2014 Duck Commander 500

2014 Duck Commander 500
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 7 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season

Date April 7, 2014
Location Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 340 laps, 510.000 mi (820.765 km)
Scheduled Distance334 laps, 501.000 mi (806.281 km)
WeatherPartly cloudy with a temperature of 55 °F (13 °C), wind out of the northwest at 10 mph (16 km/h)
Average speed 134.191 mph (215.959 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing
Time 27.628
Most laps led
Driver Joey Logano Team Penske
Laps 108
Winner
No. 22
 Joey Logano
 Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network Fox & PRN
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds (Television)
Doug Rice and Mark Garrow (Booth)
Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Brad Gillie (3 & 4) (Turns) (Radio)
Nielsen Ratings 2.4/4 (Final)
2.1/4 (Overnight)
3.8 Million viewers[10]

The 2014 Duck Commander 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on April 7, 2014, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 340 laps – extended from 334 laps, due to a green–white–checker finish – on the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad-oval, it was the seventh race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Joey Logano of Team Penske won the race, while Jeff Gordon finished second and Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, and the best placed rookie Kyle Larson rounded out the top five. After Larson, the top rookies of the race were Austin Dillon in 21st, and Justin Allgaier in 24th place.

Previous week's race

Kurt Busch took the lead with ten laps to go and held off Jimmie Johnson to end an 83-race winless streak drought, and score his 25th career victory in the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.[11] Busch stated that he "didn't know if we'd be able to do it, you know? The 48 car is king here, him or the 24", and that he had "been on this journey for a while and every time you come to Martinsville, you just kind of draw a line through it like there's no way I'll be able to challenge those Hendrick guys or be up in the top 10. This Stewart-Haas team gave me a car to do it."[11] Johnson, who led 296 laps, stated that his car was "so on edge slipping and sliding" and that a "lack of security in our own car kept us from feeling more racy and putting a bumper to someone or really getting inside someone aggressively".[11]

Report

Texas Motor Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

Background

Texas Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[12] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is five degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has a five degree banking.[12] The racetrack has a permanent capacity of 138,122 spectators, and an infield capacity of 53,000.[12] The defending champion from 2013 was Kyle Busch.

Entry list

The entry list for the Duck Commander 500 was released on Tuesday, April 1 at 10:16 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-six cars were included on the initial list. J. J. Yeley, who wasn't running for points in the Sprint Cup Series, was a post cutoff entry (13 days prior to the race) and wouldn't have received owners points had he made the race which he didn't.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
16 Greg Biffle Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Trevor Bayne (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota
24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26 Cole Whitt (R) Swan Racing Toyota
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
30 Parker Kligerman (R) Swan Racing Toyota
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford
33 David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet
34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford
35 David Reutimann Front Row Motorsports Ford
36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford
40 Landon Cassill (i) Circle Sport Chevrolet
41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
44 J. J. Yeley (i) Team XTREME Racing Chevrolet
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
66 Joe Nemechek (i) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford
78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford
98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet
99 Carl Edwards Roush-Fenway Racing Ford
Official entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for points
(PC#) Past champions provisional

Practice

First practice

Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.945 and a speed of 193.237 mph (310.985 km/h). During first practice, Kurt Busch cut his left-rear tire and went nose first into the wall in turn 3. This necessitated rolling out his backup car along with David Ragan who went spinning through the infield and destroyed the nose of his car. Because these changes took place before qualifying, neither had to start from the rear.

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.945 193.237
2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.117 192.055
3 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.189 191.564
Official first practice results

Final practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 27.745 and a speed of 194.630 mph (313.227 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.745 194.630
2 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.747 194.616
3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.788 194.328
Official final practice results

Qualifying

Tony Stewart won the pole with a time of 27.628 and a speed of 195.454 mph (314.553 km/h).[13] Stewart stated that his entire team had "been doing an awesome job", and this his pole position was "the first time I've been able to do something impressive for the team, so I'm excited about that".[13] Brad Keselowski joined Stewart on the front row, expressing that he had "put down a great lap" and that he "didn't see that coming".[13] Four drivers failed to qualify, with Ryan Truex, David Stremme, J. J. Yeley, and Joe Nemechek not making the field.[13]

