Matt Kenseth rebounded from a pit-road speeding penalty and withstood a furious late-race charge by Kasey Kahne to win the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was Kenseth’s season-high fifth victory of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, and his first since winning at Kentucky Speedway in June.
Kahne dogged Kenseth over the final 20 laps, but had to settle for second ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya, Brian Vickers and Joey Logano.
Running up front seemed to be a curse in the race. Kurt Busch led 54 laps early, but had to pit to have a hub replaced and finished 31st. Clint Bowyer led 50 laps but got spun out by a lapped car, and Carl Edwards blew an engine after 119 of the first 400 laps.
A late-race crash took out a number of hopefuls contending for a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, including defending series champion Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup points tightened again, with Kahne and Logano moving into the top 10, and Keselowski and Kurt Busch falling out. Truex and Newman now hold the two wild card slots with two races left until the Chase field is set.
RACE RECAP
Race Winner: Matt Kenseth
Age: 41
Team : No. 20 - Dollar General Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs
Crew Chief: Jason Ratcliff
Matt Kenseth won the 53rd Annual IRWIN Tools Night Race, his 29th victory in 496 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his fifth victory and 12th top-10 finish in 2013. This is his third victory and 18th top-10 finish in 28 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Kasey Kahne (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 20 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his 11th top-10 finish in 2013.
Juan Pablo Montoya (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 14 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (18th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Jimmie Johnson leads the point standings by 18 points over Clint Bowyer.
FINAL — 20 5 42 55 22 27 9 24 9 16 88 18 34 31 15 43 93 20 17 1 14.
Lap 499 - White flag.
Lap 497 — 5 tires and fails again to make the pass.
Lap 495 — 5 on 20's bumper.
Lap 489 — 20, 5 make contact, but 20 holds lead.
Lap 487 — 5 challenges for lead but can't make it stick.
Lap 484 — 55 passes 9 for 5th.
Lap 470 — 5 passes 42 for 2nd.
Lap 468 — 5 closes on 42 for 2nd.
Lap 465 — 20 leads 42 by 0.470 seconds.
Lap 458 — 5 to 3rd behind 20 and 42.
Lap 454 — Green.
Lap 452 — 20 15 24 42 18 5 27 17 55 9 16 34 22 31 88
Lap 450 — Yellow out, 88 pits.
Boys having at it.: 2 is behind the wall. 29 parked in 11's pit stall. 11 drove into the back of 29 and pushed it out of the stall.
Looks like the 11 cut a tire and went up into the 39, triggering the wreck.
"Wish we had the old Bristol back. A lot more fun to race on." – Harvick.
Red flag.
Truex is furious. So is Harvick, who walks down to Hamlin's pit to confront him.
Lap 448 — Caution No. 11. Big crash. 56 29 32 11 2 39 involved.
Lap 447 — Green flag.
Lap 441 — After pit stops: 20 24 88 15 22 18 42 27 17 5 55 11.
Lap 441 — 5 pits from 3rd; he's the first car to pit.
Lap 438 — Caution No. 10 for debris.
Lap 419 — 5 passes 56 for 4th.
Lap 415 — 88 passes 56 for 3rd.
Lap 400 — 100 laps to go. 20 24 56 88 15 19 5 39 55 11.
Lap 389 — 99 to garage with engine failure.
Lap 384 — 99 about to blow engine.
Lap 381 — 20 leads 24 56 88.
Lap 380 — Green flag. 99 pulls to bottom, slowing.
Lap 376 — Edwards reports engine problems; switches batteries.
Lap 375 — Caution No.9 as 42 hits 30, who in turn spins 31.
Lap 368 — Green flag.
Lap 363 — 99 56 24 20 5 15 19 88 39 11.
Lap 362 — 29, 2 pit under caution.
Lap 361 — 48 to the garage.
Lap 360 — Caution No. 8 — 83, 43 and 48 crash. 83 lost it and spun in front of 43 and 48.
Lap 350 — 99 29 56 24 20 27 5 15 18 39 22 88 11.
Lap 344 — 99 goes under 29 to take the lead.
Lap 343 — Green flag.
Lap 340 — 42 caught speeding on pit road.
Lap 337 — Order after stops — 29 56 99 42 24 27 20 83 15 5 18 88 39 22 32 11.
Lap 336 – Leaders pit.
Lap 335 — Caution No. 7, 47 and 38 made contact.
Lap 325 — 42 passes 27 for 2nd.
Lap 322 — New leader, 99 passes 27.
Lap 318 — 27 still holding off 99 for the lead.
Lap 307 — 24 passes 18 for 4th.
Lap 301 — 42 passes 18 for 3rd.
