Race 29 - Chevy Monte Carlo 400Pre-Race-We're in primetime tonight folks! It's the first Saturday night race of the Chase, and it's at the place these teams are accustomed to having to perform under pressure - Richmond International Raceway. After serving as the Chase cutoff race for the past 3 seasons, Richmond now stands as the third Chase race, and the drivers are ready for some short track racing under the lights. Several drivers are off to fast starts this Chase, while others haven't seen the speed they had the first 26 races (we're looking at you, Brian Vickers!). We expect to see a drama filled race tonight, and so do the fans. This place is packed, so without further ado, let's get this party started.
Green flag-That joke about Brian Vickers? Yeah, we did that on purpose. The speed he had all regular season that wasn't at New Hampshire and Kansas is back this weekend, as Vickers leads us to the green flag after finally earning his first pole of the season.
Lap 46-Vickers still in command, but Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart are starting to close the gap as Vickers hits lapped traffic.
Lap 51-Here's a Chase update (the starting position is in parentheses)
Brian Vickers - 1st (1)
Ryan Newman - 2nd (3)
Tony Stewart - 3rd (4)
Kyle Busch - 6th (2)
Carl Edwards - 8th (15)
Jeff Gordon - 9th (5)
Casey Mears - 11th (8)
Travis Kvapil - 13th (23)
Jeff Burton - 20th (16)
Jimmie Johnson - 21st (12)
Kevin Harvick - 24th (20)
Clint Bowyer - 27th (24)
Lap 52-Newman grabs the lead for the first lead change of the night.
Lap 54-Vickers retakes command.
Lap 57-Stewart gets around Newman then 1 lap later passes Vickers for the race lead. Seems like Smoke's team spent the regular season preparing for these 10 races. They are ON it right now.
Lap 66-Newman passes Stewart for the lead.
Lap 71-CAUTION FLAG #1-Big trouble for the polesitter! Kyle Busch and the lapped car of Martin Truex Jr. tangled exiting turn 2, spun, and Vickers was left with nowhere to go. Paul Menard also spins, but Vickers is the one that actually got damage in the wreck. He'll stay on the lead lap, but his chances at winning are basically over.
Lap 77-Green flag back out. Newman leads Stewart, 2005 Richmond winner Mike Bliss, Edwards, and Bobby Hamilton Jr.
Lap 86-Let's give a few shoutouts to a number of drivers that are hanging on to good positions since the restart. Dave Blaney is running 6th, Scott Wimmer is running 9th, Denny Hamlin is running 11th, and Kenny Wallace is running 14th.
Lap 101-A quarter of the way through. Here's another Chase update:
Newman - 1st
Stewart - 2nd
Johnson - 3rd
Harvick - 6th
Busch - 9th
Bowyer - 10th
Mears - 11th
Gordon - 16th
Kvapil - 17th
Burton - 21st
Edwards - 23rd
Vickers - 30th
Lap 117-Aric Almirola hits pit road for an unscheduled stop to address a vicious vibration.
Lap 127-Newman and Stewart are CHECKING OUT! Stewart is in 2nd just 3 tenths behind the Alltel Dodge, but Harvick is in 3rd and is now over 8 seconds back. Assuming nothing out of the ordinary happens, it's not a bad idea to put money on either the 12 or 20 teams at this point.
Lap 137-Vickers gets lapped.
Lap 140-Stewart to the lead.
Lap 151-Chase Update #3:
Stewart - 1st
Newman - 2nd
Harvick - 3rd
Johnson - 5th
Bowyer - 6th
Kvapil - 7th
Mears - 10th
Busch - 11th
Gordon - 13th
Burton - 14th
Edwards - 16th
Vickers - 31st, -1 lap
Lap 181-Michael Waltrip heads to pit road to start a round of green flag stops.
Lap 182-Truex Jr. hits pit road.
Lap 183-Vickers and Johnson pit.
Lap 184-Newman, Wimmer, Jason Leffler, Kasey Kahne, Joe Nemechek, Edwards, Hamlin, and Johnny Sauter pit.
