Motor Racing Digest

Posted by: Anne-Marie Rhodes, Follow @annemarierhodes

What a finish tonight at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600.  After a long and very hot night with five to go the leader board looked like this…

Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, Denny Hamlin

Shortly after Jimmie Johnson blew an engine and headed to the garage.  The next restart had Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading the pack, then Kasey Kahne ran out of fuel and fell back causing a ripple effect of spinning behind him.  A caution was not thrown as Dale Earnhardt Jr. then took the lead.  Coming around the track it looked like victory was soon in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s hands.  Unfortunately with very little track left to race, Earnhardt Jr. ran out of fuel.

After the race Earnhardt Jr. shared, “We weren’t supposed to make it, we played our hand and that’s what we were gonna do.  I tried to save gas.  I know all our fans were disappointed.  If we would’ve won that race it would’ve been a gift.  We’ll be around for a long time and we’ll get a win.”

Shooting past Dale Earnhardt Jr. was Kevin Harvick and he took the checkered flag.

What a day in racing.  Earlier in the day the leader of the Indy 500 (JR Hildebrand) comes around the turn clearly about to win the race and then runs up and hits the wall while the second place finisher (Dan Wheldon ) sneaks by and wins.  Now tonight in the Coca-Cola 600 the leader runs out of fuel and the second place drivers takes the win again for the day.  Another strange comparison was that both leaders of both races were National Guard cars.

You just never know what a day will bring in the world of motor sports.

Top Ten Finishers: Kevin Harvick, David Ragan, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, A J Allmendiner, Marcos Ambrose, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Regan Smith, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin

 

Facts After the Fact:

Kevin Harvick won the 52nd Annual COCA-COLA 600, his 17th victory in 370 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.  This is his third victory and seventh top-10 finish in 2011.  This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 21 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

David Ragan (second) posted his third top-10 finish in nine races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2011.

Joey Logano (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in five races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Carl Edwards leads the point standings by 36 points over Kevin Harvick.