Gil Grissom ended an episode of CSI by saying, “Some of our greatest intentions are fraught with disappointment.” Coming out of New Hampshire, everyone agreed that is what happened in NASCAR.
Clint Bowyer jumped from 12th to second in the standings with one of the most defining wins of the season. Three days later, disappointment came calling. Bowyer’s winning car was deemed to be out of alignment on the body by the slightest of margins at the NASCAR R&D Center, costing him 150 points in the standings, his crew chief $150,000 and having both the crew chief and car chief suspended six races.
The penalty dropped Bowyer back to 12th in the standings, and had everyone wondering if he would make up for it the next race. Despite owner Richard Childress appealing the penalties, Bowyer had to focus on the next race, like every other driver.
Underneath mostly cloudy skies and in front of about 88,000 fans, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series took the green flag in the AAA 400 at the “Monster Mile” in Dover, Delaware.
Jimmie Johnson won the pole and led early in the race, but after 13 laps it was outside-pole sitter, A.J. Allmendinger, deciding to make a little noise as he put the No. 43 car out front. He would go on to pull away from the field when the race’s first caution came out on lap 39. There wasn’t any debris on the track, nor was there a blown engine or an accident. Instead, part of the caution light assembly on the backstretch had come loose and fell on the track. Rather than risk damage, the field was slowed so track crews could make repairs.
Pit stops were the name of the game on the first caution, but Allmendinger managed to hold his position and was ready to bring the field back to green.
The first major incident came on lap 53 when Ryan Newman and David Reutimann got together entering the third turn, which sent Reutimann up the track and into the outside wall.
Some of the cars mid-pack decided to come down pit road, but majority of the leaders elected to stay out and it was Allmendinger once again bringing the field to the restart. This would begin a long stretch of green-flag racing that saw the No. 43 really enjoy the time at the top of the leader board. Allmendinger even keyed the radio to say, “You know, leading is pretty fun. We should do this more often.”
Even after the first round of green-flag stops, Allmendinger held the top spot but began feeling some pressure from second-place Johnson. However he didn’t let that phase him and continued his run.
But, then something felt a bit odd. He began feeling his car get looser and looser. he soon gave up his lead to Johnson, and began dropping like a rock. As if fate would step in, a flat right-rear tire would be the culprit and he was forced to pit. The early stop meant he would fall off the lead lap, and possibly out of contention.
Johnson would be the leader as the race would go under caution on lap 189 for debris on the backstretch. That came because as Matt Kenseth was trying to slow down to enter pit road for his green-flag stop, he couldn’t make the commitment line and had to go around again. Unfortunately for him, the left-front tire blew out as he was coming back around, shredding rubber and metal across the track.
Pit stops did not shake up the contenders much as Johnson held his ground, but new faces came out in the top-five as it was Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton near the front of the field, wanting to take a shot at the top spot.
Johnson only gave up the lead for a few laps when he came to pit road for service to Kurt Busch, but quickly found the front again and held the spot until the race’s fourth, and ultimately final, caution came out on lap 291.
That debris caution gave every driver a chance to get more service done, and put them in a window where all that was needed was one more pit stop to get to the end.
However, it was not Johnson getting the lead off pit road. Instead, Kyle Busch put his No. 18 Toyota out front, and was looking to make a gain as he hoped to sweep the entire weekend at Dover, having won the Nationwide race the day before.
He would get a great jump on the restart as Johnson spun his tires, but he did not waste much time trying to make up for it. He knew that Busch would be tough, but Johnson’s car was better on the long run.
Kyle held the top spot until lap 338 when Johnson closed in on his bumper, and put the move to the inside exiting turn 2. The No. 18 tried to make the cross over, but the move did not work and Johnson pulled out on the field. But, there was still a final round of pit stops to go, but the No. 48 team was ready.
Johnson made his pit stop on lap 363, and he made sure he didn’t speed down on pit road like he did in the spring race that cost him a victory. Johnson’s team pulled of a near 13-second pit stop, and regained the top spot on lap 366. At the same time, Burton also had a fast pit stop and appeared to be looking to gain on the lead, and he was coming.
At least, for a little bit anyway. Soon after, Johnson began pulling away and there was no caution in sight to slow him down. After struggling at New Hampshire, the No. 48 team bounced back and Johnson came out of turn 4 in his Kobalt Tools/Lowe’s Chevrolet to take the checkered flag and win the AAA 400 at Dover.
It would be Johnson’s sixth win of the season, but more importantly brought him closer to the championship lead. With the victory, and coupled with points-leader Denny Hamlin’s ninth-place finish, Johnson is now 35 points outside the lead.
Has the former champion found his groove? It’s uncertain, but he is looking forward to continuing the success next Sunday. NASCAR will then make the trip to the mid-west and land at the Kansas Speedway. Don’t expect any tornadoes when NASCAR arrives, but do expect a twister…one that could shake up the Chase once again.
Coverage of the Price Chopper 400 will begin at Noon ET on ESPN2 with NASCAR Countdown. Coverage then shifts to ESPN at 1 p.m. ET with Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree making the call.
RESULTS: 1-Johnson 2-Burton 3-Logano 4-Kurt Busch 5-Edwards 6-Kyle Busch 7-Paul Menard 8-Newman 9-Hamlin 10-Allmendinger
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Gordon 15-Harvick 18-Kenseth 19-Biffle 21-Stewart 23-Earnhardt Jr. 25-Bowyer 28-Kahne
CAUTIONS: 4 for 19 laps. Lap 39-43 (Track repair), 53-56 (No. 00, 39 accident-T3, 189-193 (Debris-FS), 291-295 (Debris-T3).
LEAD CHANGES: 16 among 10 drivers. Johnson 1-13, Allmendinger 14-40, Gilliland 41, Allmendinger 42-112, Truex Jr. 113-116, Logano 117, Sorenson 118-121, Labonte 122-126, Allmendinger 127-171, Johnson 172-267, Kurt Busch 268-269, Johnson 270-292, Kyle Busch 293-338, Johnson 339-362, Kurt Busch 363, Edwards 364-365, Johnson 366-400.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs, 2 Mins, 29 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 131.543 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 2.637 Seconds
CHASE FOR THE CUP: 1-Hamlin, 5368 points; 2-Johnson, -35; 3-Kyle Busch, -45; 4-Kurt Busch, -59; 5-Harvick, -65; 6-Edwards, -73; 7-Burton, -80; 8-Gordon, -83; 9-Biffle, -140; 10-Stewart, -162; 11-Kenseth, -165; 12-Bowyer, -235.