The wild card, the unpredictable, and the unexpected always happen at this track. At 2.66 miles in length, the Talladega Superspeedway has been the one track that no one knows what can happen. On Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series descended on this track, ready to do battle for the win.
Under perfectly clear skies, a major contrast from the day prior, it was restrictor plate racing at it’s finest as Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth brought the field to the green flag in the Aaron’s 499.
Coming around the first lap, it was Kenseth leading, but a push from Jeff Burton put Kyle Busch out front. Meanwhile, Jamie McMurray didn’t get up to speed and fell back through the field.
Three laps in, Logano got the lead but fell back immediately as he fell into the middle line, while Kevin Harvick shoved Kenseth to the lead, and one lap later, he took the top spot.
The first ten laps everyone was jockeying for the right position, and kept up some great momentum. Because of the way Talladega is, one lap a driver could be leading, but then in the very next corner they could be running tenth. It’s simply that kind of race track, and it’s why over 100,000 people were in attendance.
By lap 13, it was then Regan Smith out front battling with Kurt Busch. But just as quickly, it swapped to many others. Too many leaders, to little time to keep up. Finally, the first caution came out on lap 21, which was a competition caution predetermined by NASCAR due to the loss of track time on Saturday. Meanwhile, Kasey Kahne had an extended stop because just before the yellow came out, he complained of having engine issues and fell back through the field.
Busch again had the lead following pit stops, as he brought the field to the green. The front eight cars stayed single-file, but soon the field began to go back and forth. Brian Vickers found his way to the front, as he got a push from Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch. The two broke away for a time being, but the outside line was coming led by Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Soon, the fans erupted like the volcano in Ireland as the No. 88 got the lead the next lap, followed by his former teammate and friend, Michael Waltrip.
A lap later, Waltrip got the lead in his No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota. The inside line began coming as A.J. Allmendinger pulled his line to the front, but couldn’t muster enough to get the top spot.
After another lap, it became a three-wide battle as David Ragan brough the middle line to the front, overtaking Allmendinger. Through the first 35 laps, it was completely clean racing, but very tight racing. Soon enough, Earnhardt Jr. found his spot as he pulled in front of Ragan to get the lead for the second time on the afternoon.
Soon after, points leader Jimmie Johnson got the top spot due to a push from Earnhardt Jr. Johnson led his lap, then fell back as Kyle Busch made his way to the front. He would’ve led a lap, but a strong push gave the No. 88 the lead at the line.
The next few laps would be a two-car breakaway, but suddenly Jeff Burton got an enormous push by Kyle to get the lead, but just as quickly lost the lead as the No. 18 made the pass.
On the radio he said, “This car is fast,” and that proved it.
Just as quickly as he pulled ahead, the field tightened up and caught the No. 18, and Earnhardt Jr. once again got the lead as the field went three-wide behind him.
The lead was changing so much, after 63 laps, there were already 33 different lead changes. By the time the first round of green-flag pit stops started, the field was still in a huge pack. Even after the round of stops, the pack did not shrink all that much. Johnson would get the lead out of it pit road, followed by Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.
The lead would swap around for many drivers, that was until Denny Hamlin went spinning out of turn 4 on lap 77. Pit stops shook the field up a bit, as Kurt Busch would lead his brother and the rest of the field to the green flag.
It wouldn’t take long for the yellow to fly again as Kyle got into the back of the No. 36 of Johnny Sauter, setting off a chain-reaction wreck on the front stretch. In all nine cars were involved including Paul Menard, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth.
Clean-up lasted for five laps and the field went back to green, and it was as if everything was the same. Finally, the caution flew on lap 102 as Regan Smith lost a motor. Strategy began to play a part as teams went with no tires, two tires and even stayed out on track.
Following pit stops, again the lead began swapping, and at the same time there was debris on the track but no caution. Reason being, there was a hat on the track right near the yellow line. Either someone threw it and it landed just right or someone had a really good flick of the wrist to get it there. Either way, the race wasn’t slowed because of it.
With 44 laps remaining, NASCAR set a new record for the Sprint Cup Series at Talladega. When David Ragan took the lead on lap 144, it was the 76th lead change of the event. It was the most since 1984.
The final round of pit stops came with just over 40 laps to go, as half the field came in on lap 148 and the rest on lap 149, with most teams electing to go with just right side Goodyear tires, while others went with new tires on all corners.
After the pit stops, Juan Pablo Montoya became the leader, which also set a NASCAR record for different leaders as he was the 29th driver to lead a lap in the race. But, with 33 laps remaining, it became anyone’s game as the field was jumbled up and was racing harder than ever.
The Earnhardt-Ganassi teammates of Montoya and McMurray held the top spot, but Earnhardt Jr. was right there with him for the longest time. He would again show his power, but Burton again got the top spot with 24 laps remaining.
It would remain single-file for the next ten laps, but with Talladega, anything is possible.
And that did happen. With five laps to go, Gordon got put below the yellow line by Johnson and lost momentum. He fell back, meanwhile in front of him Burton got turned into the wall and then got into Gordon and Scott Speed. Majority of the leaders didn’t pit, but knew problems with fuel would come. What it did set up was NASCAR’s green-white-checkered “overdrive” finish.
The field went green on lap 190 with McMurray leading, but did not even complete a single lap as a multi-car wreck ensued in turn four after Logano got into Ryan Newman, and soon collected eight others. It was the second large wreck of the day, and because the leader didn’t take the white flag, the race would get another attempt at the green-white-checkered finish.
