Posted on by Zack Albert

Early-season performance has produced good qualifying, but drop-off on race day

Related: Dover schedule | Standings | Charlotte results

CONCORD, N.C. — Austin Dillon’s first pole position of the season marked a bright spot for the weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But by the end of the History 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race, the next-generation driver was frustrated after another drop-off in the final stages.

Though no one was quite in the same class as race winner and series dominator Kyle Busch on Saturday afternoon, Dillon had at least hoped to lock down a top-five run in a field stocked with Sprint Cup stars. Instead, a late-race fade to a 14th-place finish dropped him one spot to seventh in the Nationwide standings.

"We’re struggling at the end of these races putting ourselves in position."

—Austin Dillon

“We got tight and couldn’t go forward. I don’t know,” said Dillon, in his second full season in the series. “We’re struggling at the end of these races putting ourselves in position. … We’re trying everything we can to win these races, but it’s tough right now. We’ll just have to keep digging.”
 
Dillon entered the season as an early favorite for championship contention, based on his third-place finish in the standings in his rookie year, highlighted by a pair of wins in a sweep of Kentucky Speedway’s two Nationwide events. He also stood to benefit from continuity as his pairing with crew chief Danny Stockman Jr. remained intact.
 
There’s still plenty of time to mount a title charge, but for whatever reason, Dillon hasn’t been able to finish ahead of where he started, leaving the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team winless thus far.
 
Qualifying easily has been Dillon’s strongest suit. He has qualified no worse than 11th in 10 races this season, and his average starting position of 4.8 leads the series. His average finish of 12.2, however, is seventh-best among Nationwide series regulars. As a result, he’s finished ahead of his starting spot just once all season.
 
Saturday, Dillon ran fifth through 150 of 200 laps, just ahead of the final series of pit stops. But on the exchange and the high-tension shuffling that ensued, Dillon dropped to as far back as 17th before gaining a handful of positions near the end.
 
“Mostly our last call or whatever we do at the end of the race has put ourselves in a bad position, and we don’t have the right adjustment for it, either,” Dillon said. “We just have to keep working on it.”

Dillon and his team will get their next opportunity at the 5-Hour Energy 200 at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Dover International Speedway.

READ MORE:

READ: Harvick’s late charge
leads to 600 win

READ: Post-Coca-Cola 600
Driver Reports

READ: Kenseth, Johnson hopes
wrecked in 600

READ: Pit crew key as
Hamlin clawsback

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Posted on by Nascar

On heels of a solid Charlotte run, Ambrose looks to insert himself into Chase picture

Of the eight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in which Marcos Ambrose has finished third or better, six have come on road courses.

Both career victories for the native of Tasmania came on the wickedly fast seven-turn Watkins Glen International layout.

He holds the track qualifying record (95.262 mph) at Sonoma Raceway, where speeds are slower but the layout no less forgiving.

But when the series arrives in Dover, Del., for this weekend’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks, Ambrose will feel equally good about his team’s chances. And with good reason.

Concrete-surfaced tracks have been kind to driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Ford. Particularly Dover, a 1-mile layout whose high-banked turns generate high speeds while providing little room for error.

Ambrose had put together three consecutive top-10 finishes at Dover before ending up 18th last fall. He also has three career top-10 finishes at Bristol, a track that is a bit smaller at 0.533 mile but certainly every bit as demanding.

"We expect (Dover) to be good for me this weekend."

— Marcos Ambrose

“A bit of a mystery, but I’ll take it,” Ambrose said of his Dover results. “It’s been a good track for me in the past. We expect it to be good for me this weekend.”

“My mindset when I go to Dover, I expect a high‑intensity race, up on the wheel, being aggressive all day. That being said, concrete race tracks, both Bristol and Dover, have really been good to me as far as results go. I’ve run well pretty much every Bristol race and I’ve certainly run well at Dover the last couple years.

“I don’t have a good reason why that’s the case. Perhaps I get a different feel behind the wheel or I’m able to adjust the car a little better for these concrete tracks than others.”

As part of the Racing For a Miracle program, RPM sponsors Stanley, DeWalt and Ace Hardware will donate $1 million to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals if Ambrose wins Sunday’s race.

Although he is 22nd in the points standings, Ambrose, 36, is coming off a 10th place finish this past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The team squeezed out the impressive finish run even though its car was badly damaged when Ambrose ran over a TV cable that had fallen across the track.

“I’ve certainly run into things that I didn’t expect,” said Ambrose, who said he had once hit a kangaroo. “This was unusual because it pretty much impacted the entire field. I mean we’re going 200 plus miles an hour into Turn 1. I heard and felt like a big whack on the front window. The window net was pulsing. I knew something happened. It left a big mark on the windshield.

“I could see something coming out the back of Mark Martin‘s car. It was on my hood, making a lot of noise, a lot of racket.”

Ambrose said it wasn’t until officials threw the caution flag that he realized the extent of the damage to his car.

“It ripped the brake line off the back of the car,” he said. “It was still flapping. I could feel it and hear it. It really wasn’t until a lap of caution that I was able to work it all out when I saw the left‑over piece of rope sitting on the side of the track.

“It all came at me pretty fast, but it was certainly unusual just because of the fact that it didn’t impact one car, it was pretty much the entire field went over that wire.”

READ MORE:

READ: Harvick’s late charge
leads to 600 win

READ: Post-Coca-Cola 600
Driver Reports

READ: Kenseth, Johnson hopes
wrecked in 600

READ: Pit crew key as
Hamlin claws back

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Top contenders suffer unlucky breaks on biggest stage

Related: Results | Standings | Race delay | VIDEO: Johnson spin collects Kenseth

CONCORD, N.C. — Matt Kenseth thought briefly about ducking down onto the apron, but he knew he was going much too fast for that. So when Jimmie Johnson spun in front of him, all he could do was hit the brakes. And suddenly not just one top contender was knocked out of the Coca-Cola 600, but two.

An accident 66 laps from the finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway changed the complexion of one of the biggest events of the NASCAR season, wiping out not only the winner of last week’s Sprint All-Star Race on the same track but also the driver who had established himself as the favorite Sunday night. Johnson spun, Kenseth slowed and was hit from behind by Juan Pablo Montoya, and two potential race winners wound up laps down with damaged cars.

“He wrecked, I saw it, I was going too fast to go on the apron and miss it, so I just slowed down a little bit and (Montoya) ran over the back of us,” Kenseth said after finishing two laps down in 15th. “I could do that same thing 300 times and be in it 300 times. It was just one of those odd ones where there’s just nothing you can do to miss it. Just the wrong place at the wrong time.”

"That caution was ill-timed for us. You’re going to have that now and then."

— Matt Kenseth

It was a costly accident for a No. 20 car that had been the class of the field until an ill-timed caution on a green-flag pit cycle mired Kenseth at the back of the lead lap. He led 112 laps, including 95 out of 96 circuits at one point, and owned a lead over the field of nearly eight seconds. Johnson never led the race, but the six-time Charlotte winner was lurking as one contender after another fell victim to attrition in NASCAR’s longest event.

Johnson and Kenseth were ninth and 10th, respectively, when the No. 48 car suddenly broke loose as part of an accident that ultimately involved five vehicles. “The 56 was sitting on my quarterpanel,” Johnson said, referring to the car of Martin Truex Jr. It was part of a challenging night for the five-time series champion, who lost a lap early when his team had to change a battery, but got it back and was working his way back into the top 10 when the car went sideways.

