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Kyle Busch won racing's
biggest crapshoot Sunday
after a
knuckle-cracking,
tension-filled NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
Aaron's 499 at Talladega
Superspeedway.
After a multi-car wreck
with 25 laps to go
ruined Dale Earnhardt
Jr. and Tony Stewart's
chances, Busch battled
his way to the front
with some bold moves in
the closing laps of a
thrilling race.
Juan Pablo Montoya, the
former Indy 500 winner
and Formula One star,
crossed the finish line
in second, glued to the
bumper of the winner.
The seventh caution flag
of the day fell on the
final lap, signaling the
end of the race, when a
gaggle of cars racing
for finishing position
started spinning behind
the leaders.
The race which featured
52 lead changes among 20
drivers was totally
unpredictable from start
to finish with drivers
swapping the lead
several times on a
single lap.
Denny Hamlin, who raced
Stewart and Earnhardt
for the lead throughout
most of the race,
finished third with
rookie David Ragan
fourth. Ragan also mixed
it up with the leaders
all day.
Brian Vickers was fifth,
followed by Travis
Kvapil, Casey Mears,
Ryan Newman, Clint
Bowyer and Earnhardt,
who managed a 10th-place
finish despite his car
being damaged in the
wreck.
It was a pins and
needles afternoon with
just about every driver
leading for a spell. On
the final restart,
two-time champion Jimmie
Johnson pushed Michael
Waltrip to the front
momentarily but the deck
shuffled several times
by the end. Johnson
finished 13th and
teammate Jeff Gordon,
who challenged up front
in the closing moments,
wound up 21st.
Points leader Jeff
Burton, who also ran
with the frontrunners
most of the overcast
afternoon, was caught up
in the last accident and
finished 15th.
As heartbreaking as it
was for Earnhardt and
Stewart, substitute
driver David Stremme
–filling in for the
injured Dario Franchitti
– ran strong all day but
was also eliminated in
the final accident of
the day.
Highlights -
Kyle Busch by being able
to recover from slipping
back in the field well
past the top twenty mid
way through the race was
able to recover, power
his way back to the
front with less than
twenty to go.
The field as it usually
does would push all the
drivers from front to
back in just one lap,
allowed Busch to over
take the others on the
high line of the track
as Juan Pablo Montoya
and Denny Hamlin would
help Busch freight train
the field, connected
nose to tail to the last
lap where the big one
hit, freezing the
field.
Montoya would start the
race 26th run
a fairly quite race
until he made himself
known when making
contact with Paul Menard
on lap 159, where Menard
found himself on the
grass in the tri-oval.
Montoya would jockey
himself through the
field of two, three and
four wide drivers to
provide the assistance
to Busch.
Hamlin would be a key
help not only to his Joe
Gibbs teammate, he
provided the pushing
power to Stewart,
Earnhardt, David Ragan
and several others.
Hamlin would make
several scary moves
dropping from the high
line to low line
blocking when in front.
Ragan, although not
leading any laps of the
day, would keep himself
in the front group with
a strong car, great pit
stops, making smooth
moves with the strong
runners of the race.
Ragan would find himself
finishing the race 4th
after the final wreck of
the day.
Lowlights and just
hanging on -
Stewart, jumping into
the lead, at the start
on a balmy day at
Talladega's two and a
half mile speed
emporium. He led 61 of
the 188 laps ran by the
drivers. Many times
assisted by Earnhardt
Jr., Hamlin and Kyle
Busch, Stewart had a
strong car until his car
blew out a right front
tire on lap 142 in turn
one, in front of
Earnhardt Jr. At the
time pushing Earnhardt
was pushing them on the
outside line to the
front.
Stewart told the team to
make sure to let Dale
Jr. know it was not
Jr.’s fault. Stewart
kept himself on the lead
lap for 30 laps until a
lap 175 accident would
collect him into the
wall once again, ending
his day.
Earnhardt Jr. would lead
the second most laps
with 45. He would be
assisted by several
drivers, including
Stewart. Earnhardt would
perform several key
moves to keep himself in
front, but the attrition
that befell Stewart
would also clip
Earnhardt in the rear
bumper of his car after
Stewart made contact
with Bobby Labonte’s car
shooting him into Jr.’s
car.
