Jamie McMurray took the lead with ten laps remaining in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon and held on through the “big one” with two laps to go, then rode the ‘point’ to the win as the green-white-checkered finish ended with the yellow & checkered flags waving at Talladega, Alabama.
A day of brilliant sunshine over the world’s fastest closed-course speedway saw drivers riding the freight train in, what appeared to be, a sign of their dislike at being told how to drive the famous restrictor plate track as NASCAR issued instructions during the morning drivers’ meeting. The early and mid-race single file racing finally came to an end as the last 20 laps saw everyone emerge from their shell and mix it up ‘big time.’
Surprising and not (so) surprising bits and pieces from the AMP Energy 500 on Sunday afternoon.
Not Surprising: Dale Earnhardt Jr. quickly showed that, in spite of season-long doldrums, the No. 88 car bearing the sponsor as well as namesake of the race would not linger at the back of the pack. Leading five times for nine laps, the ‘Junior Nation,’ at long last, had moments to stand and cheer NASCAR’s most popular driver.
Surprising: In a strategy move, the crowd watched as the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet laid well back in the pack until late in the race as everyone waiting for the soon-to-be-crowned (again) champion to make his move to the front. With a mere handful of laps remaining and no room to move forward the cautions and (good) luck again blessed the Jimmie Johnson-Chad Knaus team and they miraculously finished sixth to all but lock up their unprecedented fourth consecutive crown.
Not Surprising: The ‘big one’ is never a surprise at Talladega Superspeedway, only the timing, and Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 was no different. With drivers riding the single-file freight train, the ‘big one’ was only delayed to the last few laps and leaving many drivers to again chastise the ‘box’ in which they are told to drive.
Surprising: Perhaps a surprising winner, Jamie McMurray played his cards right, came to the front at the right time and not necessarily lucky but a smart and talented driver, while currently looking for his next ride, was well deserving of the victory. The stock prospects for McMurray to be behind the wheel of the No. 1 at Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing are definitely rising.
And a final mention: it never fails that, at Talladega Superspeedway, only one driver can go home happy and 42 drivers leave the track with emotions ranging from ‘what might have been’ to ‘driving in the box is stupid’ to ‘something has got to change.” The challenges and pitfalls of ‘Hallo-dega’ again proved that the 2.67 mile superspeedway is the ultimate success story – be it through talent, luck or avoidance of the big one – that one driver leaving with the trophy knows he has come to the top of the mountain and is the last one left standing. Congratulations Jamie McMurray, you scaled the mountain.