“We were like a fifth-place car, somewhere in that area. Maybe third through seventh place most of the night,” said Johnson, who wound up five laps down in 22nd. “We got pulled around in Turns 3 and 4 and spun. That really affected our finish from that point. But we did have some issues with the charging system of the car with batteries dying and things like that throughout the race, which added more excitement for us. It was a long night with a lot of issues and unfortunately we got sucked around there in Turn 3 and did some damage to the car.”

Such events are no surprise in a long day-to-night race that’s all about keeping the vehicle intact until the end. But Kenseth’s undoing had its roots in more mundane matters — a piece of debris that led NASCAR to issue a caution on lap 303, two circuits after the No. 20 car had given up second place to pit under green. The caution trapped Kenseth a lap down, and although he was able to use the wave-around to get back on the lead lap, he was still stuck at the end of the line.

In the car, Kenseth was as incensed as his Wisconsin temperament would allow. “That is a bunch of crap,” he told crew chief Jason Ratcliff over the radio. “It’s a piece of tire on the apron. … A little teeny piece of rubber as big as your hand.”

Afterward, he was his usual, more even-keeled self. “I saw it before we pitted,” Kenseth said of the debris. “In hindsight, I probably should have mentioned it to Jason, but it sat there for three or four laps. I just didn’t think they’d throw a caution for it, and then the lap after we pitted they threw a caution for it, so it’s just the way it works every once and a while. We had a lot of good things happen tonight, a lot of things to build on.”

The debris caution was the beginning of a chain of events that included Kenseth restarting at the rear of the lead lap and having to work his way through the field — which meant being in testing, often three-wide traffic in a race marred by several cautions over its latter stages. Kenseth’s car seemed one of the few that could challenge Kasey Kahne, who led 161 laps before he was undone by late restarts that helped Kevin Harvick score his second victory of the season.

“I think you have to keep it in perspective,” Kenseth said. “I think you have to be careful not to dwell on the negatives. You’ve got to really focus on the positives. There is so much that’s going right with this race team right now. That’s just the way things go once in a while. Things are going to happen. We got in a bad spot. That caution was ill-timed for us. You’re going to have that now and then.”

Even so, Kenseth has had a lot of it, even for a team with multiple victories and a solid third-place standing in points. Sunday was far from the first race in which the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has had a car capable of winning, only to see circumstances intervene — the Daytona 500, Richmond, and Talladega spring immediately to mind. Charlotte now joins the list. A few things break differently, and Kenseth likely has four or five race wins now rather than three.

He doesn’t disagree — but he’s unlikely to lose any sleep over it, either.

“Yeah, I mean, if the cards would have fallen right,” Kenseth said. “… I feel like that, and that’s a great feeling to have. I’m very thankful for the three that we have. But certainly we had a car tonight that I thought was one of the only one or two cars that could have run with Kasey at the time. Now, certainly cars get better throughout the night and things change. But we had things going our way when they stopped going our way. So we’ll just stay with the same approach and if we keep running like that, you’ll have things happen, but I think we’ll get more wins.”

 

READ MORE:

READ: Harvick’s late charge
leads to 600 win

READ: Post-Coca-Cola 600
Driver Reports

READ: Kenseth, Johnson hopes
wrecked in 600

READ: Pit crew key as
Hamlin clawsback

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Glitches keep No. 78 team from what could have been a special two weeks

Related: Coca-Cola 600 results | Full Charlotte coverage

CONCORD, N.C. — When former NASCAR champion Kurt Busch first joined the Furniture Row Racing team before this season, Todd Berrier relayed to his crew a simple message: Don’t make mistakes, and let one of the most naturally talented drivers in the sport do the rest.

The crew chief’s words certainly loomed large over 10 days at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in two races the smaller, Colorado-based organization had a real opportunity to win. Last Saturday night in the Sprint All-Star Race, it was a slow final pit stop that sent the No. 78 car from first to fifth in the last segment. And Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600, it was a dead battery that sent Busch to the back of the field — while he was leading one of NASCAR’s crown jewels with 74 laps remaining.

Owner Barney Visser’s team has won one Sprint Cup event in its history, the Southern 500 on a tire gamble with Regan Smith 2011. This week, no pit strategy was necessary — the No. 78 was strong enough to sweep both races, but instead wound up fifth in the exhibition before rallying for third place Sunday night.

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“You don’t get paid by driver ratings, you get paid by where you finish,” Busch said. “Yeah, a top-five is great. To be up front, to lead laps, that’s what it’s all about. So we’ll get these little hiccups polished up and continue plugging forward. That’s the only thing we can do, is learn from what exactly happened — was it a cable issue, a battery that was dead, was the alternator not charging? To show our strength tonight, to finish third, we’ll take it. I think that’s what needs to be said. The Furniture Row team was fast, and we didn’t quite have a perfect night, and we brought it home third.”

It was a brave face put forward by an elite driver who is trying to carry his team to the next level. Busch led only eight laps, but he was among the leaders for the entire event until the race was halted to clean up damage from a crash involving Mark Martin, Aric Almirola and Jeff Gordon on Lap 326. Under the red flag came ominous words from the driver.

“There’s no power at all,” he said.

Although some teams runs separate batteries that can be selected using a switch in the driver’s compartment, the No. 78 isn’t one of them. When the car wouldn’t start, it had to be pushed by a wrecker onto pit road, where the crew switched out the battery. It would have been an agonizing task under any circumstances, but it was made worse Sunday night by the fact that Busch dropped from first to 16th during the changeover.

“At the end of the day, the alternator was still working, so we didn’t do our due diligence on something for that to have happened,” Berrier said. “I don’t know how many miles are on it; I don’t know where it is at this point. It’s premature for me to say. But what happened was, we had something happen that didn’t happen to anybody else, and it’s freaking aggravating. (Busch) does the deal. All we have to do is not mess up, and he’s going to make us look good.”

Richard Childress, who owns race winner Kevin Harvick’s car and whose Richard Childress Racing team has a technical alliance with Furniture Row, said he was told a battery cable came off the No. 78. That surely was of little consolation to the driver, who scored his best result since finishing third last year at Sonoma in James Finch’s car, but unlike that effort knew he was capable of more.

“It was a good 550 miles it seemed like for us, then the normal something has to pop up, some adversity we have to overcome came about. It came about this week in a dead battery,” Busch said. “I don’t know, I’m a little shell-shocked still, trying to find the exact words.”

Berrier could only shake his head. The No. 78 car ran exceptionally well over two weekends in Charlotte, but with the potential of Busch behind the wheel, that only added to the frustration.

“We can go back to Richmond and say we were good, and Darlington and say we were good. It’s freaking aggravating. I don’t know how else to sugarcoat it. The car’s fast. But we don’t capitalize on it. Hey, if it weren’t a mistake that we made or something that we did and we finished third, I wouldn’t be mad about it at all. But once again, it’s the same thing. We were leading the race, and we had to get the wrecker to push us in. That’s the part that’s aggravating, for sure,” he said.

“(Busch) doesn’t deserve for the things that happen to happen. He’s really, really good. He doesn’t deserve it, and honestly, it’s just as disappointing for that. He does everything in his power to put you in a position to win. I told these guys early on, ‘All we have to do is not make mistakes, and he’s going to do that.’ It just comes down to being better as a group of people, and being better as a team. I know I sound like I’m down on it, but how can I not be?”

