It has been two weeks since the stars of the Nationwide Series have been on the track, and I have to say this track is always full of action and wrecks and good racing, so I’ve looked forward to seeing the young stars tangle with the veterans this weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway. There are a few pre-race notes to point out. Johanna Long out qualified Danica Patrick starting 15th two positions faster than Patrick. Other notable drivers Long out qualified include: Justin Allgaier and Dale Earnhardt Jr. This past week there was a crew chief swap at JR Motorsports, Tony “Pops” Eury Sr. left the 88 team of Cole Whitt and will reunite with cousin Earnhardt Jr. while Bruce Cook leaves the 5 team of Earnhardt to work with Whitt and the 88 team. Sitting fourth in the point standings is Trevor Bayne, and if you haven’t already noticed, I’m quite shocked, but Bayne is not in this race. Roush-Fenway Racing failed to find sponsorship to allow him to run which is a shame because he’s running so well this season in addition his strong season last year. Also another strong competitor missing from the race this weekend is veteran Kenny Wallace. His #09 car will be raced by Ryan Truex because sponsorship could not be found for Kenny and Truex has tons of support from Grime Boss who was willing to slap their logo on the 09 car this week. Wallace’s next scheduled race is Talladega in May and if sponsorship comes up, anytime in between. Also, note that if RAB Racing finds sponsorship from another driver to race the 09 car, and Wallace finds sponsorship too, they will field a second car, so fans don’t give up and let’s keep up the fight to find Kenny and Trevor sponsors!
Paul Menard led the field along side, Denny Hamlin, to the green flag after posting an extremely fast lap to win the Pole and went on to lead the first lap. Not long after the start, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead from Menard on lap four.
Kurt Busch would began green flag pit stops on lap 45 after racing hard three-wide and scrapping the wall and cutting a tire. After the pit stop, NASCAR would wave the green flag for debris, however it would not be a good night for Brad Keselowski’s as he lost an engine the lap the caution flag came out. Paul Menard would win the race off of pit road during the caution, and take the lead, as Kurt Busch did not stay on the lead lap before the caution flag came out. Also note during the caution Eric McClure would step out of his #14 car and teammate Jeff Green would finish the race for him as McClure is under the weather. So I believe this makes Green the first driver to finish a race in two different positions as well as start and park in one car, jump in another car and finish in a higher position. Have I mentioned before that I hate start and parkers?
Paul Menard led the field to the restart on lap 53, however Kasey Kahne would be given credit as the leader of that lap, but Menard would get the advantage a couple of laps later to take the lead and add distance between himself and Kahne.
Lap 63 Brian Scott comes to pit road with smoke bellowing from the engine. Surprised? I’m not; Brian Scott never seems to finish a single race. However to his credit, he did at least complete the race at Auto Club in California.
Paul Menard would dominate the race since the last caution until lap 91 when Brad Keselowski would spin out bringing out the second caution. Keselowski spun out coming out of turn four on the front stretch, just getting loose. He had just come back out after losing the engine earlier in the race. Another tough break tonight for Brad. Paul Menard led the leaders to the second round of pit stops, and would keep the lead after the pit stops winning the race off of pit road.
A crazy restart on Lap 95 led by Paul Menard, with three wide racing for the lead, where Denny Hamlin prevailed after an intense battle with Menard and Elliott Sadler in turn one and two. Then right after exiting turn two the #54 car of Kurt Busch dumped the #15 car of Blake Koch bringing out the third caution of the race. Joey Logano pitted under the caution for major handling adjustments, and Kurt Busch who spun Koch to bring out the caution, pitted for damage and to top of for fuel. A section of lights on the back stretch going into the turn went out during the caution. I guess that is worth noting!
So Denny Hamlin would lead the field for another attempt to restart the race on lap 103 followed by Elliott Sadler and after a hard charge out of turn four would lead that lap and continue to battle Hamlin for the lead with Paul Menard squeezing Hamlin out of the picture that same lap. Menard led lap 105 and would continue to battle teammate Sadler with real exciting racing back and forth. Sadler would give way to Menard on lap 108.
On lap 145, Justin Allgaier began the green flag pit stop cycle with a 15.2 second pit stop. If Allgaier could save enough fuel, there is a small possibility he can make it however at this point the ESPN experts doubt it will be enough. Lap 149 Menard and Stenhouse pitted under green with Menard winning that race, so he would resume the lead after the entire cycle is completed. Lap 151, the cycle completes itself as Menard puts Danica Patrick down a lap and is working on putting the top 20 down a lap.
Caution comes out with 38 laps left because of the lights in turn three that went out again. Something tells me however, that because a lot of good cars in the top 15 were about to go down a lap, NASCAR used it as an excuse because they had been letting them race without the lights for a while. This caution FOR SURE reshaped the race as the leader will have to put to make it on fuel, but it is their strategy for track position or handling that affects the outcome. Most leaders took four tires and gas and I’m sure a few with adjustments. Paul Menard again would win the race off of pit road however Austin Dillon making a risky decision not to pit would take over the lead. Also it’s worth to note Danica Patrick gets the lucky dog. She has had a solid day, but slipped after the halfway point, but pit stops could definitely put her back in top 10 contention. The cars were brought down pit road for a red flag while the safety crew attempts to repair the breaker that keeps failing and shutting the lights off.
Austin Dillon and David Ragan led the field to the restart with 28 laps to go after the safety crew finally repaired the turn three lights for a second time. A crazy restart with some four wide racing in turns one and two via Sam Hornish pushing the limits. Ricky Stenhouse would take over the lead with 25 laps to go after Dillon got loose coming out of turn two.
With 18 laps to go Ryan Truex would lose an engine in the car normally driven by Kenny Wallace. Truex had a solid day, but the engine just could not make it the final 18 laps.
Stenhouse would take advantage of the clean air extending his lead quickly. The rest of the leaders needed a caution to have a chance at getting to Stenhouse, and would get it with 13 laps to go as Kurt Busch would lose an engine, blowing smoke and oil down the backstretch. This happens just a couple of laps after Ryan Truex and RAB Racing’s #09 car blew an engine, both teams use the same engine and blow it within 5 laps. Most of the front leaders elected to stay out, while those who are a bit further back opted to pit.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Paul Menard led the field to yet again another restart with 6 laps to go. Denny Hamlin made it three wide into turn one with Austin Dillon on his bumper, Menard shuffled to the back. Denny Hamlin gets the advantage and battled Stenhouse for the lead with Menard lurking in the back not far behind. Time would run out for Menard as Ricky Stenhouse would drive his Pure Michigan Ford into Victory Lane making it four straight wins at Texas for Jack Roush. Danica Patrick brough the Go Daddy.com Chevy home for her best finish of the season so far with an impressive 8th place finish.
Unofficial Race Results
FIN |
CAR
DRIVER
MAKE
SPONSOR
PTS/BNS
16Ricky Stenhouse Jr.FordPure Michigan47/4233Paul MenardChevroletRheem / Menards0338Kasey KahneChevroletGreat Clips0418Denny HamlinToyotaSport Clips053Austin Dillon *ChevroletAmerican Ethanol40/1
Unofficial Point Standings After Texas
RANK |
+/-
DRIVER
POINTS
BEHIND
1—Elliott Sadler247Leader2—Ricky Stenhouse Jr.243-43—Austin Dillon*227-204+1Sam Hornish Jr.193-545+2Michael Annett183-64