It's been a rather good, bumpy (bad pun) race tonight. Brad Keselowski was on a rail all night long and was not to be messed with. Not like anyone would have been able to mess with him anyway. A big congratulations to Brad and the entire Miller Lite team from Penske Racing. Next weekm it's on to the World Center of Racing, Daytona Interanational Speedway. We'll have live coverage of both the Subway Firecracker 250 Presented by Coca Cola for the Nationwide Series, and the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca Cola for the Sprint Cup Series. From all of us here at VAVEL USA, my name is Steven Patrick. Have a fantastic Sunday, have a fantastic week.
Jimmie Johnson leads the current Chase grid with 9 points. Followed by Edwards, Keselowski, Logano, Harvick, Earnhardt Jr. all with 6 points.
The top ten finishers tonight: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson.
Tony Stewart started in 41st. He brought home his 14 in the 11th spot. Massive day for Stewart.
Brad Keselowski led 199 of the 267 laps ran. Or, a little over 300 of the 400 miles ran.
Brad Keselowski claims that his Miller Lite Ford was "Hauling the mail." You may have been hauling a little more than that tonight Brad.
Brad Keselowski ties Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, and his team mate Joey Logano for the second most wins this season. All of those drivers have two wins. The only driver with more wins is Jimmie Johnson, who has won three times this season.
Brad Keselowski grabs the American flag. May the burnouts commence.
Quaker Stake 400 Live Inline
Off of turn four, Brad Keselowski was untouchable tonight as he will become the first two time winner in the Sprint Cup Series at Kentucky!
WHITE FLAG
2 To Go: Keselowski just wants to see the white flag.
6 To Go: Matt Kenseth just made Kevin Harvick look silly on that pass. And Harvick even tried to block.
8 To Go: Matt Kenseth is going to battle Kevin Harvick for the fourth spot as the laps wins down.
13 To Go: So far this season, Penske Racing has owned the 1.5 mile tracks. Half of the races in The Chase are on a 1.5 mile track. The opportunity is wide open for a Penske driver to win the championship this year.
16 To Go: Brad Keselowski has opened a 1.6 second lead on second place Kyle Busch.
19 To Go: New leader is Brad Keselowski.
20 To Go: Logano's engine sounds like garbage.
25 To Go: Joey Logano is reporting that he lost a cylinder.
Quaker Stake 400 Live Inline
30 To Go: Fun fact: every Kentucky winner in Sprint Cup Series history has their last name begin with a K. (Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth).
31 To Go: Kyle Busch has a bit of open track in front of him. He needs to lengthen his lead. Down to 1.7 seconds over Brad Keselowski.
35 To Go: Kyle Busch currently leads Brad Keselowski by two seconds.
Lap 230: Brad Keselowski has gotten around Ryan Newman for second.
Lap 226: Paul Menard has fallen back to the eighth position. You live by two tires, you die by two tires.
Lap 224: Kevin Harvick is challenging Joey Logano for the fourth spot.
Lap 222: Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano both get around Paul Menard.
Lap 221: Kyle Busch assumes the lead. He is followed by Ryan Newman.
Lap 220: GREEN FLAG
Lap 217: The new leader will be Kyle Busch.
Lap 217: Drivers come down pit road, and Paul Menard is the first car off of pit road. Then Kenseth. Then to add the fact that three cars stayed out. The Penske reign up front has come to an end.
Lap 215: Aric Almirola had a right front tire blow out, as he would also find the wall. And now drivers will come down pit road.
Lap 215: CAUTION
Lap 211: Hords of cars come on pit road.
Lap 210: A.J Allmendinger is the first car to come down pit road.
Lap 207: Green flag pit stops are about to begin for the drivers who stayed out on the last caution.
Lap 204: Tony Stewart has cracked the top tem after starting the race in the 41st position tonight. Stewart - Hass Racing still on the rise to NASCAR dominance.
Lap 197: Penske cars have been in the top two positions all but 61 laps tonight. They have still led every lap combined.
