2014 Toyota Owners 400

2014 Toyota Owners 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 9 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date	April 26, 2014 (2014-04-26)
Location	Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	0.75 miles (1.2 km)
Distance	400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km)
Weather	Sunny, 78 °F (26 °C), 13 mph (21 km/h) winds WSW
Average speed	93.369 mph (150.263 km/h)[10]
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing
Time	21.280 (set by first practice)
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	173
Winner
No. 22	Joey Logano	Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network	Fox & MRN
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds (Television) Joe Moore and Jeff Striegle (Booth) Mike Bagley (Backstretch) (Radio)
Nielsen ratings	3.3/7 (Final) 3.0/7 (Overnight) 5.573 Million viewers[11]

The 2014 Toyota Owners 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on April 26, 2014, at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Contested over 400 laps on the 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped short track, it was the ninth race of the 2014 Sprint Cup Series championship. Joey Logano recorded his fifth career win in this race. Jeff Gordon finished second, while Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (16th), Justin Allgaier (21st), and Austin Dillon (27th).

Report

Practice

Qualifying

Qualifying was rained out so the starting lineup was set by first practice results. Kyle Larson earned his first career pole as a result.^[12] “We came here and tested last year for Goodyear and had a good baseline and was pretty confident with our qualifying trim without getting used to the car yet,’’ Larson said. “Then we switched over to race trim and we were good in that, so excited about that.’’^[12] Dave Blaney and Michael McDowell failed to qualify for the race.^[12]

Race

Kyle Larson led the field to the green at 7:14 p.m., but the field didn't make it to turn 1 before the caution flew on the first lap when Larson drifted down in front of Clint Bowyer before he cleared him and got turned around. To make matters worse, Larson caught the tail end of the field exiting pit road and hit the rear of Landon Cassill but only suffered a minor denting in of the faux grill. While Richmond International Raceway, like Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, isn't very aero-sensitive, the damage was close enough to the actual grill to cause concern. Brad Keselowski took over the lead as a result.

The race restarted on lap eight and the field made it through the lap with no accident.

Kevin Harvick took the lead on lap 32.

A scheduled competition caution (second of the race) flew on lap 41 because of overnight downpours. Travis Kvapil stayed out to lead a lap before making his stop the next lap and handing the lead back to Harvick.

The race restarted on lap 47.

Keselowski retook the lead on lap 56.

Debris in turn 4 brought out the third caution on lap 99. Landon Cassill stayed out to lead a lap before pitting. Jeff Gordon took over the lead.

The race restarted on lap 107.

Cole Whitt had a right-front tire failure on lap 157 and chunks of burning rubber from his car scattered onto the racing surface past the exit of pit road. This brought out the fourth caution of the race on lap 161. Clint Bowyer had a similar tire failure that caught fire and melted the right-front fender of the car. Gordon and Brad Keselowski swapped the lead with the former being pitted behind the start/finish line. He beat Brad off to resume leading the field.

The race restarted on lap 171.

Brad Keselowski took back the lead on lap 173.

Jeff Gordon reclaimed the top spot on lap 209.

The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 226 after Reed Sorenson cut down his right-front tire and missed the entrance to pit road. Gordon swapped the lead on pit road with Joey Logano, but came out the leader.

The race restarted on lap 239.

Joey Logano took back the lead on lap 243.

Jeff Gordon took back the lead on lap 252.

The sixth caution of the race flew on lap 296 after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a right-front tire failure that caught fire after hitting the wall in turn 4. Gordon swapped the lead on pit road with his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., but this time, Jeff Gordon got beat off pit road.

The race restarted with 96 laps to go.

Joey Logano retook the lead with 95 laps to go.

As is the case with short track races, drivers start becoming agitated and more aggressive in the closing stages of the race. Marcos Ambrose found himself being hit from behind on multiple occasions.

Jeff Gordon took back the lead with 63 laps to go.

Matt Kenseth took the lead with 39 laps to go.

Debris in turn 3 brought out the seventh caution of the race with 33 laps to go.

The race restarted with 24 laps to go and the caution flew for the eighth time after Kyle Busch turned into Justin Allgaier and then into his teammate Denny Hamlin to send him spinning in turn 3.

The race restarted with 18 laps to go and Joey Logano got a terrible restart that caused him to hold up the inside line.

The ninth caution of the race flew with 16 laps to go after J. J. Yeley blew his engine in turn 1.

The race restarted with nine laps to go. Matt Kenseth couldn't stave off the two car challenge for the lead with Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski. Gordon got into the rear of Keselowski and this allowed Joey Logano to get back to the lead. He built an insurmountable lead with three laps to go over Jeff Gordon to score the victory.^[13] "It feels great,” said Logano. “I want to start winning some races in the Chase now. These cars right now are so good and (Team) Penske is doing such a great job with these cars right now. I am just the lucky guy that gets to drive these things."^[13] "I had a blast tonight," said Gordon, who remained on top of the point standings. "Great short-track racing here at Richmond. And to have a race car like that to drive from 25th up to the front was so much fun."^[13]

Media

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jeff Gordon 341 2 Matt Kenseth 336 (−5) 3 Carl Edwards 313 (−28) 2 4 Kyle Busch 310 (−31) 1 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 309 (−32) 2 6 Joey Logano 292 (−49) 7 Brad Keselowski 287 (−54) 3 8 Jimmie Johnson 282 (−59) 9 Ryan Newman 272 (−69) 3 10 Brian Vickers 256 (−85) 11 Greg Biffle 256 (−85) 2 12 Austin Dillon (R) 252 (−89) 1 13 Kyle Larson (R) 251 (−90) 1 14 Denny Hamlin 245 (−96) 3 15 Tony Stewart 243 (−98) 1 16 Marcos Ambrose 242 (−99)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 402 2 Ford 389 (−13) 3 Toyota 362 (−40) Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

References