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10.25.15
CampingWorld.com 500k Post-Report
Date: Oct. 25, 2015
Event: CampingWorld.com 500 (Round 32 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 20th/27th (Running, completed 196 of 196 laps)
Point Standing: 23rd (661 points)
Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske in a green-white-checkered finish (Ford)
Danica Patrick was poised to score a solid result in Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, but she ended up credited with a 27th-place finish after the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) got caught up in a wreck when the race was pushed beyond the scheduled distance for a green-white-checkered finish.
Despite qualifying 20th, Patrick had to start at the rear of the field after the team had to change transmissions on Sunday morning. Once the green flag was displayed, Patrick strategically remained back toward the tail of the lead pack with her SHR teammate Tony Stewart and several other drivers in an effort to keep the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet out of harm’s way in the early stages of the race.
With about 60 laps to go, Patrick began making her way to the front and was scored as high as 13th before the caution flag waved for the first time at lap 131. Crew chief Daniel Knost called for right-side tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment, and Patrick lined up in the 15th position for the restart. She was able to stay inside the top-25 before making a scheduled, green-flag pit stop – the team’s final stop of the race – at lap 170 for fuel and a chassis adjustment.
When the caution flag waved again at lap 183 after the engine of the No. 1 car expired, Patrick was scored in the 19th position. The race was pushed passed the scheduled 188-lap distance as track workers attempted to clean the racing surface. The field attempted to restart the race at lap 190 for a green-white-checkered finish, but NASCAR reissued the caution flag as the field bunched up and two cars spun through the infield grass prior to taking the green flag.
Once NASCAR officials had the lineup sorted out, Patrick restarted in the 16th position at lap 194 for a green-white-checkered finish. Cars immediately started wrecking ahead of Patrick, and the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet was collected in the melee. Despite sustaining significant damage, Patrick was able to complete the race. When the official results were posted, she was credited with a 27th-place finish, the last car on the lead lap.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday by finishing 10th. It was Busch’s 25th top-10 of 2015 and his 14th top-10 in 30 career Sprint Cup starts at Talladega.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 15th.
Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 25th.
Joey Logano won the CampingWorld.com 500 to score his 14th career Sprint Cup victory and his first at Talladega. It was also his third-straight win and his series-leading sixth victory of the season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second, while Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five. Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Busch rounded out the remainder of the top-10.
There were three caution periods for 18 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 196-lap race that was extended beyond its scheduled 188-lap distance due to the green-white-checkered finish.
As the sixth event in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Talladega served as the second elimination race. The 12-driver Chase field was whittled down to eight following the CampingWorld.com 500.
Busch and Harvick remain in the Chase, as both advanced to the Eliminator Round. Their point standings after the three-race Contender Round placed them among the top-eight.
The Eliminator Round comprises the next three races at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and Phoenix International Raceway. Following Phoenix, only the top-four drivers will advance to the final, winner-take-all Championship Round Nov. 22 in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Joining Busch and Harvick in the Eliminator Round are Logano, Edwards, Gordon, Keselowski, Truex and Kyle Busch. All had their respective point tallies reset to 4,000.
Earnhardt, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman were the four drivers eliminated from the Chase.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 on Nov. 1 at Martinsville Speedway. The race begins at 1:15 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by NBCSN.