Motor car race
The
2014 STP 500
was a
NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
stock car
race
that was held on March 30, 2014, at
Martinsville Speedway
in
Ridgeway
,
Virginia
. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.526 miles (0.847 km) oval, it was the sixth race of the
2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
.
Kurt Busch
won the race, his first win with
Stewart-Haas Racing
, breaking an 83-race winless streak.
Jimmie Johnson
finished second, while
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
,
Joey Logano
, and
Marcos Ambrose
rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were
Austin Dillon
(15th),
Justin Allgaier
(23rd), and
Kyle Larson
(27th).
Previous week's race
[
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]
On the final lap of the
Auto Club 400
,
Kyle Busch
passed his brother
Kurt Busch
and held off a hard charging rookie
Kyle Larson
to win the race.
[10]
"Holy cow, what do you expect when you have a green-white-checkered finish and everyone comes down pit road to put on four tires," Busch said. "That's a Days of Thunder thing right there. What do you mean, there's two laps to go, everybody is to pit, Cole. I came off the fourth turn in disbelief that we won this thing, because we were mediocre all day. It was really weird for us, not a race that we're typically used to. But now there's a load off your shoulders that you can go out the rest of the season and race the way you want to."
[10]
After winning his first Nationwide Series race the previous day, Larson stated that it had "been a really good weekend" and that he had been battling "probably a 12th place car for most of the day".
[10]
Report
[
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]
Background
[
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]
The track,
Martinsville Speedway
, is a four-turn
short track
that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.
[11]
The track's turns are
banked
at eleven
degrees
, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, has a zero degree banking.
[11]
Like the front stretch, the backstraightaway also doesn't have a banked surface.
[11]
The race consisted of 500 laps, equivalent to a race distance of 263 miles (423 km).
[11]
The defending race winner was
Jimmie Johnson
.
Entry list
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]
The entry list for the STP 500 was released on Monday, March 24 at 9:03 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four drivers were entered for the race.
|
Key
|
Meaning
|
(R)
|
Rookie
|
(i)
|
Ineligible for points
|
(PC#)
|
Past champions provisional
|
|
Practice
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]
Denny Hamlin
was the fastest in the first and ultimately, only practice session of the weekend with a time of 18.932 and a speed of 100.021 mph (160.968 km/h).
Qualifying
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]
Kyle Busch
won the pole with a time of 18.998 and a speed of 99.674 mph (160.410 km/h).
[12]
Busch felt that his car seemed "to be working well right now, whatever is working" but felt that he had "to be a little bit faster. There's still some speed to be gained and some consistency throughout races as well keeping speed throughout a run. There's room for improvement still".
[12]
David Reutimann
failed to qualify for the race.
[12]
Rain washed out the two other practice sessions that were due to be held the day before the race.
Qualifying results
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]
Race
[
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]
First half
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]
Start
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]
The race began at 1:13 p.m. Eastern time with
Kyle Busch
leading the field to the green flag from the outside line on the initial start. With the tight confines of Martinsville, it did not take long for the first caution of the race to wave. It flew on lap 2 after
Parker Kligerman
hit the back of
Martin Truex Jr.
and spun out in turn 3. A number of cars towards the back were on pit road for damage sustained in a classic Martinsville accordion effect. The race restarted on lap 11, before
Matt Kenseth
took the lead on lap 17.
Jimmie Johnson
took the lead on lap 21 and held the lead to the competition caution on lap 41 due to overnight rain.
Travis Kvapil
stayed out to lead a lap before giving the lead back to Johnson.
Brad Keselowski
was exiting pit road when he collided with
Kasey Kahne
who was entering. The bulk of the damage came when
Kurt Busch
clipped the right side of Keselowski's car. He was forced to take his car to the garage.
[13]
Keselowski felt that Busch "just accelerated and drove through us, absolutely drove through us" and that he was "tired of his recklessness".
