2013 NASCAR race reviews and results

[Garrett Duke]

I only got to see the end of qualifying yesterday, and was too tired to post the starting line-up last night - sorry.

Denny Hamlin gets pole for the IRWIN Tools Night Race. Kyle Busch starts from the back after clipping the wall on his first lap, doing a U-turn to get a run-up at the second lap, and then clipping the wall harder (see the video here). Jimmie Johnson was another driver who had to do a U-turn, but he managed 17th. It's good to see Jeff Gordon back in his regular colors (I didn't take to last week's blue/white paint scheme), but he could only qualify 32nd.

Don't forget that it's a night race, tonight (Saturday) at 7:30 PM ET on ABC.

I know Garrett likes night races and Bristol Motor Speedway. I don't have a problem with night races other than they're really late here when you consider the time difference.

This weekend also sees F1 at one of my favorite tracks, Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. They've had wet and dry weather for the practice sessions, so there may well be some rain to spice up the qualifying and race action. The race itself starts at 8:00AM ET tomorrow.

Jeff Gordon could only qualify 32nd? He did a lousy job at qualifying, sure, I will give you that. But he was one of the fastest cars on the track during both pre qualifying practice. Don't know what went wrong in qual but do have faith in him to bring it back around by tonight.

As for his paint scheme last week...I missed the race, but did get to see the car plenty on FB and I liked it. It is different than his "normal" car but it is nice for a change every once in a while. Plus he has sponsors that he needs to satisfy as well.

So you don't have a problem with night races...just Bristol? What's wrong with Bristol?

Good luck with your race.

[RogerDuke]

54 laps to go and I'm sitting here waiting for them to clear things out after a 7 car pile up.

On the pus side, NASCAR has a great promotional commercial with Cale Yarborough (briefly) in it.

It's promoting rivalries. Have you folks seen it?

[HossC]

On the pus side, NASCAR has a great promotional commercial with Cale Yarborough (briefly) in it.

NASCAR are showing commercials during the race - I must've missed them .

[Garrett Duke]

NASCAR are showing commercials during the race - I must've missed them .

HA HA Hoss...enjoy your commercial less race. As for me, I am too nervous to watch commercials. 21 laps to go. Jeff Gordon in top ten. Eleventh in points as it stands...21 points of holding my breath!

[Garrett Duke]

Well the 500 laps of the night race at Bristol has just ended up with Matt Kenseth getting his fifth win of the season. So far Jimmie Johnson and Kenseth are pretty much clinched for the Chase that will be starting in couple of weeks. Great comeback from a pit road penalty from Matt Kenseth.

Kurt Busch led several laps before having to take it to the garage due to some mechanical issues, came back twenty-five laps later.

Carl Edwards led over a hundred laps before his engine blew and finished his day early.

Jimmie Johnson had a rough night today as he got into some contact with another driver only for Juan Pablo Montoya and David Stremme get into each other and Jimmie had no where to go. Took him to the garage.

The big one came when Brian Vickers cut off Denny Hamlin who then cut a tire and wrecked him into Kevin Harvick and wrecked several top name drivers such as Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. Debris went everywhere and had red flagged the race. Meanwhile Harvick parked in Hamlin's pit stall and Hamlin's crew instructed him to move Harvick which he did by running into the back of Harvick's car. Harvick was quick to go talk to Hamlin but was cooled down by Hamlin's explanation of what had happened.

Kyle Busch started 43rd and came home eleventh. Jeff Gordon started 32nd and was as high as third at one point...came home seventh.

Kasey Kahne gave Matt Kenseth a run for his money with a few laps to go as he tried passing for the lead, but Matt held on to win the race.

Official results of the Bristol race:

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

We will be racing next Sunday NIGHT on ESPN at Atlanta...before going to Richmond the Saturday night after that. After Atlanta and Richmond the Chase will start at ChicagoLand. Two more races before the Chase field is set for the final ten races..

