Quaker State 400

Hello Angels,

Saturday night’s inaugural Quaker State 400 race at Kentucky Speedway had the makings of a boring, fuel-mileage race ending. Turns out, Kentucky Speedway offered some decent racing, very few cautions and while he dominated the race, Kyle Busch didn’t win the inaugural race easily.

There were only a few cautions and when that happens, the dominant cars go to the front and the not-so-good cars fall to the rear. At one point, there were only 17 cars on the lead lap – and as many as 20 cars took the wave around during one of the few caution periods.

Busch, his older brother Kurt and Kurt’s teammate Brad Keselowski really had the best cars of the field. The older Busch led the first 25 or 30 laps and then Kyle Busch took over for pretty much two thirds of the race.  Keselowski led many laps late in the race, but during a green-flag pit stop sequence, Kyle was able to not only catch him, but pass him as the latter went into the pits. Busch didn’t look back until really late in the race when more green-flag pit stops were being made and Dale Earnhardt Jr., cut a tire. That bunched up the field and brought the cars together for the final two laps of the race.

Jimmie Johnson didn’t lead a lap, but he restarted the race in second place. He was able to challenge Busch for the win going into the white flag lap. but Busch held of the charge. What both drivers didn’t see coming was a hard-charging David Reutimann, who came out of nowhere to pass Johnson on the last lap and had there been one more lap, quite possibly he would’ve passed Busch for the win. Congratulations to Busch on not only winning the Inaugural race at Kentucky Speedway, but on winning his third race of the Sprint Cup Series season and second race at Kentucky Speedway this weekend. Busch won the Camping World Truck Series race Thursday night and finished third in the Nationwide Series race on Friday.

The rest of the top 10 saw Ryan Newman finish fourth, Carl Edwards finished fifth, then Matt Kenseth, Keselowski, David Ragan, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon finished sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th respectively. Gordon finishing 10 was probably the biggest surprise of the race considering he was lapped at one point and his car was very loose pretty much the entire race. He was mired back in 20th place or worse for most of the race, until the end that is.

If our Angels combined teams’ average finish of 12.53 is any indication, most of us Angels did quite well this week.

Of course there can only be one CHARLIE’S ANGELS TOP ANGEL each week – of which, this week’s TAA goes to Madison.

Madison you had four drivers finish inside the top 10, but what kept you on top this week is that your fifth driver, Kasey Kahne, finished very close to the top-10 in 13th place. Reutimann and Edwards are your top-two drivers. Reutimann had a great restart with two laps remaining and went from sixth or seventh to finish second. Edwards finished fifth. Kenseth and Hamlin round out your team with their sixth and ninth place finishes. Congratulations on your TAA this week Madison.

Kelly, while your average finish of 18.6 technically isn’t that bad, it’s bad enough to earn you this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD. Ragan had an OK car all evening and when it counted the most, he brought his UPS Ford home in eighth place. Kevin Harvick and Regan Smith didn’t have very much luck at the inaugural race and finished deep in the pack at 16th and 17th respectively. Mark Martin carried the Quaker State colors on his No. 5 this week, but they didn’t help him as he stayed at least one lap down for most of the race. He finished 22nd. Earnhardt cut a tire late in the race after making a green-flag pit stop and fell back two laps to finish 30th. Better luck next week.

Pete, on the flip side to Kelly, you team earned you this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS RUNNER-UP ANGEL AWARD with your nine-even average finish. Your top three drivers are Johnson, Keselowski and Ragan, who finished third, seventh and eighth respectively. Tony Stewart was a favorite to win the race, but he could only manage a 12th place finish. Juan Montoya was another favorite to win the race, but he faded from the top-10 in the end to finish 15th.

Knox’Ville and Mr. X, you both tie for our No. 3 Angels’ spot this week with your 9.2 average finishes.

Mr. X, for you, Edwards is your top driver with his fifth place finish. Ragan and Keselowski finished seventh and eighth, while Gordon had his improbable 10th place finish behind them. Harvick rounds out your team with his 16th place finish.

Knox’Ville, for you, Landon Cassill is the only driver keeping you from earning your third TAA this segment as he didn’t have a good car for most of the race. He did lead a couple of laps during a long, green-flag run after all the other cars pitted, but he quickly fell back a lap and stayed there where he finished 23rd. While Kyle Busch won the race, Johnson looked like he might steal one away from the younger Busch brother. But in the end, Johnson finished third. Hamlin and Gordon round out your team with their ninth and 10th place finishes.

Kris, you and I tie average finishes of 10.2 this week as we both earned the No. 4 Angels’ spot.

For you Kris, Edwards, Keselowski and Gordon finished inside the top-10 with their fifth, seventh and 10th place runs respectively. Kasey Kahne finished 13th, while Harvick brought your proverbial rear with his 16th place finish.

For me, Kyle Busch won the race, while Johnson and Gordon finished third and 10th respectively. Joey Logano had a lot of success in the Nationwide Series races at Kentucky, but his first race there in a Sprint Cup car didn’t prove as fruitful as the young driver finished 14th Saturday night. Cassill rounds out my team with his 23rd place finish.

Gibbons, for you Johnson and Edwards and their third and fifth place finishes means that they’re your team’s two best drivers of the race. Montoya didn’t come anywhere close to those two with his 15th place finish. Smith and Jeff Burton round out your team with their 17th and 19th place finishes respectively. Your average finish is 11.8.

Evelyn, you had two drivers – Johnson and Gordon – finish inside the top 10 with their respective third and 10th place finishes. Stewart finished 12th, while Smith and Marcos Ambrose finished 17th and 20th respectively. Your average finish 12.4

Julie, for you this week, it is Edwards and Keselowski who tops your team’s drivers’ charts with their fifth and seventh place finishes respectively. Stewart spent most of the race in or around the top-10, but in the end, finished outside the top-10 in 12th place. Ambrose had a gas issue early in the race and had to come back down pit road for more gas a few laps later and never recovered. He finished 20th. Paul Menard crunched the nose of his car in during a restart mid-way through the race. He finished 24th. Your average finish is 13.6.

Candy Man, with the exception of Edwards’ fifth place finish, your drivers finished well outside the top 10 this week. Kahne finished 13th, while Burton finished, 19th, Biffle finished 21st and Martin finished 22nd. Your average finish is 16 even.

Vivian, for you, the same result Candy Man had – with the exception of Edwards and his fifth place finish, your drivers finished outside the top-10. Stewart nearly made it back into the top-10 in the end, but fell short with his 12th place finish. Harvick finished 16th, while Burton finished 19th. The only spectacular event that happened on the track besides a caution for debris was the caution for Jamie McMurray as his car’s engine exploded three-quarters of the way through the event. The explosion sent white smoke billowing into the air behind him and inside his cockpit – causing McMurray to slam on his brakes and egress his vehicle. He finished 36th.  Your average finish is 17.6.

CorWin, you barely escaped the GCA this week with your 18.2 average finish. Kyle Busch was the class of the field and now has the win to prove it. Keselowski was the second most dominant car, but his car faded in the end to finish seventh. Biffle never had a chance with his 21st place finish, as Brian Vickers caused his own demise by speeding down pit road during one of the green-flag pit stops. He finished 27th. Clint Bowyer brought out the only caution caused by a crash as he spun on his own into the outside SAFER Barrier. He finished 35th. Better luck next week!

As mentioned before, our combined teams’ average finish this week is 12.53.

Next week’s race is the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Don’t forget to check the ESPN Stock Car Challenge website to see where you stack up against the other Angels after Saturday night’s Inaugural Quaker State 400 race at Kentucky Speedway.

Good luck Angels,

Charlie