NASCAR at Kentucky 2016: Winners and Losers from the Quaker State 400
Brad Keselowski said it best after the race on NBCSN's Victory Lap, "I stole one from the candy jar tonight."
What exactly did he mean by that? More on that later.
His masterful driving toward the end of the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway proved worthy of a second straight win and his fourth of the season.
The early part of the race was mired in cautions brought out by tire wear in Turns 3 and 4, but late in the race the game changed toward fuel strategy, and it was Keselowski outlasting a baited Carl Edwards for the win.
Ryan Newman got up for third. If you read the preview and prediction for this race, you'd know that Kez was the pick and Newman was the dark horse. Do I get a winner slide?
No, but several others do for this latest renewal of winners and losers.
Loser: 'Mayhem' in the Parking Lot
1 of 8
Remember those Allstate car insurance commercials, the ones with "Mayhem?"
One such commercial dealt with Mayhem as a grill left in a truck, delivered masterfully by Dean Winters.
The parking lot at Kentucky Speedway lit up like a bonfire, which subsequently engulfed the car to its left and the truck to its right.
It was the butt of many jokes.
This truck fire practically trended on Twitter, certainly among the NASCAR Twitter-azzi. Though it appeared upon first glance that a grill caused the fire, turns out it was something inside the truck on the passenger-side.
As news spread, the story of this truck fire grew far more troubling. It started with the person in the truck. Thanks to the Herald-Leader's Mark Story, we learned of the increasing complexity of this potentially harmful fire. Nobody was injured and track responders safely evacuated the person.
No harm to any person involved.
Imagine being the owner of the truck. Imagine being the unlucky soul who happened to park next the truck.
It's because nobody was hurt that we now say: And if that truck owner has cut-rate insurance, s/he won't be protected from Mayhem...like him.
Winner: Tony Stewart 600th Start
2 of 8
Big win today for Tony Stewart. He finished fifth, but it was when Brian Scott took a heavy, race-ending hit from Chris Buescher that it allowed Stewart to gain some serious points.
The key for Stewart is to remain in the top 30 for the remainder of the season. He had a chance to increase his standing in the top 30 at Daytona, but a late crash ended his day and his buffer was a mere nine points over Scott.
After Kentucky, Stewart boasts a 31-point lead over Scott.
Not bad for his 600th career start.
He'll never win at Kentucky, but his Chase hopes got a whole lot more certain with this latest top five.
Loser: Joey Logano's Top-Five Streak Ends
3 of 8
Joey Logano saw his streak of five straight races inside the top five snapped when he blew a right-front tire.
Logano had a lot of time to think about the impending contact with the wall. It appeared he had somewhere between 50 and 75 yards awaiting the inevitable 45-degree impact with the wall. When that tire went down, he couldn't turn.
"I'm assuming I overheated the bead and the right front blew out and the brakes were gone," Logano told NBCSN during the broadcast. "It compounded from the first accident. I hit a ton. I had a long time to think about how much that was going to hurt."
The No. 22 car benefited from this aero package at Michigan where Logano dominated. Kentucky was a different beast.
"Obviously pretty loose on the start," Logano said on the radio to his team after that opening lap.
Several drivers throughout the night got loose on restarts, like rookies Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney.
This track chewed up cars like a garbage compacter. It left many cars unsalvageable by night's end.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Winner: Carl Edwards' Futile Pursuit
4 of 8
Smilin' Carl Edwards gave it an honest try. At one point he thought he had it. He thought he had Keselowski reeled in and, like all bad fishing stories, the big one got away.
"Credit where credit is due, Brad did a real good job, he played that perfectly," Edwards said after the race. "That was really frustrating. He baited me in there. I thought he was out then he went out and blocked."
Edwards was the crown jewel of Joe Gibbs Racing on the night, as teammates Matt Kenseth took eighth, Kyle Busch 12th and Denny Hamlin finished 15th.
"We had great power and fuel mileage," said Edwards. "Man, that was tough to swallow. We thought we had it no problem. I thought he was out off of four with one to go, he just watched the mirror, and he went at the right time off the corner."
All Edwards needed to do was yell, "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee!" to make this a truly epic tale of obsession gone horribly awry, but Edwards will live to see another day and won't allow this loss/near-win pull him into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Loser: Chase Bubble Drivers
5 of 8
Nothing like getting barely 15 miles into a 400-mile race and having your day be over, at least over from a competitive angle*.
On Lap 10, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., fresh off a well-deserved top 10 at Daytona—along with his other friends from Roush Fenway Racing—hit the wall. Next lap, he cut a tire and really hit the wall.
"All that started because of what happened the lap before," said NBC Sports' Jeff Burton. "This track is tough."
Turns 1 and 2 have significant banking allowing these drivers to get serious launch. That, however, must be reserved because as Kyle Busch said before the race during the broadcast, "This race is challenging because the biggest thing you have to deal with is all the grip you have, until you don't have any."