The damage kept the crew
of the 88 busy for the
rest of the race to
allow Earnhardt to
scamble back to finish
the race 10th.
Matt Kenseth would
befall a blown tire on
lap 21 to kill his day,
to stop his race on lap
150. Carl Edwards would
also finish his day on
lap 153 after numerous
tire issues.
Ken Schrader’s engine
would expire on lap 141
along with Reed Sorenson
on lap 4.
Crash, Bang, Smash ‘em
up –
The big one hit on the
last lap collecting
Regan Smith, Kasey
Kahne, Elliott Sadler,
Kevin Harvick, Jeff
Burton, David Stremme,
David Reutimann, Jimmy
Johnson, Michael
Waltrip, Joe Nemechek
and A.J. Allmendinger.
One smaller big one hit
on lap 175 when Stewart
was in the middle of
Nemechek and Labonte,
collecting Jamie
McMurray and Martin
Truex Jr.
Race action –
Here are some of the
highlights of the race
GREEN FLAG as Nemechek
and Stewart lead the
field to turn one. By
the back straight Kyle
Busch pushes Stewart to
the front. It’s three
and four wide in the mid
pack.
By lap 5 it’s Gibbs
power in the front as
Stewart, Denny Hamlin
and Kyle Busch run in
the top three. Reed
Sorenson loses an engine
and takes his car to the
garage. Earnhardt Jr.
moves up to 3rd
place.
The first 15 laps we
have a breakaway pack of
15 drivers led by
Stewart, David Ragan and
Earnhardt Jr.
Caution at lap 20 as
Matt Kenseth blows a
right front tire in turn
three. He hits the wall
hard. Kenseth is on pit
road, with the team
pounding on the car to
get the metal away from
the tires.
Everyone is in for
stops. Stewart’s team
gives him the fast stop
to keep him in front.
Earnhardt drops two
positions, coming out 5th.
Kyle Busch has a good
stop to bring him back
up behind Stewart. The
move on pit road is
Elliott Sadler up to 3rd
place with Jeff Gordon
moving into 4th.
Kenseth is in the garage
as the car has way too
much damage.
GREEN FLAG on lap 24
From lap 24 to lap 35
the field was pretty
content to hang out
single file. At least
until lap 35 as Jamie
McMurray and Hamlin
slingshot around the
field into the lead. A
few laps later Jeff
Gordon with several
other drivers take the
high side of the track
to make their move.
Earnhardt moves to the
high side.
Score Earnhardt as the
new leader with Gordon
on the high side of the
track.
Almirola knocks himself
into the wall. He takes
the car to pit road as
the bent metal cuts his
tire.
Lap 50 to 60 we see
several lead changes and
drivers like Earnhardt
and Stewart are mired
back in the pack with
drivers like Newman,
Harvick and Montoya
leading a lap. Hamlin’s
popped himself to the
front a few times.
Green flag stops at lap
61 to 66 Brian Vickers
spins out as he is
leaving pit road. Kyle
Busch completely misses
his pit box and will
have to go around one
more lap and pit by
himself, coming out a
half lap behind.
It looked like trouble
for Earnhardt and Jeff
Gordon did not pit with
the big pack of leaders.
For a minute it looked
like they would have
been in trouble, but
luck is with both
drivers as they are able
to blend in with the
pack.
Lap 66 to 75 Stewart is
back in lead after the
round of pit stops. Most
of the field runs single
file Hamlin helps out in
2nd place.
Laps 75 through 80
Earnhardt hooks up with
Johnson to move into 3rd
and 4th.
Stewart and Hamlin are
still in front by them
selves.
Lap 80 through 85
Johnson with Earnhardt
run into the lead for
about a lap. They drop
to the low side and they
break apart which allows
Stewart, Hamlin and the
rest of the group who
are with them to jump
past the Hendrick cars.
Earnhardt leaves Johnson
hanging in the wind to
get shuffled back to 20th.
Lap 85 through 90
Earnhardt moves back
into the lead with
Stewart and Hamlin in
tow. The field stays
single and two wide for
the top 20. Behind them
the field is scattered
two and sometime three
wide, but not for long
periods. Everyone is
driving mellow.
