Let’s be honest here. When you look at the finish order and see only eleven cars on the lead lap at the end of the race you would say it was a boring race but that was not the case.
This race came down to just three laps, where Mike Bliss and Brad Keselowski battled it out for the win. It was an exciting finish, and one that Keselowski will remember. I was surprised a bit to see Keselowski battling so hard instead of point racing. It was refreshing.
If my math is correct, and it’s probably not, all Keselowski has to do is start next week’s race to clinch his championship.
The race was capped by a twenty minute red flag after a multi-car pileup on the front stretch. None of the camera’s got the start of it, but it looked to be contact between Ricky Stenhouse and Scott Wimmer.
Tony Raines, Brad Sweet, Brendan Gaughan, Danica Patrick and others were involved.
One such driver was Sean Caisse. Caisse is a very talented young gun who’s trying to catch fire for a full time ride next year. His post accident interview was pure magic. Caisse called out two other drivers for what he deemed “overdriving”. Caisse claimed that Danica Patrick and Brendan Gaughan both “took him three or four wide” and that he had a taste of Talledega out at Gateway. Caisse hasn’t even run double digit Nationwide races yet, and he’s already making friends. I was happy to hear Caisse give us an honest answer, but maybe it was too honest.
Results and more after the JUMP!
***
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Pts | Bns | Driver Rating | Winnings | Status | Tms | Laps |
| 1 | 20 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Discount Tire Dodge | 200 | 190 | 5 | 131.8 | $34,000 | Running | 4 | 83 |
| 2 | 4 | 33 | Mike Bliss | Mad Croc Energy Chevy | 200 | 175 | 5 | 120.5 | $51,468 | Running | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 1 | 12 | Justin Allgaier | Verizon Wireless Dodge | 200 | 175 | 10 | 140.4 | $37,118 | Running | 3 | 88 |
| 4 | 26 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Great Clips Toyota | 200 | 160 | 103.5 | $30,468 | Running | |||
| 5 | 11 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Copart Ford | 200 | 155 | 116.3 | $22,750 | Running | |||
| 6 | 10 | 32 | Reed Sorenson | Dollar General Toyota | 200 | 155 | 5 | 99.4 | $24,218 | Running | 2 | 10 |
| 7 | 6 | 88 | Josh Wise | Realtree Outfitters Chevy | 200 | 151 | 5 | 103.0 | $24,418 | Running | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | 12 | 18 | Brad Coleman | Shore Lodge Toyota | 200 | 142 | 96.3 | $23,343 | Running | |||
| 9 | 2 | 98 | Paul Menard | Mastercraft/Menards Ford | 200 | 138 | 90.7 | $18,500 | Running | |||
| 10 | 24 | 04 | Jeremy Clements | Boudreaux’s Butt Paste Chevy | 200 | 139 | 5 | 85.6 | $18,975 | Running | 1 | 6 |
| 11 | 8 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | Team Wendy Ford | 200 | 130 | 100.1 | $22,943 | Running | |||
| 12 | 7 | 66 | Steve Wallace | 5-hour Energy Toyota | 199 | 127 | 109.7 | $22,818 | Running | |||
| 13 | 19 | 28 | Kenny Wallace | Illinois Corn Farmers Toyota | 199 | 124 | 84.7 | $22,943 | Running | |||
| 14 | 15 | 09 | Brian Scott # | Shore Lodge Ford | 199 | 121 | 76.4 | $23,418 | Running | |||
| 15 | 18 | 99 | Ryan Truex | Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota | 199 | 118 | 84.5 | $23,643 | Running | |||
| 16 | 40 | 01 | Mike Wallace | G-K Services Chevy | 198 | 115 | 58.9 | $22,618 | Running | |||
| 17 | 13 | 27 | Drew Herring | enMotion Ford | 198 | 112 | 71.5 | $22,118 | Running | |||