[13]
Tempers flaring
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The race restarted on lap 48, with Kenseth retaking the lead on lap 56. Kyle Busch took back the lead on lap 59, before the lead cycled to
Joey Logano
on lap 65, and back to Johnson on lap 82. Keselowski returned to the track for a payback move at Kurt Busch; he gave out the middle finger until Kurt Busch bumped him out of the way. Keselowski's car ultimately left a tire mark on the left side of Kurt Busch's car.
[13]
After the race, Kurt Busch stated that he had "steered right to go around Brad and he clobbers our left-side door" and later described Keselowski's move as "punk-ass" and that he "will get what he gets back when I decide to give it back".
[13]
The two drivers battled for 17 laps in total.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
wheel-hopped the curb in turn 1 trying to avoid ramming Kurt Busch and scraped the wall, which brought out the third caution of the race on lap 103. Matt Kenseth beat Jimmie Johnson off pit road to take the lead for the restart, on lap 110.
Cautions breed cautions
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]
Logano took back the lead on lap 111, before the fourth caution of the race flew on lap 114 after Kvapil clipped
Michael Annett
going into turn 3, with the incident also involving
David Gilliland
. From the restart at lap 120, Logano maintained the lead until lap 133, when Johnson returned to the head of the race.
Greg Biffle
became the race's next leader on lap 155, and held the lead until the fifth caution of the race flew on lap 170 after
Casey Mears
got tapped by Gilliland in turn 1 and sent him spinning.
Marcos Ambrose
beat Biffle off pit road to take the lead for the restart on lap 179. Ambrose led until on lap 195 when Kenseth passed him. The sixth caution of the race flew on lap 200 after
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
tapped
Jamie McMurray
in turn 2 and sent his car into the wall. Kenseth led the field to the restart on lap 208, before Johnson returned to the lead on lap 213.
Second half
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Halfway
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The seventh caution of the race flew on lap 219 after
Alex Bowman
got hit in the rear by Gilliland and rear-ended the wall in turn 4. Earnhardt Jr. stayed out on track while others pitted for tires, and thus took the lead for the restart, on lap 226. A short green-flag run followed before debris in turn 1 brought out the eighth caution of the race on lap 231.
Kevin Harvick
's run of mechanical mishaps continued when he was forced to pit because of a broken rear-end chain. Earnhardt Jr. still led the field for the restart on lap 238, before Kurt Busch took the lead on lap 243. Johnson returned to the front on lap 245, before the ninth caution of the race flew at the halfway mark, after
Ryan Truex
was sent spinning into the turn 4 wall. Harvick stayed out to lead a lap before pitting and the lead cycled back to Kenseth for the restart, on lap 258.
Closing stages
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Earnhardt Jr. took back the lead on lap 260, before Johnson (lap 265) and
Clint Bowyer
(lap 284) both went to the head of the race. Johnson retook the lead on lap 288, and held the top spot until the next caution, the 10th, flew on lap 315 after
Joe Nemechek
hit the wall in turn 4. The race restarted on lap 323, and Johnson stayed out front until the 11th caution of the race flew on lap 340 after
Kyle Larson
got loose and spun out exiting turn 2. The race restarted on lap 347, with Bowyer and Johnson swapping the lead before a piece of debris brought out the 12th caution of the race on lap 349. Johnson maintained the lead from the restart on lap 358 to the 13th caution of the race, which flew with 90 laps to go after
Martin Truex Jr.
got turned by Keselowski in turn 2.
Finish
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The race restarted with 83 laps to go, with Johnson leading until 51 laps to go, when Bowyer assumed the lead. The 14th caution of the race flew with 42 laps to go after
Carl Edwards
got loose and spun out in turn 2. Bowyer and Johnson swapped the lead on pit road, as Johnson won the race off to take the lead. The race restarted with 35 laps to go, and was passed by Kurt Busch 7 laps later. Johnson had another spell out front with 18 laps to go, but Kurt Busch took the lead back with 11 laps to go and held off Johnson to end his 83-race winless streak, and achieved his 25th career victory.