Lap 185-Harvick grabs the lead as Stewart pits along with Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson, Greg Biffle, and Blaney.
Lap 186-Pitting this time by are J.J. Yeley, Matt Kenseth, Bowyer, Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Hamilton Jr., Scott Riggs, Todd Kluever, and Kyle Petty.
Lap 187-David Stremme, Wallace, Kvapil, Ken Schrader, Jon Wood, Mears, Kurt Busch, and Bobby Labonte pit.
Lap 187-CAUTION FLAG #2-Oh no! Mike Bliss has spun just outside the pit entrance. He made a late decision to pit but couldn't slow down enough and spun out. That'll bring out the caution and ruin many drivers' days.
Lap 188-What in the world!?!?!?!?!?!? We've got a junkyard at the pit road barrier and sand is everywhere! Looking at replays, it looks like Jeff Gordon and Todd Kluever tried to enter pit road together and hooked fenders, going straight into the barrier. They bounced back into the line of cars coming to make stops and Yeley, Stewart, McMurray, Riggs, and Kvapil all pile in. Yeley, Gordon, and Kvapil all are knocked out of the race. Stewart's damage looks to be manageable, but the jury is still out on whether he can still contend for the win. First, he'll have to get a lap back.
Lap 188-While all that insanity unfolded, Scott Wimmer pulled his #66 Dodge behind the wall with a broken camshaft. He had a solid top 20 run going, it's a shame for the RWR team to lose a good day like this.
Lap 192-Another one bites the dust. Matt Kenseth, in the midst of a VERY much-needed top 5 run, loses a valve on his engine and pulls it into the garage for the day.
Lap 193-Green flag is back out. We've got a mess of cars all over the place, some lapped, some on the tail end. What we do know is that Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Bliss are the only 3 cars on the lead lap. Newman, Johnson, Mears, Burton, Kurt Busch, Labonte, Wood, and Bowyer are all on the tail end.
Lap 198-Bowyer and Labonte fall back down a lap.
Lap 199-Kurt Busch loses a lap.
Lap 200-Burton loses a lap.
Lap 201-Halfway through as Mears falls down a lap. Here's a full-field rundown:
Lead lap: 29, 5, 0, 12, 48, 21
-1 lap: 2, 31, 33, 07, 20, 18, 99, 16, 34, 88, 01, 38, 43, 09
-2 laps: 19, 78, 45, 00, 25, 6, 9, 8, 40, 42, 15
-3 laps: 92, 55, 1, 91, 41
-4 laps: 22
OUT: 17, 24, 66, 77, 11
Lap 205-Kyle Busch to the lead for the first time today.
Lap 206-CAUTION FLAG #3-Waltrip, Almirola, and Kurt Busch have tangled on the backstretch. Just ran out of real estate, but no harm, no foul as all drive away damage-free. This caution is a huge break for Newman, Johnson, and Wood, who had maintained a lead lap position.
Lap 212-Green flag back out. Busch, Harvick, Newman, Bliss, Wood, and Johnson the top 6. Michael Waltrip has pulled onto pit road with no power in his Toyota Camry.
Lap 230-Jeff Burton has worked his way back onto the lead lap.
Lap 241-Smoke in turn 2! And....it's Jimmie Johnson! His #48 Lowe's Chevy is trailed by a big plume of gray smoke as his engine gives up the ghost. His top 5 run is over, and he becomes the 3rd Chaser to go behind the wall before the completion of this one. For whichever Chasers manage to survive, it could be a crucial points day.
Lap 251-Chase Update (only including those still on track)
Busch - 1st
Harvick - 2nd
Newman - 4th
Burton - 6th
Mears - 8th, -1 lap
Bowyer - 12th, -1 lap
Stewart - 15th, -1 lap
Edwards - 19th, -1 lap
Vickers - 24th, -2 laps
Lap 284-Uneventful action on track right now. Everyone seems to be minding their own business. Everyone except Kevin Harvick of course. The 29 car is now in front, as Harvick gets around Kyle Busch.
