2013 NASCAR race reviews and results

[Garrett Duke]

It doesn't happen often, so I thought Roger might like the moment captured for posterity .

Nice one Hoss...though Jeff Gordon led a lap too today. What about him? LOL

[HossC]

Nice one Hoss...though Jeff Gordon led a lap too today. What about him? LOL

I thought about, but it's not such a rarity. I wish I'd moved quicker when Ricky was leading .

It may be an old joke, but I liked it when the commentator (sorry, not sure which one) described Ricky and Danica's relationship as "speed dating" .

[Garrett Duke]

I thought about, but it's not such a rarity. I wish I'd moved quicker when Ricky was leading .

It may be an old joke, but I liked it when the commentator (sorry, not sure which one) described Ricky and Danica's relationship as "speed dating" .

Well they had another storm cell move in so now they are back trying to dry the race...though there is no lights at Talladega. DW said perhaps another hour and a half to two hours before the track will be dried. Would give them 45 minutes to race63 laps before it gets dark. All this talking on FOX is making me nervous...really want this race to get green! Will let y'all know when I can...

[Garrett Duke]

WOO HOO! Drivers are NOW getting back INTO their cars...getting ready to go back racing. They got 63 more laps to get in 45 minutes or so.

[Garrett Duke]

Well after eight hours from the drop of the first green flag at Talladega...the checkered flag has just dropped. Giving David Ragen his second Cup career win. Congrats Roger...bet you are excited about your win! Both Front Row Motorsports driver came home first and second...David Ragen first. David Gilliland came home second. Great to see some underdog teams to win and come home so strong.

As I said, it took eight hours for this race to end. It took so long due to a three hour red flag delay due to rain and for the air titan's to dry the track.

Matt Kenseth had the dominant car today as he led 142 out of 188 laps today.

Talladega with their high speeds is always known for causing the big one...as in accidents. First one was during the start of the race as Kyle Busch got into the back of Kasey Kahne and took out them two cars as well as Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton was tagged in it, and Gordon got some toe damage to his car that had him in the back of the pack all day due to the accident.

Trevor Bayne had his engine blow up and leave him in a cloud of smoke right after that accident.

Then fast forward three hours and the BIG ONE came at the end of the race where Kurt Busch got hit and flipped over a couple of cars and landed on Ryan Newman's car. Took out Kurt Busch, JJ Yaley, Danica Patrick, Ryan Newman. Stenhouse Jr was hit the wall...and Jeff Gordon slid into the mud in the infield grass. Scary accident and luckily, everyone climbed out. Kurt Busch accident Here is a video of the last big accident.

Carl Edwards regained the lead afterwards but got it taken away by David Gilliland pushing David Ragen to the wild finish. As I said, congrats Roger on your driver winning. Bet you are smiling tonight.

Here is the official finishing order:

1. David Ragen

2. David Gilliland

3. Carl Edwards

4. Michael Waltrip

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Regan Smith

7. Martin Truex Jr

8. Matt Kenseth

9. Scott Speed

10. Aric Almirola

11. Jeff Gordon

12. David Stremme

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Marcos Ambrose

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Dave Blaney

17. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

18. Clint Bowyer

19. Josh Wise

20. Bobby Labonte

21. Michael McDowell

22. Landon Cassill

23. Jamie McMurray

24. Casey Mears

25. Juan Pablo Montoya

26. Paul Menard

27. Tony Stewart

28. Jeff Burton

29. Terry Labonte

30. Kurt Busch

31. J.J. Yeley

32. Ryan Newman

33. Danica Patrick

34. Denny Hamlin

35. Joey Logano

36. Greg Biffle

37. Kyle Busch

38. Travis Kvapil

39. Joe Nemechek

40. Kevin Harvick

41. David Reutimann

42. Kasey Kahne

43. Trevor Bayne

Well we are back to racing under the lights next Saturday night at Darlington. 6:00 PM EST on FOX! (Oh yeah that was another problem they had today. Talladega didn't have no lights so they were worrying about running out of day light...which they almost did!)

[HossC]

I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with 13th. Ricky started the race poorly, and was down in 41st place for a while, but he came back for some strong top ten running. It's a shame that he got the pitlane speeding penalty, but he came back well.