Fuel soon became a concern as teams ran the apron to conserve, but when the race went green on lap 195 it was full throttle. But, once again, the field was slowed as Johnson tried to go in front of Greg Biffle, but wasn’t clear. The two slid down the backstretch with Johnson hitting the inside wall.
It would come down to one final attempt to get the race to finish under green, and McMurray was determined to go for it. He got a great jump on lap 198 and pulled ahead with teammate Montoya in tow. Soon, Harvick was coming for the top spot, but didn’t make the pass coming to the white flag. Soon, the two pulled away, making it a duel to the finish.
Coming down to the tri-oval, McMurray was holding his spot, then Harvick got in behind, forcing the No. 1 to get loose just past the apex of the tri-oval. McMurray went high, Harvick ducked low and went side-by-side to the finish. At the stripe, it was a photo finish, but Harvick just got the nose of his Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet ahead of the Bass Pro Shops car to take the win in the Aaron’s 499.
The margin of victory: 0.011 seconds, the closest finish in the history of Talladega and the eighth closest since NASCAR went to electronic timing and scoring.
It was the right time, the right move, and the perfect finish. After a record 88 lead changes and 29 different leaders, it was Harvick leading the lap that mattered most. It was his first points-win since the Daytona 500 in 2007, and with his sponsor leaving at the end of the season, plus him as a free agent, it was a feel-good victory for everyone at RCR.
“It was just all about timing. We knew coming into the tri-oval we needed to be second,” Harvick said in the media center. Simply put, it was the perfect move.
What an incredible ending to an incredible race. On a personal note, I want to thank the entire Talladega staff for being so helpful, kind and warm-hearted. This race happened on my birthday, and it was the most spectacular time I’ve had at a race, as a fan in the stands or in the media center.
The next race is this coming Saturday night at Richmond. How exactly can these drivers follow up this race? I’m not sure, but going from a super speedway to a short track will be exciting, and that’s a fact.
FOX has your coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the race going green an hour later.
Results: 1-Harvick 2-McMurray 3-Montoya 4-Hamlin 5-Martin 6-Ragan 7-Bowyer 8-Kurt Busch 9-Kyle Busch 10-Bliss
Notable Finishes: 11-Edwards 13-Earnhardt Jr. 16-Stewart 17-Biffle 21-Kahne 22-J. Gordon 28-Kenseth 31-Johnson 35-Newman 36-Logano
Cautions: 8 for 32 lapsLap 22-24 (competition), 77-79 (No. 11 spin-trioval), 84-88 (No. 2, 13, 17, 18, 19, 26, 36, 55, 77, 98 wreck-trioval), 102-105 (oil on track), 177-179 (No. 00, 71 spin-BS), 183-188 (No. 09, 9, 24, 31, 82 wreck-trioval), 190-194 (No. 9, 12, 19, 20, 39, 47, 71, 77, 83 wreck-T4), 196-198 (No. 16, 48 wreck-BS)
Leaders: 88 lead changes among 29 drivers. Kyle Busch 1-2, Logano 3, Kenseth 4, Harvick 5, Hamlin 6-7, Stewart 8-9, Sadler 9, Ragan 10-12, Kurt Busch 13, Logano 14-18, Burton 19-20, R. Gordon 21-22, Kurt Busch 23-25, Vickers 26-28, Hamlin 29, Earnhardt Jr. 30, Waltrip 31-33, Allmendinger 34, Ragan 35, Earnhardt Jr. 36-37, Johnson 38, Earnhardt Jr. 39-41, Burton 42, Earnhardt Jr. 43, Kyle Busch 44, Earnhardt Jr. 45, Kurt Busch 46-47, Keselowski 48-49, Ragan 50, Keselowski 51, Burton 52-58, Hornish 59, Kyle Busch 60-61, Vickers 62, Johnson 63-64, Burton 65, Hamlin 66, Johnson 67, J. Gordon 68, Johnson 69, Waltrip 70, Logano 71, Smith 72, Johnson 73, Kyle Busch 74, Sadler 75-76, Menard 77, Kurt Busch 78-79, Kyle Busch 80, J. Gordon 81, Sadler 82, Reutimann 83-84, Newman 85, Kvapil 86, Johnson 87-88, Reutimann 89, J. Gordon 90, Kyle Busch 91-92, Kahne 93-94, Smith 95-96, Kahne 97-100, Hamlin 101, Martin 102, Biffle 103-105, Hamlin 106-107, Logano 108-109, Vickers 110, Kyle Busch 111-114, Allmendinger 115, Johnson 116, Allmendinger 117-119, Vickers 120-127, Hamlin 128-130, Kyle Busch 131-139, Hamlin 140-142, Ragan 143, Hamlin 144-146, McMurray 147, Montoya 148-150, Hamlin 151, Ragan 152-153, Reutimann 154-155, McMurray 156-157, J. Gordon 158, McMurray 159, Burton 160-176, McMurray 177-199, Harvick 200.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 31 Mins, 58 Secs.
Average Speed: 150.590 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.011 Seconds
Point Standings: 1-Johnson, 1323 points 2-Harvick, -23 3-Biffle, -86 4-Kenseth, -99 5-Kyle Busch, -160 6-Martin, -169 7-Kurt Busch, -177 8-Earnhardt Jr, -181 9-Hamlin, -185 10-J. Gordon, -193 11-Bowyer, -237 12-Burton, -241