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.
Report Background
Kansas Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Kansas Speedway is a four-turn D-shaped oval track that is long. 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. The racetrack has seats for 82,000 spectators.
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. 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.
Practice and qualifying
Two practice sessions were held before the race on Friday. The first session lasted 80 minutes long, while the second was 90 minutes long. 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. Kasey Kahne was third, followed by Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Earnhardt Jr. Bobby Labonte was seventh, still within a second of Biffle's time. 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. Brian Vickers took third place, ahead of Mark Martin, Paul Menard and Landon Cassill. Kyle Busch only managed 7th place.
Forty-five cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three raced because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kurt Busch clinched his 13th pole position during his career, with a time of 30.901 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Juan Pablo Montoya. Kyle Busch qualified third, Vickers took fourth, and Logano started fifth. Jamie McMurray, Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Menard, and Harvick rounded out the first ten positions. 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.
Results Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 30.901 174.752 2 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 31.007 174.154 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.020 174.081 4 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 31.036 173.992 5 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.061 173.852 6 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 31.087 173.706 7 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.097 173.650 8 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 31.104 173.611 9 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.108 173.589 10 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.125 173.494 11 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 31.138 173.421 12 39 Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 31.144 173.388 13 14 Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 31.149 173.360 14 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.169 173.249 15 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.179 173.193 16 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.196 173.099 17 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 31.208 173.033 18 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.231 172.905 19 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.240 172.855 20 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 31.255 172.772 21 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.258 172.756 22 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.259 172.750 23 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 31.264 172.723 24 51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 31.265 172.717 25 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 31.303 172.507 26 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 31.353 172.232 27 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.389 172.035 28 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.417 171.882 29 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 31.418 171.876 30 38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.446 171.723 31 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.473 171.567 32 46 J. J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 31.484 171.516 33 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 31.487 171.499 34 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 31.497 171.445 35 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 31.533 171.249 36 81 Scott Riggs Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 31.582 170.984 37 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 31.616 170.800 38 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.625 170.751 39 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 31.655 170.589 40 32 Patrick Carpentier FAS Lane Racing Ford 31.852 169.534 41 7 Johnny Sauter Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 31.975 168.882 42 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 32.173 167.843 43 60 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 31.753 170.063 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
Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Points 125 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 267 47 228 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 42 315 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 42 422 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 40 57 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 40 621 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 38 731 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 37 813 14 Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 37 91 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 267 37 1014 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 34 1110 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 33 123 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 33 1319 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 31 1417 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 267 30 1512 39 Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 29 164 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 267 28 172 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 266 28 1827 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 266 26 199 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 266 25 208 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 266 24 2118 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 266 23 2223 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 266 22 235 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 266 21 2411 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 266 20 2516 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 266 19 2635 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 266 18 2726 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 266 17 2820 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 266 16 296 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 266 15 3040 32 Patrick Carpentier FAS Lane Racing Ford 265 0 3139 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 265 13 3242 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 264 12 3338 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 263 11 3430 38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 243 0 3524 51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 190 0 3641 7 Johnny Sauter Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 101 0 3733 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 100 8 3832 46 J. J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 38 6 3929 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 37 5 4043 60 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 34 0 4137 66 Michael McDowellHP Racing Toyota 33 3 4236 81 Scott Riggs Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 20 0 4334 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 19 0
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carl Edwards 485 2 Jimmie Johnson 445 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 444 4 Kevin Harvick 442 5 Kyle Busch 425
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 89 2 Ford 80 3 Toyota 68 4 Dodge 49
Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.
References