Quaker State 400 (Kentucky)

The Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart, commonly known as simply the Quaker State 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, The inaugural race took place on July 9, 2011 and was won by Kyle Busch. From 2012 to 2014, the race took place the week before the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway during. From 2015 to 2017, the race was set back two weeks and is between the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway and the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In 2018 and 2019, it was the  race of the regular season precedng the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It is Cole Custer who was the last winner of the race in 2020.

NBC returned to NASCAR broadcasting with the 2015 running of the Quaker State 400 after four years on TNT, In 2020, the race aired on FS1 as part of Fox NASCAR.

History
The race was created after a lawsuit in which the owners of Kentucky Speedway believed that NASCAR had violated federal in 2005. In 2008, the circuit was bought by who hoped to be able to host a NASCAR race for the 2011 season. The former owners for their part drop the lawsuits against NASCAR after 4 years of proceedings.

As of August 2010, NASCAR announced that the speedway would host a race for the 2011 season. Seven months later, the brand Quaker State owned by the multinational announced that it will be the sponsor of the race which will be organized on the speedway at the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series occasion. The inaugural race took place on July 9, 2011 and was 267 laps long and is won by Kyle Busch.

The day of the race saw major traffic problems. Many fans who expected to attend the race were prevented from doing so after spending several hours on. As a result of these problems, the owners of the speedway decided to acquire more land to create parking lots. They worked closely with law enforcement to facilitate access to the speedway for the 2012 race.

New aerodynamic package in 2015
On June 16, 2015, NASCAR announced that a new aero package would be used for the 2015 race. These changes include a smaller rear spoiler and other adjustments that significantly reduce downforce. The spoiler was reduced by 3.5 in and a wide separator extension of 25 in was added. In addition, the new tires supplied by will provide more grip. At a press conference, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Director of Race Development Steve O'Donnell sid he wanted to see more leader change at this track, which he did an assessment based on of a number of factors inherent in Kentucky Speedway, see what he can learn from it and then apply it to the circuit. Initially these modifications were to intervene during the 2015 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race but finally NASCAR changed plan and decides to directly apply it to a race counting for the championship. He further states that this will not be a test but that these changes would be applicable from the race of the 2015 season, as NASCAR had already carried out a whole series of tests with the industry over the past 18 years. months and that these changes would not have been imposed from the Kentucky race if NASCAR did not trust these.

Past winners

 * 2013: Race postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to rain.
 * 2017 and 2019: Race extended due to NASCAR  overtime.

