Truex Battles Trio of Fords to Win Kansas MENCS Race

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KANSAS CITY, KS - RIS  — Danica Patrick's frustrating season continued Saturday night at Kansas Speedway when a broken brake rotor on Joey Logano's car sent them both into the wall and left Aric Almirola nowhere to go. Almirola plowed into Logano's car as it skidded along the wall, the force of the impact sent the rear of the No. 43 into the air. Almirola's car came to rest near the outside fence, and he appeared to tell safety crews he was OK as they cut the roof off to safely get him out.

Almirola was placed on a backboard and taken to the infield care center, then was airlifted to the University of Kansas Medical Center for observation. He was conscious and alert throughout the difficult rescue and is at a Kansas hospital for further observation.

"I'm just saying prayers for Aric," Logano said. "Something broke in our car. I don't know what it was. I noticed it going in and tried to back off, but you're going 215 (mph) and I hooked Danica.

"The right front hopped or something and it took a hard left."

That hard left caught the right rear of Patrick, sending her into the wall. Her car burst into flames as it headed back across the track and finally came to rest along the apron, and Patrick quickly got out of her flaming car and marched away.

When Logano tried to speak to her, Patrick appeared to brusquely brush him off.

"I told him, 'I'm not sure if it was you, but I'm pretty sure it was you.' Then he said it was a failure of some sort, which didn't make me feel better in that moment," Patrick said. "I hope Aric is OK. He's definitely feeling the worst of everybody."

Almirola was running about 10 spots behind Logano and Patrick when the crash occurred. He tried to slam on the brakes and slow down, but he started getting sideways as he made impact. The debris that was scattered across the track caused a red flag, stopping the race for nearly 30 minutes.

Patrick and Logano were running just outside the top 10 with 67 laps to go.

"A lot of us took a hard hit," Logano said. "That's the last thing you want to see."

Overheating brakes had been a problem for several drivers Saturday night. Once the red flag was finally lifted and cars began rolling off, Clint Bowyer told his team over the radio he was concerned about the heat building up in his own brakes.

As for Patrick, it was the third time in four races that her night ended in a wreck. She also crashed out of the season-opening Daytona 500 and had engine trouble at Las Vegas.Patrick talked openly about her frustrations earlier this week, and she bemoaned her rotten luck again Saturday night.

"I don't understand why so much bad luck happens," she said. "I mean, why? What else can I say? On the other hand, I was having a really good night and that's what makes me the most mad. Every time I'm doing better, something stupid happens and I don't know what to say about it."

Truex dominated one of last's years race here, and that ended in frustration.  It was not to be in 2017.

Brad Keselowski made a pass on the final lap to take second, followed by Harvick and Blaney. Kyle Busch finished fifth after winning the Truck Series race Friday night.

The race tied a track record with 15 cautions, and the last of them for a spin involving Jimmie Johnson bunched up the field for a restart with two laps to go. Truex dove to the bottom and roared away from the rest from the rest of the field, ensuring there would be no more misfortune.

It was Truex's ninth career win and second this season. He also won at Las Vegas.

Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne were forced to start near the back because of their qualifying debacle. But all of them quickly sliced through the field, despite an intense glare in the third and fourth corners caused by the setting sun.

Big drama came when Chase Elliott hit Michael McDowell trying to exit his pit, causing damage to the right frontRyan BB of the No. 24 car. Elliott quickly fell off the lead lap.

Pole-sitterRyan Blaney won his third stage of the year, leading the field across the line in his No. 21 Ford moments after Ryan Newman had an oil pump problem that forced him out.

Newman was running in the top 10 before his engine quit.

Johnson had all kinds of trouble during the stage. He was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes entering his own, then made contact with Kurt Busch that caused his tire to go down. Hendrick Motorsports had a rough night.  Kasey Kane was the best finisher at 15th, but Dale Earnhardt, Jr finished 20th, Chase Elliot 24th and Johnson 29th.