If there was any silver lining, it was in Victory Lane, where Harvick celebrated a win for an RCR organization that considers the No. 78 its unofficial fourth car. No question that as a single-car team based in Denver, Furniture Row benefits from its alliance with RCR, which supplies the outfit with chassis, engines and technical support. But the aid and information doesn’t flow only one way.

“Listening to Kurt Busch in the meetings is something that adds to our team,” Harvick said. “Not taking anything away from Todd (Berrier), all the guys working on the car. But the way that Kurt drives, hard, he has good feedback. To me that’s been the thing that really has helped the 78 car become relevant for RCR and myself, is you can go over and talk to him and look at his data, and it’s real and it’s fast. It has really helped what we’ve been doing.”

In the final analysis, two weekends at Charlotte will show a fifth and a third for a Furniture Row Racing organization that until last summer had never strung together back-to-back top-10s in points events. But those on the No. 78 team know what was left on the table, what might have been possible had a slow pit stop and a dead battery not intervened.

“It pretty much shows us as a group how we can run fast and beat ourselves,” Berrier said. “We kind of knew this, that we were going to be good, and it was going to come down to dotting our Is and crossing our Ts. And again, we somehow managed to have something happen that didn’t happen to 42 other cars in the field. But that being said, you lean that we just have to do better as a group.”

READ MORE:

READ: Hamlin sets
qualifying record

READ: Full coverage
from Charlotte

WATCH: What Drives
The 5?

READ: Winless streak weighs
on storied No. 43

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Posted on by Holly Cain

There was a lot to learn in this year’s Coca-Cola 600, especially for Stewart-Haas Racing

Related: Results | Standings | Race delay | VIDEO: Post-race reactions

It’s a start.

That’s the way Stewart-Haas Racing owner/driver Tony Stewart sees his team’s two top-10 finishes in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Normally that would be considered a mediocre night for the three-time series champ, but with the way the team has struggled this season, it’s a small — but important — victory.

As he’s done for much of the year, SHR driver Ryan Newman led the way for the team with a sixth-place finish, but his boss Stewart crossed the line right behind him — the seventh-place effort his best of the year. Rookie Danica Patrick was scored 29th after being collected in an accident.

There were other reasons to be encouraged. Stewart, who started 25th, led laps (seven) for only the second time this season — the last time back in March at Phoenix. Also significant, Stewart’s crew was able to improve the car as the race went on, something that has hampered the team previously.

So when he climbed out of his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, he was more happy than frustrated.

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“We finally got some stability in the car, one change there at the end of the race just made a huge, huge difference,” Stewart said.

SHR competition director Greg Zipadelli was similarly hopeful that the weekend could serve as a turning point heading into summer, typically the strongest portion of the schedule for Stewart.

“All three of our cars made big improvements this week in terms of performance, and we ended up with a couple of good finishes,” Zipadelli said. “Danica (Patrick) had a bad day, but overall it was certainly an improvement.”

With his team-best sixth top-10, Newman moved up a position in the Sprint Cup standings to 16th, only 20 points behind 10th place Brad Keselowski. Stewart also moved up a spot and is ranked 20th, significant because he could still win a Wild-Card berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup if he is ranked among the top 20 and wins more races than the non top-10 drivers in front of him.

Patrick, meanwhile, is ranked 30th — 13 positions behind Rookie of the Year competitor Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

TEAR DOWN

On a mission. … Denny Hamlin continued his march to a Chase berth Sunday night, scoring a fourth-place finish in NASCAR’s longest race, all the more remarkable considering he’s still healing from a broken back.

He has moved up seven points positions in the two races since he has been back full time and now sits 24th. While it would be quite ambitious for Hamlin to expect he’d qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as one of the top-10 in points, it is completely reasonable — especially with his effort so far — to see him earn one of the two Chase Wild Card spots.

To do that he would need to move into the top 20 in points and win a race — or two.

He trails 20th-place Stewart by 53 points right now and is coming into a favorable part of the schedule based on past wins.

He has four victories at Pocono, Pa., and two each at New Hampshire and Michigan — tracks the series will visit in the coming weeks.

The “Closer”. … Kevin Harvick has earned that nickname honestly. He may be the most efficient winner of his generation.

In the past three seasons he has seven wins. With the exception of a dominating 202 laps led en route to a win at Richmond in the fall of 2011, he has led a total of 55 laps in the other six victories combined.

In four of those wins he led six laps or less including: Fontana, Ca. 2011 (one lap), Martinsville, Va., 2011 (six laps), Charlotte, 2011 (two laps) and Richmond, 2013 (three laps).

The 28 laps out front Sunday was the most he’d led in a win in three years.

“I think a lot of that comes from growing up, and when we raced, because you had to race next week,’’ Harvick explained. “The only way to race the next week was to win enough prize money the week before so you could buy tires, whatever the case may be, to race.

“My dad, anybody I ever drove for before, would probably tell you the same thing. I’m not going to burn my car up in the first half of the race, go out and show off basically. That’s what happens at the beginning of the race.”

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 
2: Number of top-10s for Stewart thanks to his seventh-place on Sunday.  Also the number of races he’s led this year — including the Coca-Cola 600.

3: Number of top-five finishes for Kurt Busch after a third-place showing Sunday — his best outing with the Furniture Row Racing team.

7: Major victories on Memorial Day race weekend for Bakersfield, Calif. drivers: Harvick (two in NASCAR Coca-Cola 600), Casey Mears (1 in Coca-Cola 600) and Rick Mears (four in the Indy 500)

20: Years to the day since Dale Earnhardt earned the first Coca-Cola 600 win for Richard Childress Racing.

THEY SAID IT

 “Oh boy.”

— Then race leader Kasey Kahne’s reply on the radio after being told everyone behind him came in for tires just prior to final restart.

”I told Danica one day we’ll be the windshield and not the bug.’’

— Danica Patrick’s crew chief Tony Gibson, who said the team is making progress despite being caught up in a late race wreck Sunday night.

"I saw this streak go by me. What in the hell was that?. …You got to believe in your eyes. I tell myself, You got to believe what you saw.’’

— Race winner Kevin Harvick explaining his reaction to seeing the damaged television cable come down in the middle of the race.

CHASE WATCH

The top of the Sprint Cup Series standings still looks familiar despite an eventful night for so many. But there were some significant movers and losers in the points following the Coca-Cola 600.

It was a sneaky good night for Carl Edwards. Although he led only seven of the 400 laps and never really threatened to win the race, his 11th-place finish combined with points leader Jimmie Johnson’s misfortune (22nd) allowed Edwards to pull within 32 points of Johnson entering Sunday’s race at Dover, Del.

That is the closest anyone’s been to Johnson since Kasey Kahne trailed Johnson by 37 points following the April 21 race at Kansas Speedway.

Similarly, Martin Truex Jr.’s workmanlike night — a ninth-place finish — earned him the biggest jump in the entire Cup standings. He moved up five positions and is now ranked ninth.

Race winner Harvick and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Paul Menard both vaulted three positions and sit solidly in the Chase field, ranked seventh and eighth, respectively.

On the flip side, reigning champ Brad Keselowski (wreck), Kyle Busch (engine) and Aric Amirola (wreck) all had rough outings. Each fell three positions in the standings but remain Chase players, ranked 10th, 11th and 12th , respectively.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped from fourth to sixth in the standings after an engine problem late in the race.

 
COMING UP

The Sprint Cup Series moves from the monster marathon of a race, the Coca-Cola 600 to the Monster Mile, Dover International Raceway this week for a change of pace. The concrete one-miler will host all three of NASCAR’s national series.

