By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

TALLADEGA, Ala.—In April's race at Talladega Superspeedway, it was Ryan Newman's Chevrolet that launched Carl Edwards' Ford—which was already airborne—into the frontstretch catch fence.

Newman subsequently went on record as one of the most outspoken critics of NASCAR's seeming inability to keep the racecars on the pavement.

On Lap 185 of Sunday's Amp Energy 500 at Talladega, it was Newman's turn to tumble end over end—backward—when his car took off from the racing surface after contact in close quarters turned him sideways.

Newman's No. 39 Chevy landed on its roof—squarely on the hood of Kevin Harvick's car—slid hard into the outside wall and rolled down the banking to finish upside-down on the infield grass. After safety workers righted the car, they cut Newman from the wreck.

The incident only reinforced Newman's strong views.

"Pretty sore—just really disappointed," Newman said after his release from the infield care center. "We had this race back here in the spring and complained about cars getting airborne, and now, ironically, I'm the guy that gets upside down. I had the roll bars down on top of my helmet and stuck upside down inside my U.S. Army Chevrolet."

A good portion of the race featured the cars racing in a long single-file train. Harvick talked about being on "cruise control." Another driver asked his team to "tell me something to keep me awake." The two big wrecks occurred in the final 10 laps.

"It's just disappointing," Newman said. "I wish NASCAR would do something. It was a boring race for the fans. That's not something anybody wants to see. At least I hope not. If they do, go home—because you don't belong here.

"It's just a product of this racing and what NASCAR has put us into with this box (rules) and these restrictor plates with these types of cars—you know, with the yellow line (no passing zone), no bump-drafting, no passing. Drivers used to be able to respect each other and race around each other. Richard Petty, David Pearson and Bobby Allison and all those guys have always done that. I guess they don't think much of us anymore."

No surprise for Gordon

The victim of a double whammy on Sunday, Jeff Gordon finished 20th and fell 192 points behind Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup leader Jimmie Johnson after running out of fuel and falling victim to the 13-car wreck barely more than one lap short of the finish.

"It's no surprise to me," said Gordon, who remained third in the standings. "I think we all know that's what's going to happen when we come to Talladega. You know everybody is pretty patient throughout the day and just waiting to get crazy at the end. You know it's going to happen eventually.

"A little disappointing for us on the DuPont Chevrolet, just because we ran out of fuel. I felt like we saved a lot. I certainly didn't think we were going to run out right then, but I guess I'm kind of glad we ran out when we did, because we were at least able to get back out there and destroy our car."

Martin's luck runs out

Mark Martin declared on several occasions before Sunday's race that he felt lucky. As it turned out, Martin wasn't completely wrong.

Martin, who has a history of misfortune at Talladega, made it though the scheduled distance of 188 laps unscathed. Unfortunately, because of the caution for Newman's wreck, the race went three laps past its posted distance, and Lap 190 proved Martin's undoing.

A victim of the 13-car pileup in Turn 4 as the field approached the white flag, Martin spun, flipped and caromed off the outside frontstretch wall. The accident dropped him to 28th at the finish and left him second in points, 184 behind Johnson.

After climbing from his wrecked car, Martin was at a loss to explain what had happened.

"It was just a wreck," Martin said. "I hope everybody enjoyed the show there. I don't know what it looked like. It looked pretty exciting from my viewpoint. I don't have a clue. I don't know what happened out there. So, I don't know.

"Congratulations to (race winner) Jamie McMurray, and that's about all I know about the whole race. I'll find out later I guess—I don't know."