2014 AAA Texas 500

The 2014 AAA Texas 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on November 2, 2014, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 341 laps (extended from the scheduled distance of 334 laps due to two green-white-checkered attempts), it was the 34th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and eighth race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Jimmie Johnson won the race, his fourth win of the season and third straight win in the fall Texas race, while Kevin Harvick finished second. Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (7th), Justin Allgaier (20th), and Austin Dillon (21st).

Report

Background Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. With the ability to seat over 190,000, Texas Motor Speedway has the largest capacity for any NASCAR track after Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

Entry list Forty-three drivers were entered for the race.

Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) (CC) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick (CC) 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 (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 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) (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Trevor Bayne (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano (CC) Team Penske Ford 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) (CC) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman (CC) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Timmy Hill Hillman–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) Hillman–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 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 Brett Moffitt Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 J. J. Yeley (i) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 99 Carl Edwards (CC) Roush Fenway Racing FordOfficial entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional (CC) Chase Contender

Practice and qualifying Brian Vickers was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.106 and a speed of . Matt Kenseth won the pole with a time of 27.095 and a speed of . “It's crazy fast,’’ Kenseth said. “It's amazing that you can go around there with that much throttle in a Cup car. It was cold outside and you get a lot of grip. We haven't qualified that good this year most of the year. All three of those laps were all I could get.” “We hit it the second round, and I missed it in the third round, my fault,’’ Tony Stewart said. “To be the first to run 200 mph average on a 1.5-mile is pretty cool.” "It was three incredible laps and a great effort by our Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet team today," Jeff Gordon said. "All day long we have had a fast race car. It's awesome to be able to be able to back that up in qualifying." Carl Edwards was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 27.503 and a speed of . Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 27.865 and a speed of .

Qualifying Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.158 27.087 27.095 2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.078 27.042 27.096 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.036 27.169 27.138 4 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.174 27.173 27.148 5 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.043 27.055 27.158 6 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.100 26.985 27.203 7 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.298 27.034 27.204 8 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 27.262 27.172 27.218 9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.286 27.173 27.227 10 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.069 27.168 27.263 11 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.210 27.157 27.267 12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.286 27.138 27.308 13 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.196 27.184 — 14 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.225 27.186 — 15 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.327 27.202 — 16 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.321 27.205 — 17 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.162 27.224 — 18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.205 27.230 — 19 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.197 27.255 — 20 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.216 27.304 — 21 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.221 27.307 — 22 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.097 27.345 — 23 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 27.295 27.399 — 24 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.330 27.452 — 25 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.332 — — 26 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.386 — — 27 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.436 — — 28 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 27.455 — — 29 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.462 — — 30 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 27.497 — — 31 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.500 — — 32 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 27.553 — — 33 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 27.586 — — 34 40 Landon Cassill Hillman–Circle Sport Chevrolet 27.587 — — 35 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 27.599 — — 36 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 27.621 — — 37 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.629 — — 38 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 27.637 — — 39 83 J. J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 27.821 — — 40 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 27.998 — — 41 66 Brett Moffitt Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 28.013 — — 42 33 Timmy Hill Hillman–Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.114 — — 43 32 Joey Gase Go FAS Racing Ford 28.476 — —

Race Prior to the start of the race, Danica Patrick changed transmission and started last.

The race was scheduled to begin at 3:16 PM Eastern time, but started at 3:20 p.m. with Matt Kenseth leading the field to the green. During the first 30 laps of the race, Kenseth moved past Jimmie Johnson to become the all-time laps leader at Texas Motor Speedway. Danica Patrick made an unscheduled stop on lap 37 for a flat tire. The first caution of the race flew on lap 42 after Josh Wise got loose, overcorrected and hit the wall in turn 2. The race restarted on lap 47. Kenseth led the first 53 laps, but Jimmie Johnson took the lead from him on lap 54. Johnson gave up the lead on lap 92 to pit and Kevin Harvick assumed the lead. Harvick ducked onto pit road on lap 93 and the lead cycled back to Johnson. Johnson pitted on lap 138 and Jeff Gordon assumed the lead. Gordon hit pit road on lap 139 and gave the lead back to Johnson. Debris in turn 2 brought out the second caution on lap 175. Johnson and Gordon swapped the lead on pit road with Johnson pitting before the start/finish line, but he beat Gordon off pit road. The race restarted on lap 183. Earlier in the race, Matt Kenseth became the all-time laps leader at Texas. Jimmie Johnson took back that title at somewhere between lap 183 and lap 200. Kyle Busch, who had won both Truck and Nationwide Series races and was looking to sweep the weekend, hit the wall and lost a tire on lap 205 to bring out the third caution of the race. Just as during the previous pit cycle, Gordon and Johnson swapped the lead on pit road before Johnson wins the race off. The race restarted on lap 211. Jeff Gordon took the lead from Johnson on lap 217. Caution flew for the fourth time on lap 223 for a Ford grill plate that came off the front of Carl Edwards's car. Denny Hamlin took two tires when the leaders took four to take the lead. The race restarted on lap 228 and Hamlin promptly lost the lead to Jeff Gordon. Debris in turn 4 brought out the fifth caution on lap 241. Jimmie Johnson beat Jeff Gordon off pit road to take back the lead. The race restarted on lap 247. Debris from the No. 10 car of Danica Patrick brought out the sixth caution of the race on lap 252. Brad Keselowski stayed out when the leaders pitted to take the lead. The race restarted on lap 259. Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski swapped the lead with 69 and 68 to go. Gordon was finally able to get by Keselowksi with 59 laps to go. The seventh caution of the race came out with 50 laps to go when A. J. Allmendinger lost the car in turn 3. Jimmie Johnson took back the lead off pit road. The race restarted with 44 laps to go. Caution flew for the eighth time with 39 laps to go for a trail of debris left by Brett Moffitt. Matt Kenseth stayed out when the leaders pitted and assumed the lead. The race restarted with 32 laps to go. Kurt Busch took the lead and caution flew for the ninth time with 31 laps to go. Joey Logano cut the right-front tire and spun out in turn 2. The race restarted with 26 laps to go. Caution flew for the tenth time with 21 laps to go after Kasey Kahne got loose exiting turn 4, made contact with Marcos Ambrose and went through the grass on the front stretch. The race restarted with 17 laps to go. Jimmie Johnson took back the lead. The eleventh caution of the race flew with 15 laps to go after Trevor Bayne hooked Kasey Kahne and sent him into the backstretch wall. The race restarted with nine laps to go. Jeff Gordon took the lead. Caution flew for the twelfth time with four laps to go after Clint Bowyer got loose, overcorrected and slammed the fall on the front stretch. Gordon lost the lead on the first attempt, made contact with Brad Keselowski, spun out and brought out the 13th caution of the race. Jimmie Johnson held off Keselowski and Harvick to score his 70th career win. “It's a testament to this team and the fact that we'll never give up,” said Johnson. “We'll always keep fighting and keep trying to make our cars better. We’re not in the Chase and not where we want to be - fighting for the championship.”

Post-race fight