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By Zack Albert
Kentucky Speedway played host to one of the season's most quizzical races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season Saturday night, throwing plenty of wild-card factors into a lottery-ball tumbler of racing conditions. Brad Keselowski survived with the help of a delicate fuel conservation strategy, notching his series-best fourth victory of the year in the Quaker State 400.
With 18 of 36 Sprint Cup races in the books, a look at the key takeaways from the series' lone visit to the Bluegrass State.
Kentucky Speedway played host to one of the season's most quizzical races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season Saturday night, throwing plenty of wild-card factors into a lottery-ball tumbler of racing conditions. Brad Keselowski survived with the help of a delicate fuel conservation strategy, notching his series-best fourth victory of the year in the Quaker State 400.
With 18 of 36 Sprint Cup races in the books, a look at the key takeaways from the series' lone visit to the Bluegrass State.
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Don't stop the music
Carl Edwards notched his second straight Kentucky Speedway top-five finish, but a breakthrough win at the 1.5-mile track eluded him. With Keselowski running on fumes over the course of the final laps, Edwards had visions of Victory Lane as he closed in on the lead.
'Oh, I already had things bought and I knew what I was going to play on that jukebox,' Edwards said of the track's signature trophy. 'I had the whole thing figured out. We'd won the race. I was pretty sure we were going to win it. That's tough. But that's the way it goes, man.'
Carl Edwards notched his second straight Kentucky Speedway top-five finish, but a breakthrough win at the 1.5-mile track eluded him. With Keselowski running on fumes over the course of the final laps, Edwards had visions of Victory Lane as he closed in on the lead.
'Oh, I already had things bought and I knew what I was going to play on that jukebox,' Edwards said of the track's signature trophy. 'I had the whole thing figured out. We'd won the race. I was pretty sure we were going to win it. That's tough. But that's the way it goes, man.'
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Dale Jr. triskaidekaphobia?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started 13th, finished 13th and wound up the weekend in the drivers' standings ranked -- guess where -- 13th. Despite the unlucky number's seeming omnipresence, Junior said he was encouraged by the speed in his No. 88 team, even if the performance may be writing checks that the results column can't cash.
'I'm good. I mean, what am I going to do? We're running as good as we can,' Earnhardt said. ' ... I'm not going to really lose any sleep over it, at least at this moment. When we miss the Chase, it'll be frustrating and disappointing but we're going to plan on not doing that. We're going to plan on making it.'
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started 13th, finished 13th and wound up the weekend in the drivers' standings ranked -- guess where -- 13th. Despite the unlucky number's seeming omnipresence, Junior said he was encouraged by the speed in his No. 88 team, even if the performance may be writing checks that the results column can't cash.
'I'm good. I mean, what am I going to do? We're running as good as we can,' Earnhardt said. ' ... I'm not going to really lose any sleep over it, at least at this moment. When we miss the Chase, it'll be frustrating and disappointing but we're going to plan on not doing that. We're going to plan on making it.'
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Smoke surge
Tony Stewart made his 600th Sprint Cup Series start and took another step toward sewing up his Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff fate with a fifth-place finish. Stewart now has both criteria for playoff eligibility -- a regular-season win and a place among the top 30 in the drivers' standings. Stewart remains in 30th place, and he pushed his margin from three to 31 points.
'Especially with the way the first half of this race went we got in survival mode there and still wanted to race hard,' Stewart said, 'but you didn't want to do anything that was going to jeopardize finishing the race and capitalizing on the misfortune of the guys that are around us in points had.'
Tony Stewart made his 600th Sprint Cup Series start and took another step toward sewing up his Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff fate with a fifth-place finish. Stewart now has both criteria for playoff eligibility -- a regular-season win and a place among the top 30 in the drivers' standings. Stewart remains in 30th place, and he pushed his margin from three to 31 points.
'Especially with the way the first half of this race went we got in survival mode there and still wanted to race hard,' Stewart said, 'but you didn't want to do anything that was going to jeopardize finishing the race and capitalizing on the misfortune of the guys that are around us in points had.'
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Rules of the road
Kentucky Speedway's new look was also the playing field for a final trial of the aerodynamic rules that will likely be adopted for NASCAR's premier series in 2017, though the new asphalt-tire-reconfiguration combination made for a less-than-true test. But even with the challenges, some positive facets emerged.
'I think the low, low downforce package, if that's what we're calling it now, helped at this race on the repave,' said Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition. 'I think the corner speeds would have been extremely high, and with the higher downforce, stepping out of the groove might have even had more consequences than we had tonight.'
Kentucky Speedway's new look was also the playing field for a final trial of the aerodynamic rules that will likely be adopted for NASCAR's premier series in 2017, though the new asphalt-tire-reconfiguration combination made for a less-than-true test. But even with the challenges, some positive facets emerged.
'I think the low, low downforce package, if that's what we're calling it now, helped at this race on the repave,' said Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition. 'I think the corner speeds would have been extremely high, and with the higher downforce, stepping out of the groove might have even had more consequences than we had tonight.'
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Treacherous track
The combination of Kentucky Speedway's new pavement and revamped layout -- along with a harder tire compound -- made the driving a handful, with Saturday night's 11 caution periods tying the track record. Most problematic was the entry into Turn 3, which now has less banking than the track's opposite corners.
'Normally we would run in the middle of the race track because there was a progressive hitch to the track, but that hitch never took the full rubber that it would need to grip up to optimize the speed and dictated that the cars run on the bottom, 'Keselowski said. 'I expect that to change over the next two or three seasons.'
The combination of Kentucky Speedway's new pavement and revamped layout -- along with a harder tire compound -- made the driving a handful, with Saturday night's 11 caution periods tying the track record. Most problematic was the entry into Turn 3, which now has less banking than the track's opposite corners.
'Normally we would run in the middle of the race track because there was a progressive hitch to the track, but that hitch never took the full rubber that it would need to grip up to optimize the speed and dictated that the cars run on the bottom, 'Keselowski said. 'I expect that to change over the next two or three seasons.'