Richmond Delivers – Toyota Owners 400 Recap

Last September Richmond International Raceway produced one of NASCAR’s most controversial races in series history. ‘Spin-gate’ as it was later called overshadowed a great night of racing when Clint Bowyer apparently spun out on purpose to draw a caution in effort to help, Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr race his way into the Chase. As we all know, NASCAR was forced to hand down several major penalties that included kicking Truex Jr out of the Chase while adding both Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon to an expanded 13 car field. NASCAR’s fair competition rules were tested and ultimately the on-track racing that Richmond produced was overshadowed by the dramatic events that unfolded.

Last night, Richmond International Raceway delivered yet again. Only this time, the drama and controversy was just the type NASCAR wanted. By the time the night had ended, tempers had reached a boiling point and punches had been thrown which was the product of an exciting night of racing. Even GoodYear’s nagging tire issues that contributed to several tire blowouts at the end of long green flag runs could not overshadow the thrilling racing Richmond produced on Saturday night.

Everything started when something broke in the #30 car of J.J Yeley that spilled oil on the track and brought out a caution with 14 laps to go. Before the caution waived, Matt Kenseth had recently wrestled the lead away from Jeff Gordon and was closing in on his first win of the season. Gordon had been the most dominate car of the night but Kenseth had the field beat by about 1-2 tenths per lap on the long runs. With a restart looming, it appeared to play into the hands of Gordon who had the best car on short runs. As cars lined up for the final restart, it appeared the stage was set for an epic shootout between Gordon and Kenseth for the win. A stage for two drivers that already had a history of on-track altercations.

Once the green flag waived with 8 laps to go, Brad Keselowski attempted to spoil the party. As Gordon was working on the back bumper of Kenseth, Keselowski’s #2 car stormed to the outside of both drivers and nearly took the lead. Kenseth was doing everything possible to keep Keselowski behind him and cut him off several times. At one point Kenseth, Gordon, and Keselowski were 3 wide in a battle for the lead. As those 3 drivers banged off each other, Joey Logano arrived to the party and quickly took advantage of the situation. Logano passed all 3 cars on the bottom of the racetrack and pull ahead to lead the final 4 laps to earn his 2nd victory of the season.

While Logano paced the field for those final 4 laps, the drama was still unfolding behind him. Keselowski had reached a boiling point with Kenseth and got into the back of the #20 car several times which nearly took both drivers out of the race. Further back in the pack, Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears were having their own Boston Tea Party. Once the checkered flag dropped, Keselowski jumped on the brakes in one last attempt to show his displeasure with Kenseth. Not only did Kenseth run into the back of Keselowski, but both Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr got a piece of unnecessary sheet metal damage. Dale Earnhardt Jr would later express his displeasure with the incident in his post-race interview.

Moments later as drivers got out of their cars, Keselowski quickly made his way down to the #20 pit to point a finger at Kenseth. Meanwhile Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose were already having words. Mears appeared to grab the Australian’s race suit and Ambrose responded with a right hook that connected to left side of Mear’s head. Pit crew members from both teams quickly stepped in to break things up. As the camera turned again, fireworks were blasting into the air as Logano celebrated in victory lane. Logano had actually walked to victory lane after he blew the entire right wheel off of the car in burnouts during his victory lap celebration.

For the fans, it was just what Saturday night racing is supposed to be about. Richmond had produced 400 laps of good racing that was highlighted by an 8 lap showdown with remarkable racing among the leaders for the victory. There was beating and banging, there were tempers, and there was punches thrown. It was the perfect scene for a Saturday night race under the lights and this time nothing would overshadow the great racing that Richmond delivered.