2014 Oral-B USA 500

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>

2014 Oral-B USA 500
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 25 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
File:Oralb500.jpg
Date August 31, 2014 (2014-08-31)
Location Atlanta Motor Speedway
Hampton, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Distance 335 laps, 515.9 mi (830.8 km)
Scheduled Distance 325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Weather Partly cloudy with a temperature of 84 °F (29 °C); wind out of the west at 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h)
Average speed 131.512 mph (211.648 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Stewart-Haas Racing
Time 29.118
Most laps led
Driver Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps 195
Winner
No. 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN & PRN
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree (Television)
Doug Rice and Mark Garrow (Booth)
Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Doug Turnball (3 & 4) (Turns) (Radio)
Nielsen Ratings 3.2/7 (Final)
3.0/7 (Overnight)
5.21 Million viewers[11]

The 2014 Oral-B USA 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 31, 2014, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 335 laps on the 1.54 mi (2.48 km) quad-oval, it was the 25th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kasey Kahne of Hendrick Motorsports won the race, his first win of the season. Matt Kenseth finished second, while Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (8th), Michael Annett (21st), and Austin Dillon (24th).

Previous week's race

Joey Logano took the lead with 44 laps to go and had to hold off a late race charge by Team Penske team mate Brad Keselowski to score his third win of the 2014 season, at the Irwin Tools Night Race. Logano described the result as "awesome", and also reflected on his personal best 2014 campaign. Keselowski praised Logano's performance, stating that "he ran a great race" while his car "was just about equal to Joey's but he just had better track position than on us".[12]

Report

Background

The venue, Atlanta Motor Speedway, is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.[13] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the 2,332-foot (711 m) front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the 1,800-foot (550 m) back stretch are banked at five.[13] The track's racing surface width varies from 55 feet to 60 feet.[13] The defending race winner from 2013 was Kyle Busch.

Tony Stewart's status had been undecided going into the race. "It's just an emotional roller coaster all week, you know what I mean?" Greg Zipadelli, vice president of competition at Stewart-Haas Racing, stated after the previous weekend's race at Bristol Motor Speedway. "It is what it is. We do the best we can with what we've got right now. We'll keep praying, keep our fingers crossed that we get the boss back sooner rather than later."[14] On Thursday, it was announced by NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O'Donnell, that Stewart would return to racing at Atlanta. O'Donnell added that NASCAR had "remained in constant contact with his race team and we will stay very close to this situation as Stewart returns to competition".[15]

On Friday, Stewart spoke publicly for the first time since the events of August 9 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York. Stewart described the situation as "one of the toughest tragedies I've ever had to deal with, both professionally and personally. It will affect my life forever". He said he reached out to the Ward family and said "I want them to know I'm thinking about them and praying for them." Stewart-Haas Racing executive vice president Brett Frood said "for Tony, it's all about the healing process. That's why he's in the car," when asked why Stewart decided to return while the investigation into Ward's death remained open. "I am not going to comment on the incident itself. It was a tragic accident."[16] Stewart declined to answer any questions about the incident due to the ongoing investigation.[17]

Later, NASCAR President Mike Helton spoke about Stewart and a waiver that he would receive, if he won at Atlanta or the following weekend at Richmond. With the waiver, Stewart would be eligible to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup. While Stewart had not attempted to qualify the last two races and, therefore, would have been ineligible, NASCAR had the ability to grant an exemption to a driver for "unique circumstances".[18] "We made our decisions based on the circumstances we've got currently," Helton said. "And I think most everyone in this room understands at NASCAR, our effort, our scope of responsibility and authority is limited to the NASCAR community. We take the current circumstances that we are dealt with and make what we hope to be the best absolute conclusion. That's what we're talking about today, is the current set of circumstances and our reaction to them."[19]

Reaction to the waiver was mostly positive from fellow drivers. "I'm happy to know if I was out of the car for some reason that I'd get a chance to get back in the Chase," Brian Vickers said. "There's a lot of circumstances that I don't know exactly how they'd handle them. Obviously they've set a precedent here with Tony. One day I'd like to have kids. Does that mean I get to be at the hospital with my wife if she's having our first child even if it means missing a race but I can still make the Chase?" "I think the whole intent of eligibility for the Chase is so that somebody doesn't go take a vacation after winning a few races," Jeff Gordon said. "(NASCAR) wants the teams and the drivers that have earned their way in it. I believe if they win a race they should be in it."[20]

