Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Aaron’s 499

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

    From the wild knock out qualifying that netted Brian Scott the pole position to the crazy green-white-checkered race finish, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 45th annual Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Surprising: It is not often when two champions wreak such havoc in one race, even if it is on an unpredictable superspeedway. But both Brad Keselowski as well as Jimmie Johnson did just that, having uncharacteristically bad days that negatively impacted so many others in the field.

    In fact Keselowski negatively impacted the field twice, once early on in the race while battling Danica Patrick for the lead and then later in the race causing a twelve car pileup that involved several other drivers, including the likes of past champions Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

    “I just spun out in front of the whole field,” the driver of the white Miller Lite Deuce said. “I don’t know why, if I just busted my butt on my own or lost a tire, but I feel bad for everyone that got torn up.”

    Johnson, after suffering his own damage from the first Keselowski incident, had almost the identical problem as Keselowski, spinning out at almost the same exact spot on the race track and catching others in his wake.

    “I got caught up in the first wreck and that did some damage; and I don’t know what happened when I spun out,” the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Valspar Chevrolet said. “I just went out in front of everybody. The car just got real loose going into Turn 3 and turned around and collected a bunch of guys, unfortunately.”

    Keselowski finished the race in the 38th position while Johnson finished 23rd and remains winless.

    Not Surprising: In his 300th start and at a superspeedway not a short track, Denny Hamlin made a statement and won his first race of the season, his first race at Talladega, and his first point’s race at a restrictor plate track. Hamlin also all but sealed up a Chase berth, after missing the Chase completely last season for the first time in his career.

    “It feels good to be back in Victory Lane in a points-paying event,” the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota said. “We’ve come a long way. We couldn’t finish 22nd in superspeedway races for the longest time and now it seems like when we go, we know we have the knowledge and car that can win.”

    “It feels good to come to these types of tracks and win.”

    Surprising: Jeff Gordon surprisingly kept his point leads in spite of finishing 39th, as well as breaking his streak of 11 consecutive top-15 finishes. Gordon still leads by three points over Matt Kenseth, who came in just ahead of Gordon in the race, finishing 37th.

    “Oh man, we had a great car,” the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet said. “I could see where the 2 came from the outside lane and came back down to the inside lane, or middle lane, then wiggled and got turned.”

    “It was unfortunate what happened to him early, but more unfortunate what happened to many of us in that incident.”

    Not Surprising: Whether they had a game plan in their heads or not, both Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer scored their best ever finishes of the 2014 season.

    Biffle, behind the wheel of the No. 16 3M Window Film Ford, finished runner up after leading the most laps at 58. Bowyer, driving the No. 15 PEAK Antifreeze/Motor Oil Toyota, finished third, scoring his first top-5 finish of the season.

    “I had a game plan in my head,” Biffle said. “On our speedway program, they did a great job getting the car ready. This was our Daytona 500 car and we wanted to get up there and run with the guys.”

    “I don’t think you ever really have a game plan,” Bowyer said. “But I like the situation I saw with Biffle. You know he was going to pull out and make a move. I had my teammate right behind me and I was looking forward to that opportunity.”

    “After last weekend, we blew three tires and burned the car to the ground,” Bowyer continued. “To get things turned around on a positive note, we finished Talladega without a crash.”

    Biffle posted his sixth top-10 finish in 23 races and Bowyer posted his ninth top-10 finish at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Surprising: Risk was not worth the reward for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who elected to ride in the rear in the waning laps to avoid the craziness of the finish. Although Junior led the second-most laps in the race, he finished 26th in his National Guard Chevrolet.

    “We already got a win and like I said, I’ve been in too many late-race wrecks,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I didn’t want to be no part of it. And there were three or four there we dodged pretty good.”

    “So, we’ve got a car in one piece,” Junior continued. “You have to have that track position at the end and we didn’t have it. We didn’t tear up our car and we will go to Daytona and try to manage the strategy.”

    Not Surprising: Talladega makes for friendships formed on the fly and that is exactly what happened between AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard, who finished fifth and sixth respectively.

    “I really thought I had messed us up there and that last restart I’ve got to thank Paul Menard,” the driver of the No. 47 Bush’s Beans Chevrolet said. “He just kept shoving me all the way up through the inside of guys.”

