Updated April 28
Can you imagine if every weekend was a restrictor-plate race? With their unpredictable nature and the new cars, we could very well end up with 36 different winners.
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| Talladega has been entertaining and exasperating. (AP) |
Sunday was the textbook example of how Talladega can be entertaining and exasperating at the same time.
For three-quarters of the race, it was fairly clean with plenty of passing and lead changes.
And then in the final quarter, all heck breaks loose, ultimately resulting in the race ending under caution.
Tony Stewart led the most laps, but once everybody started to ramp it up with the race winding down, a couple of late wrecks dropped him to 38th in the final running order.
"The majority of the day we had a great day going," said Stewart, ultimately finished by a wreck that also took out Bobby Labonte, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch. "We were really in good shape with this Home Depot car until I had the right front go down and then I got us in the back.
"As late as it is in the race with 15 laps to go, you've got to sit there and do what you can to get those spots back. I thought we were all right, and the closer we got to Turn 1, the smaller that hole got, so I was as close to Bobby (Labonte) as I could get right there and the hole closed up. It's just what happens late in these races."
Truex was beside himself.
"It is Talladega, man," he said. "You know, you get to the end and guys do things that shouldn't do. Try to fit in holes they shouldn't fit it. It's just typical here. It is too boring for a while and then people are too stupid at the end, so there is really no reason. It just sucks sitting in the garage with 10 to go looking at a good finish."
On the flip side, for those who managed to avoid the carnage like Kyle Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin, Sunday's race was about the most fun they've had at Talladega in a while.
"Every time you come to superspeedway racing, it seems like it's with 25 to go things just really kind of bust loose and it gets kind of crazy," Hamlin said.
"I thought the race was still really good up to that point. There was a lot of exchanges for the lead between myself and the 20 (Tony Stewart) and the 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and those guys. I thought it was a great race. I think this package is really right where it needs to be for a superspeedway, so I really commend NASCAR with all of the adjustments they made to this car for superspeedway racing."
Busch admitted he wasn't too excited coming to Talladega, but winning changed all that.
"I wreck every time I come here, so what's there to be excited about except a tore-up race car?" Busch said about his attitude before the race. "But I am (excited) now and that's pretty cool."
Power Rankings after Talladega:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Even if Johnson were to finish last and Mark Martin were to win and lead the most laps in the next race at Texas, he would still hold the points lead by 23 points. | ||
| 2 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| There was a time when Martin had a bit of luck at Talladega. From 1988 through 2001 he had 18 top 10s in 28 races. In 12 races since 2002, he has just two top 10s with nine finishes outside the top 20. | ||
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| He has four victories in his past 12 trips to Talladega. However, he finished outside the top 10 in the eight races he did not win, with finishes of 19th or worse in his past four visits. | ||
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 4 |
| He captured second at Talladega in the spring of 2008, but has finished no better than 15th in his other five visits to the track. | ||
| 5 | Tony Stewart | 5 |
| Though he won last fall at Talladega, he has finished 22nd or worse in five of his last seven trips to the track with three DNFs by way of crash. | ||
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 6 |
| He has led at least one lap in all eight of his visits to Talladega, but has just two top 10s to show for it with six finishes of 21st or worse. | ||
| 7 | Kurt Busch | 7 |
| He has three finishes of 21st or worse in his past four visits to Talladega after finishing outside the top 10 just three times in his first 14 trips. | ||
| 8 | Kasey Kahne | 8 |
| Sunday marked his second second-place finish at Talladega. In 12 starts at the track, those are his only top 10s. | ||
| 9 | Ryan Newman | 9 |
| His 36th-place finish Sunday was his sixth of 33rd or worse in 16 starts at Talladega. "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," 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." | ||
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 10 |
| His win in the spring of 2008 is his lone top 10 finish in 10 starts at Talladega. | ||
| 11 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| After three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, he has finished outside the top 10 in his past six trips to the track, but at least he wasn't flying into the catchfence like in his last visit. | ||
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 12 |
| Like his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Edwards, he had three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, but has failed to finish in the top 10 at the track since. | ||
| 13 | Greg Biffle | 13 |
| Finished a Talladega career-best fourth on Sunday, his second consecutive top 10 at the track after finishing no better than 13th in his first 12 visits. | ||
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| He won't complain too much about a 12th-place finish considering he has finished 35th or worse in four of his eight visits. | ||
| 15 | Kevin Harvick | 15 |
| His 21st-place finish Sunday was his fifth consecutive finish of 20th or worse at Talladega. He has been running at the finish of all 18 of his starts at Talladega. | ||
