Aaron's 499 Race Review

Talladega Superspeedway -- 04/27/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Sunday Apr 27 2008 11:36pm

The words Talladega and unpredictable typically go hand in hand, and Sunday's race was no exception.

In fact, "predictably unpredictable" might be the best description for Talladega, where wild action and topsy-turvy results seem to be the rule rather than the exception.

For example, the list of names at the top of the finishing order Sunday was just as surprising as some of the notable drivers who finished in back.
Among the top-10 finishers were Juan Pablo Montoya (2), Brian Vickers (5), and Travis Kvapil (6), each posting their best finish of the year thus far.

Also having season-high finishes were Paul Menard (14), Scott Riggs (16), Sterling Marlin (21), and Joe Nemechek (25). Casey Mears (7) and Michael McDowell (26) matched their previous best finishes of the year.

On the other hand, drivers in the bottom ten included Martin Truex Jr. (37), Tony Stewart (38), and Kurt Busch (39) - all involved in crashes - and Carl Edwards (40) and Matt Kenseth (41), who had tire issues that sent them into the wall in separate incidents.

Another predictable outcome at Talladega is the fact that the eventual race winner, Kyle Busch, did not lead the most laps. Tony Stewart was the overall lap leader, running up front for 61 laps before being involved in a multi-car wreck late in the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 46 laps and finished 10th, while Denny Hamlin led 37 and finished third. Busch was fourth on the list with just 12 laps led.

Even the race finish was controversial, again a fairly regular occurrence at 'Dega. Many felt that Busch improved his position by dipping below the yellow line to pass Jimmie Johnson for the lead late in the race - a rule violation that could have resulted in an immediate penalty by NASCAR. Others felt that Busch was forced below the yellow line and apparently NASCAR agreed, since no penalty was issued and Busch was allowed to keep his position.

Busch himself seemed a bit perplexed by the way things happened at the end - understandable with cars running 200 miles per hour and wrecks taking place in his rear-view mirror in a race that saw a remarkable 52 lead changes. "About ten to go, things got crazy, so really my memory is a little scratchy," he said. Busch credited Juan Pablo Montoya among others for pushing him to the front.

There were only eight cautions in the race overall, but most were relatively minor until late, when two big multi-car wrecks - one on the white flag lap - affected a total of 17 cars and had a major impact on the finishing order.

Three Toyotas finished in the top 5 (results unofficial), along with a Dodge and a Ford. The highest-finishing Chevy was Casey Mears at 7th - rather surprising at a track where GM has typically dominated, although Toyota was expected to be strong all weekend.

It was a disappointing day for Jeff Gordon, who'd won two straight at Talladega and four of the last eight races here. Gordon started 20th and finished 19th, shouldering the responsibility for his sub-par finish: "I just couldn't make a good decision all day long. I just made bad decisions left and right. (I) finally got ourselves right there in position to be awesome. They told me about the run coming. I saw Juan Pablo coming and it looked like they had a pretty good run. I tried to go up there and use that line - it was just too early. I should have stayed down low and waited it out another half of a lap … I knew Jimmie was back there and I thought that if he was behind me (he could help), but I think he was further back there behind Michael (Waltrip). I just went too early."

Gordon remains outside the top 12 in points, falling one spot to 14th, while Juan Pablo Montoya's second-place finish boosted him up five spots to 12th and bumped Kasey Kahne out of the top 12.

Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. held on to the top three spots in the standings, while the rest of the top 12 (except Kahne) simply jostled for position.

Next week the series heads to Richmond for the second night race and second impound race of the season. Jimmie Johnson won both Richmond races in 2007.