Notable moments

 * 2011: This was the first Cup Series event at Kentucky Speedway, The race was won by Kyle Busch for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. David Reutimann finished second, and Jimmie Johnson clinched third, The race, the 18th in the season, began at 7:30 pm EDT and was televised live in the United States on TNT. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race with the air temperature at 81 °F. Raceway Ministries pastor John Roberts began pre-race ceremonies, by giving the invocation. Next, Nick Lachey performed the national anthem, and Steve Beshear, Kentucky Governor, gave the command for drivers to start their engines. Two drivers had to start at the end of the grid because of changes that were not approved during practice; they were Hamlin and Dave Blaney. However, the race was largely overshadowed by major traffic issues that resulted in as many as 20,000 ticketed fans being unable to enter the track.
 * 2012: The race, the 17th of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season began at 7:48 EDT. The race was televised live in the United States on TNT. Jimmie Johnson started on pole position. The Kentucky Army National Guard and the Boone County Sheriff's Office presented the flag. The invocation was offered by Pastor John Roberts of Raceway Ministries. Laura Bell Bundy performed the national anthem. The grand marshal was Quaker State Official Steve Reindl. Brad Keselowski stretched his final tank of fuel the final 59 laps to the win.
 * 2013: The race was scheduled to start Saturday at 8:00 p.m., but pushed to Sunday afternoon due to rain, at 12:00 p.m. E.T., This prompted NASCAR to have a competition caution on Lap 30. The third caution of the race flew on lap 48 for a huge crash in the front straightaway, Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and others were involved in the incident, it started with Brad Keselowski spinning in the grass, and took out multiple cars, The red flag was displayed with Jimmie Johnson the race leader, it was lifted after 5 minutes and 3 seconds. Jimmie Johnson dominated the race, leading a race-high 182 laps, but spun on a late restart after pitting. Matt Kenseth stayed out on strategy, and became the third different winner.
 * 2014: The race served as the last year on TNT, before the acquisition of the $10.1 billion deal for NBC Sports, Prior to the start of the race, there was a downpour that soaked the track. This prompted NASCAR to schedule a competition caution at lap 30. Logano led the field to the restart on lap 85, before Keselowski was able to retake the lead two laps later. Another lengthy green-flag run ensued, before debris forced the third caution of the race, on lap 125. Prior to the caution, Matt Kenseth suffered a flat right-front tire, and had to pit from sixth position. Logano retook the lead during the pit cycle, while Jeff Gordon suffered a slow pit stop due to a malfunctioning air hose; he lost a total of 16 positions, dropping from 7th to 23rd. Logano and Keselowski swapped the lead positions once again, prior to the fourth caution, on lap 153, for a multi-car wreck on the backstretch involving Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray. Bowman locked up his brakes and tires, causing a large cloud of smoke that made it difficult for trailing cars to see what was in front of them. When the smoke cleared, Almirola swerved to his right to avoid Bowman, but in the process got into the left side of McMurray's car. After leading 199 laps from the Pole, Keselowski became the first repeat winner of the event.
 * 2015: NBC returned with the fifth running of the Quaker State 400, aired live on NBCSN, The race had a new track record of eleven caution flag periods for 49 laps, Carl Edwards went three wide underneath his teammate to take the lead with 54 laps to go. He got loose in turn 1 and Hamlin took back the lead with 53 laps to go. After Busch got around Logano with 20 laps to go, he drove off to become the second repeat winner at the track.
 * 2016: Kentucky Speedway underwent a reconfiguration and repave back in the Spring. The race aired on NBCSN for a second year, A multi-car wreck on the backstretch brought out the seventh caution of the race on lap 94. Exiting turn 2, Brian Scott got loose, saved the car, got turned by Kyle Larson and got t-boned by Chris Buescher. A. J. Allmendinger, Buescher, Ty Dillon, Larson, Danica Patrick, Regan Smith, Scott and Cole Whitt were all collected in the melee., In the final 10 laps, a number of cars began pitting so to have enough fuel to make the finish. Kenseth briefly took the lead from Keselowski before he pitted with four laps to go and handed the lead back to Keselowski. Keselowski decreased his speed dramatically to conserve fuel. This allowed Carl Edwards to pull to within a car-length with one lap remaining. He blocked Edwards's advance as he re-fired his engine and drove on to score the victory.
 * 2017: Martin Truex, Jr. dominated the seventh running of the event leading 152 laps. He won both stages 1 and 2 (NASCAR's new race format that saw stage lengths of 80 laps, 80 laps, and the final 107) and had a 15-second lead with two laps to go until the caution came out setting up an overtime finish for the first time in the event's history. Truex Jr. stayed out while everyone else pitted, but he chose the preferred outside lane for the restart. He took off from the start passing Kyle Busch and the race ended under caution due to a crash on the frontstretch after Truex Jr. had just taken the white flag. He took the yellow and checkered-flags ahead of Kyle Larson for his third win of the season. He became just the fourth driver to win at Kentucky, and the first new winner since Matt Kenseth in 2013.
 * 2018: Martin Truex Jr. did a repeat of his 2017 performance by winning both stages, dominating the race, and ultimately winning the race. It was the last win for Furniture Row Racing after they shut down at the end of the season.
 * 2019: The Busch brothers would dominate the event with eldest brother Kurt Busch winning stage 1, and Kyle Busch winning stage 2. Late in the race Joey Logano passed Busch and looked as if he was on his way to an easy win until the caution came out, forcing the race to go into overtime. Kurt restarted in fourth on four tires, and passed leader Logano and his younger brother on the outside. On the final lap, the brothers stayed side by side, and in a photo finish Kurt edged Kyle by 0.076-seconds. Giving Chevrolet its first win at the track, and making Kurt the fifth driver to win in the facility's history.
 * 2020: On the final lap, Stewart-Haas Racing's Cole Custer made a bold 4-wide move to the outside of Martin Truex Jr, Custer's teammate Kevin Harvick, and Penske's Ryan Blaney to take his first NCS victory at what ended up being the final Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway.