2011 Showtime Southern 500

Last updated

2011 Showtime Southern 500
Race details [1]
Race 10 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2011 Showtime Southern 500 program cover.jpeg
The 2011 Showtime Southern 500 program cover.
Date May 7, 2011 (2011-05-07)
Location Darlington Raceway near Darlington, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 1.366 miles (2.198 km)
Distance 370 laps, 505.42 mi (813.394 km)
Weather Partly cloudy and chilly in the evening; with temperatures hovering around 64.3 °F (17.9 °C) and wind speeds climbing up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
 Red Bull Racing Team
Time 27.131
Most laps led
Driver Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team
Laps 124
Winner
No. 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2011 Showtime Southern 500, the 62nd running of the event , was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 7, 2011 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 370 laps, 3 laps over the advertised distance, it was the tenth race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season out of thirty-six. The pole position was won by Kasey Kahne of Red Bull Racing Team. The race was won by Regan Smith of Furniture Row Racing, the first win for both Smith and the team, with Carl Edwards in second and Brad Keselowski in third.

Contents

Report

The layout of Darlington Raceway, the venue where the race was held. Darlington raceway.svg
The layout of Darlington Raceway, the venue where the race was held.

Background

Darlington Raceway is the second oldest speedway on the NASCAR schedule next to Martinsville Speedway. From above, the track has been long described as being shaped similar to an egg. Consequently, the track's banking is also affected by its shape. The frontstretch and backstretch are banked at 3° and 2°, respectively. Turns 1 and 2, which have a wider radius, are banked at 25° and turns 3 and 4, which are much tighter than the first two, carry 23° of banking.

Prior to the race, Carl Edwards held the Drivers' Championship lead with 326 points. Defending champion Jimmie Johnson was in second place, 9 points back, followed by Richmond Kyle Busch in third, 21 points behind Johnson. Four points behind Busch was Dale Earnhardt Jr. in fourth with Kevin Harvick one point behind in fifth. Kurt Busch, with 289 points, was in sixth followed by Clint Bowyer who was 5 points behind Busch. Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, and Tony Stewart rounded out the top 10 in points, all 3 separated by 3 points. Defending race winner Denny Hamlin was 17th in points. A. J. Allmendinger and Jeff Gordon remained in the wild card positions.

In the owner points battle, Tommy Baldwin Racing moved into the top-35 in owners' points for the first time on the heels of a 13th-place finish at Richmond, leading to a 3-way tie for 35th between the #32 team of FAS Lane Racing, the #13 team of Germain Racing, and the #71 team of TRG Motorsports.

No.DriverTeamMake
00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge
4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota
5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge
9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
09 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota
14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford
17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet
31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford
33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford
36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
37 Tony Raines Max Q Motorsports Ford
38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford
39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet
42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 A.J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
46 J.J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet
47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
50 T.J. Bell LTD Powersports, LLC Toyota
56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
60 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota
66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota
71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford
75 Derrike Cope* Stratus Racing Group Dodge
78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
81 Scott Riggs Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet
83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
92 Brian Keselowski K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge
99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford
Source: [2]

*Withdrew.

Practice

Qualifying

Kasey Kahne would win the pole with a 27.131. Meanwhile, Scott Riggs would blow an engine coming into his second lap of his qualifying run. While he had set a time, it was not enough to get Riggs into the race, as Joe Nemechek would beat his time.

Pos.No.DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
14 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 27.131181.254
239 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.255180.429
311 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.300180.132
499 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.323179.980
524 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.346179.829
69 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.370179.671
743 A.J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.404179.448
883 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 27.433179.259
914 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.456179.108
102 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 27.460179.082
116 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.461179.076
121 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.491178.880
1329 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.536178.588
1418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.558178.445
1547 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 27.568178.381
1642 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.586178.264
1720 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.602178.161
1827 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.611178.103
1948 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.621178.038
2017 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.628177.993
2138 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.629177.987
2216 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.634177.955
2378 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 27.647177.871
2431 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.654177.826
2522 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 27.665177.755
2633 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.670177.723
2709 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 27.678177.672
285 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.687177.614
2956 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.770177.083
3088 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.827176.720
3146 J.J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 27.833176.682
3213 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 27.879176.391
3350 T.J. Bell LTD Powersports, LLC Toyota 27.903176.239
3460 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 27.909176.201
3537 Tony Raines Max Q Motorsports Ford 27.911176.189
3600 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 27.921176.125
3734 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.025175.472
3830 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 28.035175.409
3966 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 28.044175.353
4032 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 28.054175.291
4136 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.225174.229
427 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 28.235174.167
Last to make it on time (car that is not locked in by owner's points)
4387 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 28.165174.600
Failed to qualify or withdrew
4481 Scott Riggs Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 28.247174.093
4571 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 28.613171.866
4692 Brian Keselowski K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge 28.776170.892
WD75 Derrike Cope Stratus Racing Group Dodge 0.0000.000
Source: [3]

Race

Regan Smith pulled off an upset and won the Showtime Southern 500 after holding off Carl Edwards on a late restart. There were 11 caution flags, the wildest one happening with 4 laps to go. During a 3 wide situation, Harvick got into Kyle Busch, who in turn got into Bowyer, who slammed the inside wall. He was not injured. Kyle Busch then turned around Harvick in Turn 1. After the race finished Harvick wanted to get Kyle Busch out of the car. After that didn't happen, Harvick went to Busch's car and threw a punch inside Busch's driver window, but Busch then drove off and Busch's car pushed Harvick's #29 car into the pit road wall instead. Tempers flared, and the incident further inflamed the tensions between the two men. After the race Busch and Harvick were both fined $25,000 and placed on probation for 4 races including the All Star Race.

Race results

Fin [4] [2] [5] #DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings
178 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 37011running47$272,745
299 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 37057running43$248,966
32 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 3700running41$178,358
44 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 370124running42$164,648
539 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 37028running40$165,025
611 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3700running38$152,000
714 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 3706running38$141,758
816 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3700running36$117,350
91 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 37013running36$128,614
1056 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 3701running35$100,550
1118 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 37078running34$134,991
1224 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3700running32$126,836
139 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 3700running31$120,066
1488 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3700running30$96,100
1548 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3700running29$137,761
1600 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 3700running28$114,408
1729 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 37047running28$141,111
1847 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 3702running27$112,270
195 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3690running25$92,150
2043 A.J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 3690running24$121,486
216 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3690running23$91,125
2227 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 3690running22$89,850
2342 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 3680running21$119,758
2436 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 3670running20$99,258
2517 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3660running19$117,486
2638 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 3650running0$90,633
2722 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 3640running17$119,775
2832 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 3642running17$87,822
2909 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 3640running0$77,075
3013 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 3641running15$77,900
3133 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 3630crash13$118,083
3234 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 3620running12$73,075
3331 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 3580engine11$82,525
3483 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 3320running10$100,664
3520 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3180running9$81,200
3637 Tony Raines Max Q Motorsports Ford 1720brakes8$72,775
377 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 870brakes7$72,585
3850 T.J. Bell LTD Powersports, LLC Toyota 670transmission0$72,350
3946 J.J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 340engine5$72,250
4060 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 290brakes0$72,050
4130 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 270electrical3$71,875
4287 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 220electrical0$71,780
4366 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 70vibration1$72,139
Source: [2] [4] [5]

References

  1. ↑ Complete weather information for the 2011 Showtime Southern 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 "2011 Showtime Southern 500 race results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021.
  3. ↑ "2011 Showtime Southern 500 qualifying results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "2011 Showtime Southern 500 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Showtime Southern 500". www.ultimateracinghistory.com. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
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2011 Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400 		Sprint Cup Series
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