bigbadbrother
02-15-2015, 03:32 AM
Jerry Bonkowski
Matt Kenseth survived a spate of crashes to win Saturday night's season-opening Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway.
Kenseth dodged an evening of mayhem to put his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in Victory Lane over Martin Truex Jr.'s Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. Carl Edwards was third in his first race for JGR, followed by Casey Mears and Kyle Larson.
It was the first Sprint Unlimited victory for Kenseth, although he has two Daytona 500 triumphs to his credit.
"The 78 (Truex) was fast all night," said Kenseth. "All my teammates' cars were strong all night, but I didn't spend a ton of time up there. I kept being shuffled back early, just being too impatient and trying to learn as much as I could. Once I got in the lead, we had a lot of speed and I just tried to manage the lines the best I could."
Truex may have had the fastest car on the night, leading a race-high 28 laps, but once Kenseth got past him late, he couldn't respond.
"The race was over when Kenseth got past me for the lead," Truex said. " ... Nobody's going to remember next year that I finished second in the race."
Still, he was pleased with the effort. "Honestly, it was the most fun I've had a race car in probably a year and a half," said Truex.
The traditional season-opener for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was a brutal affair, especially in the closing laps, as several violent accidents decimated the field. And for the second consecutive year, less than half the field finished.
Paul Menard started from the pole and led the first seven laps, before Brad Keselowski put his Team Penske Ford on point. On Lap 10, two-time Daytona 500 winner Kenseth went out front, only to be passed almost immediately by Truex.
The first incident of the day occurred on Lap 23, when Larson moved up and into Keselowski on the frontstretch, sending him into the infield and then back across the track and into the outside wall nose-first.
Under the caution period, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took gas only and came off pit road in the lead and was ahead of Menard, Truex, Aric Almirola and Kevin Harvick when the track went green on Lap 30.
At the halfway point, Earnhardt held the lead over Truex and Menard.
Then, chaos.
Coming out of Turn 4 on Lap 44, Greg Biffle turned Jamie McMurray, triggering a 14-car crash on the frontstretch that took out many of the frontrunners, including Jimmie Johnson, Menard, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and others.
"It was a matter of time before we wrecked," said Hamlin. "It's been a long time since I've seen drivers that aggressive."
After a 14 minute, 42 second red-flag period, the cars restarted on Lap 50 with Truex leading Jeff Gordon, Biffle and Joey Logano.
Kenseth powered into the lead on Lap 56, with Truex holding onto second.
On Lap 62, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wrecked in Turn 3, with Danica Patrick picking up minor damage again.
The race restarted on Lap 66, only to see another hard crash two laps later involving Biffle, Kurt Busch, Gordon and Tony Stewart on the backstretch. The savage crash brought out another red flag, this one for 5 minutes and 18 seconds.
The race restarted with four laps to go, Kenseth ahead of Truex and Harvick, and the JGR driver was able to hold on for the win.
FINAL RESULTS
1 Matt Kenseth
2 Martin Truex Jr.
3 Carl Edwards
4 Casey Mears
5 Kyle Larson
6 Joey Logano
7 Jeff Gordon
8 Kyle Busch
9 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10 Danica Patrick
11 Kevin Harvick
12 Ryan Newman
13 Tony Stewart
14 Greg Biffle
15 Kurt Busch
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17 Austin Dillon
18 Aric Almirola
19 Denny Hamlin
20 Clint Bowyer
21 Paul Menard
22 Jimmie Johnson
23 Kasey Kahne
24 Jamie McMurray
25 Brad Keselowski
Matt Kenseth survived a spate of crashes to win Saturday night's season-opening Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway.
Kenseth dodged an evening of mayhem to put his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in Victory Lane over Martin Truex Jr.'s Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. Carl Edwards was third in his first race for JGR, followed by Casey Mears and Kyle Larson.
It was the first Sprint Unlimited victory for Kenseth, although he has two Daytona 500 triumphs to his credit.
"The 78 (Truex) was fast all night," said Kenseth. "All my teammates' cars were strong all night, but I didn't spend a ton of time up there. I kept being shuffled back early, just being too impatient and trying to learn as much as I could. Once I got in the lead, we had a lot of speed and I just tried to manage the lines the best I could."
Truex may have had the fastest car on the night, leading a race-high 28 laps, but once Kenseth got past him late, he couldn't respond.
"The race was over when Kenseth got past me for the lead," Truex said. " ... Nobody's going to remember next year that I finished second in the race."
Still, he was pleased with the effort. "Honestly, it was the most fun I've had a race car in probably a year and a half," said Truex.
The traditional season-opener for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was a brutal affair, especially in the closing laps, as several violent accidents decimated the field. And for the second consecutive year, less than half the field finished.
Paul Menard started from the pole and led the first seven laps, before Brad Keselowski put his Team Penske Ford on point. On Lap 10, two-time Daytona 500 winner Kenseth went out front, only to be passed almost immediately by Truex.
The first incident of the day occurred on Lap 23, when Larson moved up and into Keselowski on the frontstretch, sending him into the infield and then back across the track and into the outside wall nose-first.
Under the caution period, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took gas only and came off pit road in the lead and was ahead of Menard, Truex, Aric Almirola and Kevin Harvick when the track went green on Lap 30.
At the halfway point, Earnhardt held the lead over Truex and Menard.
Then, chaos.
Coming out of Turn 4 on Lap 44, Greg Biffle turned Jamie McMurray, triggering a 14-car crash on the frontstretch that took out many of the frontrunners, including Jimmie Johnson, Menard, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and others.
"It was a matter of time before we wrecked," said Hamlin. "It's been a long time since I've seen drivers that aggressive."
After a 14 minute, 42 second red-flag period, the cars restarted on Lap 50 with Truex leading Jeff Gordon, Biffle and Joey Logano.
Kenseth powered into the lead on Lap 56, with Truex holding onto second.
On Lap 62, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wrecked in Turn 3, with Danica Patrick picking up minor damage again.
The race restarted on Lap 66, only to see another hard crash two laps later involving Biffle, Kurt Busch, Gordon and Tony Stewart on the backstretch. The savage crash brought out another red flag, this one for 5 minutes and 18 seconds.
The race restarted with four laps to go, Kenseth ahead of Truex and Harvick, and the JGR driver was able to hold on for the win.
FINAL RESULTS
1 Matt Kenseth
2 Martin Truex Jr.
3 Carl Edwards
4 Casey Mears
5 Kyle Larson
6 Joey Logano
7 Jeff Gordon
8 Kyle Busch
9 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10 Danica Patrick
11 Kevin Harvick
12 Ryan Newman
13 Tony Stewart
14 Greg Biffle
15 Kurt Busch
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17 Austin Dillon
18 Aric Almirola
19 Denny Hamlin
20 Clint Bowyer
21 Paul Menard
22 Jimmie Johnson
23 Kasey Kahne
24 Jamie McMurray
25 Brad Keselowski