NASCAR: Dover AAA 400 Race Recap

It looks like 18’s tyres are starting to give up as Jr also gets by Kyle for second as the 18 looks to be struggling badly in the turns getting loose at every exit. Jr has certainly found his earlier race speed as he relatively easily catches Newman and takes the lead away from him. Jr isn’t the only Hendrick Motorsport car with speed Jimmie Johnson has finally found a setup that suits his car and he moves through the top five with some ease and passes Newman for second but is still two seconds behind the 88.

Sep 29, 2013; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Matt Kenseth (20) leads Jimmie Johnson (48) and Carl Edwards (99) during the AAA 400 at Dover Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O

Kenseth too has also started moving back through the pack after running in 8th after the earlier pit stop he is back in the top five and up to third having got around Newman on a nice clean pass on the outside although he still isn’t happy with the way the 20 is handling. With a little over 70 laps since the last pit stop cars start making their way back to pit road for their green flag stops. As many Jr fans would say if he is in the lead it will only be a matter of time before something goes wrong and sure enough that moment is now. As he slows down to come onto pit road he misjudges his speed and line and has to abandon his attempt to enter pit row as he misses the commitment cone and has to do it all again on the next lap. After the stops have all cycled through Johnson is the new leader ahead of Kenseth, Newman, Joey Logano and Kyle with Jr now back in 8th and 9 seconds back.

Johnson, who has a great record at Dover, is able to extend his lead to over two seconds while Logano is reporting having temperature issues as he’s got some trash on his grille but no way of getting it off as he’s got a hard charging Kyle right behind him desperate to take fourth away from him. The battle for fourth helps out Jr who has been quietly working his way up a few places and is able to slide by the 18 to take fifth. Meanwhile a bad race for the 78 team gets even worse as Kurt has to make an unscheduled pit stop due to a loose rear wheel, despite the team having a completely new pit crew for this race due to the amount of pit road errors that have occurred so far this season. Finally after a green flag run of over 120 laps NASCAR once again spot debris on the track and throw the yellow flags for the second time in the race. The leaders all come to pit road and good stop by the 20 team sees Kenseth win the race off pit road ahead of Johnson, Newman, Jr and Logano.

Sep 29, 2013; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Matt Kenseth (20) leads on a restart during the AAA 400 at Dover Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O

Johnson tries to run Kenseth hard into turn one but the 20 gets a much better drive out of turn two and takes the lead outright on the backstraightaway. Behind them Kyle gets up to fourth and Bowyer also gets a good start and tries to get around Newman but unlike the 18 he can’t make the move stick. Lapped cars again come into play as Kenseth gets held up by them allowing Johnson to make a move on the inside for the lead. Kenseth tries to stay with him but Johnson is too fast and starts to pull away and in only a few laps his lead is out to over a second and he gets told to just take it easy and save the car for the latter stages. Meanwhile Keselowski’s miserable season continues as he comes to pit road with fluid pouring out of the car. As quickly as he tries to get off the track it isn’t quick enough and NASCAR throw a caution to get the track cleaned up. The leaders again all elect to come to pit road with Johnson winning the race off from Kenseth, Kyle, Jr and Greg Biffle. No issues for the 48 on the restart as he leads going into turn one as Kenseth is very slow to get going and bunches the pack up behind him allowing Jr to get alongside and sneak through for second place. As Kenseth tries to come back at Jr he gets loose and has to lift allowing Kyle to get around him and in the process almost loses fourth place to Jeff Gordon, but is just able to keep the 24 at bay.