Rating the Race: Texas - Samsung 500
We started Sunday’s running of the Samsung 500 with each of NASCAR’s four car manufacturer’s with a car in the top-four of the starting grid, and that’s exactly how we ended the day, though the race wasn’t nearly as competitive as the results might indicate. Carl Edwards took the lead with about 117 laps to go and never turned back as he claimed his third victory of the season, and the sixth overall for car owner Jack Roush at Texas Motor Speedway.
Edwards started the race on the outside of the first row next to polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. and was a heavy favorite in the garage area to win the race, but he never really took control until he took the lead with 117 laps left on the ticker, relinquishing the lead only during a round of green flag pit stops. Edwards had hung out in the top-five for the entire day, but to that point, it was really the cars of Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. swapping the lead back and forth.
Junior led the field to the green for the start of the race and led the first thirteen laps before getting passed by Kyle Busch. Earnhardt reclaimed the lead under yellow after the single-car spin of Michael Waltrip on lap 29, but was passed by HMS teammate Jimmie Johnson about 15 laps later. Junior led one more lap on lap 85 during a round of stops, but after that his car started to fade back into the pack. He eventually went a lap down with 70 to go, ultimately resulting in a disappointing 12th place finish.
The second caution of the day came when Jeff Gordon hit the Turn 4 wall on lap 109. Gordon had just fallen two laps down, and then pulled his car into the garage. He went onto finish 43rd for only the second time in his career. The caution gave the no. 17 Dewalt crew the opportunity to get Matt Kenseth out front just ahead of Johnson, and he stayed there for nearly 70 laps before getting passed up by Kyle Busch. Kyle appeared to possibly be in line for his second win of the season, but the car eventually became too loose to stay out in front, and Edwards passed him with 117 to go.
The fifth caution flag of the day waived with 40 laps to go, but Edwards was able to come out of the pits first. Johnson eventually cleared Kyle Busch for second place and appeared to be gaining on Edwards, but everytime he started to inch closer, it was as though the no. 99 just sped up. It appeared that we might have a shootout on our hands when Martin Truex Jr. – who was running in the top-ten at the time – blew up to bring out the sixth and final caution with only five laps remaining.
With only ten cars left on the lead lap, the cars positioned 6th through 10th decided to pit for tires, while Edwards, Johnson, (Kyle) Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Kenseth stayed out. The green flag waived with only two laps left, and Johnson was almost able to get him on the restart to give Hendrick Motorsports their first win of the season, but it was not meant to be. Edwards sped away to capture the checkered flag with Johnson and Busch following behind. Ryan Newman’s decision to pit paid off as he finished fourth, and Denny Hamlin completed the top-five.
Patrick Carpentier was the highest finishing rookie of the race as he finished up in 28th place. Michael McDowell finished in 33rd after sustaining his now-famous wreck during qualifying on Friday. Jamie McMurray pieced together a solid run with a 14th place finish, and has now moved all the way up to 25th in points and well outside of the danger zone for the top-35 in owner’s points.
The win for Edwards gave him his first top-ten at Texas since he won the race back in 2005, and five of his ten career Cup victories have come at the 1.5 mile “cookie cutter” tracks. The race marked the first time since Dover back in the Fall of 2006 that Hendrick Motorsports finished with only one car on the lead lap, and as previously mentioned, this was only the second time in Jeff Gordon’s storied career that he finished a Cup Series race in dead last (the other was also at Texas back in ’99). Jeff Burton maintains his hold on the points lead after a solid sixth place run on Sunday.