| 18 | 39 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Victory In Jesus Chevy | 198 | 109 | 53.2 | $22,043 | Running | |||
| 19 | 25 | 42 | Brandon McReynolds | GetMoreVacations.com/Adaptive One NAPA Brakes | 196 | 106 | 48.4 | $15,525 | Running | |||
| 20 | 42 | 23 | Peyton Sellers | Brandt Chevy | 195 | 103 | 46.5 | $16,625 | Running | |||
| 21 | 27 | 15 | Michael Annett | Pilot Flying J Coffee Toyota | 195 | 100 | 64.9 | $21,868 | Running | |||
| 22 | 41 | 7 | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy.com Chevy | 183 | 97 | 52.6 | $21,818 | Running | |||
| 23 | 14 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # | CitiFinancial Ford | 164 | 94 | 55.6 | $22,168 | Running | |||
| 24 | 3 | 20 | Matt DiBenedetto | Bosch Spark Plugs Toyota | 161 | 91 | 81.4 | $22,693 | Engine | |||
| 25 | 29 | 40 | Jeff Green | Key Motorsports Chevy | 157 | 88 | 48.5 | $21,643 | Running | |||
| 26 | 16 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota | 150 | 85 | 72.6 | $21,723 | Running | |||
| 27 | 21 | 70 | Shelby Howard | Foretravel Chevy | 138 | 82 | 52.8 | $15,750 | Running | |||
| 28 | 31 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Gator.com Chevy | 110 | 79 | 52.7 | $21,473 | Engine | |||
| 29 | 38 | 34 | Tony Raines | BeAStockCarDriver.com Chevy | 103 | 76 | 60.5 | $21,438 | Accident | |||
| 30 | 37 | 81 | Michael McDowell | Drive Reply/Vector: John Murphy Tribute Dodge | 103 | 73 | 45.3 | $15,235 | Accident | |||
| 31 | 9 | 11 | Brad Sweet | Great Clips Toyota | 103 | 70 | 62.1 | $21,368 | Accident | |||
| 32 | 32 | 10 | Scott Wimmer | AccuDoc Solutions Toyota | 102 | 67 | 69.2 | $21,333 | Accident | |||
| 33 | 5 | 39 | Sean Caisse | Go Green Racing Ford | 102 | 64 | 66.9 | $15,130 | Accident | |||
| 34 | 34 | 35 | Antonio Perez | TriStar Motorsports Chevy | 72 | 61 | 52.1 | $21,278 | Accident | |||
| 35 | 35 | 79 | Tim Andrews | 2nd Chance Race Parts Ford | 29 | 58 | 42.7 | $14,790 | Brakes | |||
| 36 | 23 | 91 | Chase Miller | D’Hondt-Humphrey Motorsports Chevy | 15 | 55 | 39.2 | $14,770 | Brakes | |||
| 37 | 36 | 89 | Johnny Chapman | Victory in Jesus Chevy | 4 | 52 | 39.1 | $14,745 | Ignition | |||
| 38 | 43 | 92 | Andy Ponstein | K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge | 2 | 49 | 41.1 | $14,705 | Rear Gear | |||
| 39 | 22 | 56 | Kevin Lepage | RaceDaySponsor.com Toyota | 2 | 46 | 39.5 | $14,670 | Vibration | |||
| 40 | 30 | 94 | Carl Long | ApostleSports.com Dodge | 2 | 43 | 37.8 | $14,590 | Electrical | |||
| 41 | 28 | 26 | Brian Keselowski | K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge | 1 | 40 | 36.5 | $14,560 | Engine | |||
| 42 | 17 | 90 | Danny O’Quinn Jr. | D’Hondt-Humphrey Motorsports Chevy | 1 | 37 | 34.9 | $14,530 | Brakes | |||
| 43 | 33 | 36 | Kevin Hamlin | TriStar Motorsports Chevy | 1 | 34 | 33.4 | $14,475 | Brakes |
It was a good run for Trevor Bayne, being the last car on the lead lap. Josh Wise made the most out of his final start for JR Motorsports, collecting a top ten.
Michael McDowell and Shelby Howard both got caught up in the big wreck, so the #81 team was not able to capitalize on early trouble for the #35 Chevy. Here’s the battle for the top thirty:
| 28 | Perez | 35 | 2,773 | 121 | ||
| 29 | Richardson | 23 | 2,767 | 115 | ||
| 30 | Howard | 70 | 2,729 | 77 | ||
| 31 | McDowell | 81 | 2,652 | -77 | ||
| 32 | Allen | 05 | 2,573 | -156 | ||
| 33 | McClure | 24 | 2,406 | -323 |
Next week we head to Texas for the interestingly named O’Reilly Challenge. Join us later in the week for the preview of the thirty-third race of the 2010 season. Enjoy!
