2014 MyAFibStory.com 400

2014 MyAFibStory.com 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 27 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date	September 14, 2014
Location	Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, Illinois
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance	267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.5 km)
Weather	Sunny with a temperature of 63 °F (17 °C); wind out of the southwest at 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
Average speed	142.330 mph (229.058 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	28.207
Most laps led
Driver	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps	79
Winner
No. 2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN & MRN
Announcers	Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree (Television) Joe Moore and Jeff Striegle (Booth) Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4) (Turns) (Radio)
Nielsen Ratings	2.3/5 (Final) 2.1/5 (Overnight) 3.71 Million viewers[11]

The 2014 MyAFibStory.com 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on September 14, 2014, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. The race was 267 laps long, and it was the 27th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the first of the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup. For the second race in a row, Brad Keselowski won the race to take his fifth win of the season and the 16th of his career. Jeff Gordon finished second ahead of rookie Kyle Larson. Joey Logano, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

Previous week's race

Brad Keselowski led 383 (out of 400) laps on his way to his fourth win of the season at the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Keselowski stated in his post-race interview that he had "pinched myself once to make sure I wasn't dreaming. These are nights you don't forget as a driver and you live for", while stating that his car was "just flying" and that he "couldn't ask for a better way to enter the Chase than to win and take the first seed". Clint Bowyer finished third, and failed to overturn the points disadvantage he had, to make the Chase. Bowyer expressed disappointedly that it was "definitely frustrating not making that Chase, but like I said, when you do make the Chase, you want it to be for a championship, not just ride around in it".^[12]

Report

Background

Chicagoland Speedway is a 1.5 miles (2.414 km) tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and currently hosts NASCAR racing including the opening event in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Until 2011, the speedway also hosted the Verizon IndyCar Series, recording numerous close finishes including the closest finish in IndyCar history. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and located adjacent to Route 66 Raceway.

Entry list

The entry list for the MyAFibStory.com 400 was released on Monday, September 8, 2014 at 10:47 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three drivers were entered for the race.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 16 Greg Biffle Roush-Fenway Racing Ford 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush-Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Travis Kvapil Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 37 Mike Bliss (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 66 Joe Nemechek (i) Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 99 Carl Edwards Roush-Fenway Racing Ford Official entry list

Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional

Practice

First practice

Kyle Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.207 and a speed of 191.442 mph (308.096 km/h).^[13]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.207	191.442
2	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.266	191.042
3	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.269	191.022
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Due to heavy rain, qualifying was cancelled and thus, Busch won the pole based on the session's times. He stated that the practice session had "started out slow, but the guys did a real nice job on the M&M's Camry today to get us to where we needed to be". Ryan Newman joined Busch on the front row, while in third place, was Carl Edwards – who missed the front row by 0.003 seconds. Although disappointed to miss the front row, Edwards expressed that he hoped "this is a sign of things to come".^[14]

Starting lineup

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.207
2	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.266
3	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.269
4	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.272
5	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.287
6	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	28.290
7	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.300
8	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.309
9	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.321
10	42	Kyle Larson (R)[N 1]	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	28.331
11	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	28.331
12	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	28.334
13	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.336
14	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	28.353
15	55	Brian Vickers	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	28.372
16	3	Austin Dillon (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.372
17	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	28.408
18	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	28.435
19	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.459
20	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.475
21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	28.499
22	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	28.505
23	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	28.518
24	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.530
25	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	28.548
26	51	Justin Allgaier (R)	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.580
27	78	Martin Truex, Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	28.586
28	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	28.599
29	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	28.659
30	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	28.778
31	83	Ryan Truex (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	28.962
32	95	Michael McDowell	Leavine Family Racing	Ford	29.001
33	26	Cole Whitt (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	29.044
34	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	Chevrolet	29.072
35	36	Reed Sorenson	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	29.154
36	7	Michael Annett (R)	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	29.154
37	23	Alex Bowman (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	29.180
38	40	Landon Cassill	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	29.192
39	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	29.200
40	37	Mike Bliss	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	29.225
41	66	Joe Nemechek	Identity Ventures Racing	Toyota	29.637
42	33	Travis Kvapil	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	29.726
43	32	Joey Gase	Go FAS Racing	Ford	30.516
Official starting lineup

