KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Denny Hamlin’s pit crew gave him the lead, rushing him out just ahead of Kevin Harvick near the race’s halfway point.
Once out in front, Hamlin knew he’d be tough to catch. His car was just too good, especially in a restrictor-plate race.
Hamlin used a fast pit stop to get the lead and lost it only briefly over the final half of the race, holding off Nationwide Series points leader Clint Bowyer to win the Kansas Lottery 300 on Saturday.
“With restrictor plates on these cars, it’s hard for anyone to get a run on you,” Hamlin said. “I had a heck of a time getting around the 64 (David Stremme), which was a lap down. It’s tough. I knew once I got in front of (Harvick), he was going to have to be significantly faster than I was.”
Hamlin started 19th and gradually worked through the field, moving in behind Harvick, the pole sitter, for second. Hamlin got out of the pits faster than Harvick after Bobby Hillin Jr. spun out on the 93rd lap and led 99 of the final 107 laps en route to his fourth Nationwide victory of the year and ninth overall.
He became the eighth driver to win in eight Nationwide races at 1½-mile Kansas Speedway, and the first to lead the most laps.
“We didn’t have a good qualifying spot, but we definitely made the best of it,” Hamlin said. “Our car was not so great at the beginning, probably a mid top-10 car for the first 75 laps, then we had one adjustment and the car really took off.”
Bowyer tried to put the pressure on Hamlin.
He started 17th and worked his way toward the front, moving in behind the leader with just over 30 laps left. Though he never could catch Hamlin, Bowyer still increased his series lead to 196 points over Carl Edwards, who finished fourth. David Ragan was third, Matt Kenseth fifth.
“We want to win more races,” Bowyer said. “You don’t travel across the country and be gone that much from home and not want to win. That’s what we’re here for: we’re racers and we want to win. But we want to win a championship. If I don’t win another race and we have that championship trophy on the mantel, I won’t be a bit sorry and I won’t feel bad about it.”
Harvick ran strong early on, leading 88 of the first 93 laps after earning the pole.
Then things went bad.
A slow pit stop during a caution on Lap 93 gave Hamlin the lead and Harvick spent the next 45 or so laps trying to catch him. Still running second, Harvick told his pit crew with about 60 laps left that he had a dead battery. He had to slow his car for several laps before heading into pit row, then fell a lap behind while the crew changed out the battery. He finished 13th.
Harvick’s day still wasn’t as bad as Kyle Busch’s. It seems his bad luck in Sprint Cup has transferred to the Nationwide Series.
Starting 18th, Busch made a push to the front, positioning himself for a possible run at a ninth Nationwide win this season. Instead, last week’s Nationwide winner stormed off to his hauler after being spun into the wall on Lap 153.
And it was all because of a lug nut. He had one come loose during a pit stop and started slowing his car coming around Turn 4 to go back onto to pit road. Mike Bliss rammed him from behind and car spun into the wall nearly head-on, crumpling the front end, ending his day.
“I had a lug nut come loose and got run over by the 1,” Busch said in typically blunt fashion.
It’s hard to blame him for being sour after the stretch he’s gone through.
The regular-season points leader after winning eight Cup races, Busch dropped 210 points behind Edwards after mechanical failures in New Hampshire and Dover. He proclaimed his Sprint Cup season over after the mishap in Dover and now has a big hill to climb in the Nationwide Series, too, falling 656 points behind Bowyer with five races left.
Mark Martin had some problems of his own.
He was running second when his left rear tire appeared to blow out and spun his car around into the wall on Lap 45. He sat down on the track in obvious pain after getting out of the car, but was able to limp over to a waiting ambulance. Martin was later evaluated and released from the on-track medical center.
“I’m OK — I just took a whipping,” Martin said. “It was a hard lick, but I’m all right.”
Saturday at Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kan.
Lap length: 1.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (19) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 200 laps, 142 rating, 195 points, $84,845.
2. (17) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 200, 114.4, 170, $62,375.
3. (9) David Ragan, Ford, 200, 107.8, 165, $51,650.
4. (4) Carl Edwards, Ford, 200, 106, 160, $40,325.
5. (6) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 200, 116.9, 160, $33,400.