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.622 27.581 27.628
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.574 27.638 27.633
3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.234 27.593 27.650
4 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.576 27.518 27.735
5 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.423 27.705 27.744
6 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.689 27.792 27.746
7 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.345 27.678 27.763
8 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.470 27.714 27.815
9 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.562 27.796 27.827
10 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.506 27.640 27.872
11 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.474 27.746 27.961
12 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.620 27.686 28.112
13 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.679 27.798 —
14 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.634 27.823 —
15 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.657 27.832 —
16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.522 27.834 —
17 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.629 27.894 —
18 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 27.530 27.908 —
19 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.498 27.928 —
20 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.432 27.957 —
21 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 27.624 27.957 —
22 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 27.656 27.982 —
23 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.651 28.013 —
24 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.555 28.014 —
25 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.694 — —
26 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.744 — —
27 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 27.749 — —
28 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Toyota 27.752 — —
29 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.758 — —
30 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 27.770 — —
31 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.772 — —
32 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.831 — —
33 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 27.891 — —
34 35 David Reutimann Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.986 — —
35 77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 28.049 — —
36 30 Parker Kligerman (R) Swan Racing Toyota 28.093 — —
37 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 28.100 — —
38 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.162 — —
39 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.180 — —
40 40 Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.212 — —
41 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 28.238 — —
42 26 Cole Whitt (R) Swan Racing Toyota 28.566 — —
43 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.748 — —
Did not qualify
44 33 David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.308 — —
45 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.511 — —
46 66 Joe Nemechek Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 28.634 — —
47 44 J. J. Yeley Team XTREME Racing Chevrolet 29.120 — —
Official qualifying results

Race

The race was scheduled to start at 3:16 p.m. Eastern time, but was delayed by rain.[14] NASCAR subsequently moved the race to Monday, with an expected start time of 12:00 p.m. Eastern time.[15]

The race began under caution at 12:11 p.m. with Tony Stewart leading the field. These were the first laps he led all season. During the caution period, one of the jet dryers on the backstretch caused the hood pins of Brad Keselowski's car to come off, knocking up the hood and subsequently forcing him and Ryan Newman to pit to fix it. Just like a real jet engine, the jet dryers that are used to dry the race track blow hot air at very high pressure. Even though the race was already underway, he and Newman were allowed to retake their original spots in the running order. Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch also pitted to check out the hoods of their cars.

After ten laps of caution to start the race, the green flag waived with Stewart leading the way. Only two laps later, the second caution of the race flew after points leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr. cut through the grass in the tri-oval which was very wet from two days of downpours. The car went straight into the wall hard and came to a stop on the apron in turn 2.[16] “I was following the 43 (Aric Almirola) and just didn’t see the grass,’’ Earnhardt said. “That’s the thing with these cars is you can’t really see good at that angle, so I didn’t have a good visual where the grass was. Just a mistake on my part. I didn’t know I was that close to the grass. I’m disappointed. I don’t like it when I made the mistake there. That’s going to bother me for a while.’’[16] Jimmie Johnson, who was riding behind his teammate, sustained heavy damage to his nose and caved in the windshield. These cars have a Lexan glass behind the glass windshield to protect the driver.

The race restarted on lap 25. Kevin Harvick led a lap before handing the lead back to his teammate (and owner), but for the fifth straight race, his car had a mechanical failure (engine failure) on lap 29 that took him out of the race.

The third caution of the race flew on lap 49 (competition caution). Reed Sorenson stayed out to lead a lap under the caution before making his stop.

The race restarted on lap 54 with Tony Stewart leading the way.

On lap 71, Stewart became the all-time leader in laps led at Texas Motor Speedway.

Brad Keselowski took the lead on lap 78.

Keselowski surrendered the lead to make his pit stop on lap 97 and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon.

Gordon made his stop on lap 99 and the lead cycled back to Brad.

Denny Hamlin took the lead on lap 123.

Hamlin gave up the lead to pit on lap 142 and Jeff Gordon retook the lead. Denny had to serve a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road.

Gordon pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Kyle Busch. He didn't stay in front for long as Jeff passed him for the lead on lap 154.

The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 176 after Kurt Busch went sliding through the grass on the front stretch trying to slow down to hit pit road.

The race restarted on lap 184. Brad Keselowski edged out Jeff Gordon at the line to take the lead.

The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 214 after Kurt Busch cut down his left-rear tire and spun out in turn 1.

The race restarted on lap 227 and Joey Logano took the lead from his teammate.

Debris on the front stretch brought out the sixth caution with 80 laps to go.

The race restarted with 74 laps to go.

Logano hit pit road with 34 laps to go and handed the lead to Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin ducked onto pit road the next lap and handed the lead to Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer gave up the lead the next lap to pit and Joey Logano cycled back to the lead.

