Qualifying
Toyota claimed the first Kentuck Speedway Sprint Cup pole when qualifying was rained out. The starting lineup was set by Friday's practice speeds which put Kyle Busch on the pole. Juan Montoya started second.
Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne made up row number two and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five.
Drop Of The Green
Kyle Busch opted to start in the outside lane and got a huge jump on the start as Montoya didn't seem to go when the green flew. Kurt Busch passed Montoya on the bottom and then got under his brother for the lead when they came back to complete lap one.
The brothers battled each other hard in the first couple laps but Kurt held on to the top spot all the way to the competition caution on lap 30.
Kyle Busch took command after the caution and went on to dominate the rest of the early racing.
Storylines
I call shenanigans!
After 105 laps of green flag racing NASCAR threw a caution on lap 140 for "debris" on the backstretch. I didn't see any. TNT didn't show any and I didn't see any safety trucks venture out onto the backstretch to pick up anything.
NASCAR knew they had a boring race on their hands and wanted to bunch up the field.
One of my biggest pet peeves with NASCAR is when they play games like this. NASCAR should never artificially influence the race.
Chasing The Checkers
Even though Kyle Busch dominated the early going Brad Keselowski had relegated him to second after darkness fell in Kentucky. Those two were the class of the field in Kentucky as the race entered the closing laps.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. cut a tire and brought out the caution with just fifteen laps to go.
Brad Keselowski pitted because there were just a few cars on the lead lap. Kyle Busch stayed out and took over the lead under caution. This was shaping up to be a classic pit strategy finish after a painfully boring race.
Kyle Busch restarted up front with Matt Kenseth in second. Keselowski restarted fifth with just eight laps remaining. Kyle Busch got a great restart and set sail while Kenseth battled a loose car and fell back.
This race looked to be over but Clint Bowyer hit the wall and brought out the caution again with six laps to go. Kyle Busch would have to hold off the field one more time.
Jimmie Johnson shared the front row with Kyle fir the final restart. Keselowski was still in fifth when the green fell with two laps to go.
Jimmie stayed with him into turn one but Kyle Busch got a great run on the outside and drove past him down the back. Kyle held on for the win as David Reutimann nipped Johnson at the line for second.
Top Ten
- Kyle Busch
- David Reutimann
- Jimmie Johnson
- Ryan Newman
- Carl Edwards
- Matt Kenseth
- Brad Keselowski
- David Ragan
- Kurt Busch
- Denny Hamlin
The Points
Kyle Busch took over the point lead with the win in Kentucky. He now holds a slim four point margin over Carl Edwards which Kevin Harvick falls from the lead to third.
Denny Hamlin moved into the top ten which leaves only David Ragan in positions 11-20 with a race win. Brad Keselowski is 21st just one point from 20th.
The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings:
- Kyle Busch
- Carl Edwards -4
- Kevin Harvick -10
- Kurt Busch -18
- Jimmie Johnson -19
- Matt Kenseth -22
- Jeff Gordon -72
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -76
- Ryan Newman -86
- Denny Hamlin -94