READ MORE:

READ: Harvick’s late charge
leads to 600 win

READ: Post-Coca-Cola 600
Driver Reports

READ: Kenseth, Johnson hopes
wrecked in 600

READ: Pit crew key as
Hamlin clawsback

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Posted on by Staff Report

Two drivers place in top five; four place in top 10

Denny Hamlin’s resurgence continued in Charlotte. Perhaps Tony Stewart’s has begun.

Driving the No. 11 Toyota, Hamlin finished the grueling 600-mile race in fourth place, giving him his second top-five in the two full races he’s run since his return from a back injury earlier this season.

Joey Logano, who was searching for a spark, joined Hamlin in the top five by finishing fifth.

Ryan Newman finished in sixth place, but it was Tony Stewart making headlines by surging toward the front of the field late and picking up a seventh-place finish.

Stewart has been besieged by bad luck this season, and the driver had only one top-10 entering the Coca-Cola 600. A three-time Cup Series champion, Stewart could use the momentum from this race to make a strong bid for a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Wild-Card berth.

A roundup on the Coca-Cola Racing Family:

Denny Hamlin (No. 11)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Recap: Still nursing an injured back, Hamlin took extra precautions to ensure his pain would be tolerable during the grueling 600 miles at Charlotte. And by managing his pain, Hamlin managed expectations — and then exceeded them. The driver finished fourth, led six laps, and moved three spots up the standings to 24th.
Quotable: “Yeah, we just could never hit it. We just hung around the top five, but the pit crew did an awesome job. Luckily, we got the pole and really made up some positions on pit road, so hats off to the pit crew. They stepped up big time today and proud of our whole FedEx Office team. We need solid runs like this. … (My back) feels good. Definitely feel a lot better after this one — I did Darlington — really feel the same as I do after any other race. Proud of our effort. We didn’t a have a winning car, but we had a fourth to sixth-place car and that’s where we ended up.”
His standing: Hamlin is 24th in the standings with 238 points.
Outlook: Hamlin has never won at Dover, and he finished 18th last year at the spring race. His best finish is fourth (twice), and he has just five top-10s in five starts. So his long-awaited win isn’t likely to come this week, but Hamlin seems primed for a trip to Victory Lane soon. And he needs it — he’s 53 points behind 20th-place Tony Stewart. The two Wild-Card entrants to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup must finish at least 20th in the standings.

Joey Logano (No. 22)

Penske Racing, Ford

Recap: Logano does well in Charlotte, and he was coming off a strong run in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. All of that led to a fifth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600, continuing Logano’s boom-or-bust season. He has four top-fives in 12 races, and four top-10s … meaning he’s either finished in the top five, or out of the top 10 all together. Still, with two top-fives in the past four points races, Logano may be back on track.
Quotable: “That was a long race, a really long race, but I think my guys did an awesome job coming from 31st up to fifth. I’m super-proud of them. The strategy and what was going on, I had no idea what was going on. I was just passing whoever was in front of me and going from there. I have such a great team and I’m so happy to be involved with all of Penske. I’m having a good time with it and I know in time that win is gonna come, but with a second in the All-Star Race and a fifth here tonight, we’re proud of our efforts here at Charlotte and we’ll go on to Dover, my favorite track, and hopefully get a win there.”
His standing: Logano is 19th in the standings with 298 points.
Outlook: As you read above, Logano loves Dover. And why not? He has four top-10s in eight starts there, a better average than any track except for Charlotte — and we saw how well he did at Charlotte the past two weeks.

Ryan Newman (No. 39)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Hello, Newman. The veteran driver of the No. 39 Chevrolet earned his second consecutive top-10, using some excellent pit strategy to finish sixth and reintroduce himself as a legitimate contender to make the Chase. A caution flag on Lap 327 sent drivers to pit road, and Newman was one of a handful of drivers to take two tires. That shot him into the top 10, and he stayed there for the rest of the race.
Quotable: “We had a really good Quicken Loans Chevrolet at the end of the race. If that yellow hadn’t come out, we would have probably ended up third. We took two tires under caution and couldn’t quite get back to where we were. That is a great comeback after going a lap down early, and considering where we were one week ago here for the All-Star Race. The Quicken Loans guys did a great job. Tony (Stewart) had a great run, too. It was a solid night for Stewart-Haas Racing.”
His standing: Newman is 16th in the standings with 315 points.
Outlook: Newman is among a handful of drivers bunched in the standings. He’s only nine points 13th-place Greg Biffle and 13 points behind 12th-place Aric Almirola. If he continues to stay out of trouble, his standing will only go up.

Tony Stewart (No. 14)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Stewart had his best finish of the season in Sunday’s 600-miler, finishing seventh place. It’s his second top-10 of the year, and his first since the second race of the season at Phoenix, where he finished eighth. Stewart’s pit-road strategy was the biggest reason for his placing, and he also earned a bonus point due to leading six laps.
Quotable: “We finally got some stability in the car. One change there at the end of the race just made a huge, huge difference.”
His standing: Stewart is 20th in the standings with 291 points.
Outlook: Now that’s he in the top 20, ‘Smoke’ has dual goals — first, to stay in the top 20. Second, to continue his top-10 streak and perhaps even earn a top-five — or a win. Wins would do the most to solidify Stewart’s Chase chances, and he’ll have a chance to do that at Dover, where he’s won twice and has 10 top-fives in 28 career starts.

Danica Patrick (No. 10)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolet 

Recap: Patrick was the only one of the three Stewart-Haas Racing drivers to not finish in the top 10. She may have had a top-20 finish, though, but a wreck with Brad Keselowski wrecked her night. With Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the inside and Keselowski on the outside of a three-wide row, Patrick was squeezed, and Keselowski later came down across her car (and apologized for the incident). She finished 29th after returning to the track following the wreck.
Quotable: “We obviously started from the back, and track position was really important here at Charlotte. We fought our way back to trying to be in a position to be on the lead lap. I felt like we were making real progress and starting to get the car to a place that was really good and had an accident, which is unfortunate because we were moving up. But there’s nothing we can do about it now. We just need some luck.”
Her standing: Patrick is 30th in the standings with 211 points.
Outlook: As is the case with so many tracks this season, Patrick has very little experience at Dover. In her one start last year, she finished 28th.

Greg Biffle (No. 16)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Recap: Although he doesn’t have much to show for it, Biffle’s team showed great resiliency Sunday night. His No. 16 Ford was smashed during a wreck that brought out a caution flag on Lap 259. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s engine blew up, which led to a four-car wreck. Biffle’s team didn’t hang it up, though, and returned to the track and gained a few positions to finish 31st, 65 laps down.
Quotable: Biffle was not available for comment after the race.
His standing: Biffle is 13th in the standings with 324 points.
Outlook: Biffle needs a break, any break. He’s finished outside the top 10 for five consecutive races and has been worse than 30th in three of the past four races.

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Crew enabled Hamlin to move up in position at every stop

Related: Results | Standings | Race delay | VIDEO: Race Rewind

CONCORD, N.C. — Denny Hamlin did not look like someone who had just completed a 600-mile race.

He didn’t look like someone who recently spent four weeks on the sidelines with a fractured vertebra in his lower back.

And he certainly didn’t look like someone who tweaked his back a day earlier, an incident that necessitated three hours of rehabilitation prior to Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Yet Hamlin was all of those things. He was also the fourth-place finisher at CMS in the Sprint Cup Series’ longest event of the year.

It was the second consecutive top-five run for a Joe Gibbs Racing driver that might just earn him an invitation to the Chase for the Sprint Cup after all.