Unofficial Race Results for the 7Th Annual Go Bowling 400 - Saturday, May 13, 2017 - Kansas Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Status
1) 3, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 267, 2, 3, 57, 6, 104, 5, Running
2) 17, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Elite Support Ford, 267, 5, , 41, , , , Running
3) 8, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Ford, 267, 7, , 38, 1, 10, , Running
4) 1, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 267, 3, 1, 51, 8, 83, 1, Running
5) 5, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Red Nose Toyota, 267, 1, 5, 48, 2, 59, 1, Running
6) 9, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 267, 4, 2, 47, , , , Running
7) 15, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 STANLEY ACE/CMN Toyota, 267, , , 30, , , , Running
8) 12, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald's Chevrolet, 267, , 4, 36, , , , Running
9) 30, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Mobil 1 Annual Protection Ford, 267, , , 28, 1, 3, , Running
10) 16, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Roush Performance Ford, 267, , , 27, 1, 1, , Running
11) 4, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Go Bowling Ford, 267, , , 26, , , , Running
12) 14, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Circle K Toyota, 267, , 8, 28, , , , Running
13) 35, Michael McDowell, No. 95 Tommy Williams Drywall Chevrolet, 267, , , 24, , , , Running
14) 22, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 Twisted Tea Chevrolet, 267, , , 23, , , , Running
15) 31, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, 267, 9, 7, 28, , , , Running
16) 11, Austin Dillon, No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet, 267, , , 21, , , , Running
17) 34, David Ragan, No. 38 Overton's Ford, 267, , , 20, , , , Running
18) 20, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Scott Products Chevrolet, 267, , , 19, , , , Running
19) 6, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 267, 10, , 19, 1, 3, , Running
20) 33, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Mountain Dew DEW-S-A Chevrolet, 267, , , 17, 1, 2, , Running
21) 36, Landon Cassill, No. 34 A&W Ford, 267, , , 16, , , , Running
22) 32, Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota, 267, , 9, 17, 1, 2, , Running
23) 7, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, 267, 8, 6, 22, , , , Running
24) 29, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 267, 6, , 18, , , , Running
25) 37, Reed Sorenson, No. 15 Harrah's North Kansas City Chevrolet, 267, , , 12, , , , Running
26) 26, Cole Whitt, No. 72 RTIC Coolers Chevrolet, 266, , , 11, , , , Running
27) 38, * Corey LaJoie #, No. 83 Dustless Blasting Toyota, 265, , , 10, , , , Running
28) 39, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 51 Lilly Trucking Chevrolet, 259, , , 0, , , , Running
29) 10, Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 258, , , 8, , , , Running
30) 21, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Dillons ClickList Chevrolet, 257, , , 7, , , , Running
31) 40, *Carl Long(i), No. 66 Poker Palace Chevrolet, 256, , , 0, , , , Running
32) 23, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 IncredibleBank.com Ford, 243, , , 5, , , , Running
33) 27, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Little Joe's Autos/Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, 243, , , 4, , , , Running
34) 25, Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, 231, , , 3, , , , Running
35) 18, Paul Menard, No. 27 FVP/Menards Chevrolet, 202, , , 2, , , , Accident
36) 24, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Wonder Woman/One Cure Ford, 199, , , 1, , , , Accident
37) 2, Joey Logano, No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford, 199, , 10, 2, , , , Accident
38) 13, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 199, , , 1, , , , Accident
39) 28, * Derrike Cope, No. 55 Toyota, 179, , , 1, , , , Engine
40) 19, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 154, , , 1, , , , Oil Pump
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; (#) Rookie; (*) non-charter team

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 24 Mins, 16 Secs
Average Speed: 117.640 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.100 Seconds

Race Comments: Martin Truex Jr. won the 7th Annual Go Bowling 400, his ninth victory in 416 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 32 (tire change), No. 95 (engine change).

Caution Flags: 15 for 61 laps: Laps: 31-34 (No. 34 incident in turn 1 [23]); 51-55 (No. 34 incident on frontstretch [72]); 60-62 (No. 13 spin on backstretch [15]); 82-87 (Stage 1 conclusion [15]); 97-99 (No. 77 spin in turn 2 [34]); 103-105 (debris on the backstretch [33]); 138-143 (No. 83 incident in turn 4 [72]); 148-152 (No. 23 incident in turn 2 [41]); 162-166 (Stage 2 conclusion [17]); 195-198 (No. 27, No. 47 incident in turn 2 [34]); 201-204 (No. 10, No. 22, No. 43 incident in turn 1 [Red Flag: 27:41] [83]); 217-220 (No. 77 incident in turn 2 [15]); 245-248 (No. 83 incident in turn 1 [15]); 260-262 (No. 13, No. 77 incident in turn 4 [88]); 264-265 (No. 11, No. 41, No. 48 incident in turn 1 [34]).

Lead Changes: 21 among 9 drivers: R. Blaney 1-9; M. Truex Jr. 10-52; K. Harvick 53-62; Kyle Busch 63-82; M. Truex Jr. 83-99; Kyle Busch 100-138; R. Blaney 139; C. Bowyer 140-142; R. Blaney 143-163; Kurt Busch 164-166; R. Blaney 167-179; M. Truex Jr. 180-195; R. Blaney 196-198; M. Truex Jr. 199-204; R. Blaney 205-217; D. Earnhardt Jr. 218-219; T. Bayne 220; R. Blaney 221-242; M. Truex Jr. 243-245; E. Jones No.  246-247; R. Blaney 248; M. Truex Jr. 249-267.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Ryan Blaney, No. 21 
Coors Light Pole Award: Ryan Blaney, No. 21 189.6 mph
Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Michael McDowell, No. 95 9 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Roush-Yates Engines, No. 21 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Jamie McMurray, No. 1 crew chief Matt McCall, 0.396 seconds
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Kyle Busch, No. 18 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Daniel Suarez, No. 19