to-back."

Logano started on the pole, but he quickly lost the lead to Kurt Busch.  The race wasn't green for long, as Clint Bowyer spun to bring out the caution on lap three.  When the race went back green, Logano got around Busch for the lead.  The second caution of the day came out on lap nine, for David Reutimann.

The race restarted on lap 11, but the caution flag fell again on lap 13 for a crash between Austin Dillon and J.J. Yeley.  Logano led the field to the green flag on lap 18, and this time the race stayed under green.

Busch took the lead back on lap 33, and he led until green flag pit stops on lap 43.  Jimmie Johnson, who started in the rear after going to a back-up car, took the lead on lap 44.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead when Johnson had to pit on lap 54.

Johnson started to slow on lap 59, and he took his car to the garage with what was diagnosed as an engine problem.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brought out the fourth caution of the day on lap 72 when he got out of the groove and into the wall. 

Denny Hamlin took the lead when the race restarted on lap 76, before Kurt Busch took the lead on lap 78.

The fifth caution of the day came out for debris on lap 106.  Greg Biffle led when the green flag fell on lap 111.  He led until Earnhardt hit the wall on lap 135 to bring out the sixth caution.

When the race went back green on lap 139, Logano was back in the lead.  On lap 149, Bobby Labonte spun off turn 4 to bring out the seventh caution.  Logano led the field back to the green flag on lap 154, but the caution came back out when Kyle Busch spun on lap 158.  Under the caution, the leaders came down pit road, but Brad Keselowski and Mark Martin stayed out.

Keselowski led the field back to green on lap 162, but Kyle Busch spun again on lap 173 to bring out another caution.  Keselowski pitted for fuel under the caution, which allowed Martin to take the lead.

Martin was the leader when the green flag came back out on lap 178.  Martin led until lap 197, when he ran out of gas going into Turn 3.  Logano was able to take the lead and go on to win the Pure Michigan 400.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Kurt Busch

4. Paul Menard

5. Clint Bowyer

6. Marcos Ambrose

7. Kasey Kahne

8. Jeff Burton

9. Greg Biffle

10. Carl Edwards

11. Juan Pablo Montoya

12. Brad Keselowski

13. Ryan Newman

14. Austin Dillon

15. Matt Kenseth

16. Martin Truex Jr.

17. Jeff Gordon

18. Aric Almirola

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Denny Hamlin

21. Trevor Bayne

22. Jamie McMurray

23. Danica Patrick

24. David Ragan

25. Casey Mears

26. David Stremme

27. Mark Martin

28. Travis Kvapil

29. Timmy Hill

30. Dave Blaney

31. Kyle Busch

32. Landon Cassill

33. Brendan Gaughan

34. Joe Nemechek

35. Bobby Labonte

36. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

37. David Gilliland

38. David Reutimann

39. Josh Wise

40. Jimmie Johnson

41. Scott Speed

42. Johnny Sauter

43. J.J. Yeley

Next Saturday, the Sprint Cup Series returns to Bristol Motor Speedway for a Saturday night race.  The Irwin Tools Night Race can be seen Saturday at 7:30 p.m., only on ABC.

Kasey Kahne Wins the GoBowling.com 400 from Pocono

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kasey Kahne outran his teammate Jeff Gordon to win the GoBowling.com 400 from Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Kahne led 66 of 160 laps on Sunday, the most of any other driver.  But he almost lost the race on a late-race restart, when his teammate Gordon got around him with just seven laps to go.  But a caution came out with just five laps to go, and Kahne was able to retake the lead when the race restarted with two laps to go.

Kahne said he knew how close he was to losing the race.

"I about gave it away there," Kahne told ESPN.  "I knew I would have to go for it and make it work or not."

Kahne also said that this was a win that his team desperately needed.

"It was a great race, we had a fast car, Kenny [Francis] called a great race," said Kahne.  "We needed this one to get in the Chase and we got it."

The race was dominated early by Jimmie Johnson, who started on the pole.  The first caution came out as soon as the cars went down to Turn 1 for the first time.  Juan Pablo Montoya got into Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and they also collected Matt Kenseth.

Johnson led when the race went back green, and the next caution came out on lap 15 for a spin by Denny Hamlin.  Johnson led again at the green flag, and he didn't give up the lead until he had to make a green flag pit stop on lap 34.  Johnson took the lead again on lap 47, after the green flag stops had cycled around.  

David Gilliland hit the wall on lap 54, and his car erupted in flames, bringing out the third caution of the race.  Kurt Busch beat Johnson off pit road, and they both restarted behind Brad Keselowski, who stayed out under the caution.  

Kahne took the lead when the race restarted, but Johnson chased him down and took the lead on lap 73.  On lap 77, Johnson blew a right-front tire while leading the race, and he brought out the fourth caution of the day.

The race restarted on lap 82, and Keselowski took the lead away from Kahne, but he would take it back on lap 92.  The next caution came out just three laps later, when David Stremme blew a right-front tire and hit the wall.  

Martin Truex Jr. did not pit under the caution, and he led the race when the green flag came back out on lap 100.  The caution came back out on lap 102, when Aric Almirola spun after cutting a left-rear tire.  Under the caution, Truex pitted, which gave the lead back to Kahne.

Kahne led the race back to green on lap 107, but a caution on lap 110 reset the field again.  Danica Patrick made contact with Travis Kvapil, and they collected Paul Menard and Jeff Burton as they spun across the track.  The race restarted on lap 116, and Kahne led until he pitted on lap 130.  

Kahne retook the lead once stops had cycled around with 23 laps to go, but a caution with 12 laps to go for debris reset the field, and erased a seven-second lead that Kahne had over Gordon.  The race restarted on lap 152, and Gordon was able to work his way around Kahne for the lead.

With five laps to go, Kenseth spun to bring out the final caution of the day.  The race restarted with two laps to go, and Kahne worked his way around Gordon going into Turn 2 to win the race.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Kasey Kahne

2. Jeff Gordon

3. Kurt Busch

4. Ryan Newman

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Joey Logano

8. Kyle Busch

9. Tony Stewart

10. Greg Biffle

11. Carl Edwards

12. Marcos Ambrose

13. Jimmie Johnson

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Martin Truex Jr.

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Kevin Harvick

18. Mark Martin

19. Bobby Labonte

20. Aric Almirola

21. David Ragan

22. Matt Kenseth

23. Dave Blaney

24. Casey Mears

25. J.J. Yeley

26. Travis Kvapil

27. Timmy Hill

28. Juan Pablo Montoya

29. Landon Cassill

30. David Stremme

31. David Reutimann

32. Paul Menard

33. AJ Allmendinger

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

35. Danica Patrick

36. Jeff Burton

37. Joe Nemechek

38. Tony Raines

39. David Gilliland

40. Michael McDowell

41. Josh Wise

42. Alex Kennedy

43. Denny Hamlin

Next week, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International for the final road course race of the season.  The Cheez-It 355 at the Glen can be seen next Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET, only on ESPN.