Where has this season gone?

[RogerDuke]

5 wins for Kenseth, wow! Thanks for the update Garrett.

How could you two miss out on the highlight of the race.....seeing a guy who's name appeared on two episode titles! You should be ashamed!

[HossC]

How could you two miss out on the highlight of the race.....seeing a guy who's name appeared on two episode titles! You should be ashamed!

I tend to switch off when the commercials are on. Occasionally I'm two minutes late coming back to the race and find I'm just in time for the next commercial break!

Roger, you didn't give me much to go on when I tried to track down the promo you mentioned. I haven't found it yet, but I did find the following video:

Apparently, back in the '80s, various drivers recorded a double album containing 22 songs under the title 'Stock Car Racing's Entertainers of the Year'. You can read more about it on this Jalopnik article (which has a few more videos), and see the full track listing here. Maybe y'all have this album, but it was new to me.

[Garrett Duke]

Well Hoss will be very excited to see who starts the Advocare 500 at Hampton Georgia...though it is called Atlanta Motor Speedway. Do believe they have said in the past that Hampton is an hour away from Atlanta.

Anyway...here is the qualifying order to Sunday NIGHT's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway:

1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

2. Carl Edwards

3. Juan Pablo Montoya

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Jeff Gordon

6. Matt Kenseth

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

9. Kyle Busch

10. Jimmie Johnson

11. Joey Logano

12. Clint Bowyer

13. AJ Almendinger

14. David Ragen

15. Jamie McMurray

16. Paul Menard

17. Ryan Newman

18. Kasey Kahne

19. Casey Mears

20. Marcos Ambrose

21. Danica Patric

22. Brian Vickers

23. Brad Keselowski

24. Greg Biffle

25. David Stremme

26. Austin Dillon

27. Mark Martin

28. Jeff Burton

29. Aric Almirola

30. Kevin Harvick

31. David Gilliland

32. Kurt Busch

33. Josh Wise

34. David Reutimann

35. Scott Speed

36. Dave Blaney

37. Travis Kvapil

38. Mike Bliss

39. Landon Cassill

40. Joe Nemechek

41. Timmy Hill

42. JJ Yeley

43. Michael McDowell

The NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is Sunday night at 8:00 EST on ESPN. We have this race and next week's race at Richmond to see who all will make it in the Chase as the Chase will start at Chicagoland (that is not in Chicago but in Joliet Illinois) the week after Richmond. My fingers are crossed and am holding my breath that Jeff Gordon will be able to make it since he is a driver that is on the bubble....

[HossC]

You beat me to it this week, but your preview is better than the one I had planned:

... and 42 other drivers qualified behind him.

[RogerDuke]

NASCAR racing in northern Georgia!

I wonder if Boss and Rosco have their celebrity speed trap set up and ready to catch a driver or two.

Hoss, nice picture of Cale.

For your sake Garrett, I hope Jeff gets off the "bubble" and onto The Chase.

I had a great time at the local dirt race track last night. My cousin's husband's car won. He hasn't won a race since 2009 so it was a pretty big deal to him and his crew. My friend with the 01 car didn't do so well....unknown engine problem. He finished but way towards the back of the pack.

They had something called the PATRIOT Sprint cars there as a special attraction so there was a big crowd. They're little short cars with a big wing on top and they're fast as lighting on the curves.

[HossC]

For your sake Garrett, I hope Jeff gets off the "bubble" and onto The Chase.

The Chase is the name of an award-winning UK quiz show (apparently a US version has just started on GSN), so it amused me to think of all these drivers competing for a place on the show .

The contestants take on one of four "chasers" in a series of questions. In the clip below, from one of the celebrity specials, the possible answers cause a lot of laughter amongst everyone involved:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD8szt0oFRQ

[HossC]

I had a great time at the local dirt race track last night. My cousin's husband's car won. He hasn't won a race since 2009 so it was a pretty big deal to him and his crew. My friend with the 01 car didn't do so well....unknown engine problem. He finished but way towards the back of the pack.

