NASCAR used all of the tools at their disposal to restart the race and run it to the advertised distance of 499 miles, plus a few more, rather than calling it when the red flag flew for rain on lap 124. That threw out a ho-hum finish, turned it wild and gave the Davids a chance to beat up on Goliath.
Editor’s Note: Mike Neff is writing Matt’s column this week. The Key Moment – On the penultimate caution of the race, Matt Kenseth took fuel …
2012 was not a banner season for Ryan Newman. After he won at Martinsville in April, it looked like he and teammate Tony Stewart might be forces to be reckoned with throughout the season.
Matt Kenseth slapped on two fresh tires, came out the leader with 49 laps left and became the de facto winner in an event where there were exactly two on-track, green-flag passes for the lead over the course of 400 miles – lap 1 and during a mid-race wreck.
When Danica Patrick rolls into Daytona next year, it likely will not be with her Greg Zipadelli-led crew, but rather that of Tony Gibson and …
It wasn’t a win for Jeff Gordon, and he still has a lot of ground to make up before he can even begin to think about that elusive fifth Cup title. But this week, Gordon certainly looked a lot more like… well, like Jeff Gordon. After starting on the pole, Gordon remained in the hunt throughout the race, running inside the top 10 all day long and ending the day in fourth place.
On lap 313, Clint Bowyer managed to pass Ryan Newman and he never yielded that position the rest of the night.
Regan Smith finished a somewhat disappointing 18th on Sunday after having a shot to wind up much higher. However, about halfway through the race he restarted on the outside of the front row next to Brad Keselowski. After racing Keselowski hard through turn 1 and the South Chute, the two had contact in turn 2. There did not appear to be any malice in what happened, but both drivers never truly recovered.
Did You Notice? How the US Army’s departure from NASCAR puts the focus on the No. 88 car manned by the sport’s Most Popular Driver?
Was Tony Stewart’s victory-lane vitriol worth a few first-place votes? Or did Matt Kenseth’s dominant run impress our writers? Keep reading to find out.