Grades:
the Race: 55%
the Drama: 78%
Coverage: 70%
Pre-Race: 72%
Overall Grade: 64.3%
Complete Results (from nascar.com):
| FIN |
ST |
CAR |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
PTS/BNS |
LAPS |
STATUS |
| 1 |
2 |
99 |
Carl Edwards |
Ford |
Aflac |
195/10 |
339 |
Running |
| 2 |
5 |
48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet |
Lowe’s |
175/5 |
339 |
Running |
| 3 |
3 |
18 |
Kyle Busch |
Toyota |
Interstate Batteries |
170/5 |
339 |
Running |
| 4 |
4 |
12 |
Ryan Newman |
Dodge |
Samsung HDTV / ALLTEL |
160/0 |
339 |
Running |
| 5 |
14 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
FedEx Ground |
155/0 |
339 |
Running |
| 6 |
35 |
31 |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
Prilosec OTC |
150/0 |
339 |
Running |
| 7 |
24 |
20 |
Tony Stewart |
Toyota |
The Home Depot |
146/0 |
339 |
Running |
| 8 |
31 |
8 |
Mark Martin |
Chevrolet |
U.S. Army |
142/0 |
339 |
Running |
| 9 |
8 |
17 |
Matt Kenseth |
Ford |
DEWALT |
143/5 |
339 |
Running |
| 10 |
25 |
07 |
Clint Bowyer |
Chevrolet |
Jack Daniel’s |
134/0 |
339 |
Running |
| 11 |
21 |
29 |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
Shell / Pennzoil |
130/0 |
338 |
Running |
| 12 |
1 |
88 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
National Guard / AMP Energy |
132/5 |
338 |
Running |
| 13 |
7 |
6 |
David Ragan |
Ford |
AAA Insurance |
124/0 |
338 |
Running |
| 14 |
32 |
26 |
Jamie McMurray |
Ford |
Crown Royal Cask No. 16 |
121/0 |
338 |
Running |
| 15 |
41 |
38 |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
Yates Racing |
118/0 |
338 |
Running |
| 16 |
36 |
83 |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
115/0 |
338 |
Running |
| 17 |
19 |
15 |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
Quaker State / Menards |
112/0 |
338 |
Running |
| 18 |
38 |
28 |
Travis Kvapil |
Ford |
Yates Racing |
109/0 |
338 |
Running |
| 19 |
11 |
42 |
Juan Montoya |
Dodge |
Texaco / Havoline |
106/0 |
337 |
Running |
| 20 |
30 |
43 |
Bobby Labonte |
Dodge |
Cheerios Racing / Sam’s Club |
103/0 |
337 |
Running |
| 21 |
29 |
22 |
Dave Blaney |
Toyota |
Caterpillar |
100/0 |
337 |
Running |
| 22 |
22 |
5 |
Casey Mears |
Chevrolet |
Cheez-It / CARQUEST |
97/0 |
337 |
Running |
| 23 |
23 |
2 |
Kurt Busch |
Dodge |
Miller Lite |
94/0 |
337 |
Running |
| 24 |
42 |
41 |
Reed Sorenson |
Dodge |
Target |
91/0 |
337 |
Running |
| 25 |
10 |
9 |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
Budweiser |
88/0 |
336 |
Running |
| 26 |
26 |
19 |
Elliott Sadler |
Dodge |
Best Buy / Garmin |
85/0 |
336 |
Running |
| 27 |
13 |
66 |
Scott Riggs |
Chevrolet |
State Water Heaters |
82/0 |
336 |
Running |
| 28 |
27 |
10 |
Patrick Carpentier * |
Dodge |
Valvoline |
79/0 |
335 |
Running |
| 29 |
9 |
84 |
Mike Skinner |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
76/0 |
334 |
Running |
| 30 |
15 |
7 |
Robby Gordon |
Dodge |
Jim Beam |
73/0 |
334 |
Running |
| 31 |
20 |
55 |
Michael Waltrip |
Toyota |
NAPA AUTO PARTS |
70/0 |
333 |
Running |
| 32 |
17 |
77 |
Sam Hornish Jr. * |
Dodge |
Mobil 1 |
67/0 |
333 |
Running |
| 33 |
40 |
00 |
Michael McDowell * |
Toyota |
Aaron’s Dream Machine |
64/0 |
332 |
Running |
| 34 |
28 |
21 |
Bill Elliott |
Ford |
Motorcraft |
61/0 |
332 |
Running |
| 35 |
34 |
01 |
Regan Smith * |
Chevrolet |
DEI / Principal Financial Group |
58/0 |
331 |
Running |
| 36 |
12 |
1 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
Chevrolet |
Bass Pro Shops / Tracker |
60/5 |
330 |
Off Track |
| 37 |
43 |
78 |
Joe Nemechek |
Chevrolet |
Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com |
52/0 |
330 |
Running |
| 38 |
39 |
70 |
Jeremy Mayfield |
Chevrolet |
Haas Automation |
49/0 |
329 |
Running |
| 39 |
16 |
16 |