Jr. Nation, the drought is over! Folks if you missed this one, you missed Dale Jr. getting his first win with Hendrick, and ending his 76 winless streak. He tried his best to save fuel by killing his engine, coasting a bit and restarting it at least a couple dozen times. He was down on the track, near the grass about as low as he could get. He even passed the pace car while coasting. When it was all said and done, every effort to save fuel paid off! On the final lap, the final caution came, as Michael Waltrip mowed the grass in the infield. “The caution saved us, they can write what they want, but we won one!” Jr. said
Dale Jr. may be on to something here. On your way to work, between red lights, turn off your engine and coast. Let’s stick it to ‘em! Save your fuel folks, be a winner, Jr did!
Race Rewind;
Green Flag- Kyle Busch snags 5 bonus points right off the bat by leading the first lap.
Lap 3- Already there is trouble as Blaney spins out. He claimed he had rear axle problems. No other cars involved.
Lap 6- Jimmie Johnson gives Kyle a lesson in leavin’ as he passes him to claim 1st position.
Lap 11- Jeff Gordon slips back complaining about his temps
Lap 12- Who is this flyin’ like the seat of his pants are on fire? It’s Vickers battling Kahne for 6th and gets it. He then takes 5th from Burton.
Lap 14- Johnson is still holding Kyle off.
Lap 15- Man on a mission, Vickers passes Dale Jr to claim 4th.
Biggest Movers (as of lap 17)
Vickers (4th) +14
Almendinger (25th) +14
Menard (29th) +13
Hornish Jr. (23rd) +12
Kenseth (8th) +8
Lap 23- Johnson leads Kyle by nearly 2 ½ seconds.
Lap 25- What’s Vickers driving, a rocket? He has just passed Kyle to take 2nd!
Lap 26- Johnson has led 20 laps so far.
Lap 28- Kenseth goes down on the bottom to get pass Edwards to take 4th. Vickers gained 4 tenths of a second on Johnson on this lap.
Lap 34- Vickers is all over Johnson’s rear bumper. He then makes the pass to take the lead.
Lap 35- Johnson gets it back and Vickers is all over him like a cheap suit. Meanwhile, Kenseth is movin’ and groovin’ getting by Kyle for 4th.
Lap 36- The “Cat & Mouse” game continues as Vickers gets by Johnson to reclaim the lead.
Lap 38- Vickers takes his bonus points and the chance to pit.
What some were saying during pit stops;
Kyle- Tight in the center, loose off.
Edwards- Loose in, tight off.
Lap 41- Dale Jr. gets a taste of some “Clean Air”.
Lap 42- Waltrip leads and gets bonus points since he had made a pit stop back on lap 4. Vickers takes over where he left off leading after the pit stops cycle through.
Lap 49- Kenseth is looking very strong. He is running in 3rd after starting 16th.
Track Specs;
Air Temp- 78
Track Temp- 112
Humidity- 51%
Wind- SW 12 MPH
Lap 59- Looking good at this point is Vickers holding 1st after starting 18th.
Lap 61- Jr. is 11.30 seconds behind the leader, running his normal preferred high line in 6th postion.
Lap 64- By now, Kenseth has passed Johnson for 2nd and has his eye on 1st. Burton has dropped like a ton of bricks to 17th.
Lap 73- Dale Jr. turns the fastest lap (42.83)
Lap 82- Dale Jr. gets some bonus points then takes the #88 down pit road.
Lap 83- Kenseth takes the lead.
Lap 89- Kenseth is still leading, but is now dealing with lap traffic.
Lap 92- 1st caution of the day for debris. Only 21 cars are on the lead lap at this point. McMurray gets the lucky dog. 22 cars visit pit road.
Leader Pit Times;
Kenseth- 12.7
Johnson- 13.8
Ky Busch- 12.9
Top 10 Off Pit Road;
Edwards (+4)
Kenseth (-1)
Ky Busch (+1)
Vickers (-2)
Johnson (-2)
Dale Jr. (0)
J Gordon (+2)
Harvick (+2)
Kahne (-2)
Waltrip (+1)
Lap 97- Restart
Lap 99- Kyle, Carl and Matt battle for the top 3 spots.
Lap 100- Half way point. Top 5 are, Edwards, Kenseth, Ky Busch, Johnson and Vickers.
Lap 102- Kurt Busch spins around bringing out our 2nd caution. From the announcer’s booth, “He’s been junk all day anyway.” WOW, that’s brutal.
During this caution the top 7 stay out, but every driver from 8th on back take this chance to pit.
Lap 110- Flirting with disaster after the restart, the cars are in HUGE clusters.
Lap 114- Kenseth gets past Edwards to take the lead.
Lap 121- Top 5 are Kenseth, Johnson, Edwards, Ky Busch and Vickers.
Lap 134- Dale Jr. is running strong and putting out faster lap times than the leader.
Lap 137- Jr. is running Kyle down. Kyle takes the low line while Jr. passes him using the high line, and in the process taking 5th.
Lap 143- Scored as the leader, Hornish Jr. stays out while the leaders pit.
Caution is out again. Bobby Labonte spins out, but with good hands he holds on and keeps it out of the wall and other cars.
Kurt Busch gets the lucky dog pass.
Matt Kenseth tries to turn a Nascar Official into a hood ornament after only taking right side tires and leaving his stall as an official walks right in front of his car.
