2014 STP 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Race 6 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Martinsville Speedway
Date	March 30, 2014 (2014-03-30)
Location	Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, Virginia
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Distance	500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Weather	Mostly cloudy with a temperature around 48 °F (9 °C); wind out of the NNW at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h)
Average speed	72.176 mph (116.156 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	18.998
Most laps led
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	296
Winner
No. 41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox & MRN
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds (Television) Joe Moore and Barney Hall (Booth) Dave Moody (Backstretch) (Radio)
Nielsen Ratings	4.2/10 (Final) 3.8/9 (Overnight) 6.7 Million viewers[9]

The 2014 STP 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on March 30, 2014, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.526 miles (0.847 km) oval, it was the sixth race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kurt Busch won the race, his first win with Stewart-Haas Racing, breaking an 83-race winless streak. Jimmie Johnson finished second, while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano, and Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Austin Dillon (15th), Justin Allgaier (23rd), and Kyle Larson (27th).

Previous week's race

On the final lap of the Auto Club 400, Kyle Busch passed his brother Kurt Busch and held off a hard charging rookie Kyle Larson to win the race.^[10] "Holy cow, what do you expect when you have a green-white-checkered finish and everyone comes down pit road to put on four tires," Busch said. "That's a Days of Thunder thing right there. What do you mean, there's two laps to go, everybody is to pit, Cole. I came off the fourth turn in disbelief that we won this thing, because we were mediocre all day. It was really weird for us, not a race that we're typically used to. But now there's a load off your shoulders that you can go out the rest of the season and race the way you want to."^[10] After winning his first Nationwide Series race the previous day, Larson stated that it had "been a really good weekend" and that he had been battling "probably a 12th place car for most of the day".^[10]

Report

Background

Martinsville Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

The track, Martinsville Speedway, is a four-turn short track that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.^[11] The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, has a zero degree banking.^[11] Like the front stretch, the backstraightaway also doesn't have a banked surface.^[11] The race consisted of 500 laps, equivalent to a race distance of 263 miles (423 km).^[11] The defending race winner was Jimmie Johnson.

Practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first and ultimately, only practice session of the weekend with a time of 18.932 and a speed of 100.021 mph (160.968 km/h).

Qualifying

Kyle Busch scored the pole position.

Kyle Busch won the pole with a time of 18.998 and a speed of 99.674 mph (160.410 km/h).^[12] Busch felt that his car seemed "to be working well right now, whatever is working" but felt that he had "to be a little bit faster. There's still some speed to be gained and some consistency throughout races as well keeping speed throughout a run. There's room for improvement still".^[12] David Reutimann failed to qualify for the race.^[12] Rain washed out the two other practice sessions that were due to be held the day before the race.

Race

Second half

Halfway

Kurt Busch won the race.

The seventh caution of the race flew on lap 219 after Alex Bowman got hit in the rear by Gilliland and rear-ended the wall in turn 4. Earnhardt Jr. stayed out on track while others pitted for tires, and thus took the lead for the restart, on lap 226. A short green-flag run followed before debris in turn 1 brought out the eighth caution of the race on lap 231. Kevin Harvick's run of mechanical mishaps continued when he was forced to pit because of a broken rear-end chain. Earnhardt Jr. still led the field for the restart on lap 238, before Kurt Busch took the lead on lap 243. Johnson returned to the front on lap 245, before the ninth caution of the race flew at the halfway mark, after Ryan Truex was sent spinning into the turn 4 wall. Harvick stayed out to lead a lap before pitting and the lead cycled back to Kenseth for the restart, on lap 258.

Closing stages

Earnhardt Jr. took back the lead on lap 260, before Johnson (lap 265) and Clint Bowyer (lap 284) both went to the head of the race. Johnson retook the lead on lap 288, and held the top spot until the next caution, the 10th, flew on lap 315 after Joe Nemechek hit the wall in turn 4. The race restarted on lap 323, and Johnson stayed out front until the 11th caution of the race flew on lap 340 after Kyle Larson got loose and spun out exiting turn 2. The race restarted on lap 347, with Bowyer and Johnson swapping the lead before a piece of debris brought out the 12th caution of the race on lap 349. Johnson maintained the lead from the restart on lap 358 to the 13th caution of the race, which flew with 90 laps to go after Martin Truex Jr. got turned by Keselowski in turn 2.

Finish

The race restarted with 83 laps to go, with Johnson leading until 51 laps to go, when Bowyer assumed the lead. The 14th caution of the race flew with 42 laps to go after Carl Edwards got loose and spun out in turn 2. Bowyer and Johnson swapped the lead on pit road, as Johnson won the race off to take the lead. The race restarted with 35 laps to go, and was passed by Kurt Busch 7 laps later. Johnson had another spell out front with 18 laps to go, but Kurt Busch took the lead back with 11 laps to go and held off Johnson to end his 83-race winless streak, and achieved his 25th career victory.^[14] Busch stated that he "didn't know if we'd be able to do it, you know? The 48 car is king here, him or the 24", and that he had "been on this journey for a while and every time you come to Martinsville, you just kind of draw a line through it like there's no way I'll be able to challenge those Hendrick guys or be up in the top 10. This Stewart-Haas team gave me a car to do it."^[14] Johnson, who led 296 laps, stated that his car was "so on edge slipping and sliding" and that a "lack of security in our own car kept us from feeling more racy and putting a bumper to someone or really getting inside someone aggressively".^[14]

Media

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 227 3 2 Matt Kenseth 218 (-9) 2 3 Carl Edwards 217 (−10) 1 4 Jeff Gordon 216 (−11) 1 5 Jimmie Johnson 209 (−18) 1 6 Kyle Busch 189 (−38) 3 7 Brad Keselowski 188 (−39) 2 8 Joey Logano 187 (−40) 9 Austin Dillon (R) 179 (−48) 2 10 Ryan Newman 174 (−53) 3 11 Paul Menard 168 (−59) 1 12 Denny Hamlin 165 (−62) 13 Brian Vickers 165 (−62) 6 14 Marcos Ambrose 162 (−65) 2 15 Tony Stewart 154 (−73) 6 16 A. J. Allmendinger 152 (−75)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 268 2 Ford 254 (−14) 3 Toyota 238 (−26) Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes

References