I haven't always been a fan of restrictor plate racing, even 'Dega, with its two-by-two format (see my comments from last year). The aerodynamic changes they've made this year made for much better racing, and I was on the edge of my seat for virtually the whole time after the restart following the rain delay - just my opinion as Garrett would say .

Just to prove my earlier post wrong, I took this screengrab after the restart;

Little did I realize that I'd be posting this one at the end:

I think my buttermilk's going to accompanied by a large slice of humble pie tonight .

[Garrett Duke]

Sorry to hear you are disappointed with thirteenth Hoss...but with all things considered, Ricky did pretty good. He over came the pit road speeding penalty and the touch up with the wall during the last accident...yeah thirteenth is pretty good. Especially when you look at Newman and Kurt Busch...or even my fourth favorite driver...Kasey Kahne who finished 42nd.

Eleventh is nothing to write home either for Jeff Gordon but after hanging out 28th for the most part of the race due to the damage on the toe of his car during the first big accident and then sliding through the mud during the last big accident, eleventh is a lot better than what I was fearing. So I will take it. Long shot from a win, but it feels like a win with all things considered.

As of now, I am just hoping that Jeff Gordon can find his way to the front for a top five finish...compete for the win. Last few weeks it has been one thing after another for the 24 team...and I have to admit, it is frustrating.

We are onto Darlington next Saturday night...the track to tough to tame. Or the Lady in Black...

[HossC]

For some reason NASCAR.com seemed to be hiding the link to the qualifying results of the Bojangles' Southern 500 last night. They were available from other sources, but I wanted to check them.

Kurt Busch has rebounded from last week's accident at Talladega to take pole. I'm sure Garrett will be happy to see Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in the top ten. Here's the whole lineup:

1) Kurt Busch

2) Jimmie Johnson

3) Kyle Busch

4) Kasey Kahne

5) Martin Truex Jr.

6) Denny Hamlin

7) Matt Kenseth

8) Jeff Gordon

9) Greg Biffle

10) Kevin Harvick

11) Jeff Burton

12) Juan Pablo Montoya

13) Clint Bowyer

14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15) Paul Menard

16) Dale Earnhardt Jr.

17) Carl Edwards

18) Aric Almirola

19) Casey Mears

20) Tony Stewart

21) Ryan Newman

22) Mark Martin

23) Bobby Labonte

24) Marcos Ambrose

25) Jamie McMurray

26) Brad Keselowski

27) Regan Smith

28) Travis Kvapil

29) David Gilliland

30) Joey Logano

31) David Ragan

32) Landon Cassill

33) David Reutimann

34) Josh Wise

35) Michael McDowell

36) Scott Speed

37) Dave Blaney

38) Mike Bliss

39) David Stremme

40) Danica Patrick

41) Timmy Hill

42) JJ Yeley

43) Joe Nemechek

The race is Fox tonight at 6:45 PM ET. I'm feeling a little under the weather, so I'm not sure I'll make it to end, given the lateness of night races in my time zone .

[Garrett Duke]

Sorry Hoss to hear you are not feeling well. Hopefully Ricky Jr will help you to feel better.

Sorry to let y'all down with my NASCAR review...I went out for my birthday last night. We left right after the qualifying got over and didn't have time to write it...then left early this morning. Just got home. Thank you Hoss for filling in for me. You did a great job.

Though you forgot to mention...

That today is JEFF GORDON'S seven hundredth consecutive start in NASCAR! Seven hundred races ago, NASCAR got a lot better! KHEE!

Hoping for a safe and fun race for everyone...and that Gordon will get his 88th win on his seven hundredth race.

[HossC]

Thanks Garrett. It's only a cold - I'm on the coughing/sneezing day today .

Hope you had a good birthday outing.

Sorry, I missed that Jeff Gordon info. Seven hundred consecutive starts is pretty impressive.

I have the race on now, but I dont know how much I'll get to see. No doubt you'll have a summary posted when I wake up .

[Garrett Duke]

Well Hoss if you missed the last fifty or so laps tonight, you missed the most exciting part of the race. Not that that really says anything...

Darlington is known as the lady in black. The track too tough to tame. The track who earns her stripes.

With all that said...

Nothing much really happened tonight as you would expect from Darlington. In the first half of the race, there was only ONE caution and that was for debris.

At one point in the race there was ONLY ELEVEN cars on the LEAD LAP.

