Fires, tires, fights & a nail bitter at the 60th Annual Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway
Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford Wins a nail bitter at the 60th Annual Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Joey Logano won his 2nd race of 2014 is the second driver to do so this year and pretty much locks in his spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
It was a tense race as 2nd place Car 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet had led most laps and was putting pressure on right to the end. He was the best in long runs but the toughest part was of the race was the restarts, it was a great effort from starting in 25th to leading the most of the race. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2014 and leads the point standings by 5 points over Matt Kenseth, he seems to have a fire in his eyes. If I was going to pick another winner to make the chase it would be Jeff Gordon.
3rd place Car 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota got 4 tires at the last caution and was able make it from deep in the field & get past 4th place Car 2 Brad Keselowski Detroit Genuine Parts Ford & 5th place Car 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota. 6th place Car 47 AJ Allmendinger Bush’s Grillin’ Beans Chevrolet was followed by 7th place Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet. 8th place Car 31 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet was followed by 9th place Car 99 Carl Edwards FordAlwaysRacing.com Ford and in 10th place Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet.
The race started with lap 1 Car 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet leads off the field for the start of the Toyota then gets spun in turn 1 lap 1 by Car 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota. The race had 9 cautions for 66 laps and had quite a few fires as cars came into the pits with blown tires & hot brakes. It was an exciting race to watch with the lead changes; 20 among 8 drivers. But the one from the last caution with Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski & Matt Kenseth was a nail bitter with all of them fighting for the win.
Tempers flared at the end of the race as Brad Keselowski brake checked Matt Kenseth after the checkered flag and then there was a fight in the pits between Car 13 Casey Mears & Car 9 Marcos Ambrose & teams.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 9
Unofficial Race Results for the 60Th Annual Toyota Owners 400 – Saturday, April 26, 2014 Richmond International Raceway – Richmond, VA – .75 Mile Paved Total Race Length – 400 Laps – 300 Miles
Position Car # Driver Team Laps Status
1. Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford, 400, Running
2. Car 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, 400, Running
3. Car 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota, 400, Running
4. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Detroit Genuine Parts Ford, 400, Running
5. Car 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota, 400, Running
6. Car 47 AJ Allmendinger Bush’s Grillin’ Beans Chevrolet, 400, Running
7. Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet, 400, Running
8. Car 31 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet, 400, Running
9. Car 99 Carl Edwards FordAlwaysRacing.com Ford, 400, Running
10. Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet, 400, Running
11. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet, 400, Running
12. Car 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, 400, Running
13. Car 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet, 400, Running
14. Car 5 Kasey Kahne, Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, 400, Running
15. Car 16 Greg Biffle Scotch Ford, 400, Running
16. Car 42 Kyle Larson AXE Peace Chevrolet, 400, Running
17. Car 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford, 400, Running
18. Car 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley/Ace/CMN Ford, 400, Running
19. Car 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet, 400, Running
20. Car 38 David Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford, 400, Running
21. Car 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, 400, Running
22. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota, 400, Running
23. Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet, 400, Running
24. Car 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet, 400, Running
25. Car 14 Tony Stewart Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, 399, Running
26. Car 40 Landon Cassill Atlantic Plumbing & Utilities Chevrolet, 398, Running
27. Car 3 Austin Dillon Dow Chevrolet, 398, Running
28. Car 23 Alex Bowman Dr.Pepper Toyota, 398, Running
29. Car 35 David Reutimann MDS Transport Ford, 397, Running
30. Car 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford, 396, Running
31. Car 83 Ryan Truex VooDoo BBQ & Grill Toyota, 396, Running
32. Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, 396, Running
33. Car 7 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet, 396, Running
34. Car 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet, 395, Running
35. Car 33 David Stremme Newtown Building Supplies Chevrolet, 395, Running
36. Car 32 Travis Kvapil Keen Parts Ford, 394, Running
37. Car 66 Joe Nemechek Virginia Farm Bureau Toyota, 391, Running
38. Car 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Nationwide Ford, 390, Running
39. Car 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet, 390, Running
40. Car 30 JJ Yeley Phoenix Warehouse Chevrolet, 380, Engine
41. Car 26 Cole Whitt Scorpyd Toyota, 367, Running
42. Car 36 Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 225, Electrical
43. Car 15 Clint Bowyer AAA Insurance Toyota, 159, Suspension
Race Comments:
Failed to Qualify: (2) 95, 77.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 12 Mins, 47 Secs.
Average Speed: 93.369 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.946 Seconds
Caution Flags: 9 for 66 laps:
3M Lap Leader: Jeff Gordon, #24 173 Laps
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Brad Keselowski,
#2 Coors Light Pole Award: Kyle Larson, #42 0 mph Duralast Brakes
“Brake in the Race”: Kyle Larson, #42 Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #24 Mobil 1
Driver of the Race: Kyle Busch, #18 Moog Chassis Parts Problem
Solver of the Race: Joey Logano, #22 crew chief Todd Gordon, 0.048 seconds Sherwin-Williams
Fastest Lap: Clint Bowyer, #15 Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Kyle Larson, #42
Next Race: May. 4, 2014 – Talladega Superspeedway
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