Laps 90 through 100 a
few drivers start making
pit stops.
Lap down drivers Kyle
Busch, Edwards, Kurt
Busch, Burton, Scott
Riggs, Clint Bowyer and
Kenny Schrader. 2 laps
down were Kyle Petty,
Sam Hornish Jr. and
Patrick Carpentier. 3 or
more laps down were Aric
Almirola, Jon Wood and
Matt Kenseth with
Sorenson out.
Lap 100 so far we have
seen 1 caution for 3
laps and 20 lead changes
among 11 drivers.
Lap 101 the green flag
stops begin. Pit stops
complete Stewart back in
front. Hamlin complains
of a vibration in the
gas pedal.
Lap 116 Yellow flag with
Edwards still having
issues with his car,
which blows a tire
sending him into the
outside turn two wall.
Kyle Busch was the lucky
dog.
Green flag lap 120 with
Earnhardt Jr. and
Stewart back in the
lead.
Lap 120 to 130 Hamlin
and Earnhardt in front.
The lead pack behind the
two are running three
wide.
Lap 130 to 140 three and
four wide for most of
the pack. Stremme and
Sadler have led a few
laps. Hamlin would
assist in pushing
Earnhardt Jr. on the
high side with a chance
to be the leader.
Lap 140 to 150 Stewart
and Earnhardt led the
pack once again until…
YELLOW FLAG lap 142
Stewart blows a right
front tire and slams the
wall, but with a full
side contact on the turn
one wall and continues
on. The inner liner
saves Stewart to keep
him on the lead lap, but
in the back of the pack
in 30th.
The race out of the pits
are Hamlin, Newman,
Earnhardt Jr., Greg
Biffle and Brian
Vickers. Kurt Busch is
the lucky dog. Could
this be the last stop of
the day??
Stewart tells the team
to tell Earnhardt that
Jr. was not the cause of
that, the tire was down
with no contact from
him.
GREEN FLAG lap 148
Hamlin and Newman lead
the field back to
racing
Edwards, battling
handling issues for a
majority of laps would
take the his car to the
garage for repairs. He
would come back into the
race on lap 149.
Lap 150 to 160
Three wide racing in the
lead pack 10th
back. Two wide for the
top 10. Hamlin runs the
field, Stewart falls
back to 30th,
10 seconds down with his
damaged machine.
YELLOW FLAG lap 159 as
Menard spins through the
grass in the tri-oval
after Juan Pablo Montoya
dropped below the line
coming out of turn four
near pit road entrance.
Montoya may have been
pushed a bit from behind
by Stremme who then hits
Menard from the left
side shooting Menard
into the grass with no
contact from any one
else. Robby Gordon lucky
dog.
GREEN FLAG 25 to go
Hamlin in front followed
by Ragan, Newman and
Dale Jr. with Stremme
and Jeff Gordon.
YELLOW FLAG lap 164 for
a piece of the RedBull
car coming off the back
of the car. Scott Riggs
is the lucky dog.
GREEN FLAG lap 168 (20
to go) as Hamlin lead
the field once again.
Newman leads for the
first time today as Jeff
Gordon pushes him to the
front. Lap 170 Kyle
Busch shoots out from
the low line into
McMurray on the high
side. They beat and bang
on the back side of the
track, they look like
they are going to wreck
but they both save the
cars and race on.
15 to go three and four
wide, how long will it
last and who will it be?
YELLOW FLAG lap 173 as
Stewart, in the middle
of Nemechek and Labonte.
Stewart bounces around
like a ping pong ball
between the two, then
it’s big trouble as
Stewart hits Labonte
hard which then clips
the back of Earnhardt
Jr. causing damage to
his car. Labonte shoots
into Truex Jr. and they
shoot back up into
Stewart who also shot up
into the high side. Kurt
Busch gets to be the
meat in the sandwich
with a few others like
McMurray. Stewart is in
the garage.
GREEN FLAG lap 177 as
Kyle Busch and Montoya
get the show going.
Stremme pushing Jeff
Gordon up to 4th
and 5th.
Waltrip and Johnson try
for the big run in one
and two to the front,
but by the back the run
falls apart and they
fall back several
positions.
Lap 179 Waltrip and
Johnson try it again.
