2010 AAA 400
Race details[1][2][3][4] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 28 of 36 in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||||
Date | September 26, 2010 | ||||
Location |
Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware | ||||
Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.0 mi (1.6 km) | ||||
Distance | 400 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||||
Weather | Showers with a high of 73; wind out of the ENE at 14 mph. There is a 40 percent chance of precipitation on race day. | ||||
Average speed | 131.543 miles per hour (211.698 km/h) | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
Time | 23.116 | ||||
Most laps led | |||||
Driver | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |||
Laps | 191 | ||||
Winner | |||||
No. 48 | Jimmie Johnson |
Network | ESPN | ||
Announcers | Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree |
The 2010 AAA 400 was a
There were four cautions and eighteen lead changes among ten different drivers throughout the course of the race. It was Jimmie Johnson's sixth win in the 2010 season, and the fifty-third of his career. The result moved Johnson up to second in the
Report
Background
Before the race,
Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday, and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, while the second session lasted 45 minutes. The third and final session lasted 60 minutes.
Forty-five cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could race because of NASCAR's
On the next morning, David Reutimann was quickest in the second practice session, ahead of Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch in second and third.[15] Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth quickest, and Jimmie Johnson took fifth.[15] Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, and Jeff Gordon followed in the top-ten.[15] Other drivers in the chase, such as Carl Edwards, was twentieth, and Kevin Harvick, who was twenty-sixth.[15] During the third, and final practice session, Joey Logano, with a fastest time of 23.802, was quickest.[16] Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton followed in second and third with times of 23.844 and 23.851 seconds.[16] Matt Kenseth managed to be fourth fastest, ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and Marcos Ambrose.[16] Denny Hamlin was scored seventh, Jimmie Johnson took eighth, A. J. Allmendinger was ninth, and Brad Keselowski.[16]
During the third practice session, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick collided with each other. Once they both drove to the garage, they were talking out of anger from the comments that Denny Hamlin had about Clint Bowyer's penalty after New Hampshire. Once the argument ended, Denny Hamlin stated, "There really was just a lot of cursing. That's all that was being said. There was really nothing logical being said between the two teams."[17] Richard Childress, the owner of the Bowyer's racecar, commented, "When you're talking about comments, you can't win a pissing match with a skunk. There are two things I've learned. One thing is that. The other is that you don't throw stones if you live in a glass house."[17] Afterward, Robin Pemberton commented about the collision by saying, "They just got together in practice, and that's fine. Sometimes you get together in practice like that."[17]
Race
The race, the twenty-eighth out of a total of thirty-six in the
Jimmie Johnson retained his pole position lead into the first corner, followed by A. J. Allmendinger in the second position. Denny Hamlin, who started fourth, had fallen into fifth by the second lap. One lap later, Juan Pablo Montoya moved into fourth, as Ryan Newman emerged in twelfth. After the seventh lap, Johnson remained in first, as Jeff Gordon moved into thirteenth. Allmendinger emerged in first after passing Johnson on lap 14. Mark Martin had gained the most positions, with eleven, by the eighteenth lap. On lap 23, Allmendinger remained the leader ahead of Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. Allmendinger began putting other drivers a lap behind by lap 24, with Mike Bliss. After 28 consecutive laps under the green flag, Allmendinger was 1.2 second ahead of Johnson in the second position. Joe Nemechek was put a lap down on lap 31; Bobby Labonte followed Nemechek six laps later.[18]
Allmendinger's lead of 1.2 seconds was reduced to nothing when the
Johnson followed Montoya, by passing Biffle one lap later for fourth. After the sixty-sixth lap, Allmendinger had led more laps in the race so far than his 107 previous starts. Joey Logano, after starting nineteenth had moved to twelfth by lap 68. Five laps later, Hamlin fell to the eighth position. Stewart, who chose only two tire changes on his first pit stop, had fallen to twentieth after eighty laps. By lap 85, Allmendinger had a 2.9 second lead over Martin Truex Jr. Afterward, Scott Speed was put a lap down and Kurt Busch moved to the fifth spot. On lap 93, Johnson emerged in second after passing Montoya and Truex. Five laps later, Casey Mears went a lap down after Allmendinger passed him. After 104 laps, Carl Edwards rounded out the top-ten positions.[18]
