2014 Irwin Tools Night Race
# 2014 Irwin Tools Night Race

The 2014 Irwin Tools Night Race was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 23, 2014, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps, it was the 24th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Joey Logano of Team Penske took his third win of the season. Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski finished second while Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Kurt Busch completed the top five placings. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (12th), Justin Allgaier (19th), and Austin Dillon (28th). This would also be the final race for veteran NASCAR drivers, Jeff Burton and Dave Blaney.

## Previous week's race

Jeff Gordon took the lead from Joey Logano at the final restart and went on to win for the 91st time in his career, in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Gordon stated that he had "got a really good restart, and I got to his quarter panel in Turn 1 and I was able to drag him back and it allowed me to get the momentum and get by him". Logano felt he had Gordon cleared and lamented that he "should have pulled down in front of him".

## Report

### Background

Bristol Motor Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.533 miles (0.858 km) long. The track's turns are banked from twenty-four to thirty degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked from six to ten degrees. The back stretch also has banking from six to ten degrees. The track has a seating capacity of 160,000 people. The race consisted of 500 laps; equivalent to a race distance of 266.5 miles (428.9 km). The defending race winner was Matt Kenseth.

Tony Stewart was on the entry list for the weekend's race, but following the events that took place at Canandaigua Motorsports Park, it was unknown if he'd be in the car. On Wednesday, August 20, Stewart-Haas Racing released a statement that Stewart would sit out again and Jeff Burton would drive in his place. The team would continue to evaluate the drive on a week-by-week basis.

Ryan Truex was cleared to race at Bristol after missing the previous week's race at Michigan. He suffered a concussion in a single car crash during the second practice session and J. J. Yeley drove in his place. Truex stated that he was "happy to be back to it this weekend" on Twitter.

### Entry list

The entry list for the Irwin Tools Night Race was released on Monday, August 18, 2014 at 11:05 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 | Jeff Burton | 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 (PC4) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
| 23 | Alex Bowman (R) | BK Racing | Toyota |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon (PC5) | 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 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Go FAS Racing | Ford |
| 33 | David Stremme | Hillman-Circle Sport LLC | Chevrolet |
| 34 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 36 | Reed Sorenson | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet |
| 37 | Dave Blaney | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet |
| 38 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 40 | Landon Cassill (i) | Hillman-Circle Sport LLC | Chevrolet |
| 41 | Kurt Busch (PC3) | 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 | Brett Moffitt | 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 |
| 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 Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 14.638 and a speed of 131.083 mph (210.958 km/h). David Gilliland hit the wall as a result of a stuck throttle; he was forced to switch to a backup car as a result.

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson (R) | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 14.638 | 131.083 |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14.697 | 130.557 |
| 3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 14.703 | 130.504 |
| Official first practice results |||||||

### Final practice

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 14.642 and a speed of 131.048 mph (210.901 km/h).

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 14.642 | 131.048 |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.646 | 131.012 |
| 3 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.662 | 130.869 |
| Official final practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Kevin Harvick won the pole with a new track record time of 14.607 and a speed of 131.362 mph (211.407 km/h). Harvick saw his qualifying position as an advantage, as he deemed that "track position is definitely as important as it is anywhere here with the current groove and where you are running" and also "felt good about our car during practice and just have to stay in there all night and do the best we can". Jeff Gordon joined Harvick on the front row, and stated that he "thought our car was a little bit better in race trim than it was in qualifying trim when we swapped over", and also stated that the conditions of the track were very tricky. Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson and Cole Whitt hit the wall during qualifying, with Almirola lamenting the fact and stating he had "probably the best race car I've ever had at Bristol and I screwed up and hit the fence".

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 14.719 | 14.607 |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.688 | 14.615 |
| 3 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 14.722 | 14.624 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14.732 | 14.641 |
| 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 14.752 | 14.644 |
| 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.747 | 14.644 |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 14.743 | 14.654 |
| 8 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 14.752 | 14.662 |
| 9 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 14.737 | 14.703 |
| 10 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 14.730 | 14.708 |
| 11 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 14.734 | 14.741 |
| 12 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.754 | 14.759 |
| 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14.762 | — |
| 14 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 14.772 | — |
| 15 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 14.774 | — |
| 16 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14.796 | — |
| 17 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 14.796 | — |
| 18 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 14.800 | — |
| 19 | 51 | Justin Allgaier (R) | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.810 | — |
| 20 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.848 | — |
| 21 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 14.855 | — |
| 22 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 14.856 | — |
| 23 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 14.892 | — |
| 24 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 14.903 | — |
| 25 | 14 | Jeff Burton | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 14.935 | — |
| 26 | 3 | Austin Dillon (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 14.960 | — |
| 27 | 23 | Alex Bowman (R) | BK Racing | Toyota | 14.992 | — |
| 28 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 14.994 | — |
| 29 | 34 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 15.004 | — |
| 30 | 98 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet | 15.048 | — |
| 31 | 66 | Brett Moffitt | Identity Ventures Racing | Toyota | 15.053 | — |
| 32 | 38 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 15.055 | — |
| 33 | 83 | Ryan Truex (R) | BK Racing | Toyota | 15.057 | — |
| 34 | 26 | Cole Whitt (R) | BK Racing | Toyota | 15.066 | — |
| 35 | 37 | Dave Blaney | Randy Humphrey Racing | Ford | 15.099 | — |
| 36 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 15.102 | — |
| 37 | 32 | J. J. Yeley | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 15.184 | — |
| 38 | 7 | Michael Annett (R) | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 15.200 | — |
| 39 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Hillman-Circle Sport LLC | Chevrolet | 15.301 | — |
| 40 | 42 | Kyle Larson (R) | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 15.356 | — |
| 41 | 33 | David Stremme | Hillman-Circle Sport LLC | Chevrolet | 15.506 | — |
| 42 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 0.000 | — |
| 43 | 13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 0.000 | — |
| Official qualifying results |||||||

