The 2010 AAA Texas 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on November 7, 2010, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps, it was the thirty-fourth race during the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the eighth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The race was won by Denny Hamlin of the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Matt Kenseth finished second, and Mark Martin clinched third.

2010 AAA Texas 500
Race details[1][2]
Race 34 of 36 in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date November 7, 2010 (2010-November-07)
Location Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 334 laps, 501 mi (806.3 km)
Weather A high temperature of 71.6 °F (22.0 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 17.26 miles per hour (27.78 km/h).[3]
Average speed 140.456 miles per hour (226.042 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Richard Petty Motorsports
Time 27.636
Most laps led
Driver Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing
Laps 223
Winner
No. 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree

There were nine cautions and thirty-five lead changes among fourteen different drivers throughout the course of the race. It was Hamlin's eighth win in the 2010 season, and his second at Texas Motor Speedway. The result moved him to first in the Drivers' Championship, 33 points ahead Jimmie Johnson in second. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, 40 ahead of Toyota and 91 ahead of Ford, with two races remaining in the season. A total of 156,000 people attended the race.

Report edit

Background edit

 
Texas Motor Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

Texas Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races; the others are Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.[4] The standard track at Texas Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[5] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is five degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has a five degree banking.[5] The racetrack has seats for 191,122 spectators.[5]

Before the race, Jimmie Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 6,149 points, and Denny Hamlin stood in second with 6,135 points. Kevin Harvick followed in third with 6,111 points, 169 ahead of Jeff Gordon and 192 ahead of Kyle Busch in fourth and fifth. Carl Edwards with 5,902 was seventy points ahead of Tony Stewart, as Matt Kenseth with 5,825 points, was twenty-six ahead of Kurt Busch, and twenty-eight in front of Jeff Burton.[6] Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer was eleventh and twelfth with 5,788 and 5,788 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 245 points, forty-five points ahead of their rival Toyota. Ford, with 152 points, was twenty-three points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.[7] Kurt Busch was the race's defending champion.[8]

Practice and qualifying edit

 
Elliott Sadler (pictured in 2007) won the pole position, after having the fastest time of 27.636 seconds.

Three practice sessions will be held before the Sunday race — one on Friday, and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, while the second session lasted 45 minutes. The third and final practice session lasted 60 minutes.[9] During the first practice session, Biffle, for the Roush Fenway Racing team, was quickest ahead of Edwards in second and Juan Pablo Montoya in the third position.[10] Kenseth was scored fourth, and Elliott Sadler managed fifth.[10] Regan Smith, Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr., Johnson, and A. J. Allmendinger rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.[10]

Forty-nine cars were entered for qualifying,[11] but only forty-three were able to race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Sadler clinched his eighth pole position during his career, with a time of 27.363, his first since May, 2006 at Talladega Superspeedway.[12][13] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Biffle.[12] Edwards qualified third, Montoya took fourth, and David Ragan started fifth.[12] Johnson, one of the drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, qualified seventeenth, while Hamlin was scored thirtieth.[12] The six drivers that failed to qualify for the race were J. J. Yeley, Scott Riggs, Michael McDowell, Jeff Green, Josh Wise, and Brian Keselowski.[12] Once the qualifying session completed, Sadler commented, "I’m feeling Superman today! I could sit here and say it is me, or this or that, but [crew chief] Todd Parrott is the man. He can do so much as a crew chief. He is good for me from the mental side and we have been qualifying so much better here the last six weeks or so... that is a really fast lap for me. I got all I can get out of it."[2]

On the next morning, Kyle Busch was quickest in the second practice session, ahead of Edwards and Truex in second and third.[14] Ryan Newman was fourth quickest, and Burton took fifth.[14] Stewart, Montoya, Kurt Busch, Bowyer, and Biffle followed in the top-ten.[14] Other drivers in the chase, such as Hamlin, was eighteenth, and Harvick, who was thirty-first.[14] During the third, and final practice session, Kyle Busch, with a fastest time of 28.696, was quickest.[15] Ragan and Truex followed in second and third with times of 28.765 and 28.884 seconds.[15] Kurt Busch managed to be fourth fastest, ahead of Smith and Sam Hornish Jr.[15] Sadler was scored seventh, Menard took eighth, Gordon was ninth, and Johnson took tenth.[15]

Race edit

The race, the thirty-fourth out of a total of thirty-six in the season, began at 3:00 p.m. EST and was televised live in the United States on ESPN.[1] Prior to the race, weather conditions were dry with the air temperature around 69 °F (21 °C).[16] Dr. Roger Marsh, of Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries, began pre-race ceremonies, by giving the invocation. Next, rock singer Kelly Hansen of Atlantic recording artists Foreigner performed the national anthem, and singer Lee Ann Womack gave the command for drivers to start their engines.[16] During the pace laps, Trevor Bayne had to move to the rear of the grid because of changing transmissions.

