The 2011 Irwin Tools Night Race was a stock car racing competition that took place on August 27, 2011. Held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, the 500-lap race was the twenty-fourth in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Brad Keselowski of the Penske Racing team won the race; Martin Truex Jr. finished second and Jeff Gordon finished third.
Report
Background
Bristol Motor Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway. The standard track at Bristol Motor Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is long. The track's turns are banked from twenty-four to thirty degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked from six to ten degrees. The back stretch also has banking from six to ten degrees.
Before the race, Kyle Busch led the Drivers' Championship with 799 points, and Jimmie Johnson stood in second with 789 points. Kevin Harvick was third in the Drivers' Championship with 760 points, and Carl Edwards was fourth with 760 points. Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart rounded out the first ten positions. Kyle Busch was the race's defending champion.
On August 23, 2011, Toyota debuted the 2012 Toyota Camry at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California, prompting the Toyota teams to change their headlights, taillights, fog lights, and rear decals.
Practice and qualifying
Race
The race was televised by ABC in the United States. However, several affiliates including ABC owned-and-operated WABC in New York City, WPVI in Philadelphia and WTVD in Raleigh-Durham pre-empted the race in order to offer continuing coverage of Hurricane Irene, while other ABC affiliates pre-empted this race to air NFL preseason games.
Results
Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer 139Ryan NewmanStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet15.624122.811 299Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFord15.642122.670 317Matt KensethRoush Fenway RacingFord15.643122.662 424Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet15.654122.662 55Mark MartinHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet15.658122.544 61Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet15.659122.537 727Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet15.676122.404 82Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingDodge15.683122.349 920Joey LoganoJoe Gibbs RacingToyota15.688122.310 1022Kurt BuschPenske RacingDodge15.699122.224 119 Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord15.715122.100 1278Regan SmithFurniture Row RacingChevrolet15.721122.053 1348Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet15.725122.022 1416Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord15.725122.022 1529Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet15.727122.007 1633Clint BowyerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet15.727122.007 1734David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord15.736121.937 1843A. J. AllmendingerRichard Petty MotorsportsFord15.738121.921 1942Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet15.755121.790 2011Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota15.760121.751 2131Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet15.765121.713 2288Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet15.775121.635 2318Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota15.785121.558 246David RaganRoush Fenway RacingFord15.787121.543 254Kasey KahneRed Bull Racing TeamToyota15.793121.497 2683Brian VickersRed Bull Racing TeamToyota15.820121.290 2756Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota15.822121.274 2887Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsToyota15.835121.175 2913Casey MearsGermain RacingToyota15.839121.144 3047Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota15.843121.113 3130David StremmeInception MotorsportsChevrolet15.875120.869 3266Michael McDowell HP RacingToyota15.879120.839 3338Travis KvapilFront Row MotorsportsFord15.894120.725 3400David ReutimannMichael Waltrip RacingToyota15.901120.672 3536Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet15.930120.452 3646Scott SpeedWhitney MotorsportsFord15.949120.308 3795David StarrLeavine Family RacingFord15.970120.150 3871Andy LallyTRG MotorsportsFord16.012119.835 397Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsDodge16.012119.835 4051Mike BlissPhoenix RacingChevrolet16.049119.559 4132Terry LabonteFAS Lane RacingFord16.306117.674 4214Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet16.306116.397 4360Mike SkinnerGermain RacingToyota16.089119.158Failed to qualify 4450T. J. BellLTD Powersports, LLCChevrolet16.103119.158 4555J. J. YeleyFront Row MotorsportsFord16.116119.062 4637Jeff GreenMax Q MotorsportsFord16.302117.703
Race
Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps run Points 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 500 47 256 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 500 43 324 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 43 448 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 41 51 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 500 40 617 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 39 711 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 37 839 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 500 37 999 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 35 109 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 500 34 114 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 500 32 1243 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 500 32 1320 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 32 1418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 31 1531 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 29 1688 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 28 1722 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 500 27 1878 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 500 26 1942 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 500 25 206 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 24 2183 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 499 23 2229 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 499 22 2313 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 499 21 2434 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 498 20 2571 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 498 19 2633 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 498 18 2795 David Starr Leavine Family Racing Ford 497 0 2814 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 497 16 2951 Mike Bliss Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 497 0 3027 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 496 14 3116 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 496 13 3230 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 494 12 3332 Terry Labonte FAS Lane Racing Ford 494 11 3447 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 471 10 3536 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 457 9 3600 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 430 8 3738 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 371 0 385 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 363 6 3966 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 49 5 4087 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 42 0 4160 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 28 0 4246 Scott Speed Whitney Motorsports Ford 28 0 437 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 10 1
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Kyle Busch 830 2 Jimmie Johnson 830 3 Matt Kenseth 798 4 Carl Edwards 795 5 Kevin Harvick 782 6 Jeff Gordon 782 7 Ryan Newman 762 8 Kurt Busch 749 9 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 728 10 Tony Stewart 710
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 153 2 Ford 134 3 Toyota 133 4 Dodge 108
Note: Only the first ten positions are included for the Drivers' Championship.
References