FedEx 400 Race Review

The restart sees a brief side by side battle between the 18 and 56 before the 18 gets the better of the fight and re-establishes his lead. The four tyres aren’t working well for Montoya who falls back a couple of places and starts getting harassed by Johnson and nearly gets a bump from him. But for Kahne who also took four tyres things are working out much better and fourteen laps after the restart he has made them work enough for him to get into second place, albeit for only a few laps before settling back into fourth. His Hendrick Motorsport stable mate Johnson has also found the magic setup as he puts his early race struggles behind him and is working way through the top five and at the halfway point he is up to second in a top five of Kyle, Johnson, Truex, Hamlin and Kahne.

Jun 2, 2013; Dover, DE, USA; The field drives under the bridge during the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

With the cloud cover coming and going Kyle starts to report that the car is getting tight, he only took two tyres at the last stop and his lead over Johnson, who took four tyres, starts falling. Only a few laps later Johnson has no problem flying by Kyle to complete a great drive to the front of the field as Kyle also falls to third behind the 56. The order remains the same at the top as the cars come in for a round of green flag stops and Johnson retains the lead after they’ve cycled through. Johnson has been setting a lightning pace at the front of the field and four laps after the green flag stops have finished he has lapped all the way up to 16th place. Behind the 48 is a great fight for second between Truex Jr and Kyle with the 56 running fast on the high-side and Kyle running well on the inside with neither giving an inch. After a few laps of side by side racing Kyle gets the upper hand to take second but is still nearly 4.5 seconds behind Johnson. That lead gets completely wiped out when another Toyota engine lets go and this time it is third place Truex Jr who’s race comes to a smoky end and once again a caution comes out for oil on the track. The leaders come pit row and on the restart the top is now Johnson, Kyle, Kevin Harvick, Kahne and Hamlin.

Jun 2, 2013; Dover, DE, USA; The wrecked car of Sprint Cup Series driver David Gilliland (38) is taken off the track during the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

As the green flag drops for the restart Johnson gets a push from team-mate Kahne which gets him in front of Kyle to retake the lead. Kahne stays close to Johnson and continues on the high line and is able to use it to good effect as he also gets round the 18. Kyle starts struggling in third and is complaining of losing grip and once again loses a few places as he falls to fifth behind Harvick and Hamlin. The cars soon come back together when the fifth caution comes out as after a few laps of nudging David Gilliland Ryan Newman goes to far and hits the 38 so that it spins into his path and they both go sliding down the track into the inside barrier, leading to Gilliland getting out and confronting Newman. The leaders all come to pit row but a few cars takes a gamble and decide to stay out and hope that their old tyres still have enough grip on them. There are also gambles by Kahne, Montoya and Dale Earnhardt Jr’s teams as the only take 2 tyres while the rest of the field take four, so at the restart the order will be Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Kahne.