Lap 191: Matt Kenseth has had a roller coaster ride tonight. But he's moved back up to the eighth spot. The 20 car is one of the stroger cars in this race. He just hasn't been able to show for it so far.
Lap 185: New leader is Brad Keselowski. Go figure.
Lap 184: Jimmie Johnson restarted in sixth. He just jumped out of line and lost a ton of spots. Well outside the top ten now.
Lap 183: Joey Logano will come back around in the lead.
Lap 182: GREEN FLAG
Lap 176: The two Penske cars stay out, but many drivers behind those two stay out.
Lap 175: David Stremme spun out as Brad Keselowski went around to lap him.
Lap 175: CAUTION
Lap 172: Just throwing this out there... is it possible that someone blows a transmission due to hitting that big bump on the front straightaway?
Lap 168: Just 100 laps to go now. Penske Racing has led every lap tonight between Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.
Lap 165: Ryan Newman has climbed into the third spot. Kevin Harvick will duel with Kyle Busch for the third spot.
Lap 163: New leader is Brad Keselowski.
Lap 162: Joey Logano will fend off Brad Keselowski for the lead that lap.
Lap 161: GREEN FLAG
Lap 155: Matt Kenseth will be penalized for speeding on pit road.
Lap 155: Drivers come down pit road. The 2 pit crew has nothing for the 22 crew tonight. Once again Joey Logano will be the first car off of pit road.
Lap 154: A new view of what happened: Aric Almirola couldn't see through the smoke from Bowman. He ran into McMurray who was pushed into the rear of Kasey Kahne.
Lap 153: Alex Bowman was spun around. Behind that, Kasey Kahne spun a slowing Jamie McMurray to bring out the fourth caution of the night.
Lap 153: CAUTION
Lap 147: New leader is Brad Keselowski.
Lap 142: Jamie McMurrary gets around Aric Almirola for the seventh position.
Lap 140: also, the sun has set in Kentucky. Track conditions are about to make a massive change, and we could see a new crop of cars up front soon.
Lap 137: Weather doesn't seem like any more of a problem. But we are now passed halfway in the race.
Lap 135: Clint Bowyer doesn't do a good job of listening to his spotter. He just hit Paul Menard after the "high" call.
Lap 133: Joey Logano will assume the lead. Further back, they're three wide on the front straight away.
Lap 132: GREEN FLAG
Quaker Stake 400 Live Inline
Lap 127: Drivers come down pit road. The pit crew of the 22 car gets it done again as Joey Logano is the first off of pit road.
Lap 125: Debris in turns three and four is the reason for this, the third caution of the night.
Lap 125: CAUTION
Lap 122: The right front tire on Kenseth's car was destroyed.
Lap 120: Matt Kenseth is slow on track. Says he has a tire going down.
Lap 119: At the rate of the two tire failures in the first half of this race, expect another tire to blow out in the enxt ten or so laps.
Lap 115: Out of nowhere, Kyle Busch gets back to Joey Logano, but this time he will take the second spot away.
Lap 108: Kevin Harvick's progress through the field has stalled out at the ninth spot.
Lap 105: The battle was short lived. Logano drove back away from Kyle.
Lap 103: Kyle Busch begins to battle Joey Logano for the second position.
Lap 100: Brad Keselowski has led 92 laps. Class of the field tonight.
Lap 93: Also, Harvick thinks he has a loose whele. Horrible pit crew Kevin.
Lap 93: In perspective, Keselowski leads Harvick by 6.5 seconds.
Lap 91: Kevin Harvick restarted in 16th. He's already up to 9th.
Lap 88: New leader, Brad Keselowski.
Lap 85: Joey Logano assumes the lead. Kasey Kahne on the come up.
Lap 84: GREEN FLAG
Lap 81: Kevin Harvick loses 14 spots on pit road.
Quaker Stake 400 Live Inline
Lap 79: Off of pit road, it's Logano, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Newman, Kahne, Menard, Kenseth, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer.
Lap 79: Drivers come down pit road, and the first car off of pit road is the new leader, Joey Logano.
Lap 77: Kyle Larson has slammed the wall after blowing a tire.