[14]
Busch stated that he "didn't know if we'd be able to do it, you know? The 48 car is king here, him or the 24", and that he had "been on this journey for a while and every time you come to Martinsville, you just kind of draw a line through it like there's no way I'll be able to challenge those Hendrick guys or be up in the top 10. This Stewart-Haas team gave me a car to do it."
[14]
Johnson, who led 296 laps, stated that his car was "so on edge slipping and sliding" and that a "lack of security in our own car kept us from feeling more racy and putting a bumper to someone or really getting inside someone aggressively".
[14]
Race results
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Race statistics
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- Lead changes: 33 among different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 14 for 92
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 38 minutes, and 38 seconds
- Average speed: 72.176 miles per hour (116.156 km/h)
Media
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]
Television
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]
Radio
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]
MRN
Radio
|
Booth announcers
|
Turn announcers
|
Pit reporters
|
Lead announcer:
Joe Moore
Announcer:
Barney Hall
|
Backstretch:
Dave Moody
|
Winston Kelly
Steve Post
Alex Hayden
Woody Cain
|
Standings after the race
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- Drivers' Championship standings
|
- Manufacturers' Championship standings
- Note
: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.
|
Notes
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- ^
Landon Cassill
and
David Reutimann
both set a lap time of 19.370 in Round 1 for 36th position, the final guaranteed starting spot. As Cassill's team was higher in owner's points, Cassill qualified for the race at the expense of Reutimann, since his team was lowest in owner's points of those whose times were outside the top 36.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Sprint Cup Series Schedule"
. ESPN
. Retrieved
March 26,
2014
.
- ^
"Martinsville Speedway"
.
NASCAR.com
. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from
the original
on May 10, 2015
. Retrieved
December 6,
2014
.
- ^
"Entry List"
.
jayski.com
. NASCAR Public Relations Statistics. March 24, 2014. Archived from
the original
on December 20, 2014
. Retrieved
December 6,
2014
.
- ^
"First Practice Results"
.
MRN.com
. Motor Racing Network. March 28, 2014. Archived from
the original
on November 1, 2014
. Retrieved
December 6,
2014
.
- ^
"Qualifying Results"
.
MRN.com
. Motor Racing Network. March 28, 2014. Archived from
the original
on November 1, 2014
. Retrieved
December 6,
2014
.
- ^
"STP 500 Results"
.
MRN.com
. Motor Racing Network. March 30, 2014. Archived from
the original
on November 2, 2014
. Retrieved
December 7,
2014
.
- ^
"Points Standings"
(PDF)
.
jayski.com
. NASCAR Statistics. March 30, 2014. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on March 14, 2015
. Retrieved
December 7,
2014
.
- ^
"Manufacturer Standings"
(PDF)
.
jayski.com
. NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications. March 30, 2014. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on October 30, 2014
. Retrieved
December 7,
2014
.
- ^
Paulsen (April 4, 2014).
"Nielsen Ratings"
.
SportsMediaWatch.com
. Sports Media Watch
. Retrieved
April 5,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
Pistone, Pete (March 23, 2014).
"Kyle Busch Charges to the Win"
.
MRN.com
. Motor Racing Network. Archived from
the original
on December 13, 2014
. Retrieved
December 6,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"About the Track"
. Archived from
the original
on October 7, 2010
. Retrieved
April 1,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
Long, Dustin (March 28, 2014).
"Kyle Busch Wins Martinsville Pole"
.
MRN.com
. Motor Racing Network. Archived from
the original
on December 13, 2014
. Retrieved
December 6,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Long, Dustin (March 30, 2014).
"Emotions High for Ex-Teammates"
.
MRN.com
. Motor Racing Network. Archived from
the original
on December 13, 2014
. Retrieved
December 7,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
Pistone, Pete (March 30, 2014).
"Kurt Busch Back in Victory Lane"
.
MRN.com
. Motor Racing Network. Archived from
the original
on December 13, 2014
. Retrieved
December 7,
2014
.
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