Havoc in the Heartland for many in NASCAR’s Chase

Jimmie Johnson drives the wrecked #48 Lowe's Chevrolet down pit road after an incident in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 21, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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Jimmie Johnson drives the wrecked #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet down pit road after an incident in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 21, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood 400 at Kansas Speedway wasn’t what anyone expected. The first race on new pavement at the 1.5 mile track was chaotic with a record 14 cautions and left more damaged sheetmetal than a race at Bristol.

None of those in the Chase escaped unscathed. Matt Kenseth won his third race of the season, and the second in the Chase with a battered Ford. Brad Keselowski survived the day relatively cleanly in eighth.  Perhaps no one had a harder day than Jimmie Johnson. Johnson crashed on lap 135 yet was able to recover to finish ninth.  At the end of the day the point spread remained the same between the top 2 and only Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne were able to make up ground in the top five, although not a lot.

Brad Keselowski was never a real threat to win, but seemed an incredibly lucky to finish eighth.  BK avoided several of the crashes on the day, including one on lap 181 that he missed by mere inches.  If Keselowski can hold on to win the title he can point to avoiding that accident as one of the reasons.MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.