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.

2011 STP 400
Race details[1][2][3][4]
Race 13 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date June 5, 2011 (2011-06-05)
Location Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.5 km)
Weather Sunny with a high of 88; wind out of the South at 8 mph.
Average speed 137.186 miles per hour (220.779 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Penske Racing
Time 30.901
Most laps led
Driver Kurt Busch Penske Racing
Laps 152
Winner
No. 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

Report

edit

Background

edit
 
Kansas Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

Kansas Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races.[5] The standard track at Kansas Speedway is a four-turn D-shaped oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[6] 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.[6] The racetrack has seats for 82,000 spectators.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

Practice and qualifying

edit
 
Kurt Busch (pictured in 2015) won the pole position, after having the fastest time of 30.901 seconds.

Two practice sessions were held before the race on Friday. The first session lasted 80 minutes long, while the second was 90 minutes long.[9] 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.[10] Kasey Kahne was third, followed by Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Earnhardt Jr. Bobby Labonte was seventh, still within a second of Biffle's time.[10] 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.[11] Brian Vickers took third place, ahead of Mark Martin, Paul Menard and Landon Cassill. Kyle Busch only managed 7th place.[11]

Forty-five cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three raced because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.[12] Kurt Busch clinched his 13th pole position during his career, with a time of 30.901 seconds.[13] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Juan Pablo Montoya.[13] Kyle Busch qualified third, Vickers took fourth, and Logano started fifth.[13] Jamie McMurray, Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Menard, and Harvick rounded out the first ten positions.[13] 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.[13]


Results

edit

Qualifying

edit
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

Race results

edit
 
Brad Keselowski won the race, his first with Penske Racing.
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:[16][17]

Standings after the race

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  2. ^ "The STP 400". Rotoworld.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  3. ^ "Kurt Busch takes surprise pole". inRacingNews.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Race Information". Fox Sports. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  5. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  6. ^ a b c "NASCAR Tracks—The Kansas Speedway". Kansas Speedway. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Driver's Championship Classification". NASCAR. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  8. ^ a b "Manufactures' Championship Classification". Jayski.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  9. ^ "Jayski'sŽ NASCAR Silly Season Site – Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page". Jayski.com. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Practice One Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  11. ^ a b "Practice Two Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  12. ^ "Qualifying Entry List". NASCAR. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d e f "Race Official Lineup". NASCAR. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  14. ^ "Lineup Statistics". MotorRacingNetwork.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  15. ^ "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site — Kansas Sprint Cup Qualifying Order/Results, Lineup". Jayski.com. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  16. ^ "2011 Official Race Results : STP 400". NASCAR. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  17. ^ "STP 400 Race Results". Motor Racing Network. International Speedway Corporation. Archived from the original on 18 September 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  18. ^ "2011 Official Driver Standings: STP 400". NASCAR. Retrieved 11 June 2011.


Previous race:
2011 Coca-Cola 600
Sprint Cup Series
2011 season
Next race:
2011 5-hour Energy 500