Hello Nascar fans. Hope everyone had a great weekend. Well the Saturday night race was really a pretty good race after about halfway, I wont lie it was a little uneventful all the way up until Kevin Harvick wrecked, that’s when I brought out the good glasses and gave a shout out and a good laugh when he wrecked. It wasn’t a bad wreck so I felt free to let loose. Haha. And on another note of guys that I am not that fond of, I do still have to wish Kyle Busch happy belated birthday. Quite a way to wrap up a 24th birthday weekend. Way to go Kyle. At least he got the right number, 24, ha. So let’s see how he wound up in victory lane on his birthday.
Well the race started out uneventful and under caution with pole sitter Brian Vickers leading the field to green after 5 laps of caution and single file driving to help dry up the track from the showers that fell on Richmond Saturday. But it was short lived when Dave Blaney hit the wall on lap 9 and brought out the second of 15 cautions that would be seen during the race.
A few laps later without any challenge from Vickers, Jeff Gordon took the lead. He manages to maintain his lead for some 50 laps when Denny Hamlin comes by in the Fed Ex car and takes the lead from Gordon. After the first round of pit stops on lap 100, it was back to racing and Hamlin continued to lead the way. But it was short lived as Jeremy Mayfield hits the wall and brings out the caution flag for the third time. Clint Bowyer takes over the lead after winning the race off pit road following the caution for Mayfield.
Bowyer’s lead is short lived and Hamlin reclaims the top spot once again. But that doesn’t last long either and Kurt Busch takes over the lead on lap 145. However, five short laps later the fourth caution is out for Kasey Kahne. He spins but doesn’t hit anything. Pit stops for the caution are underway and Hamlin once again wins the race off pit road and reclaims the lead for like the third time during the race thus far.
Finally some excitement!! On lap 167 David Stremme gets into the back of Carl Edwards spinning him around. Jamie McMurray tries to avoid the melee but gets spun trying to stop and slams into Edwards. However, damage was not sufficient enough to keep either one off the track as they both get started and maintain their positions within the lead lap. Pit stops under caution begin and after all is said and done in the pits, the leader is once again Denny Hamlin.
Only a short 22 laps or so, caution 6 of the day comes out for Johnson spinning due to no brakes. Hamlin is in the lead once again but our man Johnson goes 2 laps down and is then black flagged for not restarting in the correct position. You bad boy, Jimmy. Then before you could blink another caution comes out, number 7, for contact between Dale Jr. and Jeff Burton. After all pit stops are completed Martin Truex leads the cars to the green flag.
But that too is short and sweet when after several laps Ryan Newman takes the lead from Truex. Then several laps after that, guess who takes the lead once again, that’s right, Denny Hamlin. I guess Fed Ex had some really important packages that needed to be delivered Saturday night, I wonder if that 30 minutes or less or its free guarantee, no wonder Hamlin has been so hot to go!! Ha! Just kidding but he was really dominating there for a while on Saturday night.
Caution flag number 8 was for debris on the track. All the leaders hit pit road and Ryan Newman once again takes the lead coming off pit road after the caution. Caution number 9 on the night was for Joey Logano and Greg Biffle. Logano gave Biff a love tap and sent him spinning and smacking the wall. Ryan Newman continues to lead the pack after the caution.
Then to my delight, on lap 292 Kevin Harvick blew a tire and hit the wall. I was on my feet cheering at that point. Anyone who reads my articles knows that I am no Harvick fan that’s for sure. I was glad no one got hurt but ecstatic that Harvick had blown a tire. There’s an excuse for a party in there somewhere!! Ryan brings the field back to green following the caution 10 for Harvick’s tire.
Ryan’s lead only lasts for one lap when out of nowhere here comes Kyle Busch and he takes the lead. I sure didn’t see that coming. The two of them duke it out for the lead and before they can battle it out completely, Marcos Ambrose hits the wall and brings out the 11th caution of the night. No little Debbie cakes for you Marcos. My man Jeff Gordon stays out during the caution and inherits the lead for a short time.
Then as they are restarting the race, Ryan bumps my man Mark Martin and sends him spinning around in front of the pack for the restart. After he spins, Truex hits him as well. Poor Mark. But my man Jeff Gordon’s lead laps don’t last long as the 12th caution of the night is out for a pack of several cars mixing it up including David Stremme, Bobby Labonte, Kasey Kahne, and Jimmy Johnson. No lead lap cars stop for pit stops of any kind and Jeff continues to lead, whew. I like to see my man get to lead his way to victory lane but I will settle for leading a bunch of laps for now.
Then caution 14 of the night is out. This time Bobby Labonte spins at the start finish line after being bumped by Kurt Busch. Only a few lead lap cars choose to pit at this time. Jeff brings the field back to green and within ten laps he is challenged for the lead by Kyle Busch who passes Jeff and takes the lead. Then the final caution of the night is out, and is for contact between David Reutimann and Brian Vickers. The green flag restart on lap 361 has Kyle Busch leading and he never looks back. He crosses the finish line in fine fashion celebrating another win on the season and his 24th birthday at the same time! Way to go Kyle. Here is how they finished the race for the top ten spots.
Kyle Busch 18 Toyota M&M’s
Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet Old Spice/Office Depot
Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet Prilosec/Walmart
Ryan Newman 39 Chevrolet U.S. Army
Mark Martin 5 Chevrolet Kellogg’s
Sam Hornish Jr. 77 Dodge Mobil 1
Jamie McMurray 26 Ford Crown Royal
Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet Dupont
Casey Mears 07 Chevrolet Jack Daniels
Juan Pablo Montoya 42 Chevrolet Target
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