"I feel we can get to the top 20 in points, it’s just a matter of how far we can go from there."

— Denny Hamlin

“I feel good, really better than I expected,” Hamlin said after his car had been pushed into the garage for post-race inspection and the last few fans had headed toward the exits at the 1.5-mile track.

Truthfully, he didn’t know what to expect. A day earlier, there was concern as he was wrapping up the day’s final practice session.

“I had a little issue,” Hamlin, 32, said. “I kind of tweaked my back and I was really worried.

“I felt a pop, and when it popped, my back just went into spasms. I was on the phone Saturday night with all the doctors … I’d lost all feeling in my (backside) and I couldn’t feel the race car.

“But I got it back today and everything seems to be good. I feel as good as any other race I’ve had.”

Hamlin, who finished second at Darlington in his first full race back following the back injury, qualified on the pole for the race at Charlotte. He led the first six laps, then spent the rest of the evening inside the top 10.

Back-to-back top-five finishes have enabled him to move steadily up through the standings — 31st after starting the May 5 race at Talladega (and giving the wheel up to Brian Vickers), he’s now 24th and trails 20th place Tony Stewart by 53.

The twentieth spot is key — only those in 11th through 20th after the season’s 26th race are eligible for one of the two wild-card spots available for the Chase. Get to 20th or higher, along with a win, and he can perhaps forget that early-season four-race departure.

“I think tonight we jumped (three spots),” crew chief Darian Grubb said. “We’re just going to keep fighting and trying to get in the top 20. The wins would put us in the top 20 for sure. We’ve got to get us some wins and that marches us right up there to fight for that wild card spot.

“I think we’ve got a real good shot at it, especially the way everything has been going the last few weeks. We’ve had fast cars and Denny’s focus has been really good.”

Grubb said being just a bit off on the handling of the No. 11 Toyota kept Hamlin from running up front. They stayed close, though, with some fast, error-free work on pit road.

“An awesome job in the pits” Grubb said of his team’s over-the-wall crew. “We gained spots every time we came in.

“As long as we can keep doing that and making the best out of everything we’ve got then I think we’ll have a good chance to make ourselves better and make the Chase.”

While it’s hard to be disappointed with back-to-back top-five finishes, Hamlin said his team “isn’t running as good as I had hoped.”

“But it’ll come,” he said. “The physical aspect of it, I know that every week from here on out I’m going to continue to get better and I feel better every week.

“We need to sneak a win in there somewhere and possibly two. I feel we can get to the top 20 in points, it’s just a matter of how far we can go from there.”

 

READ MORE:

READ: Harvick’s late charge
leads to 600 win

READ: Post-Coca-Cola 600
Driver Reports

READ: Kenseth, Johnson hopes
wrecked in 600

READ: Pit crew key as
Hamlin clawsback

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Posted on by Nascar

Strategy results in runner-up finish for three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner

Related: Coca-Cola 600 results | Full Charlotte coverage

CONCORD, N.C. – Kasey Kahne wasn’t involved in “cable-gate,” he successfully avoided the numerous skirmishes that felled others, and he had perhaps the fastest car on the track.

But it all came unraveled for the Hendrick Motorsports driver when the caution flag flew for the 11th time during Sunday night’s running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kahne, who led eight times for a race-high 161 laps, opted not to pit with less than 15 laps remaining, then watched in his rear-view mirror as the bulk of the field peeled off and hit pit road for a final time.

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On the ensuing restart, Kevin Harvick, who had taken two tires and returned to the track in second, bolted past Kahne and raced away for the win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ longest event.

“We had a great car the whole race,” said Kahne, who came home second and moved from sixth to fifth in the points battle. “Everything was solid. Just the final restart I was on hot tires there; actually it was pretty close. Going into Turn 1, we were equal, but (Harvick) could run flat through there and I had to lift because I got a little crossed up and just lifted out of the gas.

“It was over after that. He was quicker from that point on. I think we probably had 20-25 laps on our tires.”

A three-time winner of the 600, Kahne was strong throughout the event, wheeling his car to the front in the sunlight early and again long after darkness had fallen.

Occasional problems on restarts were a concern, but by the time the race was winding toward its conclusion, he said he felt that issue was a non-factor.

“It was just when I restarted second,” he said. “Whenever I started second on the inside I just could not get through second gear. Third and fourth (gears) I was fine, but second I could just not figure it out.

“There were maybe two or three restarts that it was like that. The other ones I was fine … it was a struggle; it wasn’t what I wanted for sure.”

Crew chief Kenny Francis said it wasn’t a difficult decision to stay out during the final caution. Afterward, he said he still had no regrets.

“If we would have pitted,” he said, “I think some guys would have stayed out. I was just surprised that some of those guys that had just pitted earlier didn’t stay out. I was pretty shocked about that.”

A delay of nearly 30 minutes, the result of a TV camera cable that fell across the track and damaged several cars when it was run over, wasn’t an issue for his team, Francis said, but changes in the track during the break necessitated a few minor adjustments.

“It seemed like the track changed a little, and we had to tinker with it a little bit,” he said.

Harvick was second when he hit pit road, and second when the green flag reappeared. Ryan Newman also maintained his third-place position after ducking onto pit road.

Kurt Busch, who restarted sixth, shot past Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Newman to finish third, behind Harvick and Kahne.

“It was disappointing,” Kahne said. “Looking back, you wish you would have pitted, but then … some of the guys may stay out and who knows how that turns out?

“It was the call we chose, and it just didn’t work out for us tonight.”

READ MORE:

READ: Hamlin sets
qualifying record

READ: Full coverage
from Charlotte

WATCH: What Drives
The 5?

READ: Winless streak weighs
on storied No. 43

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Posted on by Staff Report

All the news from Coca-Cola 600 weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Sprint Cup Series: Coca-Cola 600 results | Video highlights

Nationwide Series:  History 300 results

Kahne’s strategy, Kurt’s battery keep them from win

A costly caution late in the Coca-Cola 600 cost Kasey Kahne a fourth win in the longest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the year. Settling for second, Kahne had to hold off a hard-charging Kurt Busch, who lost the lead with a battery issue but raced back to a third-place finish. | Click here for Kahne story | Click here for Busch story

Harvick wins 600

A late strategy pays off for Kevin Harvick, who wins the Coca-Cola 600 for the second time and picks up his second victory this season as well. | Read the full story




Falling TV cable delays race

A TV cable falls during the Coca-Cola 600, damaging Kyle Busch’s car and injuring 10 fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race was delayed 40 minutes and three of the fans were treated and released from an area hospital. | Read the full story




Is Jimmie Johnson NASCAR’s all-time best?

