Kenseth Wins 4th Race of Season at Kentucky

Persistent rain on Saturday resulted in the Quaker State 400 being postponed to Sunday, and drivers had to factor in that their cars that had been set up for night racing and would handle differently in Sunday’s daytime weather conditions, with its intermittent cloud cover and sunshine…

Persistent rain on Saturday resulted in the Quaker State 400 being postponed to Sunday, and drivers had to factor in that their cars that had been set up for night racing and would handle differently in Sunday’s daytime weather conditions, with its intermittent cloud cover and sunshine. The Kentucky Speedway stadium was packed with fans when the race started on Sunday, and on-track action provided plenty of excitement, with Matt Kenseth crossing the finish line in first place and claiming his fourth victory of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

Teammate Denny Hamlin was not quite so fortunate and blew a right front tire – his second blowout in the race – on Lap 147, sending him into the outside wall near Turn 4’s exit. Having missed four Cup races due to a compression fracture of his first lumbar vertebra from a similar wreck in late March this year, Hamlin was no doubt relieved to find that his back was unaffected by this wreck.

Other incidents during Sunday’s race included Kurt Busch hitting a large bump in the asphalt with his No. 78 Chevrolet, knocking Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford into the path of other contestants near the start/finish line. The resulting multicar crash included Greg Biffle, Travis Kvapil and Dave Blaney. While not directly blaming Busch for the accident, Keselowski reportedly commented that everyone is aware of this bump in the asphalt and Busch should not have gone there.

The top ten finishers at the Quaker State 400 on June 30, in order, are Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick. The top ten in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, in order, are Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Greg Biffle and Joey Logano.