NASCAR at Kansas Speedway: Matt Kenseth wins Chase wreckfest

When the No. 48 car spun into the wall on lap 136 of Sunday’s NASCAR race at Kansas Speedway, Jimmie Johnson’s quest to win his sixth Sprint Cup Series championship appeared to be all but over.

Initially, crew chief Chad Knaus even told Johnson to drive straight to the garage – a move which would have put him several laps down while undergoing repairs.

Fans who came to Kansas Speedway on Sunday thought they were attending a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Instead, they witnessed the latest episode of “Survivor.”

Matt Kenseth won a wild war of attrition, otherwise known as the Hollywood Casino 400, beating Martin Truex Jr. to the checkered flag by .495 seconds to claim his third victory of the season, his first at Kansas and the 24th of his career.

Paul Menard ran third, followed by polesitter Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart, who rallied from a 33rd-place starting position and spin on the backstretch during the race.

The slick, new racing surface at the 1.-5 mile track produced a track-record 14 cautions for 66 caution laps, and no one was immune from disaster -- not even a five-time champion.

Jimmie Johnson’s quest for a sixth Cup title appeared to have suffered a severe setback on Lap 135, when the No. 48 Chevrolet spun in heavy traffic and backed into the Turn 4 wall. After leading 44 laps, Johnson had just taken a wave-around for a restart on Lap 128, having been trapped a lap down when Aric Almirola smacked the Turn 2 wall, and the resulting caution interrupted a cycle of green-flag pit stops.

Johnson, however, stayed on the lead lap through a succession of pit stops under the yellow, and a liberal application of BearBond kept the No. 48 competitive. Astoundingly, Johnson and his team salvaged a ninth-place finish on a day that could have been much worse and remained seven points behind eighth-place finisher and series leader Brad Keselowski with four races left in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Here are the results from today’s NASCAR race at Kansas Speedway:

It’s NASCAR race day at Kansas Speedway, and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about today’s Hollywood Casino 400 for you below.

What time does the race start today? As for most races in the Chase, today’s Kansas race begins shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern time (1 p.m. local). To be specific, comedian Rob Riggle will tell the drivers to start their engines at 2:10 p.m. Eastern, and the exact start time of the Kansas race is 2:19 p.m. ET (1:19 local).

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rallied from two laps down to win Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway and tighten the battle for the series championship.

During a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race six laps beyond its scheduled distance of 200 laps, Stenhouse surged to the front in the final turn after Kyle Busch ran out of fuel.

Austin Dillon ran second, .288 seconds behind Stenhouse. Polesitter Joey Logano finished third, followed by Elliott Sadler and Cole Whitt.

In winning for the sixth time this season and the eighth time in his career, Stenhouse cut Sadler’s series lead from 13 points to six with three races left in the season.

To get to Victory Lane, Stenhouse had to survive a collision with Logano’s No. 18 Toyota -- an incident team owner Jack Roush said was Stenhouse’s fault just past the halfway point.

“The guys did an awesome job getting the car back together, and we never gave up,” Stenhouse said. “Mike made great calls and adjustments to fix how the car drove with the damage, and it was still one of the fastest cars out there.

“I didn’t see the win coming like this, but we will take it.”

Saturday’s event was the first NASCAR race on a track that was newly repaved and reconfigured with graduated banking, and there were some growing pains. The race produced a record 12 cautions for a total of 50 laps.

The championship battle took an ominous turn for Stenhouse, the defending series champion, just after the midpoint of the race. Stenhouse and polesitter Logano collided off Turn 2, damaging both cars, but both were able to continue.

Stenhouse was following Logano closely just before the contact.

“We had a lot of debris on the grille, and we were 300 (degrees) on water and oil, and I thought we would have to pit to come get that off before we blew up,” Stenhouse said. “I was trying to get behind him to get the debris off and he checked up at the last second and I turned and just drove right into the side of him. There wasn’t much he could do about it, and I thought it ruined our day, but we were able to bounce back from it.”

Stenhouse lost two laps during a green-flag pit stop but got them back on a wave-around before a Lap 142 restart and a free pass as the highest-scored lapped car under the 10th caution of the afternoon.

Back on the lead lap for a restart on Lap 167, Stenhouse had charged to 13th by the time Mike Bliss’ slide through the tri-oval caused the track-record-tying 11th caution. Stenhouse was two spots behind Sadler in fifth when first-time Nationwide starter Hal Martin and Scott Lagasse Jr. wrecked off Turn 2 on Lap 198.

Fearing they would run out of fuel in overtime, Sadler and Dillon both pitted for a splash of fuel under the 12th caution. Stenhouse restarted fourth and took the checkered flag when Kyle Busch ran out of fuel on the final lap.

