Nascar's Sprint Cup Series made their first trip to the commonwealth of Kentucky Saturday night. The atmosphere was electric as the forty-three drivers raced before a sellout crowd. The event was new to the fans and the facility was new to the drivers. The only thing that was familiar was the face in victory lane after the Quaker State 400.Qualifying was rained out after twenty-two cars had timed in so, since the session couldn't be completed, the field was set by speeds from the first practice and the number of race attempts each driver has made over the first seventeen events. (This is why Michael Waltrip was sent home despite already qualifying fourth. He had only attempted two other races prior to Saturday night's event).
Because of this technicality, Kyle Busch started on the pole, which added insult to injury to the rest of the field because the No. 18 car had been on a rail since they unloaded and that speed stayed with the team through Saturday night. Kyle's brother Kurt showed early strength, but Kyle soon grabbed the lead back and never looked back.
The race was fairly uneventful early on. There was very little side by side racing and Busch, at one point had a lead of about five seconds. But once the sun went down, the action heated up. There were cars beginning to make their way to the front that looked to make a run at Busch's lead. Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart grabbed the front row late by staying out when the rest of the leaders pitted and, surprisingly, they stayed close to the front on their old, worn out tires. Keselowski even managed to stretch his lead while Busch was mired in traffic.
There weren't a lot of caution flags either. The first big problem was when Jamie McMurray's engine grenaded in turn one. The back of the car caught fire and the cockpit filled with white smoke, but McMurray walked away unscathed and was cleared at the infield medical center. If you heard a loud, collective groan at some point last night as well, that was JR Nation reacting to their driver's late race problems. On their final stop, Dale Jr came down pit road, but slid his tires getting into his box. Since they just took gas, the No. 88 was sent back out on those same worn tires. As he merged onto the backstrech, his left front tire blew, ripping the fender and part of the hood to shreds. Junior's bad night had quickly come to an end.
On the final restart, Busch led Jimmie Johnson, while David Reutimann lined up third. Reutimann got a great start and was on Jimmie Johnson for second with as they came to the white flag. Reutimann's Tums Toyota did pass JJ for second as they came to the checkers (and would have passed Busch for the win had there been one more lap), but Kyle Busch grabbed the victory.
Busch also grabbed the points lead from Kevin Harvick after his win last night as well. He now leads by four points over Carl Edwards and ten over Harvick. Yes Busch won the race, but congrats should also go out to David Reutimann on his runner-up finish. Busch has come to expect victory, but Reutimann, who has only two cup wins the last two seasons, would have appreciated a Kentucky victory a whole lot more. He wanted it more than Busch did and you could tell in his post race interview with TNT, he was disappointed he didn't get it. And being as Reutimann's owner, Michael Waltrip, is from Kentucky, it truly would have been a special win for everyone involved. So congrats to Reut and his No. 00 Tums team on a hard fought second place finish.
Now it's time to put Kentucky in the rear view mirror and head up to Loudon, New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Will Jimmie Johnson repeat his victory from last year? Will Busch go back to back and win at the "Magic Mile"? Or will a driver like David Reutimann pull into victory lane and get their first win of the season at the New England racetrack?
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