Date: Aug. 24, 2013
Event: Irwin Tools Night Race (Round 24 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
Winner: Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
SHR Finish:
Mark Martin (Started 11th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 497 of 500 laps)
Ryan Newman (Started 8th, Finished 21st / Running, completed 497 of 500 laps)
Danica Patrick (Started 22nd, Finished 26th / Running, completed 493 of 500 laps)
SHR Points:
Ryan Newman (15th with 659 points, 162 out of first; 26 behind 10th)
Tony Stewart (19th with 594 points, 227 out of first; 91 behind 10th)
Danica Patrick (27th with 436 points, 385 out of first; 249 behind 10th)
No. 14 car owner points (13th with 677 points, 144 out of first; 8 behind 10th)
Mark Martin led the way for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) Saturday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway by finishing 20th in the Irwin Tools Night Race.
Martin, interim driver of SHR’s No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS as he subs for the injured Tony Stewart, scored his 33rd top-20 in 47 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the .533-mile oval.
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 21st after spending the majority of the race among the top-10. Newman was one of eight drivers involved in a multi-car accident on lap 448. He was able to complete the race, but finished three laps down.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Go Daddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 26th. It was Patrick’s 34th career Sprint Cup start and her third at Bristol.
Matt Kenseth won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his 29th career Sprint Cup victory, his fifth of the season and his third at Bristol.
Kasey Kahne finished .188 of a second behind Kenseth in the runner-up spot, while Juan Pablo Montoya, Brian Vickers and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five. Paul Menard, Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 11 caution periods for 74 laps, with six drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.
With round 24 of 36 complete, Newman leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He maintained his 15th-place standing and has 659 points, 162 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and 26 behind 10th-place Logano. Patrick maintained her 27th-place standing and has 436 points, 385 behind Johnson and 249 away from Logano.
The No. 14 car is 13th in the Sprint Cup owner standings with 677 points, 144 behind the series-leading No. 48 team of Hendrick Motorsports but only eight points behind the 10th-place No. 22 team of Penske Racing. Stewart, out of the car indefinitely, dropped to 19th in points. He has 594 points, 227 out of first and 91 behind 10th-place Logano.
Just two races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins. In the event of multiple drivers having the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.
Martin Truex Jr., who is 14th in points, has the first wild card via his win earlier this season at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Newman holds the second wild card as he is 15th in points with one victory, earned in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Stewart is next in line for the wild card by virtue of his victory at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and 19th-place point standing.
Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished eight spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 18th.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the AdvoCare 500 on Sunday, Sept. 1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.