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Paul Menard was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.606 and a speed of 188.772 mph (303.799 km/h).^[16] Kyle Larson was forced to go to a backup car after his primary car cut a left-front tire and hit the wall in turn two.^[15] As this change occurred after qualifying, it meant that Larson had to start the race from the rear of the field.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.606	188.772
2	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.757	187.780
3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	28.768	187.709
Official second practice results

Final practice

Carl Edwards was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.968 and a speed of 186.413 mph (300.003 km/h).^[17]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.968	186.413
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	28.980	186.335
3	42	Kyle Larson (R)	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	29.045	185.918
Official final practice results

Race

First half

Start

The race was scheduled to start at 2:16 p.m. Eastern time but started five minutes later when Kyle Busch led the field to the green. Busch held the lead for the first portion of the race, until Jeff Gordon took the lead on lap 28. Jamie McMurray took the lead from Gordon on lap 41, and held the lead until the first set of green flag pit stops during the race, when he ceded the lead to Brad Keselowski, on lap 46. Keselowski's stay out front was short-lived, as he pitted two laps later, and the lead cycled back to McMurray. The first caution of the race came out at around quarter-distance, caused by debris in turn two. Kyle Busch won the race off pit road, and thus retook the lead from McMurray, for the restart on lap 73. Three laps after the restart, McMurray scraped the wall upon exiting turn 2, but was able to maintain position despite that.

Gordon retook the lead from Busch on lap 89, and held the lead until the race went under neutralized yellow flag conditions for the second time, on lap 98, after Ryan Newman's car cut a left-front tire, exiting turn 4. The layout of the Chicagoland Speedway meant that Newman was unable to hit pit road instantaneously after the blowout, necessitating the yellow flag. Prior to the yellow flag, Justin Allgaier also hit the wall, but was able to continue. McMurray led the field out of the pits, after he took only two tires at his pit stop. Under caution, the shifter handle on the No. 47 car of A. J. Allmendinger broke, akin to what happened to Jimmie Johnson at the Pure Michigan 400 the previous month. McMurray led to the restart on lap 105, but Keselowski retook the lead on lap 108.

Second half

Keselowski held the lead throughout the next stint, and only gave up the lead, to make a scheduled green flag pit stop, on lap 150. This gave the head of the race to Jimmie Johnson, but Johnson pitted the next lap to give the lead back to Keselowski. However, Kevin Harvick drove past Keselowski almost immediately thereafter, to take the lead for the first time in the race. Harvick held the lead until the next caution, the race's third, on lap 181. The caution came after a piece of energy absorbing foam from the SAFER barrier protection blocks had broken free. Keselowski came off pit road in second place behind Harvick, but had to make another stop for a missing lug nut, prior to the lap 187 restart. Kyle Larson took the lead from Harvick with 39 laps to go, before pitting a lap later, and passed the lead onto Aric Almirola.

Final laps

Almirola made his final stop as the caution came out with 36 laps to go after Carl Edwards' car cut down a left-rear tire, and Larson cycled back to the lead in the process. While pitting, Almirola blew his car's engine, and he retired from the race. Almirola later described himself as "heartbroken" with the result.^[18] The race restarted with 30 laps to go, but only ran for a handful of laps before Clint Bowyer brought out the fifth caution of the race, with 23 laps to go, after he hit the wall in turn 1. The race restarted with 18 laps to go, and Harvick retook the lead from Larson before Keselowski moved to the head of the race the following lap. The caution flags flew for the sixth time with ten laps to go after Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Danica Patrick made contact on the front stretch. Upon exiting her car, Patrick stated that she "talked with Ricky afterward and we're fine".^[19] The race restarted with six laps to go and Brad Keselowski coasted on to victory lane, for his second successive win.^[20][21] Keselowski expressed his delight at the result, stating that he "was waiting for an opportunity to strike and it came. The car stuck and everything came together".^[22]