## Race

### First half

**Start**

The race was scheduled to start at 7:46 p.m. Eastern time but started three minutes late when Kevin Harvick led the field to the green. Harvick led the race until lap 38 when Jeff Gordon took the lead. He led until lap 55 when Kyle Busch assumed the lead of the race, and held it to the first caution of the race; at lap 61, there was a competition caution that had been scheduled due to overnight rain showers around the vicinity of the circuit. Harvick retook the lead during the caution period; Kyle Busch came off pit road as the leader, but he was sent to the rear of the field for speeding in the pits and Matt Kenseth assumed the lead for the restart on lap 68.

**Calamity**

The caution came out a lap later for a multi-car crash in turn 2, before the race restarted on lap 77. Kenseth maintained the lead of the race, for a good portion of the race; he was not headed until Joey Logano took the lead on lap 104. The caution flew for the third time on lap 125 for a multi-car wreck on the backstretch that began when Brian Vickers got into Kyle Larson, and then spun into Aric Almirola. Clint Bowyer then ran into Kyle Busch, sending Busch spinning into the inside wall. Denny Hamlin took the lead during the caution period, and held the lead as the race restarted on lap 137.

**Tempers flare**


   "He thinks he knows everything. I wish I had some kind of car left to show him the favor back. We're not even halfway. It's just a misjudgment. He's a good driver. He knows better. He made a mistake. I thought for sure after the first couple of runs we were going to win the race. We were really fast. These are the racetracks we have to capitalize on. With what we've got, these are the tracks we can get wins and get the momentum going for the Chase. This is still not going to stop our momentum because we ran strong."

Denny Hamlin, referring to Kevin Harvick after their collision while racing for the lead.

While racing for the lead, Harvick tapped Hamlin, which sent him spinning into the inside wall on the front stretch. Hamlin's car bounced off the wall, and back up towards the track where it hit the left-hand side of the car of Dale Earnhardt Jr., ripping all the protection foam out of it. This brought out the fourth caution of the race on lap 161; Hamlin subsequently threw his HANS device at Harvick's car. This was the second straight year that the two drivers had a post-crash altercation during the summer Bristol race. Post-race, Harvick described the incident as "I just lost the front end, honestly", apportioning blame on himself. Hamlin was angered at the way his race ended, which left him with a 40th-place finish. Earnhardt Jr. tried to avoid a collision with Hamlin's car, but as he described it, "there was a lot of smoke so I couldn't really judge the speed of his car to know whether I needed to be going up there and go around him on the top". The damage to his car – the lower control arm was torn off his left-front tire – left him with a 39th-place finish.

The race restarted on lap 173 with Harvick leading the way. Harvick held the lead until the fifth caution of the race, which flew on lap 195, after Michael Annett hit the wall in turn 4. Kasey Kahne took the lead after staying out when the leaders pitted, and led the field to the restart on lap 201. Kahne led the next portion of the race, before Jamie McMurray took over at the front on lap 238. McMurray led until the caution flew for the sixth time on lap 264, after Danica Patrick got spun out by Alex Bowman in turn 2. Bowman referred to the incident as looking "like somebody slid up a couple of cars in front of her and they all checked up", and added that he spoke to Patrick post-race about the incident – this occurred after Patrick ran up on Bowman to show her displeasure, after the incident. Patrick stated that her and Bowman had made up but stated that if the two came into contact on the track again, "worse things will happen". Brad Keselowski took the lead during the pit cycle, and held the race lead for the restart on lap 270. Keselowski maintained the race beyond the 300-lap mark, and until lap 312, when McMurray assumed the lead once again. McMurray held the lead for almost 50 laps before the caution flag flew for the seventh time during the race; this was caused by debris on the track. McMurray won the race off pit road, despite Logano momentarily taking the lead through the pit process.