They had something called the PATRIOT Sprint cars there as a special attraction so there was a big crowd. They're little short cars with a big wing on top and they're fast as lighting on the curves.

Sorry, Roger, I forgot to comment on your night out. It sounds like you got to see some good racing, and it's even better when someone you know is successful .

Aren't those Sprint cars the ones that have been causing various injuries to NASCAR drivers recently, including the death of Jason Leffler? The racing looks exciting, but the driver protection looks outdated compared to the safety innovations that have been made in many other forms of modern motorsport.

[Garrett Duke]

Sorry, Roger, I forgot to comment on your night out. It sounds like you got to see some good racing, and it's even better when someone you know is successful .

Aren't those Sprint cars the ones that have been causing various injuries to NASCAR drivers recently, including the death of Jason Leffler? The racing looks exciting, but the driver protection looks outdated compared to the safety innovations that have been made in many other forms of modern motorsport.

I do believe it is the same car. It was sprint cars that has injured Tony Stewart and am pretty sure it was what killed Jason Leffler. They may be fast but they look like they have little control over them...of what I have seen of them.

[Garrett Duke]

Well I just got done watching the Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and didn't see one person from Hazzard County. Perhaps they were camera shy or something. LOL.

It was a fun race to watch for the most part...and with two races (now one) race to the Chase, it added a lot of drama to the mix.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr won his first pole in his short NASCAR Sprint Cup career but seemed to fall back rather quickly and do believe he finished sixteenth. NASCAR had thrown a competition caution on lap twenty due to rain earlier today and when they came back, Jeff Gordon had a hard time going and then Matt Kenseth bumped him (bet y'all can guess who wasn't too happy with that move...) which in turn forced a pile up as Jeff Burton got into the back of Jimmie Johnson and spun out Kasey Kahne. (Also bet you can guess who wasn't happy with all of that.) Kasey took his car behind the wall for 31 laps while JJ stayed out but ended up spinning out later on in the race as well. Believe he ended up three laps down.

Jeff Burton had fought hard from the accident and was thirteen at one point before he lost a tire and it forced him up into Austin Dillon and the wall.

I don't know what exactly had happened to Matt Kenseth, think it was some sort of car issue, but it sent him back to thirtieth for a long time in the race but he held on for a twelve spot finish.

Clint Bowyer who led a lot of laps before reported that he thought he was having engine problems (which no one seemed to believe him since it was a new engine he was trying out...) before his engine finally did blow and he had to exit the race early. Later Brad Keselowski was leading when he too suffered from engine problems, but Brad was able to hold on and stay out for a long time before having to end the night early. Clint who is locked into the Chase it was a big deal, but not as big of a deal as it was to Keselowski who is trying to race his way into the Chase.

Kyle Busch went on to win his fourth race of the season with Joey Logano second, Martin Truex Jr, and older brother Kurt Busch fourth.

Here is the official results of the Advocare 500:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Joey Logano

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Kurt Busch

5. Ryan Newman

6. Jeff Gordon

7. Juan Pablo Montoya

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Brian Vickers

11. Jamie McMurray

12. Matt Kenseth

13. Marcos Ambrose

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Greg Biffle

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. David Gilliland

18. Carl Edwards

19. Austin Dillon

20. Aric Almirola

21. Danica Patrick

22. Casey Mears

23. David Ragen

24. Paul Menard

25. Mark Martin

26. Dave Blaney

27. Travis Kvapil

28. Jimmie Johnson

29. David Stremme

30. JJ Yeley

31. Timmy Hill

32. David Reutimann

33. Mike Bliss

34. Jeff Burton

35. Brad Keselowski

36. Kasey Kahne

37. Landon Cassill

38. Denny Hamlin

39. Clint Bowyer

40. Joe Nemechek

41. Josh Wise

42. Michael McDowell

43. Scott Speed

As of now the top six drivers in points (will update the points tomorrow) is set in the Chase while the others do have a chance to fall out as well as others to work themselves into the top ten in points or to earn a win into the wild card chase. After next Saturday NIGHT race at Richmond, the Chase field will be set. And this 24 fan is nervous...LOL.