Race results

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	25	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	267	47
2	8	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	43
3	10	42	Kyle Larson (R)	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	267	42
4	28	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	267	40
5	12	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	267	41
6	24	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	38
7	1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	38
8	14	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	267	36
9	11	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	267	36
10	5	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	267	34
11	13	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	33
12	7	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	32
13	19	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	267	31
14	27	78	Martin Truex, Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	267	30
15	2	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	267	29
16	15	3	Austin Dillon (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	267	28
17	4	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	267	27
18	22	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	267	26
19	18	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	267	25
20	3	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	266	24
21	9	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	266	23
22	17	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	265	22
23	20	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	265	21
24	16	55	Brian Vickers	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	265	20
25	21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	265	19
26	29	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	264	18
27	26	51	Justin Allgaier (R)	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	264	17
28	38	40	Landon Cassill	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	263	0
29	36	36	Reed Sorenson	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	262	15
30	33	26	Cole Whitt (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	262	14
31	39	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	262	13
32	32	95	Michael McDowell	Leavine Family Racing	Ford	262	12
33	34	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	Chevrolet	262	11
34	30	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	261	10
35	37	23	Alex Bowman (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	261	9
36	41	66	Joe Nemechek	Identity Ventures Racing	Toyota	258	0
37	43	32	Joey Gase	Go FAS Racing	Ford	257	0
38	42	33	Travis Kvapil	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	256	6
39	6	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	244	5
40	35	7	Michael Annett (R)	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	233	4
41	23	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	230	4
42	31	83	Ryan Truex (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	184	2
43	40	37	Mike Bliss	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	13	0

Race statistics

• 18 lead changes among different drivers
• 6 cautions for 28 laps
• Time of race: 2:48:50
• Brad Keselowski won his third race

Media

Television

ESPN
Booth announcers	Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Allen Bestwick Color-commentator: Dale Jarrett Color commentator: Andy Petree	Jerry Punch Dave Burns Vince Welch Jamie Little

Radio

MRN Radio
Booth announcers	Turn announcers	Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore Announcer: Jeff Striegle	Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley	Winston Kelly Steve Post Alex Hayden Pete Pistone

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Brad Keselowski 2,059 2 Jeff Gordon 2,052 (−7) 2 3 Joey Logano 2,049 (−10) 2 4 Kevin Harvick 2,047 (−12) 2 5 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2,042 (−17) 3 6 Denny Hamlin 2,041 (−18) 1 7 Kyle Busch 2,041 (−18) 4 8 Jimmie Johnson 2,041 (−18) 1 9 Kurt Busch 2,039 (−20) 4 10 Matt Kenseth 2,034 (−25) 11 Kasey Kahne 2,034 (−25) 5 12 Carl Edwards 2,030 (−29) 3 13 Ryan Newman 2,029 (−30) 1 14 A. J. Allmendinger 2,025 (−34) 15 Greg Biffle 2,021 (−38) 4 16 Aric Almirola 2,007 (−52)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 1,209 2 Ford 1,183 (−26) 3 Toyota 1,085 (−124) Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

Note

1. Kyle Larson started at the rear of the field, after crashing his primary car during the second practice session.^[15]

References

1. "2014 Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
2. "Chicagoland Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
3. "Entry List". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 8, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
4. "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 12, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
5. "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 12, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
6. "Second Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 13, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
7. "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 13, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
8. "MyAFibStory.com 400 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 14, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
9. "Points Standings". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 14, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
10. "Manufacturer Standings". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 14, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
11. Paulsen (September 16, 2014). "Sprint Cup TV Ratings: Chase For the Cup Starts Slowly". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
12. Pistone, Pete (September 6, 2014). "Keselowski Grabs No. 1 Seed". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
13. "Friday's practice recaps from Chicagoland". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 12, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
14. Pistone, Pete (September 12, 2014). "Chicago Qualifying Rained Out". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
15. "Saturday's practice recaps from Chicagoland". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 13, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
16. Bonkowski, Jerry (September 13, 2014). "Sprint Cup practice speeds slower Saturday morning at Chicagoland, Paul Menard tops at 188.772 mph". motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
17. Bonkowski, Jerry (September 13, 2014). "Carl Edwards leads final Sprint Cup practice, Keselowski up to speed, Danica 5th-fastest". motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
18. Utter, Jim (September 14, 2014). "Brad Keselowski pulls away to win at Chicagoland Speedway". ThatsRacin.com. The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
19. Owens, Jeff (September 14, 2014). "Brad Keselowski makes spectacular pass to win Chase opener". SportingNews.com. Sporting News. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
20. Gluck, Jeff (September 14, 2014). "Brad Keselowski wins at Chicagoland to kick off Chase". usatoday.com. Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
21. Long, Dustin (September 14, 2014). "Keselowski Strikes First". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
22. Fryer, Jenna (September 14, 2014). "Keselowski wins opening round of NASCAR's Chase". racing.ap.org. The Associated Press. Retrieved September 14, 2014.