### Second half

The race restarted on lap 367, with McMurray in the lead. It was a short-lived restart, as the caution came out for the eighth time on lap 375 after Marcos Ambrose crashed on the front stretch. McMurray again led to the restart, on lap 382. A 50-lap green-flag period followed, before the ninth and final caution of the race – on lap 431 – for debris. Logano and Matt Kenseth both led a lap during the caution period, before the restart on lap 438. Kyle Busch had been complaining late in the race about his car; he stated over his car's radio that "I need a whole new right front suspension, a whole new right front suspension". In light of his driver's complaints, crew chief Dave Rogers had no sympathy for him: "Park it behind the truck and take your whiny little ass to the bus". Busch recorded a 36th-place finish, after leading eight laps earlier in the race. Rogers deemed the race as "frustrating", and also stated that he and Busch spoke after the race following the communications over the radio, and "had a great talk". Team owner Joe Gibbs said Busch and Rogers cleared the air before they left the track, after "a frustrating night", but Gibbs was "kind of used to it". Logano took the lead with 45 laps to go and had to hold off a late race charge by Penske teammate Keselowski to score his third win of the 2014 season. Logano described the result as "awesome", and also reflected on his personal best 2014 campaign. Keselowski praised Logano's performance, stating that "he ran a great race" while his car "was just about equal to Joey's but he just had better track position than on us".

### Race results

| Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 500 | 47 |
| 2 | 9 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 500 | 43 |
| 3 | 16 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 500 | 42 |
| 4 | 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 40 |
| 5 | 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 39 |
| 6 | 21 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 500 | 38 |
| 7 | 3 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 500 | 37 |
| 8 | 18 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 38 |
| 9 | 17 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 35 |
| 10 | 8 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 500 | 34 |
| 11 | 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 34 |
| 12 | 40 | 42 | Kyle Larson (R) | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 32 |
| 13 | 11 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 31 |
| 14 | 22 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 30 |
| 15 | 25 | 14 | Jeff Burton | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 499 | 29 |
| 16 | 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 499 | 29 |
| 17 | 14 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 498 | 27 |
| 18 | 28 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 498 | 26 |
| 19 | 19 | 51 | Justin Allgaier (R) | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 497 | 25 |
| 20 | 23 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 497 | 24 |
| 21 | 15 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 497 | 23 |
| 22 | 39 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Hillman-Circle Sport LLC | Chevrolet | 497 | 0 |
| 23 | 29 | 34 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 496 | 21 |
| 24 | 36 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 496 | 20 |
| 25 | 32 | 38 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 495 | 19 |
| 26 | 43 | 13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 495 | 18 |
| 27 | 24 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 493 | 17 |
| 28 | 26 | 3 | Austin Dillon (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 493 | 16 |
| 29 | 30 | 98 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet | 492 | 15 |
| 30 | 34 | 26 | Cole Whitt (R) | BK Racing | Toyota | 492 | 14 |
| 31 | 41 | 33 | David Stremme | Hillman-Circle Sport LLC | Chevrolet | 491 | 13 |
| 32 | 27 | 23 | Alex Bowman (R) | BK Racing | Toyota | 489 | 12 |
| 33 | 37 | 32 | J. J. Yeley | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 489 | 0 |
| 34 | 10 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 480 | 10 |
| 35 | 12 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 477 | 10 |
| 36 | 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 442 | 9 |
| 37 | 33 | 83 | Ryan Truex (R) | BK Racing | Toyota | 338 | 7 |
| 38 | 38 | 7 | Michael Annett (R) | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 243 | 6 |
| 39 | 20 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 176 | 5 |
| 40 | 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 160 | 5 |
| 41 | 42 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 123 | 3 |
| 42 | 31 | 66 | Brett Moffitt | Identity Ventures Racing | Toyota | 78 | 2 |
| 43 | 35 | 37 | Dave Blaney | Randy Humphrey Racing | Ford | 37 | 1 |

### Race statistics

* 16 lead changes among different drivers
* 9 cautions for 64 laps
* Time of race: 2:52:00
* Joey Logano won his first race at Bristol

## Media

### Television

ABC :

| 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

PRN Radio :

| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| - | - | - |
| Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow | Backstretch: Rob Albright | Brett McMillan Steve Richards Jim Noble Wendy Venturini |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - | - |
| | 1 | Jeff Gordon | 845 |
| | 2 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 818 (−27) |
| | 3 | Brad Keselowski | 776 (−69) |
| | 4 | Joey Logano | 761 (−84) |
| | 5 | Matt Kenseth | 751 (−94) |
| 1 | 6 | Jimmie Johnson | 726 (−119) |
| 1 | 7 | Kevin Harvick | 721 (−124) |
| | 8 | Carl Edwards | 716 (−129) |
| | 9 | Ryan Newman | 710 (−135) |
| | 10 | Clint Bowyer | 699 (−146) |
| | 11 | Greg Biffle | 694 (−151) |
| 2 | 12 | Kyle Larson (R) | 668 (−177) |
| 1 | 13 | Kasey Kahne | 661 (−184) |
| 1 | 14 | Austin Dillon (R) | 654 (−191) |
| 2 | 15 | Paul Menard | 649 (−196) |
| 3 | 16 | Jamie McMurray | 634 (−211) |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 1,077 |
| 2 | Ford | 1,049 (−28) |
| 3 | Toyota | 963 (−114) |

## Note

* ↑ Tony Stewart was on the entry list for the race, but sat out following the events in upstate New York. Jeff Burton drove in his place.