As the NASCAR Hall of Fame welcomed five more inductees this week, Jimmie Johnson‘s peers consider the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series the best ever. | Read the full story

Danica, Bayne to the back; Woods milestone

Trevor Bayne and Danica Patrick had to change engines after trouble in Saturday’s practices so the Wood Brothers make their 1,400th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start from the rear of the field. | Read the full story

A career defined

Jeff Gordon’s legendary NASCAR career was built on a few chance opportunities. From his random appearance at a sponsorship event in Ohio to his first Cup win in Atlanta, Gordon’s legacy is certainly one to remember. | Read the full story

Future forecast? Busch not sure

The NASCAR garage is the land of opportunity for Kurt Busch. Now instead of having to call teams to broker his own underfunded Sprint Cup Series deal, the phone truly works both ways. Finding speed will do that for a driver. | Read the full story

Kyle Busch conquers Charlotte

Kyle Busch won his sixth NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the season in Saturday’s History 300, leading 186 of 200 laps. It was his seventh career Nationwide victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway. | Read the full story

Larson best in class

Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race was studded with Sprint Cup regulars. So while Kyle Larson didn’t win, he was more than happy with his fourth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. | Read the full story

Brian France meets with media

In a meeting with reporters at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian France discussed how innovation drives NASCAR racing and the success of the Generation-6 car. | Read the full story

Minute-by-Minute blog

Follow along as we experience Charlotte race weekend from the inside, from those tweeting pictures and interesting tidbits at the garage. Spend a little of your Memorial Day weekend with us. | Read the full story

Dillon wins NNS pole

Austin Dillon ruled qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series’ History 300, capturing his first pole position of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dillon, who has qualified second twice in the previous nine races, turned a fast lap at 183.949 mph. | Read the full story

Kahne sweeps Saturday practices

Defending race-winner Kasey Kahne had the top speed in both Saturday practices at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch followed Kahne in both practices by finishing second in the final tune-up before Sunday’s 600-mile race. | Read the full story

Pit stall assignments

After winning the Coors Light Pole award, Denny Hamlin was the first to choose his pit stall, picking the first stall toward pit out. The next qualifiers, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin, all chose stalls next to an opening. | See all the assignments

Hamlin sets qualifying record

Denny Hamlin roared to the pole position for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, blistering the Charlotte Motor Speedway track record with an astounding 195.624 mph lap in Thursday night qualifying. | Read the full story

Breakthrough coming?

A promising start to this season — one that included four consecutive top-10s from Texas to Talladega, and a current ninth-place standing in points — has given Aric Almirola and his Richard Petty Motorsports team hope that a breakthrough is on the horizon. | Read the full story

RCR penalties upheld

A three-member National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel unanimously upheld suspensions and fines to a pair of Richard Childress Racing crew members that stemmed from a post-race altercation at Richmond International Raceway. | Read the full story

Hornish’s NASCAR transition

After collecting three IndyCar championships and racing to one of the most dramatic Indianapolis 500 wins (2006) in history, does Sam Hornish consider himself a full-fledged NASCAR driver now that’s contending for the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship? | Read the full story

Military appreciation at Charlotte

On display at Goodyear headquarters in Akron, Ohio, is one of two tires that bear the autographs of Sprint Cup Series drivers, the signatures of soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the message of “Support Our Troops” scripted in camouflage on the sidewall. There are few items that better signify the bonds between NASCAR and the military. | Read the full story

Antron’s big announcement

Antron Brown is taking his talents toward NASCAR by testing for Rev Racing in a Toyota. Brown is the first African-American to win a major racing championship when he was the NHRA’s Top Fuel champion in 2012 | Read the full story

READ MORE:

READ: Hamlin sets
qualifying record

READ: Full coverage
from Charlotte

WATCH: What Drives
The 5?

READ: Winless streak weighs
on storied No. 43

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Posted on by Brad Norman

Despite struggles at Charlotte, Johnson and Kenseth still first and third, respectively

Related: Results | Standings | Race delay | VIDEO: Johnson spin collects Kenseth

1. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Where he stands: Johnson leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings with 445 points.
Last week: Johnson has run so well this year and built up such a points lead that he can afford a few bad days at the office. Good thing, because that’s what happened Sunday night in Charlotte. Johnson ran in the top five for most of the evening, but missing lug nuts on a left tire sent him back to pit road on Lap 308 (of 400). Tight racing less than 20 laps later resulted in Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet spinning out of control, sending him back to pit road for major fixes. Later, his fender fell off. Johnson would finish 22nd, tied for his worst outing of the season, but keep a 30-plus point lead in the standings.
What he said: “We got pulled around in Turns 3 and 4 and spun. That really affected our finish from that point, but we did have some issues with the charging system of the car with batteries dying and things like that throughout the race, which added more excitement for us. It was a long night with a lot of issues and unfortunately we got sucked around there in Turn 3 and did some damage to the car.”
This week: In 22 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Johnson has seven wins, 11 top-fives, 16 top-10s and three poles. He is the defending race winner. In the past eight years at Dover, Johnson ranks first out of 49 drivers with an average place of 6.9.
Last year: Johnson continued a strong personal streak, and a strong Hendrick Motorsports streak. Johnson won for the seventh time in his career in last year’s Fed Ex 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks, leading 289 of 400 laps after starting second on the grid. It was Johnson’s third win in four races — including the Sprint All-Star Race — and gave Hendrick Motorsports its fourth consecutive win. The win also gave Johnson his eighth top-10 in the previous nine Dover races.

2. Carl Edwards (No. 99)

Roush Fenway Racing, Ford 

Where he stands: Edwards is second in the standings with 413 points.
Last week: Edwards seemed to hang around the top 10 throughout the Coca-Cola 600. Late in the race, he broke through, then slowly moved up even further, eventually taking the lead on Lap 374. By Lap 380, Edwards was one of two drivers on the lead lap that hadn’t taken his final pit stop. When he did, he dropped out of the top 10, but finished 11th and had a 34-point night.
What he said: “We struggled all night and I think we were doing everything we could to get the most spots we could. I think if we would have played the game a little bit differently there with two tires, four tires, pit stops, not stopping and all that we could have maybe finished sixth or seventh, but that was about the best we were gonna have. We’re missing something here.”
This week: In 17 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Edwards has one win, eight top-fives and 12 top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, Edwards ranks third out of 49 drivers with an average place of 9.9.
Last year: Edwards started 19th, but worked himself into the top five by Lap 160 (of 400). Chasing down Kyle Busch to move up another spot, Edwards lost the handle of his race car and went sliding into the high wall. The damage didn’t knock Edwards out of the race for good, but it relegated him to a 26th-place finish with 318 laps run. That finish broke Edwards’ Dover streak of four consecutive top-10s.

3. Matt Kenseth (No. 20)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Where he stands: Kenseth is third in the standings with 394 points.
Last week: It seems like this has been the case all year when Matt Kenseth doesn’t finish well — the No. 18 had a spate of bad luck at Charlotte and finished 15th. Kenseth led three different times for 112 laps, the second-highest total for the race. He pitted under green in second place through 300 laps, and then saw a caution flag for debris come out, sending him out of the top 10. Kenseth was later swiped in an accident that wasn’t his fault, and he finished 15th.
What he said: “We just pitted a little bit different and it was still going to work out. We were still in second, making some time back up on the 5 (Kasey Kahne) … and then the lap after we pitted, they threw a caution for (debris), so it’s just the way it works every once and a while.”
This week: In 28 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Kenseth has two wins, 13 top-fives, 18 top-10s and one pole. In the past eight years at Dover, Kenseth ranks second out of 49 drivers with an average place of 8.4.
Last year: Kenseth continued a torrid display at Dover by finishing third, his third consecutive top-five at the track. Driving the No. 17 for Roush Fenway Racing last year, Kenseth started fifth and never dropped out of the top 10. He also collected a bonus point for leading a lap and, by the conclusion of the race, had whittled Greg Biffle’s series points lead down to one point.