On a side note...there was some excitement in the truck series race today which was the inaugural race in Canada. I don't watch the truck series nor really keep up with it that much but do hear about it from time to time. Well Hendrick up and coming driver, Chase Elliot (who is Bill Elliot's son) and is only 17 years old, won his first truck race at the truck Series inaugural race in Canada. Sounds like he did something to wreck Ty Dillion (didn't see what happened...) but what has gotten my attention was what happened to Max Papis. I guess him and this 19 year old driver wrecked, both trucks had damage. Well the 19 year old's girl friend got mad about it and started chasing Max yelling at him before she slapped him. Max now says that she has dislocated his jaw by the slap and that he is still hearing ringing noises in that ear. He is seeking the director of the truck series to take action towards the girl friend for what she did to him...if that was to happen out on the streets, she would have assault charges placed on her and yet NASCAR didn't do nothing? No need for that to happen no matter what. (I know this isn't the regular NASCAR Sprint Cup Series that I normally talk about, but did think I should mention it...add onto the drama. LOL)

[HossC]

On a side note...there was some excitement in the truck series race today which was the inaugural race in Canada. I don't watch the truck series nor really keep up with it that much but do hear about it from time to time. Well Hendrick up and coming driver, Chase Elliot (who is Bill Elliot's son) and is only 17 years old, won his first truck race at the truck Series inaugural race in Canada. Sounds like he did something to wreck Ty Dillion (didn't see what happened...) but what has gotten my attention was what happened to Max Papis. I guess him and this 19 year old driver wrecked, both trucks had damage. Well the 19 year old's girl friend got mad about it and started chasing Max yelling at him before she slapped him. Max now says that she has dislocated his jaw by the slap and that he is still hearing ringing noises in that ear. He is seeking the director of the truck series to take action towards the girl friend for what she did to him...if that was to happen out on the streets, she would have assault charges placed on her and yet NASCAR didn't do nothing? No need for that to happen no matter what. (I know this isn't the regular NASCAR Sprint Cup Series that I normally talk about, but did think I should mention it...add onto the drama. LOL)

Thanks for the race summary, Garrett. I looked up the Camping World Truck Series incidents this morning. Ty Dillon was low on fuel at the end, which left him slow in certain corners. Chase Elliot was alongside Ty through a couple of corners on the last lap, but ended up spinning him out quite hard at the last corner. You can see the video here. The two crews then had to be kept apart in the pits. Other drivers were also goading each other on the slow-down lap. As for the Max Papis slap, I see no reason why Mike Skeen's girlfriend should escape (police) prosecution for assault. To me, the venue shouldn't make any difference. NASCAR should also ban her from attending a certain number of races, but they won't because they'd prefer to get the headlines in the sports pages rather than set anything approaching a good example.

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks for the race summary, Garrett. I looked up the Camping World Truck Series incidents this morning. Ty Dillon was low on fuel at the end, which left him slow in certain corners. Chase Elliot was alongside Ty through a couple of corners on the last lap, but ended up spinning him out quite hard at the last corner. You can see the video here. The two crews then had to be kept apart in the pits. Other drivers were also goading each other on the slow-down lap. As for the Max Papis slap, I see no reason why Mike Skeen's girlfriend should escape (police) prosecution for assault. To me, the venue shouldn't make any difference. NASCAR should also ban her from attending a certain number of races, but they won't because they'd prefer to get the headlines in the sports pages rather than set anything approaching a good example.

