When it comes to short-track racing, there’s possibly no more popular destination than Bristol Motor Speedway. The high banks and high speeds with over 160,000 fans surrounding the track just make it an incredible experience.
With the lights on, it gives a whole new meaning to a Saturday night shootout. This weekend, NASCAR’s version of short-track racing took center stage as the Sprint Cup Series took the green flag in the Irwin Tools Night Race.
Jimmie Johnson would start on the pole, and quickly made it known he was going to try and turn his luck around. Early in the race, he quickly jumped out to an advantage over the competition. In fact, he held the lead through the race’s first caution when Kevin Lepage got into the outside wall following a flat tire.
Tony Stewart led the lap following the restart, but Johnson again would not be denied as he made his way back to the front again. Johnson was lapping cars left and right until the second caution flew on lap 127. This would be the biggest multi-car incident as David Ragan got into the outside wall in turn 1 following contact with Tony Raines. Meanwhile, entering the third turn, Regan Smith went for a spin. Top it off that as the field was slowing up for the caution, A.J. Allmendinger couldn’t slow in time and ran into the back of Stewart.
As the field came in for service, the team that got out front again was Johnson, but now he had a challenge from the No. 18 Toyota of Kyle Busch. He was hoping to make it a complete sweep of the weekend as he already won the Truck and Nationwide races earlier in the week.
But, once again Johnson held the advantage on the track even with another caution for a blown tire for Smith. Busch would not get the lead until lap 172, and did so using the high line on the track.
The yellow came back out again on lap 194 when Scott Speed had his right-front tire go flat, which would turn out to be a common theme this night.
Johnson got out of the pits in the lead, but on the restart, it was a different story.
With the leader having the option to chose his line, Johnson went to the outside, but Busch laid back on the start so the lane could open up. When it did, he went high and used momentum out of turn 2 to launch to the outside. Meanwhile, David Reutimann went for a run on the inside and also got the position.
In one straightaway, Johnson went from first to third, and Busch got his first real taste of being the leader.
Johnson closed in on Busch by lap 255 to lead again, but Busch got it back following Bobby Labonte’s blown tire caution. However, after that, the race changed dramatically.
The race went green on lap 262, and one lap later Johnson found himself alongside Juan Pablo Montoya. Coming out of the second turn, it appeared that he was cleared, but Montoya was still there. The end result, the No. 42’s left-front caught the No. 48 on the right-rear, and Johnson went into the wall.
On the radio, Johnson told crew chief Chad Knaus, “I thought I had him clear, what the hell?”
But, never the less, the repairs were extensive and it cost Johnson dearly in the standings. Johnson wound up finishing 35th, and dropped to ninth in the standings.
Out front, Busch began to feel some pressure from a few new contenders. Reutimann was one driver that had a great car, but the other car was Jamie McMurray. Early in the race, he got two pit-road penalties that put him near the back of the field. This was a great recovery for the team and he was looking to get a win at another huge event.
McMurray would get the lead on lap 389 as the field was starting to get set for the first, and only, round of green-flag pit stops. Reutimann hit pit road early, and it took another ten laps before both Busch and McMurray would come in. But, that is where Busch made up the time.
When McMurray came in for service, Busch followed as he did not want to lose any time to him. The move worked as he entered pit road right alongside McMurray, but coming off pit road he had the better position.
Reutimann would hold the lead after pit stops, meaning Busch now had to run him down to retake the lead. The No. 00 Toyota would be the leader when the race had it’s final caution flag on lap 410 for debris.
On the restart, it was Reutimann getting the advantage and trying to pull out on Busch. But, slowly but surely he would track him down. However, Reutimann made it really hard for him to get the lead.
Finally, after getting loose coming out of the corner, Busch had the run he needed and took the lead on lap 429. At that moment, Busch put on the cruise control and simply looked in the mirror at his competitors.
On four other occasions, Busch had the opportunity to sweep the entire weekend in NASCAR’s top three series. His most recent came at Charlotte this May, but his brother Kurt won the Sprint Cup event, stopping his run. The time before, he and his brother dominated Texas, and Kyle was looking great in getting the win, until he ran out of fuel eight laps from the finish.
On this night, nothing could keep him from victory lane. After hearing all the boos from the crowd in driver introductions, he told the 160,000 in attendance, “I’m ready to win it again.”
After 500 laps, he backed it up as the No. 18 Doublemint Toyota came out of the final corner, scoring the win in the Irwin Tools Night Race. It would be Busch’s third win on the season, and his first since Dover earlier this year. He also now makes the move into third in the standings.
That puts him in a tie with Kevin Harvick when the standings get reset, and that is huge come September.
Will all the great action from Saturday night, the Sprint Cup Series gets a week off to relax, and more importantly prepare. After this break, it will be 12 consecutive weeks of racing and a Chase to the Championship.
RESULTS: 1-Kyle Busch 2-Reutimann 3-McMurray 4-Bowyer 5-Kahne 6-Newman 7-Montoya 8-Biffle 9-Kurt Busch 10-Kenseth
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Gordon 13-Earnhardt Jr. 14-Harvick 16-Burton 23-Martin 27-Stewart 35-Johnson
CAUTIONS: 7 for 39 laps. Laps 58-61 (No. 38 accident-T3), 127-131 (No. 6, 14, 34, 43, 78 accident-T1), 136-140 (No. 78 accident-T2) 194-199 (No. 82 accident-BS), 254-261 (No. 09 accident-T2), 263-268 (No. 42, 48 accident-BS), 410-414 (Debris-BS).
LEAD CHANGES: 15 among 9 drivers. Johnson 1-61, Stewart 62, Johnson 63-128, Kvapil 129, Johnson 130-171, Kyle Busch 172-194, Johnson 195-199, Kyle Busch 200-254, Johnson 255, Kyle Busch 256-388, McMurray 389-399, Bowyer 400, Gordon 401-402, Reutimann 403-428, Kyle Busch 429-500.
TIME OF RACE: 2 Hrs. 41 Mins. 24 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 99.071 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.677 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS (Two Races Before the Chase): 1-Kevin Harvick, 3521 points; 2-Gordon, -279*; 3-Kyle Busch, -351; 4-Edwards, -408; 5-Hamlin, -413; 6-Stewart, -414; 7-Burton, -420; 8-Kenseth, -426; 9-Johnson, -444; 10-Kurt Busch, -448; 11-Biffle, -466; 12-Bowyer, -601. *Clinched birth in 2010 Chase this week