DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 27, 2008) – The new car matched – and exceeded – the boom in competition from the last visit to a restrictor plate track (February’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway).

There were 52 lead changes among 20 drivers during Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The Daytona 500 saw similar numbers – 42 lead changes among 16 drivers.

Sunday’s 20 different leaders is tied for eighth all-time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition.

The 52 lead changes topped both Talladega races from last season. In the 2007 spring race, there were 42 lead changes; in the fall contest, there were 41.

There was also a jump in Green Flag Passes for the Lead, a Loop Data statistic that accounts for lead changes all around the track (not only at the start/finish line). Sunday’s race saw 84 Green Flag Passes for the Lead, compared to 67 during the last race held at Talladega.
 
* * * * * * * * * * * *
 
Kyle Busch, winner of Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega, will attempt to pull the “season circuit” in next weekend’s races at Richmond International Raceway.

With a win at the .75-mile Richmond short track, Busch would have a win on every style of track in NASCAR.

He currently has a win at two intermediate tracks (Atlanta in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and Texas in the NASCAR Nationwide Series), a restrictor plate track (Talladega in NASCAR Sprint Cup), a road course (Mexico City in the NASCAR Nationwide Series), a one-mile track (Phoenix in the NASCAR Nationwide Series) and a two-mile track (Auto Club Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series).

Sphere: Related Content

TALLADEGA, ALA. – Kyle Busch won racing’s biggest crapshoot Sunday after a knuckle-cracking, tension-filled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Sprint Cup Talladega Superspeedway Unofficial Results
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 19th.

Points leader Jeff Burton, who also ran with the frontrunners most of the overcast afternoon, was caught up in the last accident and finished 12th.

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. 

Stewart jumped into the lead at the start on a balmy day at Talladega’s two and a half mile speed emporium that has produced some of NASCAR’s most exciting races.

By lap 10, Talladega favorite Earnhardt had moved from ninth to third.

It was a short day for Chip Ganassi Racing driver Reed Sorensen, who retired to the garage with engine problems after just five laps.

Behind the leaders Stewart, David Ragan and Earnhardt, pole winner Nemechek settled into fourth with veteran Schrader on his bumper. 

Four-time series champion Gordon had moved from 20th to eighth by the 19th lap when former champion Matt Kenseth slid into the turn four wall for the first caution of the afternoon.

Nemechek lost valuable time in the pits while his crew switched his car from “qualifying mode” to “race mode,” such as reconnecting belts like power steering that might produce a little more speed.

On the restart, Stewart was still leading with Kyle Busch second, Sadler third and Gordon fourth, followed by Brian Vickers, Earnhardt, Ragan, Jamie McMurray, Montoya and Scott Riggs.

Shortly afterwards, McMurray and Hamlin hooked up in the outside groove and streaked past Stewart and the others. After pushing McMurray to the front, Hamlin ducked to the bottom in turn one and took the lead himself on lap 33.

By lap 37, Earnhardt pulled out of line in front of Gordon and roared to the front, much to the delight of the huge, partisan crowd.

Clearly, the outside groove was the place to be. By lap 41, it was Earnhardt, Gordon, Paul Menard, Newman and Kevin Harvick, who started back in 39th position. Stewart and company had faded to 20th. 

Hotshoe Carl Edwards brushed the wall and lost the draft during this period of the race.

The racing was just what people expect to see at Talladega with two and three abreast racing keeping the crowd on its feet.

Earnhardt maintained the lead during several skirmishes but Vickers got out front briefly and held on for several laps.
 
Earnhardt then fell in behind Menard and pushed him into the lead. Montoya got a push from Hamlin and led briefly but Earnhardt took over again on lap 53. Then Hamlin went out front. The lead was changing so fast, it was hard to keep up with who was first, and for how long.

Harvick took a turn in front, then Hamlin again. Then Earnhardt again at 60 laps of this 188-lap nail-biter.

After everyone had pitted under the green flag, Stewart was once again out front.

Vickers, who had been in the thick of things, spun his car exiting pit road and lost a lot of track position, all the way back to 30th spot.

By 70 laps, it was Stewart, Hamlin, Menard, Martin Truex Jr., Kvapil, Johnson, rookie Michael McDowell, Waltrip, Elliott Sadler and Bowyer. Earnhardt had dropped to 11th spot.

On lap 76, Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr., scraped the wall slightly and had to make an unscheduled pit stop.

By the 80th lap, Earnhardt was back up to fourth just behind Johnson. Stewart and Hamlin were in front. The next lap, Earnhardt pushed Johnson towards the front but fell back in line, leaving Johnson in a fade-away position, all the way back to 15th.

Stewart and Hamlin were hooked together for several laps and Nemechek had worked his way back into the top 10.

Earnhardt took the lead again on lap 88 with the Stewart-Hamlin duo stuck on his bumper.

Sphere: Related Content

By Tim Tuttle
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Craftsman Truck Kansas Speedway Unofficial Results

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (April 26, 2008) — Ron Hornaday Jr. won the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 in overpowering fashion Saturday at Kansas Speedway,starting from pole and leading 136 of 167 laps.

