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09.19.16
TMNT 400 Race Report
Date: Sept. 18, 2016
Event: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 (Round 27 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 25th/24th (Running, completed 269 of 270 laps)
Point Standing: 24th (510 points)
Winner: Martin Truex Jr.of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota) in overtime
Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery/April O’Neil Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) scored a 24th-place finish in Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
Patrick started the race from the 25th position in a field set by owner points after qualifying was cancelled due to rain on Friday. She gained three spots after the green flag waved and was scored in 14th when the caution came out in the midst of green-flag pit stops at lap 49.
The No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet remained just outside of the top-20 for the majority of Sunday’s race. When the caution flag waved for the final time at lap 263, crew chief Billy Scott called for Patrick to stay out and take the wave-around, putting her just one lap down to the leader for the closing laps of the race.
When the field took the green flag at lap 268, Patrick was scored 22nd. She lost two spots in the final two laps to take the checkered flag in the 24th spot.
“The Nature’s Bakery team had a decent day, but we definitely lost a lot of ground on that last restart,” Patrick said.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday by finishing 13th.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 16th.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 20th.
Martin Truex Jr. won the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 to score his sixth career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Chicagoland.
Joey Logano finished .776 of a second behind Truex in the runner-up spot, while Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five. Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Alex Bowman comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were four caution periods for 22 laps around the 1.5-mile oval with all 40 drivers finishing the 270-lap race, which went into overtime and finished three laps beyond its scheduled distance.
Busch, Stewart and Harvick are representing SHR in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and they entered the first race of the 10-race, 16-driver Chase seeded 12th, 11th and fourth, respectively, in the Round of 16. Busch leaves Chicagoland in 10th with a four-point margin over 13th place. Stewart is 12th with only a single point separating him from 13th. Harvick is 14th, one point out of the top-12. Following the third race of the Chase at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, only those Chase drivers who have won a race or are among the top-12 in points will advance to the Round of 12.
With two races remaining before the Round of 12 begins, the top-16 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:
Martin Truex Jr. (2,050 points) 1 win
Brad Keselowski (2,049 points) +22 points
Kyle Busch (2,046 points) +19 points
Denny Hamlin (2,045 points) +18 points
Joey Logano (2,043 points) +16 points
Chase Elliott (2,039 points) +12 points
Matt Kenseth (2,038 points) +11 points
Jimmie Johnson (2,037 points) +10 points
Carl Edwards (2,032 points) +5 points
Kurt Busch (2,031 points) +4 points
Jamie McMurray (2,030 points) +3 points
Tony Stewart (2,028 points) +1 point
Austin Dillon (2,027 points) -1 point
Kevin Harvick (2,027 points) -1 point
Kyle Larson (2,026 points) -2 points
Chris Buescher (2,016 points) -12 points
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the second race of the Chase – is the Sept. 25 New England 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN.