The 2014 5-hour Energy 400 Benefiting Special Operations Warrior Foundation was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on May 10, 2014, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 267 laps on the tri-oval, it was the eleventh race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Jeff Gordon won the race, his first win of the season and 89th overall, while Kevin Harvick finished second. Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (12th), Austin Dillon (19th), and Michael Annett (25th).
This was the first time a Sprint Cup race had been held at night at Kansas Speedway. The previous three spring Kansas races had been held as midday races.
Report Entry list The entry list for the 5-hour Energy 400 was released on Monday, May 5, 2014, at 10:23 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four drivers were entered for the race.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney (i) Team Penske Ford 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Timmy Hill Circle Sport Chevrolet 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 Landon Cassill (i) Circle Sport Chevrolet 41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 44 J. J. Yeley (i) Xxxtreme Motorsports Chevrolet 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 66 Joe Nemechek (i) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing FordOfficial entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional
Practice First practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.560 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.560 189.076 2 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.629 188.620 3 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.643 188.528Official first practice results
Final practice Tony Stewart was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.007 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.007 192.809 2 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.078 192.321 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.090 192.239Official final practice results
Qualifying
Kevin Harvick won the pole with a time of 27.799 and a speed of . He also broke the previous track record in round two set last year by Matt Kenseth who started 28th. "Now, we just have to put it all together (Saturday) night when it counts," Harvick said following his record pole run. "It makes life a lot easier when you can have pit stall one. Hopefully, we can have a good night. The weekend has gone well. We had a great test here a few weeks ago and everything has carried right over." "We made the right adjustments and my car was really good through (Turns) one and two in the third round," Joey Logano said of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. "It's a good starting spot. If you count out the restrictor-plate stuff, we're the only car to make it through every session this season. I'm proud of that and ready to go for another win." "I'm most disappointed in the first run because I thought I had a good lap but obviously didn't push it hard enough," Jeff Gordon said, "...didn't drive it well enough to get us in that first time. And when we had to go back out and put extra laps on the tires and extra heat in the tires, it affected us from that point forward. I'm disappointed that we didn't go faster." Dave Blaney was the only driver who failed to qualify for the race, while his son, Ryan Blaney made his Sprint Cup debut.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.983 27.741 27.799 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.996 27.876 27.848 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.076 27.929 27.906 4 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.962 27.897 27.952 5 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.947 27.921 27.972 6 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.891 27.895 27.973 7 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.091 27.910 28.006 8 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.984 27.857 28.045 9 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.087 27.944 28.059 10 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.961 27.928 28.128 11 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.041 27.940 28.157 12 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.110 27.887 28.372 13 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.095 27.950 — 14 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.022 27.973 — 15 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.092 27.976 — 16 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.063 27.995 — 17 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.971 28.005 — 18 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.067 28.007 — 19 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.083 28.024 — 20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.012 28.032 — 21 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 28.004 28.033 — 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.066 28.089 — 23 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.101 28.153 — 24 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.116 28.463 — 25 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.128 — — 26 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.160 — — 27 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.172 — — 28 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.197 — — 29 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.258 — — 30 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.265 — — 31 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.322 — — 32 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 28.399 — — 33 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.440 — — 34 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.520 — — 35 44 J. J. Yeley Xxxtreme Motorsports Chevrolet 28.542 — — 36 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.550 — — 37 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.567 — — 38 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.580 — — 39 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.649 — — 40 40 Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.744 — — 41 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 28.784 — — 42 33 Timmy Hill Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.848 — — 43 66 Joe Nemechek Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.973 — —Did not qualify 44 77 Dave Blaney Randy Humphrey Racing Ford 28.656 — —Qualifying Results
Race
The race was set to start at 7:46 p.m. Eastern time, but the start of the race was delayed due to the weather. The cars started rolling off a few minutes after 8:00 p.m. but then rain started to pick up again. The race finally went green at 8:23 p.m. with Kevin Harvick leading the way.
Harvick surrendered the lead on lap 42 to make his first stop of the night. Joey Logano assumed the position.
Logano hit pit road the next lap and gave the lead to Carl Edwards.
Edwards ducked onto pit road and handed the lead to Jeff Gordon.
Gordon gave up the lead to pit on lap 45 and Brad Keselowski took the top spot.
The first caution of the race flew on lap 47 when Clint Bowyer got loose exiting turn 2, overcorrected and spun out on the backstretch. Because this took place during a cycle of green flag stops, everyone but Keselowski was trapped a lap down. Kevin Harvick got the lucky dog and restarted second. The rest of the cars took the wave-around and got their lap back.
The race restarted on lap 53 and Harvick shot out back to the lead.
The second caution of the race flew on lap 60 for a vicious four car wreck when David Ragan got loose, slid in front of Ryan Truex, turned to the right into Landon Cassill and destroyed the left-front of his car. Michael Annett suffered damage spinning through the infield grass.
The race restarted on lap 67.
The third caution of the race flew on lap 71 when Denny Hamlin got loose exiting turn 2 and spun out.
The race restarted on lap 75.
Kevin Harvick hit pit road on lap 102 and handed the lead to Carl Edwards.
Edwards ducked onto pit road on lap 103 and surrendered the lead to Joey Logano.
The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 110 when Marcos Ambrose got loose and spun out through the grass exiting turn 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. exited pit road as the leader by taking just two tires. During the caution period, the Musco backstretch lights outside the track turned off for unknown reasons. The lights inside the track were still working. The drivers told race control that the backstretch was illuminated enough to continue racing.
The race restarted on lap 119.
Joey Logano took back the lead on lap 122.
Kasey Kahne took the lead on lap 139.
The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 150 when Jamie McMurray slammed the wall hard in turn 3 following a cut right-front tire.“I’m not 100 percent sure,” said McMurray when asked what caused the accident. “I just entered turn three and I heard a small pop and then just lost all the steering and got into the fence and then knocked the oil lines and everything off which caused the fire. I’m not sure we didn’t really have any tire issues all weekend. Keith (Rodden, crew chief) had been kind of reporting to me what the tires looked like after each stop and hadn’t seen any really wear issues at all. I don’t know if it was just a bad tire or if I ran over something. Just lost all the air and ended up crashing.” Kasey Kahne traded the lead with Joey Logano on pit road with the former stall being behind the start/finish line, but he exited as the leader. The backstretch lights that went out the previous caution period came back on to full power.
The race restarted on lap 161.
Joey Logano returned to the lead on lap 162.
The sixth caution of the race flew with 88 laps to go when Kurt Busch got loose exiting turn 4 and destroyed his splitter sliding through the grass. Jimmie Johnson opted not to pit and took over the lead.
The race restarted with 83 laps to go and Kyle Busch led a lap before Johnson took back the lead.