Busch and Montoya on the
low side. Waltrip and
Johnson in front.
YELLOW FLAG lap 180 as
Labonte blows a tire
hitting the wall, behind
the pack. No lucky dog
and a single file
restart. Waltrip and
Johnson are in front.
GREEN FLAG with 5 to go
Waltrip, Johnson, Kyle
Busch and Montoya in
front. Waltrip is hung
out to dry as Kyle Busch
takes the lead.
3 to go Busch, Jeff
Gordon Newman are the
guys in front.
2 to go single file in
turns one and two by the
back drivers start
popping out to the high
side
WHITE FLAG the leaders
in front racing the
field in back is not so
lucky as Michael
McDowell spins out in
the tri oval after
getting the squeeze
play. More trouble in
turn one as we see about
10 cars getting into
each other.
CHECKERED FLAG for Kyle
Busch.
You top ten finishers of
the day were – Kyle
Busch, Montoya, Hamlin,
Ragan, Vickers, Kvapil,
Casey Mears, Newman,
Bowyer and Earnhardt
Jr.
The event lasted for 3
hours and 15 minutes.
The fans saw 52 lead
changes ( a record for
the track) among 20
leaders and 7 cautions
for 22 laps. 30 drivers
would finish on the lead
lap with 41 drivers
finishing the race.
Comments from Kyle Busch
–
We had a good win for us
today. We were proud of
the fact we were able to
win with Joe Gibbs
Racing and M&M's and
Snickers and Home Depot
and Interstate, Toyota,
all helped support this
race team.
And for us there in the
beginning part of the
race, we were running
along and trying to come
out pit road there and
having guys on the
inside and behind me so
this is my fifth stall
and had come back around
the next time and get
the pit stop done there,
and so had to walk a
lap. Fortunately we
were in the right
position at the right
time and got the lucky
draw and were able to
come in from there and
get back on the lead lap
and come back to the
field.
About ten to go, things
got crazy so really my
memory is a little
scratchy, but getting
through there was
problematic speaker
system I was running
fourth or fifth and got
a bump draft and got a
huge line, shot me on
the line and got into
McMurray there. And I
don't know what happened
with that scenario and
we were able to
straighten up and get
going, 42 was myself,
pushed me all the way to
the front. Montoya,
gave me a great shock,
got us both up to the
front two spots and rode
up there and stayed
together.
And then 55 and 48 did
the same thing, had a
caution come out, and on
that restart we shifted
the 55 out and I think
Gordon got in behind me
somehow, and Jeff was
pushing me and we bump
drafted Jimmie out of
the way off of 4, and I
got out underneath him
and Jeff pushed me past
the 48, and that was
cool and we got the 24
shut out of line by the
42 again and it was the
18 and 42 there at the
end and the 11 and so
that was pretty cool.
Montoya –
It was pretty hard,
overchecking down the
straight, pretty hard,
and one of those
(indiscernible) I hit
it pretty hard, I missed
a car.
We talked about it a
little bit and even like
that, you know, they
said, yeah, you know,
it's bent but there's no
holes or anything, so
we're going to leave it
like that. It was
running the back of the
car at some point and
then a caution comes out
with six laps to go,
otherwise we are going
to leave it.
I felt pretty bad for
him with like 15 laps to
go or 20 and made a
couple moves that took
me all the way to the
front.
I really helped Kyle, I
managed to get on his
bumper, and when you can
get on somebody's bumper
you can actually push
them all the way around
the corner, the lap.
And I made up a bunch of
ground and it was good
and I got up to second
and then dropped to
fifth and got up to
second again.
It was pretty cool,
pretty interesting race.
Hamlin –
It was really fun from
my standpoint.
You know, I had a car
that just relatively
could do whatever it
wanted to do, and
whenever I wanted to
pull up to somebody's
bumper, I would, and you
know, when I would push
him, I would push him as
long as my water gauge
would let me or as long
as they could hang on to
it.
So I mean, that's all
you can ask for and to
have a car as good as
ours, the best car don't
always win.
You've got to put
yourself in position,
and we were with 20 to
go and just made a bad
move there, got shuffled
out and got back to
20th, and with all the
cautions all we had time
to get back to was third
and just shows how
strong our car was.
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