4. Clint Bowyer (No. 15)

Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota 

Where he stands: Bowyer is fourth in the standings with 385 points.
Last week: Like Carl Edwards, Bowyer seemed to hang around the top 10 all night Sunday. But unlike Edwards, Bowyer broke through for a top-10 finish. The driver of the No. 15 Toyota, known for being loud off the track, was quiet and patient on it, biding his time and taking home eighth place with a late surge, allowing him to move up one spot in the points standings.
What he said: “We just chased our tail all night long. For everything that we battled through to end up with a top-10 is good, but certainly not what we wanted.”
This week: In 14 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Bowyer has one top-five and seven top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, Bowyer ranks eighth out of 49 drivers with an average place of 12.8.
Last year: A fan of — and a threat on — the shorter race tracks makes Bowyer a threat at Dover, and that was certainly the case last year as the driver of the No. 15 Toyota finished fifth. In one of the races more memorable incidents, Bowyer lost time during a pit stop when he and Ryan Newman got tangled up. Newman was pulling out of his stall, which was right behind Bowyer’s, at the same time Bowyer was trying to pull in. Bowyer slammed his brakes, and Newman tried to go forward before merging, and he inadvertently made contact with a member of Bowyer’s pit crew (who was not injured).

5. Kasey Kahne (No. 5)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Where he stands: Kahne is fifth in the standings with 370 points.
Last week: If there’s ever a chance for a driver to be disappointed about second place, Kahne provided the blueprint on Sunday. As the defending race champion, Kahne had perhaps the best car in the field. The No. 5 Chevrolet led eight times for a total of 161 (of 400) laps. Through the last cycle of green-flag pit stops, Kahne was in the lead and cruising. Debris on the track brought out a late caution, though, and Kahne’s team elected to stay on the track. The next 21 drivers pitted, and on the restart with 11 laps to go, a fresh-tired Kevin Harvick blew by Kahne and held on for the win.
What he said: “It was definitely our race to lose, especially those last hundred laps. We just thought that some of the guys would stay out. I think there’s three cars that just pitted within the last couple laps, five or six laps, just felt like they’d stay out and that would be a big enough buffer to someone who had two or four tires that we could get away. Didn’t happen.”
This week: In 18 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Kahne has one top-five and five top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, Kahne ranks 17th out of 49 drivers with an average place of 17.3.
Last year: Kahne finished ninth one week after winning the 2012 Coca-Cola 600, and he wasn’t too pleased with the top-10. Kahne said his team couldn’t get the front end of his car figured out, which led to him being all over the track. Kahne made up ground late, though, surging from 18th to ninth over the final 40 laps.

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet

Where he stands: Earnhardt Jr. is sixth in the standings with 364 points.
Last week: Earnhardt Jr. had never won in Charlotte, and that trend continued in the Coca-Cola 600. Although Junior worked his way to just outside the top five through 120 laps, he began to fizzle and fade thereafter. On Lap 259, Earnhardt brought out the caution flag when his engine blew up, with the aftermath of that explosion collecting Greg Biffle, Dave Blaney and Travis Kvapil. It was a 39th-place finish, five-point night for Junior.
What he said: “We had a massive catastrophic failure in the motor. We never have those problems. Hendrick guys always build good stuff, so not worried about this down the road. We will be all right.”
This week: In 26 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Earnhardt has one win, five top-fives and eight top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, Earnhardt ranks 21st out of 49 drivers with an average place of 19.2.
Last year: Earnhardt’s loose car made it so that the No. 88 couldn’t challenge for the win, but it was certainly good enough for a top-five showing. Junior finished fourth last year after starting 17th. His No. 88 Chevrolet was in the top 10 by Lap 80, and it stayed there through 400 laps. He ran in the top five for the last half of the race. The finish also ended an eight-race streak at the track in which Earnhardt finished outside of the top 10.

7. Kevin Harvick (No. 29)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Where he stands: Harvick is seventh in the standings with 362 points.
Last week: Harvick is ‘Happy’ again. After a rough start to the season, the Richard Childress Racing driver collected his second win of the season Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600, winning the event for the second time in the past three years. In the past four races, Harvick has three top-fives, which has allowed him to move up to seventh place in the points standings. Harvick took two tires during a pit stop in the middle of the race under caution to get him up into the top five, and his decision to pit on the final caution of the night gave him a car capable of passing leader Kasey Kahne.
What he said: “It’s never over until it’s over. You just have to keep driving the car as hard as you can. When we had the caution come out, that’s a whole different ballgame with a short run like that. Obviously the best car didn’t put tires on, and we were able to capitalize on that.”
This week: In 24 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Harvick has three top-fives and 10 top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, Harvick ranks 15th out of 49 drivers with an average place of 16.5.
Last year: Dover isn’t one of Harvick’s better tracks, but the veteran driver had his career-best showing in the 2012 FedEx 400 Presented By Autism Speaks. The No. 29 wasn’t quite enough to catch winner Jimmie Johnson (who led 289 of 400 laps), but it was good enough to finish second. It was Harvick’s first top-five at the track since 2006.

8. Paul Menard (No. 27)

Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet 

Where he stands: Menard is eighth in the standings with 347 points.
Last week: Like his Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, Menard is among many drivers whose position in the standings changed drastically. Menard finished 13th in the Coca-Cola 600, the final driver on the lead lap, and picked up a bonus point for leading one lap. With accidents and incidents knocking out several drivers around him in the standings Sunday, Menard moved up three spots and into the top 10.
What he said: "It was a tough day for the No. 27 Serta/Menards crew. We had a pretty good car early on and began to struggle with the handling as the night went on and the track conditions changed. The late race damage to the right front put us behind a little, but I have to give my team credit because they never gave up and made the repairs we needed to get back out and be competitive. We just ran out of laps at the end, but we’ll take a top 13 and a good points night."
This week: In 11 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Menard has one top-10. In the past eight years at Dover, Menard ranks 25th out of 49 drivers with an average place of 20.6.
Last year: Menard finished 17th at Dover after starting 20th. He finished on the lead lap.

9. Martin Truex Jr. (No. 56)

Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota 

Where he stands: Truex Jr. is ninth in the standings with 336 points.
Last week: Truex Jr. is the biggest gainer this week, moving up five spots after a ninth-place, 35-point effort in the Coca-Cola 600. Truex Jr. bided his time during the day, and chased down cars in front of him once the lights went down. He also avoided heading to the garage early, despite some close racing with Jimmie Johnson (Johnson spun out) among others when the cars went three-wide during a series of late restarts. This is Truex’s first time in the top 10 this season, and he’s among a number of drivers bunched up in the standings. He leads 12th-place Aric Almirola, for example, by a mere eight points.
What he said: “The whole race was a battle — the car, the battle with the track position, the battle with the pit crew. Long night. We had way better than a ninth-place car. We passed a lot of cars tonight, which was very, very hard to do. Not a lot of guys passed cars and we did. At the end of the night we just got messed up there on that one restart when we were running third.”
This week: In 14 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Truex Jr. has one win, one top-five, six top-10s and two poles. In the past eight years at Dover, Truex Jr. ranks 13th out of 49 drivers with an average place of 14.9.
Last year: It’s always pleasant for Truex Jr. to return to Dover, site of his only Cup win in 2007. In the 2012 FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks, Truex finished seventh, gaining 11 position from his starting spot on he grid. It was his second top-10 in three races at the “Monster Mile.”