Lap 300-David Stremme loses an engine as Mike Bliss pits. Hard to tell whether or not he's short-pitting - he had been struggling with handling this run, but we aren't expecting pit stops for another 15-20 laps. It seems risky to short-pit by that much, especially on a place where you can get lapped so quickly.
Lap 301-Kyle Busch to pit road.
Lap 304-Riggs to pit road.
Lap 318-Now it looks like the real round of stops begins. Looks like those other 3 just didn't get enough fuel in the cars. Vickers and Truex Jr. are the two pittees this time by.
Lap 319-On pit road are Jon Wood, who is in the midst of a career day, Leffler, Kahne, Hamlin, Burton, and Mears.
Lap 320-Sorenson, Labonte, Petty, Kurt Busch, Stewart, and Almirola pit.
Lap 321-This time by it's the 29, 78, 12, 88, 99, 01, 42, 07, and 38 teams changing 4 tires and fuel.
Lap 322-Hamilton Jr. to the lead on pit road, and he's followed by Biffle, Earnhardt Jr., Schrader, Blaney, and Wallace.
Lap 323-Harvick recycles back to the front.
Lap 324-CAUTION FLAG #4-Trouble out of 4! Edwards, Hamilton Jr., and Sorenson all got too tight and spin out....and more start piling in! McMurray's in it, Vickers is in it, Sauter, Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Labonte, Sadler - oh McMurray's over! The 42 cars takes a tumble. And they're still wrecking!!!! A whole slew of drivers fly full speed into the carnage, as oil has covered the surface. Multiple cars got serious air time. All told, over half the field will get some kind of damage in this one. 24 cars it looks like. Red flag is obviously out, as the junkyard sits right at the start finish line.
Lap 329-Green flag out after a half hour delay. Harvick leads Busch, Newman, Wood, Burton, and Mears. That wreck put us from 34 cars on track to just 19. Massive incident. Bowyer is the only Chaser to be completely eliminated. 8 of the 12 are still hanging, looking to survive the final 72 laps.
Lap 351-Chase Update for the 8 drivers remaining:
Harvick - 1st
Newman - 2nd
Busch - 3rd
Burton - 5th
Mears - 6th
Stewart - 8th, -1 lap
Edwards - 12th, -2 laps
Vickers - 16th, -3 laps
Lap 366-Elliott Sadler, who had a pretty substantial amount of crash damage, loses an engine.
Lap 376-25 laps to go. Newman sits just under half a second behind the 29, and says his car is the best it's been all night.
Lap 381-20 to go. Newman wasn't kidding. He's just barely off of the 29's bumper at a tenth and a half.
Lap 390-11 to go, and Newman's making his move.
Lap 391-No contest. 10 to go. Newman is the new leader. Both these drivers are fighting for their second wins on the season.
Lap 395-6 to go, Harvick falling back to 0.6 seconds.
Lap 398-3 to go and WE'VE GOT A BATTLE! Newman has gotten caught behind lapped traffic of Johnny Sauter in a bad spot, and Harvick was on his bumper that time by at the line.
Lap 399-Harvick cruises past and Newman is INCENSED! He's still behind Sauter, who seems to have no desire to just pull over for Newman.
Lap 400-Newman has gotten by now, but is over 2.5 seconds back now as Harvick cruises under the white flag.
Checkered flag-Wow, Johnny Sauter will be getting some bad press this week. It seems as if he wanted to make Newman use the outside lane to get past him, and Harvick was able to cruise on by and steal a win Newman seemingly had locked up. Newman was visibly frustrated that entire last lap, banging on the steering wheel. He did make up a half second in one lap, but that's a bitter pill to swallow considering he was headed for a hard-fought victory. And we've got a scuffle! Members of the 12 team in the garage area have gone at it with the 78 team as Johnny Sauter pulled into the garage. Seems like some toolboxes were knocked over, and a lot of shoving went on, but NASCAR officials were quickly on the scene to pull the teams apart. Needless to say, Penske Racing understandably feels robbed. We'll see if Sauter gets any penalties this week.