    “We had a really fast Richmond/Menards/Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Chevrolet all weekend,” Menard said. “It was really good at the end. On the last restart just pushed the hell out of AJ (Allmendinger) and wound up being okay.”

    Surprising: Both David’s, Ragan (defending race winner) and Gilliland, who are traditionally good at plate racing, had a pretty rough day at the race track.

    Gilliland’s engine gave way on his No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, while Ragan was involved in a very hard hit during one of the race’s many wrecks.

    “I thought my car was good,” Gilliland said. “We got in that accident and I don’t know if the motor got a little warm when we opened up the duct work, but it just wasn’t our day.”

    “It looked like someone got turned in the middle or the bottom lane and we were just kind of minding our own business up top and all I saw was some cars coming up toward us,” Ragan, behind the wheel of the No. 34 KFC Ford, said. “There was nothing you could do.”

    “It’s just a shame that when somebody makes a mistake it takes out a bunch of race cars.”

    Not Surprising:   Young Kyle Larson was the highest finishing rookie…again, this time bringing his car home not only in one piece but in the ninth position. This was the fifth top-10 finish for the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet and he sits in the 13th position in the point standings.

    “I spent most of the day just — well, pretty much all day just trying not to make any spectacular moves to put myself in a bad spot to get in a wreck,” Larson said. “Just wanted to stay out of trouble. We’ve been making up a lot of points throughout the year after Daytona, and to come back to another superspeedway, I was really nervous.”

    “Glad to get a good finish and stay up there in points.”

    Surprising: Danica Patrick had one major complaint about her race at Talladega. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet was, well, just plain hot.

    “It was a hot day here in Talladega,” Patrick said after finishing 22nd. “I dropped back to get some clean air. Heating was definitely an issue. It really limited me to the bottom lane.”

    “I was getting hot a lot,” Patrick continued. “I think you saw that from a lot of cars.”

    Not Surprising: There were many drivers that were not only happy to have ‘Dega in the rear view mirror but were also glad for a good, safe finish to the race.

    “It was crazy, but everybody did a really good job,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford said. “The racing was pretty good. It was really intense, but safe I thought relative to what we’ve seen in the past.”

    “I expected a few of the big wrecks and tried to avoid those and did exactly that,” Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford said. “We didn’t end up on our roof, so it was a solid day and we’ll go on.”

    NASCAR next visits Kansas Speedway for some Saturday night racing under the lights in the 5-Hour Energy 400 Benefiting Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

     

  • Bittersweet Outcome For Greg Biffle at Talladega Superspeedway

    Bittersweet Outcome For Greg Biffle at Talladega Superspeedway

    Greg Biffle reassured his presence in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after finishing second in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon. However, he’s still scratching his head on what could have been had his crew advised him that there was debris spread across the start/finish line.

    “When I got back around (to the frontstretch), I was wondering why nobody told me that there was half of a car laying in the track,” Biffle explained following the runner-up finish, “and that we probably weren’t going to race back so go ahead and try and pass (Denny Hamlin) now, but that’s a lot to happen in a short amount of time.”

    Biffle, 43, was also baffled at the timing of NASCAR’s decision to throw the caution. He was led to believe once the machines roared through the first two corners that they’d be able to conclude the race under green flag conditions but obviously that wasn’t the result.

    “We were about halfway down the back stretch I guess and I thought when I saw the smoke that (it) was (time) to make a decision to go or not, then I decided to wait,” Biffle further expressed. “I figured once we got in the middle of one and two (that) the caution wasn’t going to come out. I figured, okay, we’re good all the way back.”

    He led a season-high 58 laps of the 188 scheduled after beginning the famed race in the 35th starting position, yet, he was still craving more, respectively.

    “I just wish I was where (Hamlin) was on that final restart,” Biffle explained about the final few circuits. “But it was pretty satisfying to finish — once the outside lane got a push there towards the end and I got shuffled back to about third row and we were three wide, I was nervous that I wasn’t going to (finish). But I was extremely happy with second.”

    Nevertheless, this becomes Biffle’s season-best finish, bettering his fifth place showing at Darlington Raceway last month, and an ideal time nonetheless.

    “I mean, it’s sort of bittersweet for us,” Biffle added. “We’ve run a little bit better in the last couple weeks, and I wasn’t sure how we were going to run here. I was extremely happy with the speed my car had on Friday and then today all day. We’ve still got some work to do, but it sure would have been nice to get a win toward the Chase, but we’ve got some great racetracks coming up, as well. It would have been nice (though).”