Thanks Hoss for the video and the feedback. I agree...Papis should press charges against her. NASCAR should step in and set a good example and stop things like this happening in the future.

As for the Sprint Cup race yesterday there was an incident that I forgot to mention (was very tired after the race last night plus allergies made it hard to think...) plus didn't see it lead to much damage until I read it on Facebook.

Towards the beginning of the race, Jeff Gordon did a slide job on Carl Edwards...where he passed Edwards and slid up the track right in front of Edwards. Had me a bit worried of a wreck when I saw it, but Gordon made it work.

Well towards the end of the race, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano had stayed out while everyone got gas. Which was a bad choice in the end since everyone had fresh tires. Carl was quick to fall back. Logano slid back but was competitive.

I don't know if this happened before that caution pit stop or after, but Carl Edwards decided to pay Jeff back for what he did. And in doing so banged the side door of Gordon. (That is how I saw it ... and supposedly how Gordon saw it.) The TV aired Gordon's radio communication and he wasn't very happy with Edwards move.

Edwards on the other hand was mad at Gordon for side swiping him like that.

I have read on Facebook where both drivers have supposedly agreed to disagree with what had happened. Gordon says it was uncharacteristic of Edwards to be so aggressive towards Gordon and says that after Gordon had passed him like he did, that Edwards raced him aggressively afterwards.

Edwards says it was uncharacteristic of Gordon to be racing him like that and will give him the benefit of the doubt.

Gordon got frustrated with their conversation and ended up walking away...

I personally like both drivers and am really hoping that this is the end of the whole ordeal and that they will move on...as it sounds like they will move on.

[HossC]

One day it would be nice if the drivers remembered that they're grown-ups who are paid a lot of money to do what they do!

[Garrett Duke]

One day it would be nice if the drivers remembered that they're grown-ups who are paid a lot of money to do what they do!

Now Hoss...what is fun about growing up? Besides they are going over a hundred miles per hour, emotions are high...sooner or later they will get upset and then later will move on. And after 500 hundred miles of fighting each other, bumping and banging, fighting with your car, others around you...yeah tempers will flare. And knowing those two drivers and their temperaments, they will have put this long behind them by the times they unload their cars for Richmond for this upcoming race....

[RogerDuke]

Garrett, am I correct in assuming it's way too difficult to figure out what has to happen for Jeff Gordon to make The Chase?

Which drivers have to do poorly to help JG make it?

If he doesn't finish in the top 5 in the next race does he still have a reasonable chance to get in?

[HossC]

I don't understand the ins and outs of Chase qualification (I'll leave that to Garrett ), but I found the following at gordononline.com:

"Jeff Gordon posted a 6th place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway to move within 6 points of the final Chase cutoff. Barring a victory at Richmond, Gordon would need to finish 6 spots ahead of Kurt Busch providing that Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr do not implode."

[Garrett Duke]

I don't understand the ins and outs of Chase qualification (I'll leave that to Garrett ), but I found the following at gordononline.com:

"Jeff Gordon posted a 6th place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway to move within 6 points of the final Chase cutoff. Barring a victory at Richmond, Gordon would need to finish 6 spots ahead of Kurt Busch providing that Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr do not implode."

Hoss seems like he found the accurate information on how Jeff Gordon can make it into the Chase...either win it or finish six positions before Kurt Busch. Which is what I am hoping will happen. Or Dale Jr or Greg Biffle has some serious trouble on Saturday night that would help Gordon, but I don't want to wish that on Jr or Biffle.

As for Max Papis...the story keeps getting bigger. Now Papis is being accused of bruising Mike Skeet's girlfriend (the girl who slapped and dislocated his jaw.) According to Mike, Max barged into his trailer and grabbed her down the stairs in front of NASCAR officials.

According to Max, he pushed her away after she was yelling at him and told her he didn't want to talk to her, but wanted to talk to him (I assume he means Mike.) and apologized if that had bruised her. He didn't even know who she was.

