2011 STP 400
# 2011 STP 400

The 2011 STP 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series motor race held on June 5, 2011 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) asphalt D-oval, it was the 13th race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing won the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second, and Denny Hamlin finished third.

## Report

### Background

Kansas Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Kansas Speedway is a four-turn D-shaped oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. The track's turns are banked at fifteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is 10.4 degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, is at only five degrees. The racetrack has seats for 82,000 spectators.

Before the race, Carl Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 445 points, and Kevin Harvick stood in second with 409. Jimmie Johnson was third in the Drivers' Championship with 408 points, six ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and sixteen ahead of Kyle Busch in fourth and fifth. Kurt Busch with 377 was three ahead of Matt Kenseth, as Clint Bowyer with 365 points, was nine ahead of Tony Stewart, and twelve in front of Ryan Newman. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 83 points, six ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 64 points, was 24 points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.

### Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions were held before the race on Friday. The first session lasted 80 minutes long, while the second was 90 minutes long. Greg Biffle was quickest with a time of 31.917 seconds in the first session, less than one-tenth of a second faster than Edwards. Kasey Kahne was third, followed by Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Earnhardt Jr. Bobby Labonte was seventh, still within a second of Biffle's time. In the second practice session, Joey Logano was fastest with a time of 31.732 seconds, only one-hundredth of a second quicker than second-placed Gordon. Brian Vickers took third place, ahead of Mark Martin, Paul Menard and Landon Cassill. Kyle Busch only managed 7th place.

Forty-five cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three raced because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kurt Busch clinched his 13th pole position during his career, with a time of 30.901 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Juan Pablo Montoya. Kyle Busch qualified third, Vickers took fourth, and Logano started fifth. Jamie McMurray, Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Menard, and Harvick rounded out the first ten positions. The two drivers who failed to qualify for the race were Tony Raines and T. J. Bell, who had times of 31.820 and 31.846 seconds.

## Results

### Qualifying

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed | Grid |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 22 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | Dodge | 30.901 | 174.752 | 1 |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 31.007 | 174.154 | 2 |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 31.020 | 174.081 | 3 |
| 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 31.036 | 173.992 | 4 |
| 20 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 31.061 | 173.852 | 5 |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 31.087 | 173.706 | 6 |
| 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 31.097 | 173.650 | 7 |
| 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 31.104 | 173.611 | 8 |
| 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 31.108 | 173.589 | 9 |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 31.125 | 173.494 | 10 |
| 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 31.138 | 173.421 | 11 |
| 39 | Ryan Newman | Stewart Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 31.144 | 173.388 | 12 |
| 14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 31.149 | 173.360 | 13 |
| 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 31.169 | 173.249 | 14 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 31.179 | 173.193 | 15 |
| 31 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 31.196 | 173.099 | 16 |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 31.208 | 173.033 | 17 |
| 5 | Mark Martin | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.231 | 172.905 | 18 |
| 6 | David Ragan | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 31.240 | 172.855 | 19 |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte | JTG Daugherty Racing | Toyota | 31.255 | 172.772 | 20 |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 31.258 | 172.756 | 21 |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.259 | 172.750 | 22 |
| 00 | David Reutimann | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 31.264 | 172.723 | 23 |
| 51 | Landon Cassill | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 31.265 | 172.717 | 24 |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Dodge | 31.303 | 172.507 | 25 |
| 43 | A. J. Allmendinger | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 31.353 | 172.232 | 26 |
| 33 | Clint Bowyer | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 31.389 | 172.035 | 27 |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.417 | 171.882 | 28 |
| 30 | David Stremme | Inception Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.418 | 171.876 | 29 |
| 38 | Travis Kvapil | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 31.446 | 171.723 | 30 |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.473 | 171.567 | 31 |
| 46 | J. J. Yeley | Whitney Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.484 | 171.516 | 32 |
| 13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Toyota | 31.487 | 171.499 | 33 |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Toyota | 31.497 | 171.445 | 34 |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 31.533 | 171.249 | 35 |
| 81 | Scott Riggs | Whitney Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.582 | 170.984 | 36 |
| 66 | Michael McDowell | HP Racing | Toyota | 31.616 | 170.800 | 37 |
| 34 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 31.625 | 170.751 | 38 |
| 71 | Andy Lally | TRG Motorsports | Ford | 31.655 | 170.589 | 39 |
| 32 | Patrick Carpentier | FAS Lane Racing | Ford | 31.852 | 169.534 | 40 |
| 7 | Johnny Sauter | Robby Gordon Motorsports | Dodge | 31.975 | 168.882 | 41 |
| 36 | Dave Blaney | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 32.173 | 167.843 | 42 |
| 60 | Mike Skinner | Germain Racing | Toyota | 31.753 | 170.063 | 43 |
| Failed to Qualify |||||||
| 37 | Tony Raines | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 31.820 | 169.705 | |
| 50 | T. J. Bell | LTD Powersports | Toyota | 31.846 | 169.566 | |
| Source: |||||||