So ended another disappointing day for Busch, still trying to win for the first time behind the wheel of the No. 54 Toyota he owns.

“That’s our year, man -- nothing else to it than that,” said Busch, who rolled across the finish line in sixth place. “...What a frustrating defeat.”

Notes: The race marked the first appearance for a Pakastani driver in a NASCAR event. Nur Ali finished 33rd in his NASCAR debut after slamming the Turn 3 wall on Lap 69... Derek White, who wrecked in Turn 4 on Lap 138 to cause the ninth yellow, was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation... Danica Patrick (10th) posted her third top-10 finish of the season, but she’ll remember this race for a spectacular three-wide pass of Sadler and Ryan Blaney for the sixth spot on Lap 171.

RACE RESULTS

1. (10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 206, $91143.

2. (2) Austin Dillon #, Chevrolet, 206, $65718.

3. (1) Joey Logano(i), Toyota, 206, $50125.

4. (7) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 206, $38533.

5. (8) Cole Whitt #, Chevrolet, 206, $35158.

6. (6) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 206, $24190.

7. (21) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 206, $32208.

8. (14) Michael Annett, Ford, 206, $28508.

9. (12) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 206, $27418.

10. (13) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 206, $27783.

11. (27) Ryan Blaney(i), Dodge, 206, $26058.

12. (22) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 206, $25508.

13. (23) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 206, $24958.

14. (37) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, 206, $24448.

15. (15) Eric McClure, Toyota, 205, $24888.

16. (5) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, Fuel, 204, $20160.

17. (39) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 204, $23493.

18. (4) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, Fuel, 203, $23983.

19. (32) Joey Gase #, Chevrolet, 202, $16555.

20. (24) Jason Bowles #, Dodge, 201, $23488.

21. (29) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 200, $22703.

22. (33) Jennifer Jo Cobb(i), Chevrolet, 200, $16125.

23. (26) Brad Sweet #, Chevrolet, Engine, 199, $22458.

24. (19) Scott Lagasse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 197, $15875.

25. (16) Hal Martin, Toyota, Accident, 182, $22683.

26. (3) Brian Scott, Toyota, 177, $23098.

27. (42) Dexter Stacey, Ford, 165, $21988.

28. (17) James Buescher(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 155, $21868.

29. (40) Derek White, Toyota, Accident, 130, $21718.

30. (31) Tony Raines(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 123, $15440.

31. (9) Johanna Long #, Chevrolet, Accident, 109, $21473.

32. (43) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 75, $14895.

33. (41) Nur Ali, Chevrolet, Accident, 68, $21253.

34. (30) Scott Saunders, Ford, Accident, 31, $14675.

35. (11) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Water Pump, 24, $14565.

36. (25) Blake Koch, Toyota, Ignition, 24, $14455.

37. (36) Carl Long, Chevrolet, Overheating, 23, $14335.

38. (34) Timmy Hill, Ford, Engine, 14, $14275.

39. (35) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, Clutch, 14, $13940.

40. (28) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 9, $13830.

41. (38) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 8, $13725.

42. (18) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 4, $13520.

43. (20) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, Ignition, 4, $13413.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 111.597 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 46 Mins, 08 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.288 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 12 for 50 laps.

Lead Changes: 14 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Logano(i) 1-34; R. Stenhouse Jr. 35-37; P. Menard(i) 38-44; R. Stenhouse Jr. 45-53; P. Menard(i) 54-58; R. Stenhouse Jr. 59-70; P. Menard(i) 71-112; A. Dillon # 113-117; P. Menard(i) 118-139; J. Allgaier 140-142; P. Menard(i) 143-175; K. Busch(i) 176-183; P. Menard(i) 184; K. Busch(i) 185-205; R. Stenhouse Jr. 206;.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): P. Menard(i) 6 times for 110 laps; J. Logano(i) 1 time for 34 laps; K. Busch(i) 2 times for 29 laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. 4 times for 25 laps; A. Dillon # 1 time for 5 laps; J. Allgaier 1 time for 3 laps.

Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler - 1,136; R. Stenhouse Jr. - 1,130; A. Dillon # - 1,110; S. Hornish Jr. - 1,038; M. Annett - 986; J. Allgaier - 974; C. Whitt # - 913; M. Bliss - 820; B. Scott - 758; D. Patrick - 742.

Kasey Kahne, one of NASCAR’s most underrated drivers when it comes to qualifying, just did it again: The Hendrick Motorsports driver won the pole position for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

The No. 1 qualifying spot was the fourth for Kahne this season and the 26th of his career. Since 2006, Kahne now has 20 poles – more than any other driver during that time.