    Now, Biffle heads to Kansas Speedway, a track he’s scored triumphs at on two prior occasions and this time, due to the Chase format, he’s willing to risk everything to visit victory lane.

    “I’d be super excited to win there to start with, but to be a guy to win — first guy to win three (at Kansas) would be pretty neat,” Biffle expressed about Kansas next weekend. “I love that racetrack. It’s a lot of fun to race on, puts on a good race.”

    Biffle will continue seeking a victory and eventual Chase berth, and now, after a runner-up finish, momentum and confidence could prove to be a ‘funny thing’ in upcoming races for the former NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series champion.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Aaron’s 499

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Aaron’s 499

    With a three hour plus rain delay pushing the Aaron’s 499 from day into a Talladega Night, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Alabama 2.66 mile oval.

    Surprising:  While Talladega has seen its share of calamities, the 44th annual race running seemed to be the granddaddy of all mayhem. There was not just one ‘big one’ but two, with sixteen cars involved in the first wreck early in the race and twelve cars in the second ‘big one’ near the end of the race.

    In between the crashes, there was the weather red flag, which lasted three hours, 36 minutes and six seconds, pushing the race to its finish in what some called darkness.

    There were two drivers, however, who experienced the most ‘Dega mayhem. Kurt Busch, driving the No. 78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevrolet, was having a great run until getting clipped by another car as it slipped down the track.

    This sent Busch airborne and rolling over and over to eventually land smack dab on top of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet of Ryan Newman.

    “We just got hit from behind and along for the ride we went,” Busch said. “It’s Talladega, what can I say.”

    “That’s no way to end a race,” Newman said. “You got what you wanted but that’s just poor judgment restarting the race, running in the dark and running in the rain.”

    Not Surprising:  While ‘Dega may have been filled with mayhem for many drivers, it was a dream come true and the luckiest track ever for two Ford drivers, who both just happened to be named David.

    For David Ragan, winning his first race at Talladega and scoring the first ever victory for his team Front Row Motorsports, Talladega was indeed a dream come true.

    “I always knew in my heart I would get another chance,” Ragan said. “We know we are an underdog but we know ‘Dega is an equalizer.”

    “How sweet to see all those Fords up there for the win,” Ragan continued. “I’m looking at my mirror and I was wondering if I was dreaming.”

    While David Ragan stood in Victory Lane, he would not have been there without the push of his teammate David Gilliland, who himself pronounced Talladega as the luckiest track ever.

    “It was a big day,” the driver of the No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford said. “A lot of it had to do with this little note from my 10-year-old daughter Taylor wishing me good luck.”

    “She wrote that with a little horseshoe on it and put it on my dash before the race,” Gilliland continued. “And she had some horseshoe good luck earrings in too.”

    Surprising:  The race at Talladega was surprisingly nightmarish for one Trevor Bayne, who had once asked if he was dreaming after winning the Daytona 500. The driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford blew up, bringing out the first caution of the race.

    “There was no warning at all,” Bayne said of his engine issue. “I got to turn one and it let go.”

    “I’m surprised the whole field didn’t crash with as much oil that was pouring out of this thing.”

    Not Surprising:  Given the carnage on the race track, it was not surprising that Trevor Bayne was not the only driver watching the remainder of the race from his motor home. In fact, Kasey Kahne, who was involved in the ‘big one’ early on, watched what was left of the race from his couch at home.

    “Btw I’m on the couch at home,” Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet for Hendrick Motor Sports, tweeted after being knocked early. “This sucks.”

    Kahne finished 42nd and lost three spots in the point standings, falling from the third to the sixth position.

    Surprising:  Demonstrating a new-found maturity, Kyle Busch accepted full responsibility for causing the first ‘big one’ at Talladega.

    “Kind of caused it,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said. “I really don’t know what happened.”

    “I know I got in the back of the No. 5,” Busch continued. “I hated that I caused a melee for everybody especially early in the race.”

    “I hated that we all got crashed in that deal.”

    Not Surprising:   Restrictor plate racing does indeed make strange bedfellows. There was no better demonstration of this than the ‘friends’ that Denny Hamlin made to enable his successful comeback to the sport after his back injury.