### Race results

| Pos | Grid | Car | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps Run | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 25 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Dodge | 267 | 47 |
| 2 | 28 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 42 |
| 3 | 15 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 42 |
| 4 | 22 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 40 |
| 5 | 7 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 267 | 40 |
| 6 | 21 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 267 | 38 |
| 7 | 31 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 267 | 37 |
| 8 | 13 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 37 |
| 9 | 1 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | Dodge | 267 | 37 |
| 10 | 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 267 | 34 |
| 11 | 10 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 33 |
| 12 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 267 | 33 |
| 13 | 19 | 6 | David Ragan | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 267 | 31 |
| 14 | 17 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 267 | 30 |
| 15 | 12 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Stewart Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 267 | 29 |
| 16 | 4 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 267 | 28 |
| 17 | 2 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 28 |
| 18 | 27 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 26 |
| 19 | 9 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 25 |
| 20 | 8 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 266 | 24 |
| 21 | 18 | 5 | Mark Martin | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 266 | 23 |
| 22 | 23 | 00 | David Reutimann | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 266 | 22 |
| 23 | 5 | 20 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 266 | 21 |
| 24 | 11 | 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 20 |
| 25 | 16 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 19 |
| 26 | 35 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 266 | 18 |
| 27 | 26 | 43 | A. J. Allmendinger | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 266 | 17 |
| 28 | 20 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | JTG Daugherty Racing | Toyota | 266 | 16 |
| 29 | 6 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 266 | 15 |
| 30 | 40 | 32 | Patrick Carpentier | FAS Lane Racing | Ford | 265 | 0 |
| 31 | 39 | 71 | Andy Lally | TRG Motorsports | Ford | 265 | 13 |
| 32 | 42 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 264 | 12 |
| 33 | 38 | 34 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 263 | 11 |
| 34 | 30 | 38 | Travis Kvapil | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 243 | 0 |
| 35 | 24 | 51 | Landon Cassill | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 190 | 0 |
| 36 | 41 | 7 | Johnny Sauter | Robby Gordon Motorsports | Toyota | 101 | 0 |
| 37 | 33 | 13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Toyota | 100 | 8 |
| 38 | 32 | 46 | J. J. Yeley | Whitney Motorsports | Chevrolet | 38 | 6 |
| 39 | 29 | 30 | David Stremme | Inception Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37 | 5 |
| 40 | 43 | 60 | Mike Skinner | Germain Racing | Toyota | 34 | 0 |
| 41 | 37 | 66 | Michael McDowell | HP Racing | Toyota | 33 | 3 |
| 42 | 36 | 81 | Scott Riggs | Whitney Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20 | 0 |
| 43 | 34 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Toyota | 19 | 0 |
| Source: ||||||||

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Carl Edwards | 485 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 445 |
| 3 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 444 |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 442 |
| 5 | Kyle Busch | 425 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 89 |
| 2 | Ford | 80 |
| 3 | Toyota | 68 |
| 4 | Dodge | 49 |