Entry list

The entry list for the Oral-B USA 500 was released on Monday, August 25, 2014 at 2:08 p.m. Eastern time. Forty-four drivers were entered for the race.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
16 Greg Biffle Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota
24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 J. J. Yeley (i) Go FAS Racing Ford
33 Ty Dillon (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford
36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
37 Mike Bliss (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford
40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet
41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
66 Brett Moffitt Identity Ventures Racing Toyota
77 Joe Nemechek (i) Randy Humphrey Racing Ford
78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford
98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet
99 Carl Edwards Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
Official entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

Practice

First practice

Carl Edwards was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.747 and a speed of 192.855 mph (310.370 km/h). Tony Stewart, who sat out the last three races, was tenth with a time of 29.234 and a speed of 189.642 mph (305.199 km/h).[21]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.747 192.855
2 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.931 191.628
3 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.963 191.417
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick won the pole with a time of 29.118 and a speed of 190.398 mph (306.416 km/h). Harvick felt that his car did not change much during qualifying, but felt that he "messed the first round up really bad trying to do something that I wasn't doing in practice". Brad Keselowski joined Harvick on the front row, stating that his qualifying run – 0.052 seconds off Harvick's pole time – was his best since he started competing at Atlanta, praising his team's work in the process. In his first Sprint Cup qualifying session, Nationwide Series regular Ty Dillon qualified down in 29th position. Dillon described the situation as "touch to come in...and expect a great qualifying effort", before stating that "it was a lot of fun going out there and qualifying with the big guys".[22] 44 drivers contested qualifying, with Michael McDowell failing to qualify.

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.442 29.115 29.118
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.181 29.150 29.170
3 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.189 29.201 29.197
4 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.487 29.247 29.272
5 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.026 29.044 29.334
6 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 29.442 29.280 29.346
7 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.984 29.266 29.391
8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.173 29.277 29.409
9 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.432 29.221 29.419
10 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.377 29.256 29.440
11 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.204 29.222 29.480
12 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.447 29.246 29.504
13 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.468 29.308
14 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.450 29.318
15 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.436 29.358
16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.304 29.363
17 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.428 29.389
18 16 Greg Biffle Racing Ford 29.394 29.410
19 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 29.309 29.422
20 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.380 29.509
21 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 29.290 29.536
22 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.487 29.590
23 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 29.452 29.604
24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 29.469 29.655
25 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 29.489
26 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.505
27 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.529
28 37 Mike Bliss Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 29.571
29 33 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.595
30 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 29.597
31 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 29.665
32 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 29.704
33 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.808
34 77 Joe Nemechek Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 29.816
35 66 Brett Moffitt Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 29.833
36 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 29.844
37 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.893
38 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.998
39 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 30.022
40 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 30.032
41 32 J. J. Yeley Go FAS Racing Ford 30.209
42 40 Landon Cassill Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 30.284
43 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 30.321
Did Not Qualify
44 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 30.025
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 29.279 and a speed of 189.351 mph (304.731 km/h).[23]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.279 189.351
2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.438 188.328
3 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.514 187.843
Official second practice results

Final practice

Matt Kenseth was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.450 and a speed of 188.251 mph (302.961 km/h).[24]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.450 188.251
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.510 187.869
3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.629 187.114
Official final practice results

Race

First half

Start

The race was scheduled to begin at 7:46 PM Eastern time but started around five minutes later when Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag. Brad Keselowski, who started second, spun the tires on the initial start and fell back to fifth. Harvick reported seeing a cat run across the race track in turn 3 on lap 14; it turned out to actually be a squirrel,[25] while Jimmie Johnson had black strip-like objects stuck to the hood pins of his grill. The caution flew for the first time on lap 37 for debris; NASCAR called Carl Edwards down to pit road to replace a faulty transponder, but he was allowed to retake his spot in 5th place. The race restarted on lap 45, and ran under green flag conditions until the caution flew for the second time on lap 78, after Jeff Gordon's car blew a tire and forced him into the wall in turn 3.[26] Denny Hamlin took the lead from Harvick during the pit stops.

