NASCAR this year decided to take the reins off and let the drivers control their own actions on the track. That has led to many memorable moments this year. At the same time, every fan was hoping to have a championship battle that would come down to the wire.
But, to get both in one weekend was a rare instance. Heading down the stretch in the 2010 Sprint Cup season, three drivers found themselves in contention for the title. The next race in the 2010 Chase for the Cup would be the AAA Texas 500 from the Texas Motor Speedway. The cliche is “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” On this sunny afternoon, that could not be more true.
Elliott Sadler won the pole, but failed to lead the first lap as Greg Biffle got the jump on the high side and took the lead down the backstretch. He would hold that spot until the caution flag flew on lap 13. Joe Nemachek blew an oil line in the motor, causing a lot of smoke and an expired engine.
Many teams decided to pit even after only 13 laps, but mainly took just two tires. Biffle held on to keep the lead, but the Chase contenders had some trouble. Jimmie Johnson got trapped in his pit stall by Denny Hamlin, who he is battling for the title and just happened to be in the stall in front. Both lost time, but were not intending to give up just yet.
On the retart, Biffle got the jump and seemed to be so hard to beat as he jumped right out and seemed as though no one would catch him.
The only thing that slowed his progress was another caution, this time for debris on lap 43 in the third turn. The ensuing round of pit stops saw a changing of the guard at the front as now Mark Martin had the No. 5 CarQuest Chevrolet at the front of the pack.
But, Martin didn’t hold the lead long as two laps following the restart, Biffle made his move and went back by for his third lead of the afternoon.
Ironically enough, Biffle again was in the lead when the race’s third caution flew, this time for Sam Hornish getting into the outside wall in turn 3.
Pit stops did not change the lead this time as Biffle again brought the field to green, which would soon start the first long stretch of green flag laps of the afternoon. Biffle did see a lot of time out front, but yielded the lead to Martin on lap 97. At the same time, it was getting to the point that pit stops were needed. On lap 104, Martin ducked to pit road, handing the lead back to Biffle. Five laps later, Martin ducked off to have service done, giving the lead to Johnson. The lead would cycle back to Martin on lap 112, and he would lead until lap 133.
That would be when the race went under yellow once again, this time for Martin Truex Jr. getting into the wall in turn 4 and spinning out of the corner through the grass.
The leaders came in for quick service, most going for just right-side tires, and this time it was Joey Logano getting off pit road in the lead, and he was ready to bring the field back to green as daylight began fading into sunset. The battle for the next 25 laps would be between Logano and Biffle, including a run through another caution for Truex, but after that the drama really began to heat up.
On lap 160, the yellow flew again when Kyle Busch spun out in turn 1 following contact with Aric Almirola. Busch kept the car off the wall and brought the car to pit road for service, and then got out just in time to beat the pace car, avoiding going a lap down. But, he did so by speeding off pit lane, usually resulting in restarting at the end of the longest line.
But, Busch went on a tirade only he can pull off and NASCAR decided to hold him a lap. While on pit road, Busch was visibly upset when on live television, he decided to flip the bird to the official in his pit stall. Upon leaving, he again went on cursing out NASCAR and the officials, and it was decided then by the officials upstairs to bring Busch back to pit road for another two-lap penalty for what NASCAR said was “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
That seemed like the end of the drama for the race, when in fact the main event was still coming up.
Logano was still out front when the caution flew again for Truex getting into the outside wall in turn 3, but the real action came two corners beyond. Under the yellow, Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon were on each other, apparently due to an incident in turn 4 where Burton made a bad call in not letting Gordon go by when he had the preferred line. In turn 2, the two hooked bumpers, and each of them went hard into the outside wall. Both cars were destroyed, but the action was not done.
After the ambulances came to take the drivers to the in-field care center, Gordon avoided the one near his car, and walked to the apron, heading towards Burton and his wrecked car. It seemed as though Burton was holding his hands up to avoid a confrontation with he fellow competitor.
The tactic didn’t work as when the driver of the No. 24 approached, he got in a shoving match and got in a few shots before officials broke them up. The fans could be heard going nuts as the two respected drivers went WWE on each other.
The incident made for some interesting comments on team radios. Here’s some snippets from the No. 29 team of Kevin Harvick and the No. 48 of Johnson:
NO. 29:
Bill O’Dea, Harvick’s spotter: “Now they’re fighting!”
Harvick: “For real?”
Gil Martin, Harvick’s crew chief: “For real fighting.”
Harvick: “Can’t be real. Gotta be a show.”
Richard Childress, Harvick’s team owner: “Oh yeah, they were swinging and pushing.”
NO. 48:
Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief: “Man, Jeff Gordon just knocked the sh*t out of Jeff Burton.”
