Matt Kenseth he proved he’s no lame duck with his win at Kansas Speedway. It was his second win in three races.
To make matters difficult Kenseth had to claw back from some damage to his Ford late in the race. “I thought it was over when I got into the fence when Aric (Almirola) wrecked under Mark.” That incident may have been a blessing in disguise as his Roush Fenway repaired the damage and “we had to take less gas in that last pit stop and this pit crew got me out front.”
The recent repave saw all qualifiers beating a seven year-old record but crashes caused a record 14 cautions making it one of the slower races at the 1.5 mile oval. It was also the most cautions of the 2012 season.
“I don't know if you could have much more of an entertaining or unpredictable race today or even yesterday for that matter,” said the winner.
Kasey Kahne won the pole with an eye-popping 191.36 mph. Only the race averaged 115.086 mph.
“It was a wild one for sure,” said second place Martin Truex, Jr. Paul Menard finished third. Kahne was fourth.
As the Chase for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup rounded the corner to its’ last half Brad Keselowski (finishing eight) held on to a seven point-lead over Jimmie Johnson (who finished ninth) who had a comeback from a self-induced wreck(on lap 136) recalling Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Nationwide winning race on Saturday. “I crashed the car, spun out trying to get around the 56 (Truex),” Johnson said “my car took off and I couldn’t catch it.”
Instead of bringing the severely damaged car to the garage the five-time champion’s team performed a miracle-like operation with Bear Bond (racing patches) that got him back into the race. Car owner, Rick Hendrick, said “I have never in my 30 years of racing seen that kind of surgery and not lose a lap.”
Keselowski, who was never a factor in the race said “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just a long day. It seemed like every wreck happened in front of me. Dodged a bullet in the race. Just a tough day.”
Danica Patrick’s transition to NASCAR’s premier level suffered a setback when she tried to pay back Landon Cassill for rough driving and spun and wrecked her car.
“I’ve always played fair, at some point in time I have to stand up for myself,” she said.
In other NASCAR news Mr. Hendrick said that Dale Earnhardt Jr., who suffered a concussion at a test here, had a scheduled a track test and medical test on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, to confirm his return to the series at next week’s race at Martinsville.
While some television pundits offered an opinion that the repave caused tire problems which contributed to the crash, Goodyear representatives offered information that all-but-one of the tire-related crashes were due to punctures, not questions of optimal tire compound choice.
To make matters difficult Kenseth had to claw back from some damage to his Ford late in the race. “I thought it was over when I got into the fence when Aric (Almirola) wrecked under Mark.” That incident may have been a blessing in disguise as his Roush Fenway repaired the damage and “we had to take less gas in that last pit stop and this pit crew got me out front.”
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| Victory for Matt Kenseth and his damaged Ford. (Photo: NASCAR) |
The recent repave saw all qualifiers beating a seven year-old record but crashes caused a record 14 cautions making it one of the slower races at the 1.5 mile oval. It was also the most cautions of the 2012 season.
“I don't know if you could have much more of an entertaining or unpredictable race today or even yesterday for that matter,” said the winner.
Kasey Kahne won the pole with an eye-popping 191.36 mph. Only the race averaged 115.086 mph.
“It was a wild one for sure,” said second place Martin Truex, Jr. Paul Menard finished third. Kahne was fourth.
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| Kyles Busch's car. (Photo: NASCAR) |
As the Chase for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup rounded the corner to its’ last half Brad Keselowski (finishing eight) held on to a seven point-lead over Jimmie Johnson (who finished ninth) who had a comeback from a self-induced wreck(on lap 136) recalling Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Nationwide winning race on Saturday. “I crashed the car, spun out trying to get around the 56 (Truex),” Johnson said “my car took off and I couldn’t catch it.”
Instead of bringing the severely damaged car to the garage the five-time champion’s team performed a miracle-like operation with Bear Bond (racing patches) that got him back into the race. Car owner, Rick Hendrick, said “I have never in my 30 years of racing seen that kind of surgery and not lose a lap.”
 |
| Jimmie Johnsons's Chevrolet. (Photo: NASCAR) |
Keselowski, who was never a factor in the race said “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just a long day. It seemed like every wreck happened in front of me. Dodged a bullet in the race. Just a tough day.”
Danica Patrick’s transition to NASCAR’s premier level suffered a setback when she tried to pay back Landon Cassill for rough driving and spun and wrecked her car.
“I’ve always played fair, at some point in time I have to stand up for myself,” she said.
 |
| Bobby Labonte (Toyota) and Jeff Burton (Chevrolet). (Photo: NASCAR) |
In other NASCAR news Mr. Hendrick said that Dale Earnhardt Jr., who suffered a concussion at a test here, had a scheduled a track test and medical test on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, to confirm his return to the series at next week’s race at Martinsville.
While some television pundits offered an opinion that the repave caused tire problems which contributed to the crash, Goodyear representatives offered information that all-but-one of the tire-related crashes were due to punctures, not questions of optimal tire compound choice.