The Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol on Saturday once again proved why so many people love night racing at Bristol. There was plenty of competition, with drivers racing side-by-side for position at times. The front row featured Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon, but the top two drivers at the end of the race were the Team Penske duo of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. Logano passed Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth, who drives the #20 car that Logano drove from 2009 to 2012, late in the race and managed to pull away from the other leaders to win. This puts Logano in a five-way tie for most wins this season, along with Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. These five drivers each have three wins with two races left in the "regular season" before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins.
One big story was the Hendrick Motorsports cars not having a good race, like they've been having most of the season. Outside polesitter and last week's winner Jeff Gordon had a tire going down early and ended up finishing one lap down. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Kevin Harvick bumped Denny Hamlin out of the lead, causing Hamlin to spin and hit Earnhardt, ripping off the driver's side sheetmetal from the #88 car. Hamlin was mad at Harvick and threw his HANS device at the #4 car during the caution. Meanwhile, Earnhardt got back out for a few laps, but then went to the garage for good. Kasey Kahne, the only winless driver of the Hendrick bunch this year, also had a tire issue and finished 23 laps down. Jimmie Johnson got a speeding penalty during his first pit stop, but rebounded to finish fourth.
Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Kenseth's teammate, usually does well at Bristol, but had no luck on Saturday. He was also tagged for speeding with Johnson, and had to fight back to the front. Busch then got caught up in a crash with Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola and Brian Vickers. After getting back into the race, Busch got into an argument with his crew chief on his radio, and parked his car out of frustration with a few laps left. Some fans are surprised that Busch did not win any of the three races this week at what is arguably his best track on every NASCAR national circuit. Busch also crashed at Michigan last week.
The Sprint Cup Series next races in the Atlanta suburb of Hampton, Georgia in a Labor Day eve race. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are still the top two in the Chase grid. Some drivers locked into the Chase with wins, like Earnhardt and Almirola, did not have very good finishes last night, and the standings look different as a result.
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