Eight laps later, Allmendinger began green flag pit stops. Truex became the new leader, followed by Logano, Reed Sorenson, and Labonte. On lap 122, Allmendinger reclaimed the first position and extended his lead to over five seconds. On lap 138, Edwards moved to ninth while Truex remained second. Montoya maintained the seventh position until 145, when Edwards passed him. After 147 laps, Hamlin was running in sixth, and Jeff Gordon was tenth. By lap 155, Allmendinger had a 4.3 lead over second place. Clint Bowyer collided with the wall three laps later, and only sustained side damage. On lap 162, Johnson claimed the second position from Truex. Ten laps later, Johnson reclaimed the lead after Allmendinger fell to 27th while making a pit stop. On lap 186, the third caution was given when Matt Kenseth gathered damage from a flat tire because of missing the entrance of pit road. Johnson maintained the first position under the pit stops, ahead of Truex and Kyle Busch. One lap later, Gordon moved into third, as Hamlin fell to sixth.[18]
On lap 202, Kyle Busch reclaimed third away from Gordon. Truex had a loose wheel after pit stops, resulting in him coming to pit road. Once his pit stop completed, his rear axle broke. Edwards, then, passed Gordon for fifth, as Jeff Burton moved into fourth. On lap 219, Gordon had fallen to sixth while his teammate Jimmie Johnson had led sixty-four laps to this point in the race. After 230 laps, there were only nineteen drivers on the same lap as Johnson. Five laps later, Edwards passed Jeff Burton to move into fourth. Afterward, Paul Menard passed Jamie McMurray for the tenth position. By the 249th lap, Johnson had a 3.21 second lead, ahead of Kyle Busch, who collided with the wall once lap later. On lap 266, another set of green flag pit stops began. Afterward, Johnson led Kyle Busch by 1.95 seconds. On lap 290, debris prompted the fourth caution of the race. Kyle Busch passed Johnson during pit stops to lead on the restart.[18]
Two laps later, Logano passed Johnson for the second position. On lap 299, Kyle Busch had a 1.36 second lead over second place. Three laps later, Paul Menard moved into the seventh position while Kurt Busch challenged Jeff Burton for fourth. Johnson then moved into second after passing Logano on lap 320. Less than five laps later, Kevin Harvick complained to his crew about his
Post-race
"Obviously it was the weekend we would dream of. We got the pole, led the most laps and won the race. I had a great car and everybody did their jobs today. I was very pleased with the effort and it came at a good time obviously. We’ve got eight [races] to go and we’ll see where it goes from here."
Jimmie Johnson, speaking after the race.[20]
"It was a mediocre day. I hate that we didn’t run better, but we got close to where we wanted to be leaving Dover. It’s frustrating that we still can’t get a grasp on this race track and didn’t run as well as we did in the spring. But if you told me I’d be taking a 35 point lead out of Dover, I’d take it," said ninth-place finisher, Denny Hamlin.[20] Next, Jeff Burton, who finished second, said:
"We thought we had a really good car coming into the race today. We took off and struggled a little bit with rear grip, and worked all day to get the grip level right. About halfway through that next to last run, my car got really happy and took off. I’m proud of us for getting the car right at the right time. About 15 laps into that next to last run, Jimmie cleared Logano and got really fast. He was just a little quicker than we were today."[20]
Hamlin maintained the
Results
Qualifying
Race results
Standings after the race
|
|
References
- ^ a b "Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ "AAA 400". rotoworld.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ Sporting News Wire Service (24 September 2010). "Johnson bests Allmendinger for Dover pole". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- ^ a b "Race Information". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
- ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 12 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ a b c "NASCAR Tracks—The Dover International Speedway". Dover International Speedway. Archived from the original on 21 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ "Driver's Championship Classification". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "Manufactures' Championship Classification". Jayski.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ "2009 AAA 400". racing-reference.com. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ "Event Schedule". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on 22 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- ^ a b c "Practice One Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- ^ "Qualifying Order". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f "Race Lineup: New Hampshire". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ a b Gelston, Dan (24 September 2010). "Jimmie Johnson takes pole at Dover". USA Today. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Practice Two Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Practice Three Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ a b c Menzer, Joe (25 September 2010). "Feud heats up between Hamlin, RCR in practice". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Race Summary". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ a b c "NASCAR Race Results". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Press Release (27 September 2010). "Jimmie Johnson wins the "AAA 400" NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway". Catchfence. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
- ^ "2010 AAA 400". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "Point Standings". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
- ^ "2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup TV Ratings". Jayski.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-01. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
- ^ "MRN Race Results". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2010.