Kurt Busch led the first 69 laps (most laps he led for a few years...want to say they said '08. Could be wrong though). But after the first pit stop, Kurt fought with his car and slid backwards. Kyle Busch (who led the most laps last night and won in the Nationwide Series race) went on to lead the most laps tonight.

The second half of the race was a little more eventful as a few cars earned the Darlington stripe...Tony Stewart was one of them. But I think the defining moment of the race was when Kasey Kahne was fighting Kyle Busch for the lead and finally got it for a minute before Kyle Busch went up the track and either brushed up against the side of him or used the air to send Kasey Kahne into the wall. Kahne went back to finish the race seventeenth. Kyle Busch cut a tire and finished sixth as Matt Kenseth went on to win the race...third race of the season. (In case y'all forgot, Kyle Busch caused the big one when he wrecked Kasey Kahne last week at Talladega. Second time in two weeks of wrecking KK = uncool! Then again Kahne is a Hendrick driver so my opinion is biased.)

Though this Jeff Gordon fan, though he didn't get his much deserved win, thinks this is one of the best races of the season. Of course it helps that Jeff Gordon stayed in the top ten most of the night, led a couple of laps, and finished THIRD...moving him up unofficially to twelve in points! As I said, this was his seven hundredth career NASCAR start, this was also his three hundredth top five. The announcers said that if he were playing baseball, his batting average would be .429. Is that awesome or is it awesome?

Here is the finishing order for tonight's Darlington race:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Jeff Gordon

4. Jimmie Johnson

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Kyle Busch

7. Carl Edwards

8. Juan Pablo Montoya

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

10. Ryan Newman

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Martin Truex Jr.

13. Greg Biffle

14. Kurt Busch

15. Tony Stewart

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Kasey Kahne

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Paul Menard

20. Aric Almirola

21. Jeff Burton

22. Joey Logano

23. Travis Kvapil

24. Regan Smith

25. Mark Martin

26. Bobby Labonte

27. Dave Blaney

28. Danica Patrick

29. David Gilliland

30. Landon Cassill

31. Joe Nemechek

32. Brad Keselowski

33. Timmy Hill

34. Marcos Ambrose

35. JJ Yeley

36. David Reutimann

37. Casey Mears

38. Josh Wise

39. David Ragen

40. David Stremme

41. Scott Speed

42. Michael McDowell

43. Mike Bliss

Well, we are going to take a week off from point racing to do some non point racing as the All Star race is next week at Charlotte. (Well Hoss lucky for you, my internet automatically tells me when I miss spell words...HA HA) Where last year's and up to this part of the year drivers who has won races, poles, and perhaps the top twelve in points get to race...everyone else has to stay home or watch from the sidelines. Do believe it is a night race as well...and then the week after that is the longest race of the season at the same track at the Coca-Cola 600. At the track that was once known as Jimmie's house!

[RogerDuke]

I hope you had a nice birthday Garrett.

Thanks for the update.

My daughter and her family are in town for my grandson's birthday so I didn't see any of it.

[Garrett Duke]

I hope you had a nice birthday Garrett.

Thanks for the update.

My daughter and her family are in town for my grandson's birthday so I didn't see any of it.

It was a good birthday. Thanks Roger.

You are welcome...love writing the updates. Especially when my drivers...or most of my drivers have a great race.

Hope you enjoyed your family...tell your grandson happy birthday for me.

[HossC]

Well Hoss if you missed the last fifty or so laps tonight, you missed the most exciting part of the race. Not that that really says anything...

I actually missed about 100 laps. Thanks for updating me. I see Ricky made up a few places and got a lap back, but still finished a lap down.

The announcers said that if he were playing baseball, his batting average would be .429. Is that awesome or is it awesome?

Sorry, I have no idea what this means.

(Well Hoss lucky for you, my internet automatically tells me when I miss spell words...HA HA)

Is it an interactive course in witchcraft, or do you mean "misspell"?

[HossC]

I nearly forgot the screengrab I took last night. Seeing as I did it for Roger last week, it seems only fair ...

Sadly for Garrett, I don't have a similar one for lap 367.

[HossC]

That today is JEFF GORDON'S seven hundredth consecutive start in NASCAR! Seven hundred races ago, NASCAR got a lot better!

I'm just watching the pre-race show for the Spanish Grand Prix, and they've announced that it's the 200th start for both Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. The highest number of starts is Rubens Barrichello with 322, but F1 has less than half the number of races per season compared to NASCAR, and few of the drivers continue to race after their late-30s.