    “It means a lot as a driver to have your peers have your back like that,” Hamlin said of Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Waltrip and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., all of whom fell to the back of the pack to help him. “They really sacrificed the first part of the race for me.”

    “I can’t thank them enough.”

    Also, not surprisingly, the driver change between Hamlin and Brian Vickers went perfectly, allowing Hamlin to escape through the roof hatch to the broadcast booth in the Hollywood Hotel while watching his replacement Brian Vickers take the wheel, only to wreck out in the ‘big one.’

    “Everything went seamless and painless,” Hamlin said. “Every week I feel a lot better.”

    Surprising:  Danica Patrick showed some surprisingly skilled evasive moves in avoiding the first wreck and was in good position until the late-race accident on lap 182 ended her day. The driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing finished 33rd.

    “We were watching and we were like, ‘Holy Cow’,”  Tony Gibson, crew chief, said of Danica’s avoidance of the first ‘big one’.  “I don’t know how she missed it.”

    “It’s just unfortunate how it ended up with the late-race crash,” Gibson continued. “But that’s part of restrictor-plate racing.”

    Not Surprising:  With a rain delay of the magnitude at Talladega, it was not surprising that several drivers and cars had issues attempting to go back racing. Juan Pablo Montoya could not get his No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet re-started after the rain delay and ended up behind the wall before returning to the track for a 25th place finish.

    Joey Logano was right there with JPM struggling to restart after the rain delay, however, his problem was more serious and ultimately fatal. The No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford had some sort of engine issue that led to his 35th place finish.

    “We’re not sure what happened,” Logano said. “We’re thinking maybe an air pocket somehow got in the water system, but it doesn’t make sense.”

    “It’s a bummer when you’re sitting third when it is raining and you don’t finish the race.”

    Surprising:  Toyota had a good day at Talladega with occasional Toyota driver and team owner Michael Waltrip surprisingly leading the way. Waltrip was the highest running Toyota  with a fourth place finish, followed by Martin Truex Jr. in seventh and lap-leader Matt Kenseth in eighth.

    “I love being a part of the Toyota family,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Alabama National Champ Toyota said. “We had a great run.”

    “I had a ball,” Waltrip continued. “I love being at Talladega and I love racing.”

    Not Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson extended his points lead to 41 over second place Carl Edwards with his fifth place finish at Talladega.

    “It was obviously a very good day for our Lowe’s Chevrolet,” Johnson said. “We had a very fast car and I felt like we were a player all day long, and that’s awesome.”

    Surprising:  Regan Smith, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Hendricks.com Chevrolet, was surprisingly disappointed with his top-ten finish, especially after winning the crash-filled Nationwide race.

    “Well the last few laps I didn’t see much because it was pretty dark,” Smith said. “A little disappointed.”

    “I kept getting stalled out by the cars on the outside.”

    Not Surprising:  Even with the mayhem of restrictor plate racing, Aric Almirola, behind the wheel of the No. 43 Gwaltney Ford, continued his streak of consecutive top-ten finishes. In fact, he will make history for Richard Petty Motorsports at Darlington if he finishes in the top-ten there.

    “We sure are on a roll lately,” Almirola said. “I think we are the only people that aren’t surprised we are seventh in points and have the longest current top-10 streak in the series.”

    “We just need to keep it up and start moving to top-fives and hopefully a win soon.”

  • Crunching The Numbers: Talladega

    Crunching The Numbers: Talladega

    After a crazy weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series at the short track of Richmond International Raceway, both series pack up and move on to the biggest, fastest track on the circuit for some restrictor plate racing at Talladega Superspeedway. As is the case each trip to the 2.66 mile, high banked behemoth in Alabama, these races are sure to provide nonstop action and the driver who can play the 200 mph chess game just right and avoid the inevitable “Big One” will come out on top.

