Joey Logano on the pole. Wow. Never heard that before. I’ve also never heard of him having trouble during the same race where he starts strong. Just kidding. I’ve heard that at almost every race this year. And as usual, his strong start ended with several mistakes.

Logano won the pole, but from the start two drivers left everyone choking on their dust. Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. Both led multiple laps, with Truex leading the most in the whole race. Throughout the race they traded the lead back and forth, each getting stronger.

Early in the race there were numerous small cautions. Jimmie Johnson spinning, Jeb Burton wrecking, etc. But there were no major problems. Until the rain arrived. On lap 98 rain brought the race to a screeching halt. As of then it was nine o’clock. When the track was finally dry it was eleven o’clock. And I mean p.m. not a.m. The race didn’t end until one o’clock. Sunday morning.

When the race resumed it was not even half-way through. Again there were no major cautions, until about the midway point. Matt Kenseth got loose and spun, and cars scrambled to dodge the spinning no. 20. In the process Brett Moffit rammed the back of Tony Stewart, sending the no. 14 hard into the wall. Another incident in Stewart’s already frustrating season.

After that the race was rather quite for a while. However, a timely caution put every driver in a position where they might be able to stretch their fuel to the finish. But there was no guarantee. A driver may run out in the final laps. However, the race was not destined to be decided by fuel-milage.

Denny Hamlin, who had suffered a tire failure a few laps previous, blew a tire again late in the race. His left-rear tire blew, slapping his car’s back-end into the wall, and then sending him nose first into the outside wall. That ended his race, but it set up quite the finish.

The caution came with ten laps left in the race, and all the drivers were a little short on fuel. But, caution laps help you save fuel, so that may help save enough to make it to the finish. In the end almost all the leaders pitted. Truex Jr. pitted for just fuel, while fellow leader Harvick got two tires as well as fuel. However, multiple drivers stayed on the track. The leader was Jimmie Johnson. By the way, remember how I mentioned Joey Logano was ruined by mistakes? Well, a pit road penalty ended his chances for a win this time.

When the drivers restarted, Harvick blew past everyone on his two tires. Soon only two drivers were left to pass. Jimmie Johnson, the leader, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., last week’s winner. Kevin quickly passed Dale, but Jimmie had stretched his lead by that time. Harvick drove like there was no tomorrow, but ran out of time. Johnson won his third race of the season in the SpongeBob SquarePants 400. I still hate that name.