Bristol 500 Race Recap
An easy restart for Kurt as Hamlin spins his tyres and loses a few places, but the best restart goes to Jeff Gordon who after staying out and moving up from 32nd to 8th makes a bold move at the bottom of the track and gets up to third behind Carl Edwards. A mention should also go to Josh Wise who like Gordon stayed out and is now comfortably holding his own in 7th place while Kurt starts working on extending his lead which after only a few laps is back up to over half a second. The season hasn’t given Kurt much good luck and the unlucky streak seems to continue when the 78 starts to slow and Edwards, Gordon and then Vickers pass him. Kurt radios that he’s got a loose wheel and is coming to pit road and just to make matter worse he is penalised for speeding in the pits which will put him at the back of the field. The 78’s day gets no better when he makes contact with 6th place Wise and puts the 35 into the outside wall to bring out the second caution of the day. The cars that didn’t pit at the earlier caution this time come to pit road giving a slightly new look to the top ten, with previous leader Edwards restarting in 9th. The new top is now Dale Earnhardt Jr, Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Bobby Labonte and Paul Menard.
Aug 24, 2013; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch (78) pits during the Irwin Tool Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
No issues for Jr on the restart as he quickly takes the lead getting clear of Bowyer. Back in the pack the 18 of Kyle wobbles slightly and gets into the side of Logano and instantly produces smoke off the right front tyre of the 22 car. The incident brings out caution number three as the rear left quarter of the 18 car has disintegrated. Once again there are various pit road strategies with a few cars electing to come in, Kyle of course comes in to repair the damage and is then penalised for having too many men over the wall and all his hard work is undone as he is sent to the back of the field.
The only change to the top from the previous restart is that Newman has now moved up to 5th. A slightly strange restart for Jr and Bowyer who are battling for the lead only for Danica Patrick to come out of pit road right in front of them. Luckily they are both able to get round her and Jr takes the lead outright. The 88 car can’t pull out a gap on the 15 as Bowyer constantly tries to make a move on the inside but as with earlier in the race the inside car always isn’t able to put the power down as quickly as the car outside them. But Bowyer isn’t giving up and after 10 laps of trying Bowyer eventually makes the move stick and immediately sets about pulling away from the 88 and in only a couple of laps pulls out to a lead of over half a second and extends it lap after lap.
Aug 24, 2013; Bristol, TN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer (15) and Bobby Labonte crash (47) during the Irwin Tool Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Behind the leader Edwards finally finds a way around the 47 for third and sets off in pursuit of Jr, and like Bowyer after ten laps of following the 88 he is finally able to make a move and take second place. Behind them Gordon is also running well having moved up from 9th he has just passed Montoya to get back into the top five. No time though for anyone else to move up the tree as leader Bowyer gets taken out by a back marker. Bowyer running in traffic on the racing line has Travis Kvapil in the 83 come inside him as if trying to unlap himself and gets too close to the 15 who moves down slightly and gets turned by the 83. Behind them Labonte gets turned as everyone tries to brake and he then slides into the side of the 15 and out comes caution number four. The leaders all come to pit road where Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Hamlin elect for fuel only and jump up to second and third respectively behind leader Edwards, with Gordon and Jr rounding out the top five.