    Sprint Cup Series

    With Talladega being the second restrictor plate race for the new Gen6 Sprint Cup car after its debut at Daytona to open the season, only time will tell if the racing in the Aaron’s 499 on Sunday will mirror that from the Daytona 500 or if Talladega has a few tricks up its sleeve for these drivers as they try to figure out the new car in the restrictor plate draft.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Brad Keselowski 8 2 3 6 0 31 18.9 12.2
    Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 26 5 9 13 0 737 15.6 15.0
    Kevin Harvick 24 1 6 10 1 155 22.0 15.4
    Tony Stewart 28 1 9 13 0 317 16.5 15.8
    David Ragan 12 0 3 5 0 27 19.8 16.0
    Kurt Busch 24 0 6 13 0 143 20.8 16.1
    Clint Bowyer 14 2 4 7 0 96 18.7 16.1
    Jeff Gordon 40 6 15 19 3 839 11.5 16.4
    Jimmie Johnson 22 2 5 9 1 234 10.2 17.7
    Travis Kvapil 10 0 0 2 1 17 22.1 17.8

    Who To Watch: As the defending spring Talladega race winner and two time winner at Talladega, Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers at the track with two wins, three top fives, six top tens, 31 laps led, and an average finish of 12.2 in eight starts at the track. Coming in just behind Keselowski is Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who has five wins, nine top fives, 13 top tens, 737 laps led, and an average finish of 15.0 in 26 starts. However, Earnhardt has not won at Talladega since the Fall of 2004 and only has five top tens in the eight years (16 races) since that last win, but Earnhardt can never be counted out at restrictor plate races, no matter the track.

    Others that could find their way to Victory Lane this weekend include: Richmond winner and winner of the Fall race in 2010 at Talladega, Kevin Harvick; Tony Stewart, with one win, nine top fives, 13 top tens, and an average finish of 15.8, David Ragan, who hasn’t won at Talladega, but does have a Sprint Cup restrictor plate win at Daytona and a Nationwide Series win at Talladega under his belt as well as an average finish of 16.0; Kurt Busch, who has six top fives and 13 top tens in 24 starts and an average finish of 16.1; two time winner Clint Bowyer, who also has an average finish of 16.1 in 14 starts; Jeff Gordon, with six wins, but none since sweeping both races in 2007; and Jimmie Johnson, who has two wins, but has had horrible luck at restrictor plate races as of late, especially at Talladega.

    Nationwide Series

    If fans thought the season opener for the Nationwide Series at Daytona was wild, this weekend’s at Talladega is sure to provide just as many, if not more, thrills as that race did, due in large part to the two-car tandem drafting style that these drivers use in this series.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Joey Logano 4 1 4 4 0 21 10.5 2.0
    Kurt Busch 1 0 0 1 0 1 31.0 6.0
    Trevor Bayne 2 0 0 1 0 23 22.0 9.5
    Sam Hornish, Jr. 2 0 0 0 0 4 10.0 12.5
    Danica Patrick 1 0 0 0 0 1 17.0 13.0
    Brian Vickers 4 0 0 2 0 17 11.2 14.0
    Justin Allgaier 4 0 0 2 0 0 19.2 15.5
    Joe Nemechek 18 2 7 8 5 202 10.7 15.9
    John Wes Townley 2 0 0 0 0 0 28.5 16.5
    Kyle Busch 9 1 4 5 0 114 11.6 16.6

    Who To Watch: Sprint Cup regular Joey Logano will be making his first start in the Nationwide Series for Penske Racing at Talladega and carries an impressive Nationwide Series record at the track with him. In four starts, Logano has one win, four top fives, four top tens, 21 laps led, and an average finish of 2.0. If Logano can reproduce those results that he obtained while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing with his new team, Logano will definitely be one of the favorites for the win on Saturday.

    Logano isn’t the only favorite for the victory, several others will also be in contention, including: Kurt Busch, who will be teaming back up with Phoenix Racing, finished sixth in his lone Nationwide start at Talladega and won last July at Daytona, so he has ran well on restrictor plate tracks in the Nationwide Series; Trevor Bayne, who has two starts, one top ten, and an average finish of 9.5; Sam Hornish, Jr., the current points leader, has two starts and an average finish of 12.5; and Danica Patrick, who will be running for Turner Scott Motorsports, who has one Talladega Nationwide start and an average finish of 13.0.

  • Aaron’s 499 Review: Talladega Puts On a Show

    Aaron’s 499 Review: Talladega Puts On a Show

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”228″][/media-credit]When NASCAR comes to Talladega it’s almost like playing the lottery; you never know who is going to win, but it’s still fun to gamble. Jeff Gordon started on the pole with last year’s champion Tony Stewart on the outside pole. The race was delayed for about 30 minutes due to rain that flooded the track overnight, but once the race got started it was an entertaining show.