At the start, Sadler maintained his lead ahead of Biffle. On the following lap, Biffle took the first position away from Sadler, as Montoya maintained fourth. Hamlin, who started the race twenty-eighth, had fallen to thirtieth by the fifth lap. Ragan took over the third position, while his teammate Edwards claimed second on the sixth and eighth laps respectively. On the twelfth lap, the first caution was given because Joe Nemechek's car was putting oil and debris on the track after the engine in his car failed and he slid into the wall. All the front runners made pit stops during the caution. At the lap 17 restart, Biffle remained the leader, ahead of Sadler and Edwards in second and third. Within four laps, Johnson had moved to ninth. On lap 23, Sadler lost third to Mark Martin. The next lap, Dave Blaney's car began smoking, though the caution did not come out; Blaney would take his car to the garage five laps later.[16]

Kurt Busch hit the wall on lap 25, falling to 36th. Johnson continued moving up the field, having advanced to fifth by lap 42. On lap 43, the second caution was given for debris. Martin came off of pit road the leader, followed by Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Biffle. The green flag came back out on lap 47; two laps later, Biffle claimed the lead from Martin. Newman made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 55 as his seatbelt had come undone. The third caution was given three laps later when Hornish hit the turn 3 and 4 wall. Biffle maintained the lead on the restart, followed by Martin, Sadler, Bowyer, and Johnson. Kyle Busch both passed Sadler on lap 65, then passed Bowyer for third four laps later while his teammate Johnson moved into fourth. By lap 74, Sadler had fallen to eighth. Kyle Busch was passed by Johnson and Bowyer on laps 77 and 80 respectively.[16]

Martin, meanwhile, began to close on Biffle, trimming his lead to 0.6 seconds on lap 91. On lap 97, Martin made the pass for the lead. Green flag pit stops began eight laps later when Martin made a pit stop, handing the lead back to Biffle. The lead changed hands a few times while pit stops were being made, with Martin cycling back to the lead on lap 113. About 20 laps after Martin reclaimed the lead, Truex spun into the infield, bringing out the fourth caution. Joey Logano was first off of pit road and led the field on the restart. Biffle took the lead from Logano two laps after the restart. Between laps 144 and 148, Johnson moved from ninth to sixth, passing Bowyer, Harvick, and Kyle Busch. Truex brought out the fifth caution on lap 151, this time for cutting a right-front tire.[16]

Joey Logano won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart. Logano and Biffle raced side by side for the race lead for the next 2 laps with Biffle beating out Logano to the finish line both times. On lap 159, the 6th caution flew when Kyle Busch spun in turns 1 and 2. Busch came down pit road to get new tires and he got back out onto the racetrack and beat the pace car to stay on the lead lap. Unfortunately for Busch, he got caught for going too fast on pit road and Busch had to be held on pit road for 1 lap. Frustrated with NASCAR's decision, Busch gave the NASCAR Official who was holding him on pit road the finger. The race restarted on lap 163 and NASCAR penalized Busch again for flipping the NASCAR Official and had to come to pit road to be held for 2 laps. Busch pleaded his case even going as far as saying about the freedom of speech which made his crew chief, Dave Rogers, even more irate with Busch and Rogers yelled at Busch to stop and bring his car to pit road and park it for 2 laps which Busch would do on lap 164.[16]

On lap 177, Joey Logano passed Greg Biffle and took the lead. On lap 191, one of the strangest wrecks in NASCAR history occurred. For the third time in the race, Martin Truex Jr. brought out a caution this time for blowing a right front tire and hitting the wall in turn 3. Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton were racing each other for a position when the caution flew in turn 1. Burton went down as if to follow Gordon in turn 2 but instead Burton hooked Gordon and the two hit the outside wall ending their races. Gordon got out of his car and walked halfway down the apron of the backstretch towards Burton's car. Burton got out of his car and walked towards Gordon as if to apologize for what happened. But before words were exchanged, Gordon shoved Burton and the two got into a little bit of a fight on the backstretch with Officials separating both drivers. Both drivers walked into the same ambulance to the infield care center. After Jimmie Johnson had two bad pitstops, Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus decided to switch pit crew members. He decided to switch Johnson's crew with Jeff Gordon's crew.[16]

The race restarted on lap 201 with Logano leading the field but Greg Biffle passed Logano and took the lead. With 91 laps to go, green flag pit stops began on the race track. Biffle got his lead back after the lead was shared by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. With 49 laps to go, the second cycle of green flag pit stops began with Joey Logano leading for 2 laps while Biffle pitted and Biffle took the lead back after everything cycled through. After 100 green flag laps, the 8th caution flew with 35 laps to go for debris. Kevin Harvick won the race off of pit road but Mark Martin and Tony Stewart stayed out of pit road and Martin led the field to the restart with 30 laps to go.[16]