As of now, I haven't heard anything official from NASCAR.

Max Papis is a driver who has visited all three series in NASCAR where as Mike Skeen, well, Sunday was his first truck series race ever. He is, what I read, a sports car racer. Well...great way to make your way into NASCAR with all this fiasco.

Personally I don't know who to believe. I saw the slap on a video someone posted on Facebook and Max seems to be a pretty good guy of what I have seen of him. I find it hard to believe he would just run into some guy's hauler and drag some girl he doesn't know down the stairs. But I don't know. Max had slapped a driver in the Nationwide series but with the helmet on...also patted a driver on the face that he was mad at, but didn't slap him. Just patted him enough to let him know he had control but was upset at what he did to him (the driver spun him out on the last lap...).

[HossC]

Well Garrett, it looks like it's your turn to be happy with the qualifying results this week.

1. Jeff Gordon

2. Kurt Busch

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Clint Bowyer

5. Matt Kenseth

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Jamie McMurray

8. Joey Logano

9. Greg Biffle

10. Regan Smith (Jimmie Johnson will drive car)

11. Martin Truex Jr.

12. Juan Pablo Montoya

13. Kyle Busch

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

15. Aric Almirola

16. Mark Martin

17. Kevin Harvick

18. Kasey Kahne

19. Jeff Burton

20. Brian Vickers

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

22. Paul Menard

23. David Ragan

24. Ryan Newman

25. Casey Mears

26. Carl Edwards

27. Josh Wise

28. Landon Cassill

29. David Stremme

30. Michael McDowell

31. Joe Nemechek

32. Marcos Ambrose

33. Travis Kvapil

34. AJ Allmendinger

35. David Reutimann

36. Danica Patrick

37. David Gilliland

38. Ryan Truex

39. Reed Sorenson

40. Dave Blaney

41. Tony Raines

42. Ken Schrader

43. JJ Yeley

The Federated Auto Parts 400 at the Richmond International Raceway starts at 6:30 PM ET tomorrow (Saturday) on ABC.

If you still want a race to watch on Sunday, don't forget the Gran Premio d'Italia (or Italian Grand Prix if you prefer) from Monza - one of the oldest and fastest tracks on the calendar.

[Garrett Duke]

Dang Hoss...you beat me to it. Again. But thanks for doing my job for me.

Well Jeff Gordon looks to be starting Richmond off on the right foot as he was fast in practice and now looks like he was fast in qualifying too! Just hope he can keep it up come race time tomorrow...where it counts the most!

Just for a heads up, I will most likely be able to watch the race...but at the moment do have plans to go with family as well so I don't know when I will get to the TV. Part of me wants to watch this race...the other part of me is too nervous to watch this race. HA. It all comes down to this for team 24...and I guess a few other teams. Will write my review after the race unless too late and then will do it Sunday.

As for your race Hoss...having my race on Saturday night leaves Sunday open for the Bears opening season football game against the Bengals.

Thanks again for the update Hoss...am super excited that Jeff Gordon FINALLY has the pole for this year! Jeff Gordon has now passed a new record...to have the most consecutive years with a pole...21 straight years of at least having one pole (if not more). How awesome is that?!

LET'S GO JEFF GORDON AND TEAM 24!!!

Edited September 6, 2013 by Garrett Duke

[HossC]

As for your race Hoss...having my race on Saturday night leaves Sunday open for the Bears opening season football game against the Bengals.

I know football games last about three days, but your game doesn't start until 1:00 PM ET. The Grand Prix starts at 8:00 AM ET, and will be over by 10:00 AM - you'll have to think of a different excuse now .

[Garrett Duke]

I know football games last about three days, but your game doesn't start until 1:00 PM ET. The Grand Prix starts at 8:00 AM ET, and will be over by 10:00 AM - you'll have to think of a different excuse now .

Well in that case ... will be at church during that time. Sorry...you will have to let me know how it goes.