The race restarted on lap 85, with Harvick and Hamlin dueling for the lead, before Hamlin was able to take it eventually on lap 87, holding Harvick all the way until lap 109. The caution flew for the third time on lap 116 after Ryan Truex spun through the grass on the front stretch. Hamlin retook the lead during the pit stop cycle, and led the field to the restart on lap 122. Tony Stewart made contact with the wall exiting turn 2 on the restart, while at the front, Matt Kenseth took the lead on lap 124. This pass for the lead occurred just before the caution flag flew again after Marcos Ambrose blew an engine. The race restarted on lap 135, and Kurt Busch took the lead from Kenseth on lap 137. Kenseth retook the lead on lap 158, before Harvick made his way back to the front, on lap 166.

Second half

Brad Keselowski took the lead as Harvick made his stop. Tony Stewart brought out the fifth caution on lap 172 after he hit the wall in turn 2. Stewart's crew chief Chad Johnston stated that Stewart "got off to a good start", but also stated that it was good to have his driver back in the car.[27] Matt Kenseth made his stop before the caution and reassumed the lead for the restart on lap 180. Harvick retook the lead on lap 184, and held the lead for the remainder of the stint, before the race's sixth caution on lap 219, due to some debris falling off the car of Kasey Kahne. Kenseth retook the lead during the pit stops, and held the lead at the restart on lap 215. Harvick retook the lead with 97 laps to go, before giving up the lead to pit with 67 laps to go.

Calamity

Debris on the backstretch helped Harvick's cause however; it brought out the seventh caution of the race. Hamlin assumed the lead under caution, before Harvick cycled back through to the lead once Hamlin had made his next pit stop of the race. The race restarted with 62 laps to go. Keselowski brought out the eighth caution with 29 laps to go after rear-ending Josh Wise. Hamlin won the race off pit road and assumed the lead for the restart, with 23 laps to go. Kahne took the lead almost immediately, and managed to fend off his rivals until the final three laps, when the caution flags flew for the ninth time, after Kyle Busch sent Martin Truex, Jr. into the wall. Kenseth won the race off pit road. On the first green-white-checker attempt, the field were unable to make it through turn one before cars started crashing.

Finish

Kahne took the lead on the second green-white-checker attempt and held off Kenseth to score his first win of the season. Kahne felt that his car was "all over the place during the race but the guys stayed with me and worked hard", but felt proud that they had sealed his place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Kenseth described the last two laps as "really intense", but also felt that "things are looking up" for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.[28]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 10 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 335 47
2 5 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 335 43
3 17 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 335 42
4 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 335 40
5 11 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 335 39
6 27 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 335 38
7 4 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 335 37
8 3 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 335 36
9 7 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 335 35
10 18 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 335 34
11 20 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 335 33
12 15 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 335 32
13 22 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 335 32
14 14 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 335 30
15 19 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 335 29
16 8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 335 28
17 9 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 335 27
18 33 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 335 26
19 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 335 27
20 26 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 24
21 25 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 334 23
22 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 334 22
23 6 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 334 21
24 13 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 20
25 29 33 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing-Circle Sport Chevrolet 332 0
26 31 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 332 18
27 38 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 331 17
28 37 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 330 16
29 43 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 330 15
30 40 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 329 14
31 42 40 Landon Cassill Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 329 0
32 41 32 J. J. Yeley Go FAS Racing Ford 328 0
33 36 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 328 11
34 35 66 Brett Moffitt Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 327 10
35 30 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 326 9
36 39 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 326 8
37 34 77 Joe Nemechek Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 324 0
38 21 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 314 6
39 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 296 6
40 23 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 258 4
41 12 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 170 3
42 32 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 122 2
43 28 37 Mike Bliss Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 23 0

Race statistics

  • 21 lead changes among different drivers
  • 10 cautions for 56 laps
  • Time of race: 3:55:24
  • Kasey Kahne won his first race

Media

Television

ESPN
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Allen Bestwick
Color-commentator: Dale Jarrett
Color commentator: Andy Petree
Jerry Punch
Dave Burns
Vince Welch
Jamie Little

Radio

PRN Radio
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice
Announcer: Mark Garrow
Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright
Turns 3 & 4: Doug Turnball
Brett McMillan
Steve Richards
Jim Noble
Wendy Venturini

Standings after the race

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.


Previous race:
2014 Irwin Tools Night Race
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2014 season
Next race:
2014 Federated Auto Parts 400