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks for the screen grab...always great to see Jeff Gordon next to the number 1. Where it should be!

Your drivers you listed are doing pretty good themselves at their starts...

You don't know what a batting average is? Dang Hoss...you are really missing out! The batting average is how many times a batter hits the ball or gets on base ... so the higher the average the better. Normally it is .230 - .250 a pretty good average. Some are at .300. Always great to have your batter batting .300. (if that makes sense)

Anyway am glad I was able to fill you in on what you missed...not an action packed race, but did enjoy it since most of my drivers had a great race.

[RogerDuke]

LOL Those two screen grabs were a really thoughtful thing to do Hoss!

[Garrett Duke]

LOL Those two screen grabs were a really thoughtful thing to do Hoss!

Yes they were...thanks Hoss.

[Garrett Duke]

Well the boys have a weekend off for point racing as TONIGHT is the All Star race. No points on the line...only the million dollars that the winner will get. Though not all the drivers will be driving tonight. There will be one driver who is voted into the race, then there is a showdown race where the top two will race their way into the All Star race. Then I do believe that the drivers who won last year and was in the top twelve in the chase last year will be in the All Star Race.

The Show down race will be separated into two different segments.

The All Star race is separated into five segments. Segment one is 20 laps. Segment two is twenty laps. Segment three is twenty laps. Segment four is twenty laps...then the fifth segment is ten laps. Each segment the winner will get money for that segment...they just said that if you win each segment and win the race you can win up to two million dollars.

Starting line up for the All Star...the three from the show down will start after the end...

1 Carl Edwards

2 Kurt Busch

3 Greg Biffle

4 Kyle Busch

5 Joey Logano

6 Clint Bowyer

7 Denny Hamlin

8 Mark Martin

9 Kasey Kahne

10 Jeff Gordon

11 Ryan Newman

12 Brad Keselowski

13 Tony Stewart

14 David Ragan

15 Dale Earnhardt Jr

16 Matt Kenseth

17 Marcos Ambrose

18 Jimmie Johnson

19 Kevin Harvick

The pre race show is on SPEED right now...do believe the races will be on SPEED. Line up starting at 7:30 EST.

[Garrett Duke]

Jamie MacMurray won the show down race, Ricky Stenhouse Jr came in second. They both raced their way into the All Star race.

Danica Patrick has won the fan vote into the All Star race.

[Garrett Duke]

After being red flagged for rain, drivers are back in their cars and they are ready to get back to racing...and I for one CAN'T WAIT!

[RogerDuke]

Will the weekend results count in fantasy NASCAR competition or does this mean our league has the weekend off?

I guess it doesn't really matter because I'm going to be in last place like always no matter what the answer is.

The Pirates are tied in extra innings against the Astros so I'm not paying too much attention to racing. Thanks for your updates Garrett.

I see your Cubs beat the Mets 8-2 today.

[Garrett Duke]

Will the weekend results count in fantasy NASCAR competition or does this mean our league has the weekend off?

I guess it doesn't really matter because I'm going to be in last place like always no matter what the answer is.

The Pirates are tied in extra innings against the Astros so I'm not paying too much attention to racing. Thanks for your updates Garrett.

I see your Cubs beat the Mets 8-2 today.

Sadly there is no fantasy racing this week...really missed setting my drivers. Don't be beating yourself up...the season isn't even half over yet. DON'T GIVE UP!

Good luck to your Pirates. I saw the incredible luck your Pirates had the other day when the Astros ran into each other to let your Pirates win. Wish my Cubs could get luck like that! HA HA. But instead if something like that...it'd probably the Cubs running into each other like that. So am glad it is the Astros. HA.

You are welcome. I could talk NASCAR all day if given the chance...thanks to the Dukes.

(Hey Hoss sorry to report but your Stenhouse Jr just wrecked and took Mark Martin with him...)

[RogerDuke]

My Pirates lost in extra innings so I have it on NASCAR right now. The Busch brothers are duking it out in the #1 and #2 positions.

I chuckled when the announcer said that nobody races the Busch brothers harder than they race each other.

Now they just showed the crash the Busch boys had with each other in 2007 when battling for first.

You're right Garrett, that Pirate win in the bottom of the ninth yesterday was pretty crazy.