NASCAR Charlotte Recap: What You Missed If You Didn’t Watch The Race

Wait a second. You’re telling me you missed the NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway because you had other things to do on a Saturday night?

The horror!

I’m kidding, of course. Ratings for Saturday night races are traditionally lower than Sunday afternoon races because people often are out and about on Saturday evenings.

So if you didn’t get a chance to watch the Charlotte race and you’re waking up this morning wondering what happened, here’s a recap for you:

• The first 300 laps were uneventful. I’m not exaggerating when I say the majority of the Bank of America 500 was a single-file parade with no passing.

Drivers marveled at how difficult it was to pass, and even cars as fast as the race leader had difficulty lapping slower cars when they caught them.

Jeff Gordon told his team via radio that he’d never seen conditions this bad in all his races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

• Brad Keselowski had an off-night. Despite having loads of momentum and a brand new car at Charlotte, Keselowski was mired in the mid-20s for most of the evening. Here’s how he explained it after the race.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s pit crew screws up for the second time in three Chase races. Another loose wheel costs NASCAR’s most popular driver again as he has to pit under green. After the race, he says the mistakes are “frustrating and disappointing.”

• All of the sudden, it got interesting with 34 laps to go. Shortly after a restart, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle made contact and both sustained damage. They disagreed on who was at fault, of course.

• Then, with 19 laps remaining, the most stunning moment of the night: Jimmie Johnson wrecks. The five-time champ suffered his worst Chase finish since the infamous Texas wreck with Sam Hornish Jr. in 2009 after bashing into the wall head-first. He nearly saved his car after Ryan Newman got him loose, but he ultimately couldn’t hold it.

• Matt Kenseth wins the race, holding off Kyle Busch. Kenseth leads the final 25 laps for his first Chase win since 2007. Check the complete NASCAR Charlotte race results here.

• Johnson falls to eighth in the point standings. At this point, the three primary Chase contenders are points leader Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Kenseth. Fourth-place Kyle Busch is 18 points behind. Click here to check the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.