The 2019 Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 13, 2019 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. Contested over 269 laps – extended from 267 laps due to an overtime finish – on the speedway, it was the 19th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
On the final restart, Kurt Busch (Chip Ganassi Racing) worked the outside line to pass erstwhile leader Joey Logano (Team Penske) and his brother Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and held off the latter by 0.076 seconds to win the race – his first victory of the season, and his first for Chip Ganassi Racing – qualifying him for the NASCAR playoffs.
Report
Background
Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which has also hosted the ARCA Racing Series, NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the Indy Racing League, and has a grandstand seating capacity of 107,000.
Entry list (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points. (R) denotes rookie driver.
Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Bayley Currey (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 52 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 77 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing ToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.389 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.389 183.742 2 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.421 183.542 3 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.492 183.101Official first practice results
Final practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.621 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.621 182.303 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.704 181.794 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.709 181.763Official final practice results
Qualifying Daniel Suárez scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.254 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 141 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.254 210 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.380 32 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.437 41 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.451 54 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.458 68 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.526 714 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.535 819 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.575 93 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.580 1018 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.601 1122 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.620 1224 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.625 1348 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.646 1421 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 29.667 1512 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 29.671 1617 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.686 1734 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.752 1811 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.763 1942 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.776 209 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.779 2120 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.821 2288 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.874 236 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.887 2495 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 29.914 2538 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.948 2637 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 29.954 2713 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 29.985 2843 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 30.008 2932 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 30.014 3047 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 30.023 3136 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 30.172 3251 Bayley Currey (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 30.387 3315 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 30.421 3400 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 30.533 3552 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 30.964 3677 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 31.031Official qualifying results
Race
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 80
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 102 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 93 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 66 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 57 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 48 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 210 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 80
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 84 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 75 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 66 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 57 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 48 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 39 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 210 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1Official stage two results
Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 107
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 4 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 269 542 10 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 269 533 21 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 269 434 19 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 269 385 18 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 269 396 7 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 269 377 11 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 269 468 1 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 269 299 35 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 269 2810 25 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 269 2711 14 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 269 2912 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 269 2913 15 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 269 2714 2 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 269 3015 20 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 269 2216 23 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 269 2117 22 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 268 2018 12 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 268 1919 8 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 268 2120 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 268 1721 29 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 268 1622 5 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 268 2023 27 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 267 1424 6 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 1525 17 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 267 1226 26 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 267 1127 30 36 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 267 1028 28 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 266 929 24 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 266 830 13 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 266 731 32 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 264 032 33 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 263 033 31 51 Bayley Currey (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 262 034 36 77 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 260 335 9 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 238 1036 34 52 B. J. McLeod (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 110 0Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 15 among 10 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 7 for 35 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 2 hours, 51 minutes and 37 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth, while Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane.
NBCSNBooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Rick AllenColor commentator: Jeff BurtonColor commentator: Steve LetarteColor commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dave BurnsParker KligermanMarty SniderKelli Stavast
Radio PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on SiriusXM's NASCAR Radio channel. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the action from the booth when the field raced down the front straightaway. Doug Turnbull called the action from turns 1 & 2 and Pat Patterson called the action from turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Wendy Venturini, Steve Richards, and Brett McMillan reported from pit lane.
PRNBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Doug RiceAnnouncer: Mark Garrow Turns 1 & 2: Doug TurnbullTurns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson Brad GillieBrett McMillanWendy VenturiniSteve Richards
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Joey Logano 746 2 Kyle Busch 735 (–11) 3 Kevin Harvick 645 (–101) 4 Brad Keselowski 630 (–116) 1 5 Denny Hamlin 627 (–119) 1 6 Martin Truex Jr. 618 (–128) 1 7 Kurt Busch 618 (–128) 1 8 Chase Elliott 607 (–139) 9 Alex Bowman 554 (–192) 10 Aric Almirola 542 (–204) 11 Ryan Blaney 535 (–211) 12 William Byron 517 (–229) 1 13 Kyle Larson 511 (–235) 1 14 Clint Bowyer 481 (–265) 2 15 Jimmie Johnson 481 (–265) 2 16 Erik Jones 473 (–273)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 692 2 Ford 673 (–19) 3 Chevrolet 650 (–42)
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Notes
References