10. Brad Keselowski (No. 2)

Penske Racing, Ford 

Where he stands: Keselowski is 10th in the standings with 335 points.
Last week: It was another tough day for Brad Keselowski. The defending series champion was involved in an accident, finished 36th in the Coca-Cola 600 and tumbled to 10th in the standings. The No. 2 Ford started 20th Sunday and made no traction. The highest Keselowski got was 16th just before the three-quarters mark, but he was one of several cars one lap down on late restart that raced aggressively to get into the beneficiary position, in case another caution flag were to come out. And the caution flag came out on lap 320, but it was because Keselowski and Danica Patrick wrecked. The two went three-wide, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the bottom, and Keselowski, who accepted blame for the incident, came down on Patrick’s car. The Blue Deuce took the worst of the wreck, crunching his hood and careening into the wall before spinning down the track. Keselowski has four top-fives this year, but all came in the first four races. In the past four events, he’s finished outside the top 10 all four times and outside the top 30 three times.
What he said: “I was three-wide with Danica and didn’t know it and I cut her off and wrecked her and myself. I feel bad for her and I send my apologies to her. It’s just a long night.”
This week: In six career starts at Dover International Speedway, Keselowski has one win, one top-five and one top-10. In the past eight years at Dover, Keselowski ranks 12th out of 49 drivers with an average place of 14.5.
Last year: Keselowski would go on to win the Dover fall race, but he exited the spring race with a 12th-place finish and still looking for his first top-10 at the track.

11. Kyle Busch (No. 18)

Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota 

Where he stands: Busch is 11th in the standings with 332 points.
Last week: Busch made it 0-for-19 in the Cup Series at Charlotte, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort — or from lack of a good car. The No. 18 Toyota was fast, and good enough to lead 65 laps in the early stages of the Coca-Cola 600. In fact, Busch was in the top five for most of the first 250 laps, despite a freak accident. A camera drive line cable snapped and fell onto the track, and as the leader, Busch drove right through it, incurring significant damage to his right side. After NASCAR allowed 15-minute penalty to fix damages, Busch’s No. 18, heavily taped but no worse for wear, didn’t miss a beat. On lap 253, though, Kurt Busch thundered past his brother for third place. The No. 18’s engine was dying, and it finally gave way a lap later, ending his night and relegating the driver to a 38th-place finish. Busch, like Brad Keselowski, dropped three spots in the standings. He’s still in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field, though, because of his two victories.
What he said: “I hate it for all my guys. They worked too hard, and they always do. But Dave Rogers (crew chief) and these guys, they pour their hearts and souls into this deal, and it’s just so frustrating to see it end on a short note like that and not getting the finish that we needed.”
This week: In 16 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Busch has two wins, seven top-fives and 10 top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, Busch ranks sixth out of 49 drivers with an average place of 11.7.
Last year: Busch was one of three drivers to have an engine blow up, along with Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton. Kyle’s happened first around the midway point, when he was running in the top five. It was a tough blow for a driver who needed points as Busch finished in 29th place and earned 15 points while completing 202 of 400 laps.

12. Aric Almirola (No. 43)

Richard Petty Motorsports, Ford 

Where he stands: Almirola is 12th in the standings with 328 points.
Last week: Almirola was involved in his first real incident of the year, which led to him finishing 33rd and dropping three spots in the standings to 12th. He stays in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field this week, though, because nobody below him in the top 20 has a victory. The caution flag came out on Lap 327 when Almirola was involved in multicar wreck. Going three-wide, Almirola and Mark Martin collided, with the No. 43 Ford smashing the outside wall and taking the biggest hit of the incident. Jeff Gordon was among the other cars involved, and it ended Almirola’s night in 33rd place. In 12th place in the points standings, Almirola is eight points behind ninth-place Martin Truex Jr. and eight points ahead of 15th-place Gordon.
What he said: “It looked like Mark (Martin) just clipped me in the right-rear. I know he didn’t mean to do that. I’ve raced with Mark a lot and he’s a gentleman racer, but unfortunately it tore up a bunch of race cars there.”
This week: In two career starts at Dover International Speedway, Almirola has one top-10. In the past eight years at Dover, Almirola ranks 14th out of 49 drivers with an average place of 15.1.
Last year: Almirola’s first career start at Dover was successful. Starting 12th, the Richard Petty Motorsports driver earned a sixth-place finish. It wasn’t a breeze, though, as Almirola had trouble turning his No. 43 Ford early and had fallen to 19th place through 100 of 400 laps. Once the proper changes were made on pit road, Almirola told his team to just give him tires and fuel the rest of the way, shortening his pit stops and helping him get into the top 10.

Five in the rearview mirror …

Jamie McMurray (No. 1)

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet 

Where he stands: McMurray is 14th in the standings with 321 points.
Last week: McMurray drove in the top 10 intermittently throughout the Coca-Cola 600. His chance at a top-10 was crushed when he had to pit out of turn late because of a car issue. Although he finished four laps down and in 19th place, he still gained one spot in the standings.
This week: In 20 career starts at Dover International Speedway, McMurray has one top-five and five top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, McMurray ranks 19th out of 49 drivers with an average place of 18.1.

Jeff Gordon (No. 24)

Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolett 

Where he stands: Gordon is 15th in the standings with 320 points.
Last week: Gordon fell three spots in the standings following a nine-point night at Charlotte. It was another tough-luck night for the veteran, who quietly established himself as a contender once the sun went down. A caution flag brought out on Lap 327, though, was due to Aric Almirola and Mark Martin smashing into each other on a restart, and Gordon got swept up into that in his No. 24 Chevrolet.
This week: In 40 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Gordon has four wins, 15 top-fives, 22 top-10s and four poles. In the past eight years at Dover, Gordon ranks ninth out of 49 drivers with an average place of 12.8.

Ryan Newman (No. 39)

Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevrolett 

Where he stands: Newman is 16th in the standings with 315 points.
Last week: Newman recorded his sixth top-10 of the year Sunday by finishing sixth in the Coca-Cola 600. He was part of a great day at the track for the Coca-Cola Racing Family and now has two consecutive top-10s. | Click here to read a roundup on the six members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family
This week: In 22 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Newman has three wins, six top-fives, 11 top-10s and four poles. In the past eight years at Dover, Newman ranks seventh out of 49 drivers with an average place of 12.2.

Kurt Busch (No. 78)

Furniture Row Racing, Chevrolet 

Where he stands: Busch is 18th in the standings with 304 points.
Last week: Busch tried to be pleased with his third top-five of the year for the one-car Furniture Row Racing outfit, but he later fessed to having mixed feelings. For one, his No. 78 Chevrolet appeared good enough to win, and victories is what Busch needs to vault into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field. During a red-flag period on Lap 326 following a multicar wreck, Busch, the leader, couldn’t get his car to fire. He had to take it into pit road for a new battery. Even despite that setback, he chugged back toward the top, catching a fortuitous caution and finishing third. He also led eight laps.
This week: In 25 career starts at Dover International Speedway, Busch has one win, six top-fives and eight top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, Busch ranks 10th out of 49 drivers with an average place of 12.8.

Joey Logano (No. 22)

Penske Racing, Ford 

Where he stands: Logano is 19th in the standings with 298 points.
Last week: Logano was the biggest gainer at Charlotte, finishing fifth after starting 31st for the 600-mile event. He was one of five Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers to finish in the top 10. | Click here to read a roundup on the six members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family
This week: In eight career starts at Dover International Speedway, Logano has one top-five and four top-10s. In the past eight years at Dover, Logano ranks 22nd out of 49 drivers with an average place of 19.2.

 

READ MORE:

READ: Harvick’s late charge
leads to 600 win

READ: Post-Coca-Cola 600
Driver Reports

READ: Kenseth, Johnson hopes
wrecked in 600

READ: Pit crew key as
Hamlin clawsback

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