After all the twists, turns, and carnage that Watkins Glen had to offer, it was time to go back to making only left turns for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. This weekend, it was the second trip of the season to the Irish Hills of Brooklyn, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, for the Carfax 400 at the Michigan International Speedway.
On an overcast Sunday afternoon, it was Brian Vickers leading the 43-car field to the green flag. He did not hold his lead for very long as outside pole-sitter Mark Martin got to the outside line to lead the first lap. Martin held on to the point up until the first caution of the afternoon on lap 6. A little bit of rain began falling on the track, which led NASCAR to have the cars park on pit road and post the red flag.
The red did not stay out long as the field got back to racing quickly, with Martin once again leading the field to green. The car that was on the move behind the No. 5 car was teammate Jimmie Johnson, and Johnson finally got the lead on lap 24 after attempting to pass high and low for six laps.
Johnson was able to stretch out his lead to about one second by lap 40 as green flag pit stops were in process. Johnson gave up the lead two laps later to make his stop. The lead would swap between Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin among others until Johnson returned to the lead on lap 49.
Johnson kept his lead as the second caution flag flew on lap 52 when Robby Gordon blew a tire. The ensuing pit stops shuffled the leaders as some cars decided to go with two tires while others went with four. Paul Menard decided to stay out on the track and was the leader when the green flag came back out.
Menard did not keep his lead long as one lap after the restart, Kenseth and Gordon made it a three-wide affair, with Kenseth getting the best end of the deal and taking the lead. Johnson kept his momentum going with four new tires on his car, making the pass on Kenseth on lap 64 for the lead, his third time out front on the afternoon.
Johnson would lead the next 30 laps, until teammate Martin made the pass on lap 95. One lap later, both cars came to pit road for their scheduled service. As pit stops were completed by lap 98, it was Johnson once again back out front.
His lead remained until lap 116 as the caution was posted for debris on the back stretch. The pit stops under the caution flag shook things up again as it was Tony Stewart getting to the front due to only taking two tires.
The green flag came out on lap 120, but just as quickly as it was posted it was removed as Kurt Busch and David Ragan got together, spinning each other out.
Just before the caution was posted, Johnson made the pass on Stewart to once again take the lead. It was evident by this time that the car everyone needed to beat on this afternoon was Johnson\’s as it was the fifth time the No. 48 car was out front.
Johnson brought the field to the restart again on lap 126, and as the race went through it’s fifth and sixth cautions on lap 133 and 148, he held onto his position. It wasn’t until pit stops following the sixth caution of the race that he lost the lead, as some cars decided to take two tires.
One of the cars that didn’t elect to come down pit road was David Reutimann, who was now the leader and brought the field back to the green flag on lap 152. Almost immediately, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to get momentum with fresher tires and took the lead from Reutimann.
The race’s seventh and final caution flag came out on lap 157 when David Stremme spun on the front stretch. Some of the front cars decided to make pit stops for tires and fuel, including Earnhardt Jr. Vickers took the lead as the pit stops were completed.
The field got it’s final restart on lap 161 with Vickers leading Johnson. Only four laps later, Johnson again got the lead. Now the only question that needed to be answered, exactly like the race in June, was if the lead cars would have enough gas to make it to the finish.
With no cautions coming, it was time for cars to start conserving for the finish. The only car at this point that could make it on fuel was Earnhardt Jr. because of a later pit stop. Everyone else was going to be close because the majority of the leaders pitted ten laps prior, but all the cars were going for the victory no matter what. Johnson’s lead still remained steady despite both he and second-place Vickers conserving fuel. Third-place driver Gordon was also closing in on the lead, despite reports that he would be short on fuel.
The answer of who would make it on fuel and who would not was answered a mere two laps from the finish. In a near mirror occurrence from the race in June, race leader Johnson ran out of fuel and was forced to pit, handing the lead to Vickers. Now it was Vickers’ turn to see if there was enough fuel in the tank to cross the finish line.
When the white flag came out, the lead Vickers had on Gordon was 1.5 seconds. All that Vickers needed to do was stretch the fuel two more miles to take the checkered flag. He did just that as he was able to cross the finish line, winning the Carfax 400 with Gordon finishing second.
The win for Vickers was the second of his career, but the first for him as part of the Red Bull team. With the uncertainty of his contract with the team, this will almost guarantee him that he will be back with the team next season. A great win for Vickers and the entire Red Bull organization.
It is a short week for the Sprint Cup Series as it will be only six days between races. Next on the schedule will be the annual Saturday night shootout at Bristol Motor Speedway. Historically, this has been one of the most exciting races of the year, as fireworks in the sky equal those that happen on the track.
Looking at the favorites heading into this race, I’ve gotta grit my teeth and say the guy to beat this time is Kyle Busch. This track matches his driving style perfectly, because you beat, bang and earn each position. As frustrated as he is right now with his finishes, a trip to Bristol may just help his cause.
My surprise pick for this race is actually going to be Earnhardt Jr. I know that sounds odd because of his performances this year, but this is one of his better tracks. He’s won here before and likes a track where the driver can muscle his way around other drivers. I wouldn’t be surprised if the AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet is up front under the lights.
Coverage of the Sharpie 500 will start on ESPN this Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.
RESULTS: 1-Vickers 2-Gordon 3-Earnhardt Jr. 4-Edwards 5-Hornish Jr. 6-Mears 7-Logano (R) 8-Bowyer 9-Reutimann 10-Hamlin
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Kahne 14-Kenseth 17-Stewart 23-Kyle Busch 31-Martin 33-Johnson 36-Kurt Busch
CAUTIONS: Seven for 38 laps. Lap 6-10 (rain), 52-57 (No. 7-tire), 116-119 (debris), 121-125 (No. 2 and No. 6-spin), 133-139 (No. 6-spin), 145-151 (rain), 157-160 (No. 12-spin)
LEADERS: Martin 1-23, Johnson 24-41, Kenseth 42, Gordon 43, Bowyer 44, Ragan 45, Edwards 46, Hamlin 47-48, Johnson 49-53, Martin 54, Menard 55-58, Kenseth 59-63, Johnson 64-94, Martin 95, Vickers 96-97, Johnson 98-116, Martin 117, Waltrip 118, Stewart 119-120, Johnson 121-148, Reutimann 149-152, Earnhardt Jr. 153-158, Vickers 159-165, Johnson 166-197, Vickers 198-200. 24 lead changes among 14 drivers.
POINTS (Three races until Chase): 1-Stewart*, 3500 points 2-Gordon, -284 3-Johnson, -303 4-Edwards, -505 5-Hamlin, -514 6-Kurt Busch, -543 7-Montoya, -613 8-Kahne, -616 9-Newman, -655 10-Biffle, -679 11-Kenseth, -689 12-Martin, -709
*Clinched CHASE spot