Turns 3 and 4, relative to 1 and 2, had little grip putting a ton of heat on the brakes. It hurt Stenhouse in the Quaker State 400, but it killed something else altogether.
"Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is out of the race—that is going to hurt any chance he had to get into Chase by points," tweeted ESPN's Bob Pockrass.
And not just him. Blaney would be hit hard. So too was A.J. Allmendinger. All these bubble drivers took massive blows in points, putting all the more pressure on them heading to New Hampshire.
"Just trying to get more sympathy points," Allmendinger said during the NBCSN broadcast. "That's more than I'll get on the race track. It was a big hit. I've taken a lot of big hits lately. It's getting old."
RSJ was in 21st in points and had an outside chance of reaching the Chase on points. Once he failed to return to the track, that effectively shot any chance he had—limited as it was—of making the Chase.
*Was Stenhouse ever competitive?
Winner: A Season's First Top Five
6 of 8
Big ups to Newman getting his first top five of the year by finishing in third place.
That's the closest he's come to a win in ages, but as he not-so-nonchalantly chugged an ice-cold bottle of corn-based Coca-Cola, he casually said, "We had a good car. We struggled in dirty air and track position was key. I think all of us drivers knew what we were doing, it was if we thought we were as good as we were. It's something to build on, our first top five of the year."
The No. 31 car was on its final gasp at the end.
"We were out," Newman said. "We didn't have enough to do burnouts."
Finishing third while so many other Chase bubble drivers didn't finish at all allowed Newman to get some much needed points on them. He moved up to 12th in the standings, a spot ahead of the beloved Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It's tight for points especially with Stewart's win at Sonoma pushing everyone down a spot. That made Newman's top five in this race all the more important going forward.
Loser: Passing on Pit Road
7 of 8
I suppose we must put Martin Truex Jr. in the loser column today, but maybe it's the rule he "violated" that's the real loser here.
Late in the race as Truex battled Kevin Harvick for the lead, Truex zipped ahead of Harvick on pit road to reach his (Truex's) pit stall.
NASCAR no likey. This is a no-no that everybody does on a weekly basis, but he got bagged for it Saturday night.
NASCAR said Truex couldn't do that and made him drive through pit road again where Truex would restart 22nd. He then drove like your classic bat out of hell on fresh tires and more gas. It made for scintillating television.
Truex said after the race on NBCSN:
"Does it matter? It's over. I feel like I do the same thing every week. You get to your timing line, you step on the gas and you head straight to your pit. Guys do it every week. I don't know why it was different today. I would think if they didn't want us to do it anymore they'd tell us in the drivers meeting. I've been passing on pit road 15 times this year. I didn't see guys get penalized. I guess when you're doing it for a win it's different circumstances.
"
Truex clawed up to third, but then had to pit along with Harvick. Both were in good position to win if the leaders ran out of fuel. They did not, and Harvick and Truex finished ninth and 10th, respectively.
"I didn't know where we were on fuel," said Truex. "I was mad. I was digging. Head down, elbows up, just digging. It was a lot of fun out there tonight. I think that's five mile-and-a-halfs we pretty much dominated and we only won one of them. We've got to clean that up and execute better."
To be honest, it was Harvick who led the most laps with 128, Kez next with 75 and then Truex with 46. Yes, Truex was strong, but maybe not as strong as he lobbied.
Either way, if Truex figures out how to finish, as in close the deal the way Keselowski can, then he'll hold more trophies.
Something always happens to Truex, and at some point it's no longer coincidence.
Winner: The Amazing Fuel Strategy of Brad Keselowski
8 of 8
For Keselowski, he makes it three wins from six starts at Kentucky Speedway, and he wins his fourth race of the season vaulting the No. 2 team to the top of the Chase Grid on impeccable driving.
"We almost didn't [make it]," Kez said on the NBCSN broadcast. "I've got to give credit to my guys. We went out and set a fast pace on the restart, using fuel, using fuel. Then it became obvious you were going to have to save fuel."
It appeared on the final lap that he was out of gas. He slowed down to a crawl, then with Edwards pressing him, got on the throttle one last time to power to the finish.
"I had no idea he could make it that far," said NBCSN NASCAR analyst Dale Jarrett during the broadcast. "I thought he had set the tone: We're going to get as big a lead as we can then when everyone starts pitting, we'll come too."
But he didn't. They all pitted, but the gamble paid off.
"I didn't think we were going to make it," said Paul Wolfe, Kez's crew chief, after the race. "We made our bed when those guys started pitting. They were gaining on us so much. I thought we were better mileage than most guys and at that point we went into full save. It was worth the gamble."
Indeed it was.
Keselowski is now the driver du jour for NASCAR, but he's been steady all season. Now his team enters a stretch where it excels.
"We have to keep it going through the fall," Keselowski said.
He's been there before. Now it's a matter of sustaining this momentum to the mile at Loudon.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
