2017 Quaker State 400
# 2017 Quaker State 400

The 2017 Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 8, 2017 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. Contested over 274 laps extended from 267 laps due to overtime, on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 18th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

## Report

### Background

The sixth running of the Quaker State 400 was held in Sparta, Kentucky at Kentucky Speedway on July 9, 2016. The track is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Kentucky Speedway, which has also hosted the ARCA Racing Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the Indy Racing League, has a grandstand seating capacity of 107,000.

**Entry list**

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 13 | Ty Dillon (R) | Germain Racing | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 15 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 19 | Daniel Suárez (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
| 23 | Joey Gase (i) | BK Racing | Toyota |
| 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford |
| 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet |
| 34 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (i) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford |
| 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 51 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet |
| 55 | Gray Gaulding (R) | Premium Motorsports | Toyota |
| 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota |
| 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota |
| 83 | Ryan Sieg (i) | BK Racing | Toyota |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 95 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet |
| Official entry list ||||

## Practice

### First practice

Jamie McMurray was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.911 seconds and a speed of 186.780 mph (300.593 km/h).

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.911 | 186.780 |
| 2 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.963 | 186.445 |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 29.017 | 186.098 |
| Official first practice results |||||||

### Final practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.695 seconds and a speed of 188.186 mph (302.856 km/h).

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.695 | 188.186 |
| 2 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.848 | 187.188 |
| 3 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.892 | 186.903 |
| Official final practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Kyle Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.379 and a speed of 190.282 mph (306.229 km/h) after only two rounds of qualifying were completed due to weather.

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.736 | 28.379 |
| 2 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.675 | 28.392 |
| 3 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.567 | 28.460 |
| 4 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.729 | 28.464 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.626 | 28.468 |
| 6 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 28.641 | 28.487 |
| 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.656 | 28.488 |
| 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.625 | 28.523 |
| 9 | 19 | Daniel Suárez (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.770 | 28.528 |
| 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 28.945 | 28.539 |
| 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 28.625 | 28.555 |
| 12 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.506 | 28.595 |
| 13 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.772 | 28.606 |
| 14 | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.734 | 28.609 |
| 15 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.661 | 28.619 |
| 16 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 29.010 | 28.634 |
| 17 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (i) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 28.829 | 28.656 |
| 18 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.690 | 28.676 |
| 19 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.711 | 28.676 |
| 20 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.986 | 28.797 |
| 21 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 29.090 | 28.991 |
| 22 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 28.959 | 29.002 |
| 23 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.586 | 29.013 |
| 24 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.995 | 29.048 |
| 25 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 29.101 | — |
| 26 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 29.129 | — |
| 27 | 13 | Ty Dillon (R) | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 29.221 | — |
| 28 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 29.228 | — |
| 29 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 29.247 | — |
| 30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 29.367 | — |
| 31 | 83 | Ryan Sieg (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.728 | — |
| 32 | 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.790 | — |
| 33 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.921 | — |
| 34 | 23 | Joey Gase (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | 30.063 | — |
| 35 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 30.193 | — |
| 36 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 30.338 | — |
| 37 | 51 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 30.490 | — |
| 38 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Chevrolet | 30.544 | — |
| 39 | 55 | Gray Gaulding (R) | Premium Motorsports | Toyota | 30.603 | — |
| 40 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 0.000 | — |
| Official qualifying results |||||||

## Race

### First stage

Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag at 7:49 p.m. He led the first 29 laps before Martin Truex Jr. edged him out at the line to take the lead on Lap 30. Busch took it back the following lap, just as caution #1, a scheduled competition caution due to rain, flew for the first time. It went back to green on Lap 36. Truex drove down and passed Busch on Lap 69, and drove on to win the first stage. Caution #2 flew moments after on Lap 81 for the conclusion of the stage. Under the caution, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson were sent to the tail-end of the field on the following restart for speeding on pit road.

### Second stage

Busch retook the lead from Truex going into Turn 3 on the Lap 88 restart. Entering Turn 3 further back in the field on the same lap, Brad Keselowski got loose and spun out, collecting Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson, who suffered critical damage to his right-front wheel well after contact with Keselowski. This brought out the third caution. Restarting on Lap 93, caution #4 flew two laps later when Kasey Kahne tried to force his way underneath Trevor Bayne, sending Bayne spinning and himself into the Turn 1 wall. Caution flew for the fifth time 12 laps after the Lap 100 restart when Bayne got loose and spun out exiting Turn 4.

The race settled into a longer green run after the Lap 117 restart, forcing Busch to navigate lapped traffic. Doing so allowed Truex to reel him in and retake the lead on Lap 136. Joey Gase brought out the sixth caution two laps later when he suffered a tire failure and slammed the wall in Turn 2. Truex took off when the race went back green on Lap 142 and won the second stage on Lap 161. Under the stage break caution, Joey Logano chose not to pit and assumed the race lead.