Race Off Pit Road;
Kyle +3
Edwards +1
Kenseth -2
Dale Jr. +1
Vickers -3
Stewart 0
Biffle 0
Martin +1
49 to go- Restart – Right away another caution as Robby Gordon hits the wall.
Johnson complains about 1st and 2nd gear gone in transmission But you could not tell on the restart with 45 to go.
41 to go- Top 5 are Johnson, Hornish Jr., Ky Busch, Kenseth and Stewart
40 to go- Edwards gets by Vickers.
39 to go- Hornish gets his bonus points for challenging Johnson for the lead.
34 to go- Hornish Jr. is still breathing down Johnson’s neck.
25 to go- Crew Chiefs are asking their driver to save them some fuel.
10 to go- Ragan is leading the race.
7 to go- Dale Jr. and Mcmurray are confused. Are we racing for position or conserving fuel? It’s back and forth!
4 to go- Dale Jr. is leading.
3 to go- The “Crowd is Loud and Proud” as Dale Jr. passes by leading the race! Another caution as Hornish Jr. spins out!
Dale Jr. tries to save fuel by turning off the engine and coasting (even past the pace car).
Green Flag- The final engine crank for Dale Jr. and as they come around, the race ends under caution as Michael Waltrip mows down the grass in the infield.
Kahne drafts behind Dale Jr. as he crosses the finish line. No burnouts, no donuts because the #88 has nothing left in the tank. He takes off his helmet and smiles as his crew members push the car to victory lane!
Post Race Info;
Prior to the green flag the following driver(s) dropped to the rear for the reason(s) indicated: #15 Menard (engine change).
Failed to Qualify: (2) Jason Leffler, #70; Tony Raines, #34.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 47 Mins, 34 Secs.
Average Speed: 145.375 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Caution Flags: 8 for 22 laps: Laps: 4-5 (#22 spun backstretch); 93-96 (Debris); 103-106 (#2 spun backstretch); 148-151 (#43 spun backstretch); 153-156 (#7 accident backstretch); 199-201 (#77 spun turn 4); 203-203 (#10,55 accident frontstretch); 204-203 ().
Lead Changes: 31 among 13 drivers: Ky. Busch 1-5; J. Johnson 6-33; B. Vickers 34; J. Johnson 35; B. Vickers 36-37; J. Johnson 38; D. Earnhardt Jr. 39-40; M. Waltrip 41; B. Vickers 42-78; C. Edwards 79; D. Earnhardt Jr. 80-81; M. Kenseth 82-92; J. Johnson 93; D. Hamlin 94; C. Edwards 95-113; M. Kenseth 114-137; D. Earnhardt Jr. 138; T. Stewart 139; A. Allmendinger 140; D. Ragan 141; S. Hornish Jr. # 142; M. Kenseth 143-147; J. Johnson 148-161; S. Hornish Jr. # 162; J. Johnson 163-182; B. Vickers 183-186; M. Kenseth 187; C. Edwards 188; D. Ragan 189-193; D. Earnhardt Jr. 194; J. McMurray 195; D. Earnhardt Jr. 196-203.
Nice recap! It’s a great day for Junior fans. We’ve been waiting a long time for this win. Sure, we caught a break with the fuel and caution, but I think we were overdue for a break, anyway.
Go Junior!
Mike Smith
what makes it different for junior there has been other races that were won due to weather, caution etc…..he deserves this win!
I know a lot of conspiracy theorists are out there and this is not the first win by a driver that had others guessing NASCAR –BUT — as a driver and team you have to put yourself in a position to win and let the chips fall where they may. And that is exactly what they did.
The best thing Stale Dale is good at is selling t-shirts. Racing cars should never be about who can coast around the race track the most & save gas.
It should be about who has the fastest car & this weeks winner didn’t have the fastest car by a long shot. I predict JR will never win a championship, & until he does stop comparing him to the Champions. Time to start another losing streak…
First, let me start by saying I am a “true” NASCAR fanatic, and have been for years (back to when Cale was driving).
I have always said, in my opinion, NASCAR was a “true” athletic sport and drivers were “true” athletes, try having the “average-Joe” do what these death-defying drivers do, not just for one race, but an entire season. However, my opinion was been greatly altered as of yesterdays Michigan “Life-Lock” 400, not my opinion on the latter point, but on the first opinion….THE SPORT.
A sporting outcome is determined on the field, on the court, on the diamond, on the rink, maybe even by the officials (ala Kenseth pit-stop), but NEVER, let me repeat myself in case you missed that last line….NEVER by management or ownership, that would be titled by another name……. maybe……. COLLUSION!!!
Maybe the U.S. Senate should leave Bob Kraft and the Patriots alone and start talking to the France Family.
NASCAR accomplished what it, not only wanted to do, but, what it NEEDED….. to divert the attention of media and fans from the “black-eye” (pardon the pun) of the surprise announcement of the upcoming racial and sexual harassment lawsuit, to the “faux-win”, no matter how fixed it was, of the NASCAR “golden-child.
Can someone please explain to me how a driver with so little to claim as accomplishments can garner so much attention by fans and media…. that however is enough for a whole series of article in itself?!?!?!
Way to go NASCAR…… “WAG THE DOG”….. no one does it better than you!!!!!
stupid is as stupid does!Those last 2 comments were STUPID!