Lap 77: CAUTION
Lap 75: Keselowski and team mate Joey Logano talking about where second place Kevin Harvick is running. They have a great partnership going.
Lap 60: Brad Keselowski is holding a 3.5 second lead over second place Kevin Harvick.
This audio... TNT is out to kill NASCAR.
Lap 58: Jimmie Johnson has cracked the top ten.
Quaker Stake 400 Live Inline
Lap 54: The top five drivers are Keselowski, Harvick, Loganom Gordon, and Ryan Newman!
Lap 51: To this point, Brad Keselowski has led every lap.
Lap 45: Johnson goes around Dale Jr. for the 11th spot now.
Lap 43: Jimmie Johnson starting to march towards the front. Up to the 12th position for the six time champion.
Lap 41: Larson already back up to the 18th spot. His 42 car is a monster tonight.
Lap 40: Replay of Kyle Larson overshooting his pit stall. Track position is big at this track, but it's going to be a long race.
Lap 38: Dale Earnhardt Jr. picked up a laod of spots on pit road. He's battling Austin Dillon for 11th.
Lap 36: Brad Keselowski assumes the lead. Kevin Harivck has jumped up to the second spot.
Lap 35: GREEN FLAG
Lap 31: Drivers come down pit road, Brad Keselowski comes off pit road first. Seems like the entire field took two tires on that stop.
Lap 30: Hamlin seemed to have had a tire go out on him and he busted right into the wall.
Lap 29: A lap away from the competition caution Denny Hamlin has collided with the wall.
Lap 29: CAUTION
Lap 27: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is up to the 21st position after starting in the 29th spot.
Lap 20: Kurt Busch has fallen back to the 15th spot with an ill handling car. Would love to hear that radio...
Lap 17: Tony Stewar after starting in the abck is up to the 28th spot.
Lap 16: Brad Keselowski is beginning to lap the tail of the field.
Lap 8: Kyle goes around brother Kurt Busch for the 13th spot. Kasey Kahne tries to follow.
Lap 6: Jeff Gordon trying to get around Kyle Larson for the fifth spot on the inside. But there isn't much grip to be found.
Lap 4: Gordon slide back a couple spots. Harvick battles Hamlin for third. Harvick goes back in line.
Lap 2: Brad Keselowski assumes the race lead, and Jeff Gordon battles with Denny Hamlin for third.
Lap 1: GREEN FLAG
7:39: Green flag next time by.
7:36: Cars taking the track for the pace laps.
7:33: Who is this writer taking to win this race? Steven Patrick is taking Kyle Larson to get his first career win here in Kentucky.
7:32: Imagine a NASCAR standing start. That would be the best but worst start ever.
Quaker Stake 400 Live Inline.
7:30: "Drivers, start your engines."
7:23: And the National Anthem now being played.
7:15: Looking at the track for the first time, it's pretty dry. Don't expect that to last long.
7:07: Being nerdy into weather, I'm calling that this race won't start at the green flag time of 7:37. Push it abck a little though.
6:57: A cluster of showers beginning to hit the track. You can bank on the start being delayed.
6:48: The Home Depot is leaving NASCAR as a sponser. They currenty cosponsor the 20 car with the Dollar General. Their main form of sponsorship comes from Husky Tools. The 20 car and The Home Depot have worked together since 1998.
6:45: Jeff Gordon will be looking for his 90th career win today. It'd be his second of the year, and he has a great chance at it. Jeff starts third tonight.
6:38: Kyle Busch may be a driver to keep an eye on, as he always is. He won the Truck Series race on Thursday night, and pulled home a third place finish last night in the Nationwide Series. Kyle will start tonight in the 18th position.
6:30: We aproach an hour before the green flag will fly here in Kentucky. Once it does, we have all the coverage here on VAVEL USA.
5:40: Three of the four Stewart - Haas Racing cars qualified in the top ten for tonight's race. These guys (and girl) are dangerousely on the rise in NASCAR, and moving quickly. Yes, they do already have a championship. But the way they are being powered this year is incredible. If you're looking for a team that's really ready to defeat Hendrick Motorsports, why don't you look at the team that uses Hendrick equiptment as well.
