Race 12 - Coca-Cola 600

Take your time bro, lol

FINALLY!

Coca-Cola 600
NASCAR's longest race, the 600-miler Memorial Day weekend event known as the Coca-Cola 600, lived up to its reputation with a grueling 4-hour race, with many competitors leaving the track early with mechanical failures or crash damage. Often, fuel strategy comes into play or rookies find a stroke of luck and earn their first career victory in this race, but this year saw several seasoned veterans dueling for the win in the closing laps. Despite having just 15 cars around for the finish, the fans got what they paid for with a late charge from one of NASCAR's stars.

Elliott Sadler began the race on pole position, however Jeff Gordon was quick to snatch it on lap 3. Just a few laps later, the first of several multi-car incidents occurred as Evernham Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and Jason Leffler went spinning down the backstretch courtesy of Mike Bliss. Carl Edwards would lead for the restart until Kahne's struggles continued with a spin on lap 16. Matt Kenseth was on point for the lap 21 restart, when the race was turned upside-down, for more than a few drivers.

As the 42-car field barreled out of turn 4, incidental contact between Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray and Todd Kluever in a 3-wide battle for 5th sent the #6 Tide Ford head-on into the SAFER barrier, leaving him facing a swarming pack of cars while skidding backwards and out of control. With little room to maneuver on track, cars began crashing every which way, with multiple drivers taking minor tumbles as the track became completely blocked at one point. All told, some 30 cars were involved in the incident, with many leaving the track immediately due to severe damage.

After a lengthy red-flag, Kenseth again led at the restart, and settled into a green flag groove. Kevin Harvick briefly passed him, but Kenseth maintained his presence until a caution for debris on lap 56 eliminated his large lead. After the restart, drivers apparently believed the 4-wide racing would work even though 3-wide racing didn't, and the 5th caution of the race started mid-pack as 8 cars tangled out of turn 2, with Tony Stewart, Stephen Leicht, Ryan Newman, and Reed Sorenson triggering it. On pit road, Harvick was able to scoot past Kenseth, and he was the leader for the lap 67 restart.

The thinned out field then entered into an incredibly long green flag run. With 5 cautions in 62 laps, the continuity was welcome change for many drivers as they were able to finally see what their cars could do and what adjustments needed to be made. Of course, adjustments were not optimal as pit stops were made under green flag conditions. The field went through 5 green flag pit stop cycles before the next incident occurred, between Ryan Newman and Stephen Leicht. Newman suffered substantial damage despite no caution being thrown, and promptly exited the race. The 7th green flag pit stop cycle saw Elliott Sadler and Greg Biffle tangle in a similar manner, but again, no caution was throw. It wasn't until lap 348 that the pace slowed under the 6th caution, due to a vicious wreck in turn 3.

4th place driver Casey Mears suddenly slowed up on the backstretch as his motor exploded, and A.J. Allmendinger, making his Cup Series debut in place of the injured Kurt Busch, slammed into the #2 Dodge. As Allmendinger slid back down the banking, top 10 drivers Travis Kvapil and Kyle Busch did their best imitation of the seemingly-brakeless ARCA drivers, piling into the #33 with minimal braking. All 4 cars were eliminated immediately, knocking 3 drivers out of a top 10 finish.

The biggest development of the caution period, however, was on pit road, where Matt Kenseth took 2 tires after just taking tires 6 laps before the yellow on a green flag pit stop. Kenseth came out with the lead and held it through the 7th caution on lap 373 for Kenny Wallace and Stephen Leicht's spins in turn 3. Harvick regained it for the lap 378 restart, however, causing Kenseth to proclaim, "Let's just worry about finishing 2nd now guys." However, the field didn't even complete a lap before more mayhem erupted, with an 8 car melee in turn 4 bringing out the 8th and final caution of the race. Harvick led again at the restart, but Kenseth passed him just 1 lap later, and was able to gap the 29 and allow his teammate Carl Edwards to slide into 2nd place, as Roush Racing earned a 1-2 finish in the longest race of the season.

I'm not quite back in the swing of things yet and it's 11:33 pm, so I don't have time to post standings, but here are the results. One thing I should note in regards to owner points is that the #22 got back in the top 35 with the #9 falling out. Also, let me know if you like the new Race Notes things at the bottom.

Bobby Ricky's Race Analysis

Well, I managed to stay up for all 600 miles. Cost me sleep it did, but it was worth it. Especially the final laps. When Kenseth took only 2 tires on his last stop, I thought his chances of winning were done for. But then that big crash hits, and somehow Kenseth finds the boost needed to pass the 29 and claim victory!

But tonight wasn't all about Kenseth. Let's not forget about A.J. Allmendinger in his first race pinch-driving for Kurt Busch, but seeing his Cup debut end early thanks to Casey Mears' engine. I'm not sure what Richard Childress has in store for #33 now that the Coke 600 is behind us, but he'd be crazy to not consider Allmendinger for more races. In fact, I can't think of anyone other than Allmendinger who can do a good job preserving the #33's spot in owner points.

And additional cheers for Bobby Hamilton Jr, Stephen Leicht, Aric Almirola, and Johnny Benson for their wonderful nights. Sure, they finished multiple laps down, but when you have a good finish, it doesn't matter if you finish on the lead lap or not, at least that's what I think.

This has been another installment of Bobby Ricky's Race Analysis. I haven't seen the driver standings or owner standings yet, but once I do, I'll have some things to say about them. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some sleep to catch up on.