The Saturday night race at Charlotte Motor Speedway turned into a Sunday afternoon race after rain postponed the start of the Bank of America 500 for 18 hours.

Matt Kenseth started on the pole in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and led for much of the early portion of the race.

Joey Logano had previously led only 20 laps at Charlotte before he dominated for the win in Sunday's Bank of America 500, leading 227 laps on his way to the checkered flag under clear skies.

Hendrick Motorsports' Kasey Kahne ran high in Turns 1 and 2 and slightly brushed the wall due to a flat right tire on Lap 35, and his day got worse on Lap 60 when he blew the same tire and hit the wall hard. He took his car to the garage where the team attempted to make repairs, but he was not able to return to the race. The caution period allowed the leaders to come to the pits for fuel and new tires; Kenseth was able to maintain the lead.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was tagged in the right rear by Carl Edwards on Lap 70 and brushed the wall. The No. 88 stayed out on the track after the crew determined that there was no issue with the tires as a result of the contact, but the right front tire finally went down and Earnhardt brought out the fourth caution of the day on Lap 74 after he hit the wall causing damage to the Nationwide Chevrolet. He came into the pits for right side tires and repairs to the right front quarter panel. Earnhardt rejoined the race one lap down.

Kevin Harvick came in for two tires under the caution and was able to beat Kenseth out of the pits. Several drivers stayed on the track during the yellow flag and maintained their track position. Logano took over the lead of the race followed by Kyle Busch. Logano kept the lead at the restart, with Harvick moving up to fourth. The biggest mover of the race at this stage was Kyle Larson who reached fifth place after starting 31st.

Tony Stewart brushed the wall on Lap 114 but was able to continue in the race. Green flag pit stops were the order of the day on Lap 122 for those drivers who stayed on track during the last caution. Leader Logano came to the pits followed by much of the field as many drivers requested wedge changes to improve the handling. The cars had been set up for a night race; the handling needed to be adjusted to account for running during the day on a green track. After all pit stops were made, Logano retained the race lead.

After leading much of the early portion of the race, Kenseth complained of a tight race car and was running in 12th as the halfway point of the race approached. Debris on the back stretch brought out the caution on Lap 168 for the fifth time. The field entered the pits for fuel and tires, with Logano maintaining the lead of the race. 

The yellow flag was shown for the sixth time on Lap 178 for smoke coming from the rear of Matt Kenseth's No. 20 Joe Gibbs Toyota. He had right side damage caused by contact with Ryan Newman which caused a tire rub. Dale Earnhardt Jr. benefited from the caution and got the free pass as the first car one lap down as Newman entered his pit so his team could make repairs.

As soon as the green flag flew, Justin Allgaier ran into the back of Michael McDowell, damaging Allgaier's radiator and bringing out another caution flag. Kenseth had been on and off pit lane several times during the caution period. When he returned to the track he complained of a tire rub and immediately came back to his pit for more adjustments.

The field saw the green flag again on Lap 190, with Logano holding on to the lead. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was slow on the restart after hitting the wall, causing him to return to pit lane to avoid another flat tire. He said that fluid on the track in Turns 1 and 2 caused him to go up into the wall. The caution was shown again for Lap 194 for the eighth time to check for debris.

Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch crashed coming on to pit road under this caution. Busch initially made a move to enter pit lane and then changed his mind; Larson decided to enter pit road at the last second and the two made contact. Busch sustained substantial damage to the right front on his No. 18 Toyota. Larson's car had left rear damage from the incident. Both drivers had commitment cone violations with Busch also receiving a penalty for exceeding the pit road speed limit. Earnhardt Jr. also came into the pits where his team continued to work on his car.

The field restarted on Lap 201, with Logano maintaining the lead. Jimmie Johnson slotted into second behind him, as the top non-Chase driver in the race. Matt Kenseth's woes continued as he hit the wall again and complained that he could not drive the car. He returned to the pits and said something had broken in the right front of the car. Kyle Busch started at the back of the field as a result of his pit lane penalty and was able to move up several spots at the restart.

Denny Hamlin's team told him over the radio to switch to the back-up battery, perhaps due to voltage issues. He was running fourth at the time with no apparent problems. The voltage issues continued with the team telling Hamlin to switch between the two batteries, at times running both at the same time.

Green flag pit stops began with 100 laps remaining. Kyle Busch brushed the wall in Turn 3 again but was able to continue. Sam Hornish Jr. was scored as the leader of the race as pit stops cycled through.

Kenseth brought out another caution on Lap 242 after hitting the wall, causing substantial damage to the right side; he took his car to the garage for further evaluation. The team continued work on the car in an attempt to get Kenseth back on the track and score championship points.

The green flag was shown again, with Jimmie Johnson coming to the pits saying that the car would not accelerate. He took the car back to the garage with 75 laps to go.

Justin Allgaier returned to the track 81 laps behind the leader on Lap 263 but immediately showed smoke from the rear of the car. Kenseth remained in the garage and was shown in 40th place.

At the restart, Harvick questioned whether leader Logano had restarted too early. Harvick was running second at the time and continued to try to chase down Logano for the lead with 54 laps to go. Cars went on to pit lane with 50 laps to go for their final pit stops with the Chase teams calculating the different scenarios to score the maximum number of points as the laps wound down.

Earnhardt Jr. came on to pit lane with 28 laps to go for fuel and tires while Logano continued to lead Harvick, followed by Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch. Austin Dillon was the top non-Chase driver, running in the seventh spot.

Brad Keselowski radioed his crew with the news that he thought he had a loose wheel, but with just 16 laps remaining in the race, he would try to hang on until the checkered flag. With NASCAR not mandating five tight lug nuts on a tire, many teams, including Keselowski's No. 2, have been opting for four per tire. If one of the four is loose, there is the danger of the tire coming off the car.

Logano dominated to win his first race at Charlotte, leading 226 laps on the way to victory, automatically advancing to the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Kevin Harvick finished second for a strong start to round two of the Chase and his pursuit of back-to-back championships.

Chase drivers Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Newman and Kyle Busch had a disappointing race and will need to come back strong at the next race in order to keep their championship hopes alive.

The Chase heads to Kansas Speedway for next weekend's Hollywood Casino 400, set to go green on October 18.


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About the author
Cathy Shumaker
I am a life long race fan who works as a race marshal and as a pit fire worker whenever I can. NASCAR, IndyCar, MotoGP among others. I attend as many races as possible each year. Email me at [email protected]