5:39: Speaking of the weather, there is a chance of an isolated storm all through the evening. The chances of a delay before the race begins is almost certain. The chances of getting the entire race in will be a bit of a walk on a tight rope. There may be a few showers that poke over the speedway during the race and dampen the action, but there's also a chance the race goes into its entirety tonight. It's only a waiting game at this point. With the humidity in the air tonight, any shower at any time could happen in Kentucky. And all it will take is a slow moving shower at the wrong place at the wrong time to push this Saturday Night race into a Sunday Afternoon timeslot.
Quaker Stake 400 Live Results.
5:38: The defending winner of the Quaker Stake 400 is Matt Kenseth. Last season, Kenseth won seven total races. Although last year, this race was pushed to a Sunday due to the rain, the 20 car still pulled out the win on a track full of unknowns. Tonight, there isn't as much mystery. Or is there. The threat of rain is there all night long. If this race gets washed to tomorrow, can Matt Kenseth take advantage? Or if it doesn't get washed, can Kenseth find his first victory of the season tonight? Matt Kenseth will start tonight's race in the 14th position.
5:37: Last night in the Nationwide Series, Brad Keselowski did have the dominant car, but failed to pick up the win. The winner instead of Brad, was Kevin Harvick. Harvick took the race lead away from Kyle Busch on a late restart and ran away from the field en route to victory. The win may give Harivck the push he's been needing in order to get back into vicotry lane in the Sprint Cup Series. Harvick has been on a wicked dry spell wish some crushing luck ever since his last win at Darlington. Maybe the win, and a fifth place starting position, can get Kevin Harvick back to his winning ways.
5:36: On the pole for tonight's race is Brad Keselowski, who set a new track record of 188.791 miles per hour around the 1.5 mile tri-oval. Keselowski also won the pole for last night's Nationwide Series race, but a speeding penalty more than likely ended every chance he had to win the race. Despite the penalty, Brad still managed to ralle back for a second place finish, hoping to build momentum for what could be his second win of the season tonight, following up his win back at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Kentucky 2014 Live.
5:34: Just a bit off topic, but it's very hard to remember the last time a Sprint Cup Series race didn't fill up the entire field. There's 43 entry spots, and there are only 42 drivers in tonight's race. That almost never happens. And sadly, there's a couple thousand dollars that will go unclaimed tonight because nobody took the 43rd position. Althoguh normally the drivers that hang around in the back aren't all that important, it trule is a shame there isn't an entire field tonight.
5:32: Here is the starting lineup for tonight's Quaker Stake 400 Presented by Advanced Auto Parts:
Row 1: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano.
Row 2: Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin.
Row 3: Kevin harvick, Kyle Larson.
Row 4: Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray.
Row 5: Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick.
Row 6: Clint Bowyer, Paul Mendard.
Row 7: Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth.
Row 8: A.J Allmendinger, Austin Dillon.
Row 9: Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch.
Row 10: Martin truex Jr., Kasey Kahne.
Row 11: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola.
Row 12: Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle.
Row 13: Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears.
Row 14: Marcos Ambrose, Justin Allgaier.
Row 15: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Cole Whitt.
Row 16: Reed Sorenson, Michael Annett.
Row 17: Alex Bowman, Josh Wise.
Row 18: Travis Kvapil, David Ragan.
Row 19: Landon Cassill, David Stremme.
Row 20: Ryan Truex, Joe Nemechek.
Row 21: David Gilliland, Mike Bliss.
5:30: Welcome to VAVEL USA's coverage of the Quaker Stake 400 Presented by Advanced Auto Parts. This is the 16th race of the Sprint Cup season, as the 42 best drivers in the world take their talents under the lights at the Kentucky Speedway. Tonight has many, many unknowns. We can tell you who might be fast, and we can tell you that these cars are going to be off their rockers. But we can't tell you who is going to win. For that, you are going to have to stick around for the entire 400 miles around the Kentucky Speedway.