### Final stage

Four laps after the Lap 167 restart, Truex took back the lead and set sail from the field. Aside from the five laps Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent in the lead during a cycle of green flag stops, Truex had the race in check, with as much as a 16-second lead over the second-place car. Kurt Busch's engine gave up on the frontstretch and that brought out caution #7 with two laps to go, forcing an overtime finish. Truex opted to stay out, while Kyle Busch, Larson and the other five drivers on the lead lap hit pit road. The final restart had Truex restart on the outside line, with Busch to his inside with 2 fresh left side tires.

**Overtime**

Larson with 4 fresh tires gave a shove to Truex coming to the green, giving him the lead going into Turn 1. Coming to the white flag, Darrell Wallace Jr. drove Matt Kenseth up out of the racing groove, which got loose and spun out in front of Daniel Suárez, triggering a four-car wreck in Turn 4 that ended the race under caution. It rendered victory unto Truex.

### Race results

**Stage results**

Stage 1 Laps: 80

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage one results ||||||

Stage 2 Laps: 80

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results ||||||

### Final stage results

Stage 3 Laps: 114

| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 2 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 274 | 60 |
| 2 | 40 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 274 | 43 |
| 3 | 12 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 274 | 36 |
| 4 | 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 274 | 40 |
| 5 | 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 274 | 50 |
| 6 | 14 | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 274 | 40 |
| 7 | 4 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 274 | 41 |
| 8 | 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 274 | 29 |
| 9 | 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 274 | 42 |
| 10 | 6 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 273 | 27 |
| 11 | 17 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. (i) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 273 | 0 |
| 12 | 13 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 273 | 25 |
| 13 | 16 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 273 | 26 |
| 14 | 18 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 273 | 23 |
| 15 | 20 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 273 | 22 |
| 16 | 22 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 273 | 21 |
| 17 | 3 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 273 | 33 |
| 18 | 9 | 19 | Daniel Suárez (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 273 | 19 |
| 19 | 25 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 272 | 18 |
| 20 | 28 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 272 | 17 |
| 21 | 24 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 272 | 16 |
| 22 | 29 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 272 | 15 |
| 23 | 21 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 271 | 14 |
| 24 | 26 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 270 | 13 |
| 25 | 30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 270 | 12 |
| 26 | 35 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 268 | 11 |
| 27 | 31 | 83 | Ryan Sieg (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | 266 | 0 |
| 28 | 33 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 265 | 9 |
| 29 | 36 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 265 | 8 |
| 30 | 15 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 264 | 11 |
| 31 | 38 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Chevrolet | 261 | 0 |
| 32 | 37 | 51 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 260 | 0 |
| 33 | 27 | 13 | Ty Dillon (R) | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 253 | 4 |
| 34 | 32 | 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 212 | 3 |
| 35 | 39 | 55 | Gray Gaulding (R) | Premium Motorsports | Toyota | 206 | 2 |
| 36 | 34 | 23 | Joey Gase (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | 129 | 0 |
| 37 | 19 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 101 | 1 |
| 38 | 23 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | 1 |
| 39 | 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 89 | 1 |
| 40 | 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 87 | 3 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 4 among different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 9 for 39
* Red flags: 0
* Time of race: 2 hours, 57 minutes and 55 seconds
* Average speed: 138.604 miles per hour (223.062 km/h)

## Media

### Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

NBCSN :

| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| - | - |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte | Dave Burns Marty Snider Kelli Stavast |

### Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

PRN :

| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| - | - | - |
| Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow Announcer: Wendy Venturini | Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson | Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Jim Noble Steve Richards |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - | - |
| | 1 | Kyle Larson | 710 |
| | 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 709 (–1) |
| | 3 | Kyle Busch | 609 (–101) |
| | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 599 (–111) |
| 1 | 5 | Chase Elliott | 560 (–150) |
| 2 | 6 | Jamie McMurray | 545 (–165) |
| 2 | 7 | Denny Hamlin | 538 (–172) |
| 3 | 8 | Brad Keselowski | 536 (–174) |
| 2 | 9 | Jimmie Johnson | 519 (–191) |
| | 10 | Clint Bowyer | 495 (–215) |
| | 11 | Matt Kenseth | 478 (–232) |
| | 12 | Joey Logano | 471 (–239) |
| | 13 | Ryan Blaney | 462 (–248) |
| 3 | 14 | Erik Jones | 426 (–284) |
| 1 | 15 | Kurt Busch | 419 (–291) |
| | 16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 418 (–292) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| | Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Chevrolet | 645 |
| 1 | 2 | Ford | 642 (–3) |
| | 3 | Toyota | 612 (–33) |
| Official manufacturers' standings ||||