    Overheating started out early on Lap 16 when Regan Smith blew an engine to bring out the caution flag. Tony Stewart, who was leading when the caution came out, got off pit road second to Matt Kenseth. Kenseth was able to hold the lead until Lap 26 when Michael Waltrip took his No. 55 Toyota to the lead.

    The overheating woes continued on Lap 44 when Ryan Newman took his car to the garage when water began to pour out of his windshield. The top three drivers under this caution were Waltrip, Kenseth, and Stewart. At Talladega a driver can go from the rear of the field to the front instantly with the help of the two car tandem and that’s exactly what Jimmie Johnson did on Lap 46 with the help of his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch.

    Kenseth took the lead in his Best Buy Ford on Lap 53 with Jeff Gordon in tow. Around this time is when Johnson reported to the team that his engine was blowing up due to overheating.  After green-flag pit stops on Lap 58 Earnhardt took over the lead from Kenseth for about 20 laps, until Earnhardt lost the draft and dropped back to 15th position. Approximately 50 laps into the race Kasey Kahne was forced to make a spotter change. His interim spotter Kevin Hamlin was suffering from laryngitis at the time and eventually lost his voice. The No. 5 team replaced Hamlin with Joe Nemecheck’s spotter to finish the race.

    From 80 laps to go on, the leader of the race changed almost every ten laps. The drivers exchanging the lead were Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kenseth, Casey Mears, Brad Keselowski, and Kurt Busch.  Busch caught a big break on Lap 141 when his car ran out of fuel just as caution flew on the race track. In Turns 3 and 4 the big one struck involving Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Montoya, Terry Labonte, Aric Almirola, and Dave Blaney. Under this caution Kenseth and Ambrose were penalized for pitting too soon. Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte also pitted too soon after running out of fuel.

    Paul Menard led the restart with Keselowski on his outside. Keselowski took the lead with 39 to go. Mears spun his race car in Turn 3 to bring out a caution with 15 laps to go. During this caution Stewart brought his car down pit road for overheating issues. The cautions continued when former teammates Keselowski and Kurt Busch got together, sending Busch spinning through the infield.

    As the field attempted to restart, another caution flew once again. Hamlin jumped out of line to try and make it three wide down the middle. Allmendinger blocked Hamlin and started another big wreck. Menard, Kevin Harvick, and Waltrip were also involved. Just before the restart Hamlin blew a tire causing the caution to be extended for debris on the track.

    The race was settled by a green-white-checkered finish between Kenseth, Keselowski, and Kyle Busch. Keselowski pulled ahead by three car-lengths over the field to win his second race at Talladega.

     

    [media-credit name=”articles.boston.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Kurt Busch, or Should I Say “Ricky Bobby”?

    Kurt Busch’s paint scheme for Talladega looked very familiar to race fans, and even non-race fans. Busch ran the colors of “ME” from the popular movie “Talladega Nights”. Not only did he run Ricky Bobby’s paint scheme, his entire team took this role to a whole different level. The team referred to Busch as “Ricky” over the radio and quoted the movie throughout the entire race. The team even carried a stuffed animal cougar named “Karen” in the racecar with them.

    Busch’s race was going very well until Lap 181 when Keselowski and Busch got together, sending Busch sliding across the start-finish line. With limited damage to his race car, it looked as if Busch would be able to get back on track and continue racing. However, when Busch drove his car down pit road backwards in attempt to get to his pit stall, he was forced to pit again. This is when the fun and games ended between the team and driver, and the No. 51 car finished in 20th place, one lap down.

     

    Fresh Faces Finish in the Top-20

    After losing his Cup ride at Roush Racing last season, it was nice to see David Ragan finish in 7th position. Ragan ran a clean race and was able to stay out of trouble to keep his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the Top-10. Trevor Bayne is running a part-time NASCAR schedule this season due to lack of sponsorship with Wood Brother’s Racing. Bayne is known for being a good plate-track racer and he finished in 8th position in the Aaron’s 499. Aric Almirola is another driver who we don’t normally see at the top of the field, but was able to finish in 12th position. David Gilliland, who is Ragan’s teammate at Front Row Motorsports, finished in 13th position. Travis Kvapil, who is running a par-time schedule, finished in 16th position.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

    At one of the longest tracks on the NASCAR Cup circuit, 2.66 miles to be exact, where lead changes abound and Dale Earnhardt still rules with ten wins, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    [media-credit name=”Steven Iles” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Surprising:  Whether you call it the two car tango, dancing with the cars, friends with benefits, flying united, or Noah’s Ark racing, it was most certainly the pairs competition at ‘Dega this year. In comparison to the Daytona 500 to start the season, it was also most surprising how committed the pairs were to one another at Talladega.

