Jimmie Johnson, car smoking and all, made a move to the inside in a fight for the lead with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne (who inherited the lead when the others had to stop) and Brad Keselowski, racing for Shaker Heights native and owner Roger Penske.
Johnson would wreck in turn three, setting up the overtime. On the first restart, Michael McDowell and Trevor Bayne got together and set off a multi-car pileup, involving Austin Dillon, Joey Gase, Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney,
and Gray Gaulding, red flagging the race for over half an hour.
With darkness impending, the stage was set for a final restart. Kasey Kahne started on the outside line,
and took advantage this time, passing Brad Keselowski going into turn one before, fittingly,
another yellow came out in Turn 2, involving Ty Dillon, Denny Hamlin, and Paul Menard. This time,
Kahne was able to pass the overtime line, ending the race under caution, and snapping a 104-race losing streak dating back to September 2014 at Atlanta.
The race was marred by 14 cautions, passing the record of 13, which occurred during the 2004 running of the race.
With the win, Kasey Kahne also locked up a berth in the NASCAR playoffs, along with 11 other
drivers. Brad Keselowski finished in second, Ryan Newman third, Joey Logano was fourth, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.
Other notables:
Matt Dibenedetto (8th) -2nd top ten and third top 15 for GoFas Racing this year.
Danica Patrick (11th) -Six of her last seven finishes have been in the top 17 after being
as low as 30th in points early in the season.
Cole Whitt (12th) -His best finish of the year to go with his 13th at Daytona in February.
Timmy Hill (14th) -Gives MBM their best finish of the season.
As far as the points standings goes, Martin Truex Jr. leads by 48 over Kyle Larson, despite
his troubles. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.
Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, and Matt Kenseth are the highest running drivers
in points that do not have a victory yet.
Cavaliers
Bet on continuity paying off for Cavs
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