No matter how you measure it, Danica Patrick’s first full campaign as a NASCAR driver has been a struggle – both in the Nationwide Series, where she is running a full slate of races, and in the Sprint Cup Series, where she is running a handful of events.

Between the two national series, Patrick has contested 36 races in 2012 and has finished in the top 10 just twice. Her best result is an eighth-place run in the August Nationwide race at Bristol.

On the same day Richard Petty Motorsports signed an extension with manufacturer Ford for the 2013 season, driver Marcos Ambrose said he plans to stick around next year, too.

“We are all squared away as far as what the expectations are on both sides and it is just a matter of finishing it off at this point,” Ambrose said in quotes released by Ford. “I can’t see any reason why I wouldn’t want to be a part of Richard Petty Motorsports in 2013.”

The Prelude to the Dream charity race at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway won’t be on the calendar in 2013, but it may return in the future, Stewart told reporters Friday at Kansas Speedway.

“It takes a ton of work to put the Prelude on,” he said. “We’re changing our format for how we run the Dream (Late Model race) that weekend, making it a three-day weekend with that series. We’re trying to focus on that a little bit more and some changes we think are going to be better for our Late Model race.

Denny Hamlin’s wreck wasn’t the only incident in an eventful test session. Casey Mears’ No. 13 Ford twice dropped oil on the track, forcing the Germain Racing team to abandon the test car and bring out the primary that will race on Sunday.

“Strange issue today,” Mears posted on his Twitter account. “Motor fine? Pumping oil out for some reason?”

As reporters were waiting for Hamlin after his second visit to the care center, the engine blew in Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet, again oiling the track, forcing the team to change power plants.

Because of the series of stoppages, NASCAR extended the test session an extra 25 minutes to 1:55 p.m. ET. Regan Smith, subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr., posted the fastest lap at 186.143 mph.

Throw out the notes and start from scratch.

Jeff Gordon was succinct in his assessment of recently repaved Kansas Speedway, after a rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test session that also included a handful of 2013 cars.

“It’s like going to a brand new race track somewhere else,” Gordon said. “This track went from pretty abrasive and wearing the tires out to now it’s smooth and super fast, and the times don’t fall off... It’s basically like going to a whole new race track.”

Repaves aren’t particularly popular with drivers, who prefer a grittier surface that places a premium on driving skills and tire management, but Gordon conceded that resurfacing is an inevitable part of racing.

“It’s just one of those necessary evils of our sport,” Gordon said. “I understand that tracks need to be repaved eventually, that pavement doesn’t last forever. But then it puts (tire maker) Goodyear into a box.

“They have to bring a very durable tire, with the surface temperatures. So, all in all, we’re having fun out there, going really fast, having a lot of grip and testing and trying a lot of new things. That part of it is very interesting and fun. But once we get into the race weekend, it’ll be a whole different ballgame.”

In fact, Goodyear provided the same tire codes for Kansas that were raced at Michigan in August, after a repave of that speedway. In the June race at MIS, there were tire issues as speeds topped 200 mph -- requiring an 11th-hour change in the left-side tires -- but the August race was run without problem.

Greg Biffle posted the fastest lap Wednesday at 184.900 mph. Gordon, who was 27th quickest at 181.513 mph, promised that speeds would pick up throughout the weekend.

“It will get faster,” Gordon said. “(Thursday) is when I expect the pace to pick up -- and in qualifying.”

After rain abated just before 2 p.m., and after another 90 minutes to dry the track, drivers got two hours of testing time, not enough to work in a second groove.

“Right now we’re all running the same groove -- I’d say there’s a groove and a foot,” Gordon chuckled. “Turn 3 seems to have some flexibility there on your entry, so I think Turn 3 will get wider. Three and four might possibly get wider. It seems like you can get outside the groove there, but right now (in) 1 and 2, you definitely ride around the bottom...

“That’s what’s nice about coming here on a Wednesday. By Sunday, it’ll just get wider and wider and better and better.”

Full-time Cup drivers tested side-by-side with four 2013 models, driven by Josh Wise (Chevrolet), Parker Kligerman (Ford), Brian Vickers (Toyota) and Trevor Bayne (Ford).

In a recent test at Texas, the new-generation cars performed admirably in single-car runs but had difficulty in traffic. On Thursday, and in future tests, NASCAR and the teams will work to refine the aerodynamic package.

“The direction here is to get cars to race well,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “There’s not a parameter set around drag numbers or downforce numbers or anything like that.

“The end result will be what it takes to put on a good race.”