With 29 laps to go, Denny Hamlin passed Mark Martin and Hamlin took the lead. Hamlin had built a large lead over Matt Kenseth but with 7 laps to go, the 9th and final caution flew when Patrick Carpentier spun in turn 2. Some went onto pit road while others stayed out including Hamlin and Kenseth. The race restarted with 3 laps to go. Hamlin and Kenseth raced side by side for the lead with Hamlin beating Kenseth to the line with 3 laps to go. With 2 laps to go, Kenseth passed Hamlin in turn 2 but Hamlin pulled the cross-over move on Kenseth and Kenseth got loose out of turn 2 and Hamlin passed Kenseth for the lead. Kenseth tried to catch Hamlin but Hamlin pulled away from Kenseth and Denny Hamlin won his 8th and final race of the 2010 season and Kenseth finished in 2nd. The win would boost Hamlin to the points lead. Mark Martin, Joey Logano, and Greg Biffle rounded out the top 5 while Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson, and Paul Menard rounded out the top 10.[16]

Results edit

Qualifying edit

Qualifying results
Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 19 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.636 195.397
2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.885 193.652
3 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.886 193.646
4 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.910 193.479
5 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.918 193.424
6 2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 27.925 193.375
7 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.933 193.320
8 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 27.948 193.216
9 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.954 193.174
10 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.966 193.092
11 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.968 193.078
12 98 Paul Menard Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.012 192.775
13 9 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.037 192.603
14 39 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.071 192.369
15 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.126 191.993
16 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.127 191.986
17 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.134 191.939
18 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.141 191.891
19 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.142 191.884
20 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.159 191.768
21 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.162 191.748
22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.163 191.741
23 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 28.173 191.673
24 83 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 28.184 191.598
25 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.189 191.564
26 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.190 191.557
27 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 28.194 191.530
28 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.259 191.090
29 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.264 191.056
30 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.277 190.968
31 10 Bobby Labonte Stavola Labonte Racing Chevrolet 28.295 190.846
32 47 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 28.297 190.833
33 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.391 190.201
34 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 28.403 190.121
35 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 28.463 189.720
36 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 28.476 189.633
37 26 Patrick Carpentier Latitude 43 Motorsports Ford 28.533 189.255
38 66 Mike Bliss Prism Motorsports Toyota 28.541 189.202
39 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 28.594 188.851
40 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 28.628 188.626
41 34 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.825 188.626
42 37 Dave Blaney Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.825 185.663
43 09 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 28.572 188.996
Failed to Qualify
44 36 J. J. Yeley Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.621 188.673
45 81 Scott Riggs Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 28.624 188.653
46 46 Michael McDowell Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 28.746 187.852
47 64 Jeff Green Gunselman Motorsports Toyota 28.851 187.169
48 23 Josh Wise R3 Motorsports Toyota 29.041 185.944
49 92 Brian Keselowski K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge 29.658 182.076
Source:[12][17]

Race results edit

Race results
Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 30 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 334 190
2 19 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 175
3 9 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 170
4 20 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 334 165
5 2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 165
6 26 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 155
7 7 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 146
8 5 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 142
9 17 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 143
10 12 98 Paul Menard Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 334 134
11 11 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 334 130
12 32 47 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 334 127
13 24 83 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 334 124
14 10 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 334 121
15 18 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 334 118
16 25 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 334 115
17 28 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 334 112
18 27 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 334 109
19 3 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 106
20 14 39 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 334 103
21 13 9 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 334 100
22 8 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 334 97
23 1 19 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 333 94
24 6 2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 333 91
25 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 333 88
26 35 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 333 90
27 23 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 333 82
28 4 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 333 79
29 33 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 333 81
30 31 10 Bobby Labonte Stavola-Labonte Racing Chevrolet 333 73
31 37 26 Patrick Carpentier Latitude 43 Motorsports Ford 333 75
32 29 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 332 67
33 36 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 332 64
34 40 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 331 66
35 39 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 240 63
36 16 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 192 55
37 15 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 190 52
38 21 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 188 49
39 38 66 Mike Bliss Prism Motorsports Toyota 45 51
40 43 09 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 35 43
41 41 34 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 25 40
42 42 37 Dave Blaney Front Row Motorsports Ford 23 37
43 34 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 12 34
Source:[18]

Standings after the race edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Sadler claims surprise Texas pole". inRacingNews.com. November 5, 2010. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012.
  3. ^ "Weather History for Fort Worth, TX". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  4. ^ "Tracks". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c "Track Facts". Texas Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  6. ^ "Pre-race Drivers' Championship Standings". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 31, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  7. ^ a b "2010 Manufacturers Championship". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  8. ^ "2009 Dickies 500". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  9. ^ "The Race: AAA Texas 500". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c "Practice One Speeds". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 8, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  11. ^ "Qualifying Order". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Race Lineup". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 8, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  13. ^ "Sadler claims first pole since 2006 season". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Associated Press. November 5, 2010. Archived from the original on November 8, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  14. ^ a b c d "Practice Two Speeds". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  15. ^ a b c d "Practice Three Speeds". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Lap-by-Lap: Texas". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 10, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
  17. ^ "Lineup Statistics". MotorRacingNetwork.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  18. ^ "Official Race Results". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
  19. ^ "2010 Official Driver Standings: AAA Texas 500". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010.
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