Lap 300 — 27 99 18 42 24 22 29 88 39 11 5 43 83 17 56.
Lap 293 — 99 finally passes 18 for second. 20 drifts up into 48, who has had a bad night.
Lap 280 — 42 passes 88 for 4th.
Lap 277 — 99 pressuring 18 for 2nd, but can't get past him.
Lap 268 — 99 passes 88 for 3rd.
Lap 266 — Green flag.
Lap 264 — 20 is now in 26th. Bad luck for the leaders tonight.
Lap 262 — 20 speeding on pit road.
Lap 261 — After stops, order is 27 18 20 42 88 11 99 39 24 5. 27 and 18 didn't pit. 99 first with 4 tires.
Lap 259 — Leaders pit.
Lap 258 — Caution No. 6 for debris.
Lap 250 — HALFWAY. 20 99 42 11 29 88 17 39 56 24 2 83 5 43 31 22 1 16 38 27.
Lap 236 — New leader, 20.
Lap 229 — 20 pressuring 99 for the lead.
Lap 225 — 99 20 11 42 88 17 29 2 39 56.
Lap 220 — 99 leads 20 by 0.208 sec.
Lap 209 — Green flag.
Lap 203 — Caution No. 5 for 33 car into wall. 48 involved slightly.
Lap 200 — 99 11 24 88 20 42 17 56 29 39 2 5 48 83 43.
Lap 187 — 17 took just 2 tires and is falling.
Lap 185 — Green flag.
Lap 182 — 22 27 34 speeding on pit road. 47 to the garage.
Lap 182 — After leading 50 laps, the 15 is now 30th.
Lap 180 — After stops, the order is 99 17 11 24 88 42 20 56 43 5.
Lap 179 — Leaders pit.
Lap 177 — Caution No. 4 for Bowyer's spin. Heavy damage to the 15.
Lap 176 — 15 gets spun after 93 ran into him, collects 47. This changes everything!
Lap 170 — 24 passes 42 for 5th.
Lap 165 — 15 leads 99 by 1.586 sec. 88 is 3rd.
Lap 150 — 15 88 99 47 42 56 43 39 24 29
Lap 142 — 99 passes 47 for 3rd.
Lap 140 — 15 leads 88 by 1,677 sec.
Lap 126 — New leader, 15.
Lap 125 — 88 15 47 99 42 56 43 39 24 29.
Lap 113 — Green flag.
Lap 113 — 18 to back of longest line for too many men over the wall during his stop.
Lap 110 — After stops, order is 88 15 42 47 39 99 16 43 27 56.
Lap 110 — Pits are busy. 5 getting repairs from wall-banger.
Lap 108 — Caution No. 3 for debris.
Lap 107 — 18, 22 make contact. Moderate damage for both 18 and 22.
Lap 102 — 18 up to 16th place.
Lap 100 — 88 15 47 42 39 16 27 43 99.
Lap 99 — 16 scrapes Turn 4 wall.
Lap 98 — Green flag.
Lap 96 — 78 behind the way to replace a damaged hub.
Lap 94 — New leader, 88, who did not pit.
Lap 93 — Issue on Busch's wheels. Only got 3 lugs tight on one of them.
Lap 92 — Most of the leaders pit.
Lap 92 — After leading 55 laps, 78 is now 39th.
Lap 91 — Caution No. 2. 35 hits wall after 78 drifted up into him.
Lap 90 — 99 goes 3-wide to lap both Burger King cars.
Lap 86 — 20 passes 24 for 2nd.
Lap 82 — 78 busted for speeding on pit road. Pass-thru coming.
Lap 81 — 78 pits with suspected loose wheel. Horrible 18.9 sec. stop.
Lap 77 — New leadeer, 99. 78 falls to third. 99 and 24 lead.
Lap 70 — 79 99 24 56 11 20 35 39 88.
Lap 65 — 18 is up to 24th. Almost halfway through the field.
Lap 56 — 78 leads 99 by 0.940 sec.
Lap 48 — Green flag. Bad restart for Hamlin, who falls from 2nd to 5th.
Lap 45 — Order after pit stops: 78 11 20 99 22 56 55 24 13 35 31 39 5 88 43.
Lap 44 — 2 came in 10th, comes out 22nd.
Lap 44 — 2 hits 83 on pit road, will lose a ton of spots.
Lap 43 — Top 8 stay out, rest of the leaders pit.
Lap 42 — Caution No. 1 as Ryan Truex hits wall in No. 51.
Lap 37 — 78 leads 11 by 1.43 sec.
Lap 23 — New leader, 78.
Lap 7 — 11 is the early leader over 78.
Lap 3 — 87 blows up, 51 out of the groove.
Lap 1 — GREEN FLAG!