A third cut down left-rear tire from Kurt Busch's car brought out the seventh caution of the race with two laps to go. Jeff Gordon exited pit road as the leader by taking just two right-side tires. Brad Keselowski exited fourth, but was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road. He would end up finishing 15th.

The race restarted with two laps to go (past its scheduled distance).

Joey Logano passed Jeff Gordon on the final lap to score the victory.[17] "Talk about a lot of emotion," Logano said. "You feel like you are about to win the race and then the caution comes out when you come to take the white and you’re like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.'"[17] “That was a great battle,” said Gordon. “At one point I thought we had a shot at it. We got a pretty good restart. Joey was right on me and I was pretty loose in one and two, and I wish I had gone a little bit higher in three and four. But, he got that run off of four and he got in the back of me, and I thought I was going to wreck, so at that point I was like second would be good."[17]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 10 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 340 48
2 12 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 340 43
3 29 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 340 42
4 23 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 340 40
5 14 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 340 39
6 4 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 340 38
7 26 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 340 37
8 25 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 340 37
9 13 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 340 35
10 1 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 340 35
11 32 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 340 33
12 17 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 340 32
13 6 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 340 32
14 5 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 340 30
15 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 340 30
16 8 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 340 28
17 15 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 340 27
18 18 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 340 26
19 7 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 339 0
20 9 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 339 24
21 20 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 339 23
22 39 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 339 22
23 33 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 339 21
24 22 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 339 20
25 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 338 19
26 31 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 338 18
27 24 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 338 17
28 21 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 338 16
29 27 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 337 15
30 28 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 335 14
31 42 26 Cole Whitt (R) Swan Racing Toyota 335 13
32 30 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 335 12
33 38 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 334 12
34 40 40 Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 334 0
35 43 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 334 9
36 41 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 333 8
37 37 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 332 7
38 34 35 David Reutimann Front Row Motorsports Ford 332 6
39 11 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 327 5
40 36 30 Parker Kligerman (R) Swan Racing Toyota 313 4
41 35 77 Dave Blaney Humphrey Racing Ford 272 3
42 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28 3
43 19 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12 1

Media

Television

Fox Sports
Booth announcersPit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Larry McReynolds
Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip 		Matt Yocum
Steve Byrnes
Krista Voda
Jeff Hammond

Radio

PRN Radio
Booth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice
Announcer: Mark Garrow 		Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright
Turns 3 & 4: Brad Gillie 		Brett McMillan
Steve Richards
Wendy Venturini
Pat Patterson

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
3 1 Jeff Gordon 259
2 Matt Kenseth 255 (−4)
3 Carl Edwards 247 (−12)
4 4 Joey Logano 235 (−24)
1 5 Kyle Busch 231 (−28)
5 6 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 228 (−31)
2 7 Jimmie Johnson 228 (−31)
1 8 Brad Keselowski 218 (−41)
4 9 Brian Vickers 205 (−54)
1 10 Paul Menard 203 (−56)
1 11 Ryan Newman 202 (−57)
3 12 Austin Dillon (R) 202 (−57)
1 13 Denny Hamlin 197 (−62)
1 14 Tony Stewart 189 (−70)
4 15 Kyle Larson (R) 187 (−72)
2 16 Greg Biffle 187 (−72)
Manufacturers' Championship standings
Pos Manufacturer Points
1 Chevrolet 311
2 Ford 302 (−9)
3 Toyota 280 (−31)
  • Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

References

  1. ↑ "Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Texas Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Entry List". jayski.com. NASCAR Statistics. March 31, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  4. ↑ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 4, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 5, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Qualifying Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 5, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Duck Commander 500 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 7, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Points Standings". jayski.com. NASCAR Statistics. April 7, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Manufacturer Standings". jayski.com. NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications. April 7, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  10. ↑ Paulsen (April 11, 2014). "TV Ratings: F1 Viewership Best on Cable in 10 Years (Also: PGA/NBC, NASCAR/FOX)". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Pistone, Pete (March 30, 2014). "Kurt Busch Back in Victory Lane". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Track Facts". Texas Motor Speedway. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Long, Dustin (April 5, 2014). "Stewart Scores Texas Pole". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  14. ↑ "NASCAR race at Texas delayed by rain". The Kansas City Star. April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  15. ↑ Long, Dustin (April 6, 2014). "Rain Postpones Texas Race". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Long, Dustin (April 7, 2014). "Dale Jr. Exits Early after Mistake". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Pistone, Pete (April 7, 2014). "Logano Lone Star Winner". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
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2014 STP 500		 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
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2014 Bojangles' Southern 500