What’s the latest you have ever stayed up to watch a race on TV? My record is roughly 3:00 AM. I didn’t quite reach that while watching the 2016 Duck Commander 500, but I came close.

Carl Edwards started on the pole for a race that was rain delayed two hours past it’s scheduled starting time. Edwards led for 29 laps, and then Nascar threw the competition caution, to allow drivers and teams to adjust their cars for the now clean race track. As drivers exited pit road, several got bunched up, and Jimmie Johnson, winner of the last three Texas races, accidentally slammed the back Kyle Busch’s car. Both sustained minimal damage, and were able to race at or near the front the rest of the night.

Edwards led the field to the green flag, but soon after doing so, he was hunted down by Martin Truex Jr. After dueling briefly, Truex blew past Edwards, and over the course of a Truex and Edwards would be the leaders for most of the night, but Truex was clearly the man to beat, leading 141 laps, and at one point leading by over 10 seconds!

It isn’t unusual to get long green flag runs at Texas, and there were several of those throughout the night. During one such run, during a round of green flag pit stops, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was exiting his pit box when some spilled gasoline caught on fire. No one was hurt, but it was quite the sight.

On a restart on lap 229, Truex and Edwards were in the process of battling for the lead, when Edwards slowed suddenly and went to pit road. He had a loose wheel, and because of that he spent the rest of the night trying to regain lost positions. He wound up 7th.

Then, about lap 290, a caution flew, and this brought some serious strategy into play. Truex was the fastest car, no questions asked. Just laps earlier he and everyone else had come to pit road for tires and fuel. Drivers were already in a window were they could make it to the finish, but the only way to beat Truex would be to go to pit road and get fresh tires, and hope he didn’t. When drivers came down pit road, Truex and a few others stayed out.

On the ensuing restart, Truex was in the lead, with several cars between him and the nearest drivers with fresh tires. Chase Elliot, the rookie who started from the rear of the field due to a transmission change, was the first driver with newer tires. Chase restarted several spots behind Truex, but in half a lap he was already to Truex’s bumper.

But then, chaos broke out. Austin Dillon, who was on older tires, was falling through the field, when he was clipped by Jimmie Johnson. Both got loose, and Dillon spun down the track, into the path of the incoming cars. Over a dozen cars were collected.

During the following caution, Chase Elliot, currently second, decided to come back to pit road for 4 fresh tires. He had only gotten two on the previous pit stop. Elliot managed to battle back to fifth place, and he claimed his first ever Sprint Cup Series top-five finish. This left Kyle Busch in second.

The field restarted with 34 laps remaining, and Kyle made quick work of poor Truex, who’s older tires stood no chance against Kyle’s fresher rubber. Truex fell to sixth, and stayed there the rest of the race.

Kyle Busch, who had won the past three races in Nascar’s top three series, was now in the lead, and he wanted to extend that streak to four. And second place Joey Logano, the only driver within striking distance, was gradually losing ground to the man they call ‘Rowdy’. (That nickname just won the Nascar’s most popular nickname award)

Kyle cruised to victory, his second at Texas, his second Cup win in a row, and his fourth Nascar win in the past four Nascar races. ‘Rowdy’ is without a doubt on a hot streak. He now has 141 Nascar wins, and he is only 30! I think it’s safe to say that he will break the record for the most Nascar wins (200).