It was Hornaday’s first win of the season and extended his all-time lead in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to 34. He also took the lead in the points by 61 over Rick Crawford.

“This thing was just a rocket ship,” Hornaday said. “It’s a brand-new truck. You don’t have trucks like that, it was awesome.”

Hornaday surrendered the lead three times during yellow-flag pit stops and impressively drove the Kevin Harvick, Inc. Chevrolet back to the front in a few laps on each occasion. He was fourth following his final pit stop on Lap 108, regaining the lead in five laps and holding it for the final 55 around the 1.5-mile circuit.

KHI teammate Jack Sprague bounced back from a midrace mistake that put his Chevrolet at the back of the field to finish second, one truck length (.149 seconds) behind following a restart with two laps remaining.

Hornaday pulled away to a two-truck length advantage and was in control heading onto the backstraight. Sprague made a strong run going into Turn 3, but wasn’t able to get alongside Hornaday and followed him to the checkered flag.

“Coming off the backstretch, all of a sudden he (Sprague) was on my rear end,” Hornaday said.

Sprague, also driving a new truck built by KHI, pitted out of sequence on Lap 74 and steadily gained positions. He passed rookie Colin Braun on the outside in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 155 to take third and moved up to second one lap later when second-running Todd Bodine spun in Turn 3 and hit the outside wall.

“We didn’t pit when everybody else did, and we used our stuff up getting back to the front,” Sprague said. “We wanted it bad.”

Braun, in his Roush Fenway Ford, finished third but angered veterans Sprague and Matt Crafton.

Braun rammed Crafton’s Chevrolet in the bumper and turned him into the Turn 4 wall, ruining a strong race. Crafton confronted Braun on pit row after the race, and Braun took responsibility for the mistake.

“I didn’t want to get into Matt,” Braun said. “I apologize. Hey, I’m a rookie and I make mistakes.”

Sprague was attempting to pass Braun on the inside on the frontstretch when the rookie moved to his left.

“He came down on me and I could have let him crash,” Sprague said. “I went around him on the outside. I told him, ‘That was a gift, but don’t mess with me again.’ He has to stop running into people. If he wants to win, he has to have respect.”

Bill Davis Racing teammates Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in their Toyotas.

Sphere: Related Content

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Nationwide Series Talladega Superspeedway Unofficial Results

TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 26, 2008) — Polesitter Tony Stewart held off a last-lap challenge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Saturday to claim his first victory at Talladega Superspeedway in any series.

“Boys, we won at Talladega!” Stewart shouted as he crossed the finish line in the Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series race .302 second ahead of runner-up David Stremme. It was Stewart’s third NASCAR Nationwide win of the season.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. ran third, Jason Leffler fourth and Mark Green fifth, as Earnhardt dropped to sixth after Stewart repelled his last-ditch run on the final lap.

“I didn’t think leading was the place to be,” said Stewart, who led Earnhardt to the line for a restart with two laps to go in the 117-lap event, after a caution for debris in Turn 4 had slowed the race on Lap 113. “I still don’t think, even after winning the race, that being the leader there with two laps to go was the right place to be.

“But we did what we had to do, and they got spread out behind us, and we got the push we needed there at the end.”

Earnhardt surged to the front on the final lap but faded on the outside when Stremme stayed with Stewart on the bottom of the track.

“Me and Tony worked great together the whole race,” Earnhardt said. It was down to the last lap, and I thought we had it timed good, but my run wasn’t as strong as it could have been — and Tony was just so strong.”

The entire complexion of the race changed dramatically in an instant, 12 laps past the halfway point.

Stewart was leading Earnhardt through Turn 1 on Lap 71 when Kevin Lepage pulled onto the track from the pit road into the front of the field and triggered a chain-reaction pileup that collected 15 cars, including the contending vehicles of Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, David Reutimann, Steve Wallace, Reed Sorenson and Kyle Busch.

Casualties of the wreck included six of the top 10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings entering the race and the other two drivers of the Wallace contingent — Mike and Kenny — all of whom were running in the top 10 when the melee occurred. Mike Wallace sustained minimal damage and was able to continue.

Notes: Dario Franchitti, driver of the No. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing entry, was injured during a crash on Lap 11 of Saturday’s race. Franchitti blew a tire, hit the outside wall and slid down the track in Turn 3 into the
path of Larry Gunselman, whose No. 91 Ford slammed into the driver’s side of Franchitti’s Dodge. Conscious and alert, Franchitti was taken to an ambulance on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Gunselman likewise was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

NASCAR announced that Franchitti suffered a fractured left ankle and minor contusions. He was expected to be released from the hospital Saturday evening but will not race in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499. Stremme, who drove for Ganassi last year, will replace Franchitti. Stremme needed approval from Rusty Wallace Inc., his Nationwide team, and from Penske Racing, whom he recently signed with as a test driver, to have the opportunity.

Clint Bowyer entered the race as the series points leader but was caught in the same wreck that sidelined Franchitti. After repairs to his No. 2 Chevrolet, Bowyer returned to the track and finished 25th, helping him
hold on to the top spot in the standings.

Sphere: Related Content