Quaker State 400 2013 Results: Reaction, Leaders and Post-Race Analysis

Inclement weather pushed Saturday's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway back to Sunday, forcing racers off the track on its scheduled date. None of that was enough to stop Matt Kenseth, who ended the weekend with a huge victory in the Bluegrass State.

Kenseth has earned a reputation as a great intermediate track racer. Of those four wins, three have come on 1.5-mile courses:

Jimmie Johnson was the lead racer for most of the afternoon, leading a total of 182 laps. But a late spinout (which he blamed on Kenseth) after a restart forced him from the top and allowed Kenseth to usurp power.

Here's how it all went down at the end.

Late-Race Recap

With under 30 laps remaining, Brian Vickers, who was running in the top 10, crashed into the wall, forcing a caution and giving cars an opportunity to pit:

Matt Kenseth won the battle off pit road, but did so after opting not to change his tires. It was a massive gamble from Kenseth and his crew, but it ended up paying off.

Jimmie Johnson, who had led 182 laps already up to that point, came off second after only getting two tires, as did the rest of the leaders. Johnson was the dominant racer all day, but the star ran into trouble on the restart, spinning out into Turn 2, forcing him to change more tires:

Johnson took his frustration out on Matt Kenseth, whom he blamed for slowing up the restart—an issue he's been outspoken about all season:

Kenseth came out from that caution in first once again, and even on worn-out tires, he proceeded to build a healthy lead. Even with the oldest tires on the track, the mile-a-and-a-half-savvy Kenseth continued to race at a nice speed.

Johnson, meanwhile, who started the caution back at 25, worked his way back up in a hurry, getting back into the top 10 with eight laps remaining. Without a caution to condense the field, Kenseth was sitting pretty.

Kenseth continued to hold his advantage and took the checkered flag, with Jamie McMurray running second. Here's a look at the full results.

Pos.	Driver	Car #	Team
1.	Matt Kenseth	20	Joe Gibbs Racing
2.	Jamie McMurray	1	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
3.	Clint Bowyer	15	Michael Waltrip Racing
4.	Joey Logano	22	Penske Racing
5.	Kyle Busch	18	Joe Gibbs Racing
6.	Kurt Busch	78	Furniture Row Racing
7.	Martin Truex Jr.	56	Michael Waltrip Racing
8.	Jeff Gordon	24	Hendrick Motorsports
9.	Jimmie Johnson	48	Hendrick Motorsports
10.	Kevin Harvick	29	Richard Childress Racing
11.	Kasey Kahne	5	Hendrick Motorsports
12.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Hendrick Motorsports
13.	Marcos Ambrose	9	Richard Petty Motorsports
14.	Ryan Newman	39	Stewart-Haas Racing
15.	Aric Almirola	43	Richard Petty Motorsports
16.	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
17.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	17	Roush Fenway Racing
18.	Casey Mears	13	Germain Racing
19.	Jeff Burton	31	Richard Childress Racing
20.	Tony Stewart	14	Stewart-Haas Racing
21.	Carl Edwards	99	Roush Fenway Racing
22.	A.J. Allmendinger	47	JTG Daugherty Racing
23.	Danica Patrick	10	Stewart-Haas Racing
24.	Austin Dillon	51	Phoenix Racing
25.	David Stremme	30	Swan Racing
26.	David Ragan	34	Front Row Motorsports
27.	David Reutimann	83	BK Racing
28.	David Gilliland	38	Front Row Motorsports
29.	Ken Schrader	32	FAS Lane Racing
30.	Paul Menard	27	Richard Childress Racing
31.	Brian Vickers	55	Michael Waltrip Racing
32.	J.J. Yeley	36	Tommy Baldwin Racing
33.	Brad Keselowksi	2	Penske Racing
34.	Greg Biffle	16	Roush Racing
35.	Denny Hamlin	11	Joe Gibbs Racing
36.	Landon Cassill	33	Circle Sport
37.	Joe Nemechek	87	NEMCO Sports
38.	Michael McDowell	98	Phil Parsons Racing
39.	Josh Wise	35	Front Row Motorsports
40.	Dave Blaney	7	Tommy Baldwin Racing
41.	Mike Bliss	19	Humphrey Smith Racing
42.	Travis Kvapil	93	BK Racing
43.	Scott Riggs	44	XXXtreme Motorsport

Results via NASCAR.com

Notable Moments

Denny Hamlin's Bad Day

It was a long afternoon for Denny Hamlin, who started the race sixth but suffered calamity after calamity on the Speedway.

It started on Lap 38, where Hamlin's tire came apart and forced a caution. His issues caused damage to pole-sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was running pretty well at the time and didn't need the interference:

Hamlin was given the lap back, something Earnhardt and Johnson—the two drivers affected by his debris—questioned since he was the one responsible for the caution:

Still, ever the optimist, Hamlin insisted he could come back:

That optimism was (relatively) short-lived, though, as Lap 149 brought more doom for Hamlin's car, which never seemed to run properly all day. The car got up under him, and Hamlin went crashing, unprompted, into the wall on Turn 4, causing yet another yellow flag:

He finished the afternoon in 35th place, 29 spots below his starting position.

Big Wreck Causes Red Flag

Lap 48 brought the race's most unfortunate wreck. Kurt Busch tapped Brad Keselowski on the inside, spinning Keselowski down below the track.

His car emitting smoke, Keselowski spun uncontrollably back up into the track, crashing viciously into Greg Biffle and setting a fire in the wreckage behind him:

Check out this pretty sweet photo of the air Keselowski got during the hit:

The wreck was so ugly that the Associated Press tweeted Keselowski's race was over. But Kes responded in turn with his intentions to head back out:

All in all, the wreck caused nearly 20 minutes of time under the red flag:

But Keselowski proved his tweet right, eventually, and re-entered the race on a lap 158 caution:

Post-Race Analysis

Kenseth won his fourth race of the season, becoming the new leader in Sprint Cup, and posting his highest total since 2002:

He currently sits fifth in the Sprint Cup Standings with 528 points, looking up at Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards and, of course, Jimmie Johnson.

Here is the full top 10:

Pos.	Driver	Points	Team
1.	Jimmie Johnson	610	Hendrick Motorsports
2.	Carl Edwards	572	Roush Fenway Racing
3.	Clint Bowyer	569	Michael Waltrip Racing
4.	Kevin Harvick	544	Richard Childress Racing
5.	Matt Kenseth	528	Joe Gibbs Racing
6.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	512	Hendrick Motorsports
7.	Kyle Busch	500	Joe Gibbs Racing
8.	Martin Truex Jr.	490	Michael Waltrip Racing
9.	Greg Biffle	489	Roush Fenway Racing
10.	Joey Logano	479	Penske Racing

Standings via NASCAR.com

There was no movement among the top five, but Greg Biffle fell from sixth to ninth with his poor result. That result came via the crash on Lap 48, which he could do nothing to avoid; sometimes that's just how the cookie crumbles.

Joey Logano vaulted up four spots with his fourth-place finish, becoming the only new member of the top 10. Brad Keselowski, also a part of that awful wreck, made room by dropping down to 13th. 

Next week brings the Coke Zero 400 in Daytona Beach, Fla. Tony Stewart is the defending champion.