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet, summed it up best. “We all had commitment phobia in the past. But in this situation, you had to commit and make sacrifices, just like in a relationship.”

    Not Surprising:  There was no doubt that overcoming that commitment phobia was key to the race finish. Channeling their inner Talladega Nights characters Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton, Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pushed his teammate Jimmie Johnson, in the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, to the checkered flag, scoring the closest margin of victory record at just .002 seconds.

    As both drivers shouted “Woo hoos” on their radios, congratulating each other and even sharing the checkered flag, Johnson scored his 54th career victory, tying Lee Petty, NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, for ninth on the all-time Cup Series win list.

    Johnson’s win moved him two spots ahead in the point standings. He currently sits in the second spot, just five points behind leader Carl Edwards.

    The other half of that tandem duo, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also surged forward in the point standings. Junior moved up three spots to claim the third position, just 19 points behind Edwards and 14 points behind Johnson.

    Surprising: While it was surprising that there was technically no ‘big one’ and thankfully no cars went airborne, there were a few spectacular wrecks and even more amazing saves. Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, laid claim to the biggest saves of the day, two of them in fact, calling on all of his dirt track racing experience to do so. After his first save, Newman was not so lucky on his second save, flat spotting all his tires and relegating him to a 25th place finish.

    Not Surprising:  While some drivers were busy saving their cars, other drivers not usually at the front got their chance to shine. Dave Blaney, behind the wheel of the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet, almost had to make good on the sponsor’s offer to let kids eat free if he finished in the top ten. After leading several laps, Blaney unfortunately got turned by Kurt Busch, lost the draft and finished 27th.

    Andy Lally, rookie driver of the No. 71 Interstate Moving Services Ford, also had a big day. Known primarily for his Rolex racing skills, Lally found his place in the draft and finished 19th for TRG Motorsports.

    Surprising: After running so well together and finishing first and second respectively in the Nationwide race, it was somewhat surprising to see how badly Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Pretzel Toyota, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, fared while working together.

    On lap 140, Logano tapped Busch, sending him spinning and bringing out the fourth caution. The impact was so intense that Busch’s right side tires lifted before spinning, landing him driver’s side against the retaining wall.

    “Joey (Logano) and I worked great all day,” Busch said. “I got spun out – it was nothing Joey did wrong.”

    “It’s just a product of what we’ve got,” Busch continued. “So far, at every restrictor-plate race, I’ve been spun out.”

    Not Surprising: Since dynamic duos were all the rage, it was not surprising that other pairs fared well together. Clint Bowyer, in the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet, and Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, both out of the Richard Childress stable, pushed each other to top-ten finishes.

    In addition, Hendrick Motorsport teammates Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet while battling a nasty cold, and Mark Martin, piloting the No. 5 Carquest/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, also were committed to each other to finish third and eighth respectively.

    Finally, Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards, point leader and expectant father, and Greg Biffle, who just re-signed with sponsor 3M and RFR, were also locked together throughout the race. Edwards finished sixth and Biffle came in right behind in seventh.

    Surprising:  Red Bull had a most surprisingly bad day at the Talladega Superspeedway.  Brian Vickers, in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, spun and hit the wall as a result of contact with Landon Cassill, bringing out the first caution of the race.

    Teammate Kasey Kahne, in the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, got involved in the second wreck of the day, caught up in an incident started by the collision of teammates Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski. Kahne’s car burst into flames from the oil and the driver was still reeking of smoke in the infield care center before being checked out and released.

    Not Surprising: It was not just the drivers that had to dodge and weave in order to stay out of harm’s way this weekend, with tornado warnings throughout the area prior to the race. But in typical NASCAR fashion, the drivers, fans and all their families stuck together, looking out for one another and working together to ensure everyone’s safety.

    And in that spirit of camaraderie, happy Easter wishes to all, that is until the next race at Richmond, the Crown Royal 400, on April 30th.