6. (28) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 200, 95.9, 150, $36,018.
7. (8) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 200, 93.6, 146, $29,100.
8. (23) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 200, 92.3, 142, $36,268.
9. (13) Joey Logano, Toyota, 200, 87.9, 138, $32,828.
10. (10) Kelly Bires, Ford, 200, 79.8, 134, $35,793.
11. (16) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 200, 80.5, 135, $33,868.
12. (12) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 200, 98.6, 127, $30,918.
13. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, 123.4, 129, $28,600.
14. (7) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 199, 93.1, 121, $29,858.
15. (26) Mike Wallace, Toyota, 199, 78.5, 118, $30,073.
16. (5) David Reutimann, Toyota, 199, 79.4, 115, $23,170.
17. (3) David Stremme, Chevrolet, 199, 78.8, 112, $29,903.
18. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 199, 78.9, 114, $22,475.
19. (25) Jason Keller, Ford, 199, 67.9, 106, $28,433.
20. (14) Scott Lagasse Jr., Chevrolet, 197, 61.6, 103, $29,223.
21. (11) Bryan Clauson, Dodge, 197, 68.8, 100, $29,113.
22. (34) Mark Green, Chevrolet, 197, 62.3, 97, $28,003.
23. (43) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 197, 49.1, 94, $21,425.
24. (31) Morgan Shepherd, Dodge, 197, 51.5, 91, $27,783.
25. (15) Bobby Hamilton Jr., Ford, 196, 64.6, 88, $28,223.
26. (41) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, 195, 40.2, 85, $27,513.
27. (36) Brandon Whitt, Ford, 195, 43, 82, $27,403.
28. (27) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 195, 54, 79, $27,283.
29. (42) Scott Gaylord, Chevrolet, 194, 38.9, 76, $27,133.
30. (33) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Dodge, 194, 38.6, 73, $20,805.
31. (37) Andrew Ranger, Dodge, 193, 49.8, 75, $26,913.
32. (32) Burney Lamar, Ford, 193, 54.2, 67, $20,310.
33. (38) Eric McClure, Chevrolet, 191, 33.7, 64, $26,668.
34. (22) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 167, 51.7, 66, $26,558.
35. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 153, 84.7, 63, $19,980.
36. (40) Bobby Hillin Jr., Dodge, accident, 90, 38.5, 55, $26,338.
37. (39) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, ignition, 52, 32.8, 52, $26,228.
38. (2) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, accident, 43, 90.2, 49, $21,200.
39. (35) Kenny Hendrick, Chevrolet, brakes, 34, 31.9, 46, $19,565.
40. (30) Kertus Davis, Chevrolet, handling, 20, 35.9, 43, $19,455.
41. (21) Steve Wallace, Chevrolet, engine, 15, 46.4, 40, $25,788.
42. (24) Justin Hobgood, Chevrolet, transmission, 11, 30.1, 37, $19,190.
43. (29) Kevin Lepage, Dodge, transmission, 5, 28.9, 34, $19,064.<
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 122.296 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 27 minutes, 11 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.407 seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K.Harvick 1-30; S.Barrett 31; A.Ranger 32; G.Biffle 33-35; K.Harvick 36-93; D.Hamlin 94-149; M.Kenseth 150; K.Busch 151; K.Harvick 152-153; M.Ambrose 154-157; D.Hamlin 158-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): D.Hamlin, 2 times for 99 laps; K.Harvick, 3 times for 90 laps; M.Ambrose, 1 time for 4 laps; G.Biffle, 1 time for 3 laps; M.Kenseth, 1 time for 1 lap; A.Ranger, 1 time for 1 lap; S.Barrett, 1 time for 1 lap; K.Busch, 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points
1, C.Bowyer, 4,392; 2, C.Edwards, 4,196; 3, Bra.Keselowski, 4,124; 4, M.Bliss, 3,906; 5, D.Ragan, 3,886; 6, D.Reutimann, 3,791; 7, K.Busch, 3,736; 8, M.Wallace, 3,499; 9, J.Leffler, 3,490; 10, M.Ambrose, 3,456.
NASCAR Driver Rating Formula
A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.
The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.
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