The race was called two hours later, with Reutimann declared the winner.

Top 5: Reutimann, Ryan Newman, Robby Gordon, Carl Edwards, and Brian Vickers.

Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Juan Montoya, Joey Logano, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Denny Hamlin (11th), Jimmie Johnson (13th), Jeff Gordon (14th), Mark Martin (17th), Tony Stewart (19th), Greg Biffle (20th), Jeff Burton (25th), Kurt Busch (34th), Clint Bowyer (36th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (40th), and Kevin Harvick (41st).

This should make for an interesting race, as the cars are setup for a night race, but will be running in the middle of the day.

To be an approved pace car, a car must be able to reach a speed close to 100 mph from the standy-by position near the end of pit road to the exit of turn 2.

This isn’t the first time NASCAR used a hybrid pace car. A hybrid Ford Fusion was used in the Sprint Cup series finale last year, the Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. But, that car only paced the start of the race because it did not meet performance standards.

In the New York Times Wheels blog, Robert Peele writes that history suggests that Toyota’s announcement “may have been another salvo” in Ford and Toyota’s “continuing war of words.”

Peele points to the fact that Toyota disputed Ford’s claim  earlier this year, “that its Fusion hybrid was the most fuel-efficient midsize vehicle, saying that the Prius, which boasts significantly higher mileage, also was a midsize car.”

He also noted that “Ford accused Toyota of cheating in its cargo space measurements for the Sequoia sport utility vehicle, using a different measuring standard than Ford had used for its almost identically sized Expedition.”

Toyota did share hybrid technology with Ford five years ago, but after that Ford accused Toyota “of using its influence to limit Ford’s access to suppliers of hybrid technologies.”

RPM is working to secure sponsorship for the No. 44 and Allmendinger. Hunt Brothers Pizza is rumored to be in discussions with the team.

Joe Gibbs Racing reportedly has inquired about Allmendinger’s status with RPM. He could possibly replace Joey Logano in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

Allmendinger is currently 20th in points, with two top 10s and a top 5.

Last weekend at the Amp Energy 500 from Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt Jr blew, or cut depending on who you ask, a tire in practice and crashed. He had to go to a backup car.

This weekend at the Bank of America 500 from Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. blew a tire on lap 103, hitting the wall and sustaining heavy damage that would effectively end his night.

At the Camping World RV 400 from Dover International Raceway, Earhnardt Jr. blew a right side tire and spun, again effectively ending his race.

At the Coca Cola 600 from Lowe’s, Earnhardt Jr. was leading when he blew a tire and hit the wall.

Add these incidents in with all the times Jr. complained of a bad set of tires and it makes you wonder what is going on. Personally, I think there has to be something with the set up of the car, for him to be blowing tires so often.

To quote Harry Hogge from Days of Thunder: “There’s [43] other vultures out there who manage to finish the race on THEIR tires.” Why don’t you see other teams having so many tire problems?

I don’t know the answer to that question. But, in the off season, this team better figure out what this issue is and fix it, otherwise this team won’t be winning a championship any time soon.