Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Driver Wrestles Ill-Handling Racecar
Date: Oct. 5, 2014
Event: Hollywood Casino 400 (Round 30 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 9th/17th (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 26th with 666 points
Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), wrestled an ill-handling racecar to finish 17th in the Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.
Stewart started ninth and 25 laps into the 267-lap race around the 1.5-mile oval, complained of a lack of rear grip. It was a complaint that never went away, despite constant chassis adjustments during each pit stop.
Stewart persevered, even overcoming being a lap down after 70 laps. Stewart got his lap back and navigated through eight caution periods for 34 laps that bit many of his counterparts.
When the checkered flag dropped, Stewart had a straight Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevy and second straight top-20 finish.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 12th. He started from the pole and led eight times for 61 laps to bring his laps-led total at Kansas to 401. Harvick had to pit late when he felt he had a flat tire. Harvick rallied in the final 50 laps, coming from a lap down where he was mired in 23rd place.
Harvick is representing SHR in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and after Kansas – the fourth race of the 10-race Chase – Harvick is sixth among the 12 remaining Chase drivers, 15 points behind Chase leader Joey Logano.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 16th to record her sixth top-20 result in the last eight races. It was Patrick’s 76th career Sprint Cup start and her fifth at Kansas.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 42nd after a flat tire on lap 76 sent him hard into the turn four wall. Busch was OK, but his racecar was not. Busch was one of three drivers unable to finish the race.
Logano won the Hollywood Casino 400 to score his eighth career Sprint Cup victory, his fifth of the season and his first at Kansas.
Kyle Larson finished .479 of a second behind Logano in the runner-up spot, while Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five. Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Paul Menard and Brian Vickers comprised the remainder of the top-10.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the fifth race of the Chase – is the Bank of America 500 on Oct. 11 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with a pre-race show at 7 p.m.
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