Johnson: “Punching him?”
Knaus: “Big time.”
This certainly made for great television, and was totally unexpected from the two veterans. But, at the same time, there was a still race to finish. At the same time, more drama came out of the Gordon-Burton wreck. With Gordon out of the race, the No. 48 team made a stunning call and actually replaced the entire pit crew with that of the No. 24 team. The reason was because of the issues the team was having on pit road.
The call came as a surprise to everyone, with even some of the Lowe’s team seemingly leaving the track, while most stuck around to gather up the remaining equipment in the No. 24 pit stall.
It all made for an exceptional round of events, but the race was far from over, and went back under green at lap 201.
Biffle would lead for most of the ensuing green-flag run, and looked to be the one to beat on this afternoon and evening. But, on lap 301 the caution flew for debris. This caution changed the entire outlook for the race.
Biffle and the rest of the field came to pit road, even after a round of green flag stops that came just 10 laps earlier, to get final service for fuel and tires. Biffle found himself on the outside looking in as he came off pit road in sixth position. At the same time, Martin stayed out on track and got the lead, hoping it would lead to a victory.
Martin kept the top spot on the restart, but soon found himself being passed by Hamlin on the high side, and at that point Hamlin began putting the throttle down, pulling out to nearly a two-second advantage. It seemed to be the last time anyone had to get the lead from Hamlin, that is until with just six laps remaining when the caution flew for the final time when Patrick Carpentier got loose and spun in turn 2.
None of the lead cars pitted, meaning it was going to be one last shot at the win. On the restart, Hamlin got a good jump, but Matt Kenseth got one as well and battled with him for the first few laps, actually getting the lead off the second turn with two laps to go.
But, coming out of the corner Kenseth slid up and nearly hit the wall, forcing him to slow down and almost collecting Hamlin. But, the slow down allowed Hamlin to get around him and get back to the front.
At that point, no one was catching the No. 11. After starting 30th, Hamlin methodically worked his way to the front, and laid claim to stating the Chase was far from over. Out of turn 4, the FedEx Toyota flashed under the flag stand, taking the checkered flag in the AAA Texas 500.
The win was Hamlin’s eighth of the season and second in the Chase. But, most importantly, it propelled him into the points lead. The victory now puts him 33 points ahead of Johnson and 59 ahead of Harvick.
This Chase for the title is far from over, and with just two races remaining, anything can and will happen.
Next Sunday, NASCAR will head out west and visit the “Jewel of the Desert,” the Phoenix International Raceway. A flat track with a dog leg in the backstretch, this will certainly be a huge factor in these waning moments of the season.
Coverage on ESPN of the Kobalt Tools 500 from Phoenix will begin at 3 p.m. ET.
RESULTS: 1-Hamlin 2-Kenseth 3-Martin 4-Logano 5-Biffle 6-Harvick 7-Bowyer 8-Ragan 9-Johnson 10-Menard
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Stewart 13-Kahne 19-Edwards 24-Kurt Busch 25-Earnhardt Jr. 32-Kyle Busch 36-Burton 37-J. Gordon
CAUTIONS: 9 for 40 laps. Lap 13-16 (Fluid on track), 43-46 (Debris), 60-63 (No. 77 accident-T3), 133-136 (No. 56 accident-T4), 152-156 (No. 56 accident-T2), 160-162 (No. 18 spin-T1), 192-200 (No. 56 accident-T3), 301-304 (Debris), 329-331 (No. 26 spin-T2).
LEAD CHANGES: 33 among 13 drivers. Biffle 1-13, R. Gordon 14, Biffle 15-43, Gilliland 44, Bliss 45, Martin 46-48, Biffle 49-60, Carpentier 61, Biffle 62-96, Martin 97-103, Biffle 104-108, Johnson 109, Hamlin 110-111, Martin 112-133, Mears 134, Logano 135-137, Biffle 138-152, Lally 154, Logano 155-156, Biffle 157, Logano 158, Biffle 159-176, Logano 177-194, Lally 195-197, Logano 198-200, Biffle 201-244, Harvick 245, Kenseth 246-247, Biffle 248-286, Logano 287-288, Biffle 289-301, Martin 302-305, Hamlin 306-334.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs, 34 Mins, 1 Sec.
AVERAGE SPEED: 140.456 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.488 Seconds
2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup: 1. Hamlin, 6325 points; 2. Johnson, -33; 3. Harvick, -59; 4. Edwards, -317; 5. Kenseth, -325; 6. J. Gordon, -331; 7. Kyle Busch, -339; 8. Stewart, -363; 9. Biffle, -372; 10. Bowyer, -397; 11. Kurt Busch, -427; 12. Burton, -473.
