8th closest finish
Record lead changes 29 leaders 88 lead changes
5th green/white/checker out of 9 races – first to go to 3rd attempt
Nobody likes Jimmie, even the racing gods
Harvick wins for sponsor that stiffed him earlier in the week
The Aaron’s 499 came down to the very last fraction of a second to determine the winner. With some brilliant maneuvering, Kevin Harvick running on the tale of recent restrictor place ace, Jaime McMurray, pulled the classic slingshot stunt to slightly loosen up McMurray move side-by-side and capture the win. The win was Kevin Harvick’s first in 115 races when he won the 2007 Daytona 500. Surely the mood in the #29 garage and Richard Childress racing had to be anxious and displeased after the car’s primary sponsor Shell Oil/Pennzoil announced a multi-year deal to sponsor Kurt Busch with the Penske organization for 2011 and beyond.
It was also a good day for Earnhardt/Ganassi racing with Jaime McMurray, who recently has become the master of restrictor plate racing winning last fall’s Talladega race and the Daytona 500 finished second in a photo finish just a small fraction of a second from taking the win. Juan Pablo Montoya, looking so promising last year but snake-bitten in 2010, finished third.
In a race that was clean and close for most of the day until late race calamity and dare devil desperation started to set in, overall twenty nine different leaders, far more than half the field, competed for 88 lead changes. Under older rules, the race would have finished under yellow with the caution flag flying on lap 183 when Jeff Gordon and Scott Speed got together which knocked laps leader Jeff Burton out of competition. The field was bunched up after a restart for lap 179 from the 5th caution in lap 176, Bobby Labonte spun out by David Reutimann.
What transpired after the restart assured at least a green/white/checker would provide the most unique kind of Talladega racing. Did we mention, the “big one” hadn’t happened yet?
Jaime McMurray took the green flag on lap 189 with Tony Stewart to his side. The racing action wouldn’t last two laps when caution #7 flew on lap 190. Yes, this was the big one with Joey Logano hitting Ryan Newman in the rear collecting multiple cars. The caution was largely due to cars being bunched up from the recent restart.
Green flag racing resumed to start lap 195 with McMurray once again in the lead with Greg Biffle on the outside. Biffle immediately got in trouble presumably running out of the fuel. His drifting back and not able to maintain speed created more havoc with a bunched up field wrecking Jimmie Johnson and knocking him out of the race. The 8th caution was displayed leading to what would be the first time the 3rd attempt rule for green/white/checker would be employed. They were now deep into bonus laps. The final green would fly for lap 198, ten laps past the scheduled finish. Any further calamity would result in a yellow finish.
Once again, McMurray led the field with partner Juan Pablo Montoya to his side admittedly going for broke running on fumes. McMurray maintained the lead as the white flag flew with Kevin Harvick charging hard. The two front drivers then separated from the field with Harvick on McMurray’s bumper until he was able to slide off, loosen McMurray just enough to make the pass. They’d duel side by side as the rest of the pack began to close in coming down the home stretch. Kevin Harvick held on to win by just inches the 8th closest win ever.
With the multiple lead changes, the three attempts to finish under green/white/checker, and the close finish, the spring, 2010 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega would be a race for the history books of NASCAR. While the typical Talladega racing features were there, the big long train of cars racing in formation holding on to the draft and the “big one,” a multicar caution, Talladega couldn’t have been racier. Keep in mind the restrictor plate size has been revised and the cars have a new aerodynamics package reverting to the conventional spoiler, adding the shark fin to direct air across the rear of the car on the driver’s side, a long with other minor tweaks. NASCAR also loosened the grip on forbidding bump-drafting allowing drivers to race more aggressively. Only the inside double line rule remained as a specific requirement for the gigantic track requirements.
The race tightened up the points standing closing Jimmie Johnson’s large point margin to only 26 points over Kevin Harvick who swooned into 2nd with his win. Greg Biffle, despite his late race difficulty, maintained 3rd while Matt Kenseth dropped back to 4th. In the coveted top 12, teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon were the biggest winner and loser in the points battle. Martin gained four positions up to 6th while Gordon dropped to 10th place losing five positions. The winner/loser scenario also played out with two Childress drivers, Bowyer jumping into the top 12, up three positions to 11th, while Jeff Burton’s hard luck day lost four positions even though leading the most laps to fall to the borderline spot of 12th. Outside the top ten, it was a good day for three drivers with top 10 finishes, his second place finish moved Jaime McMurray up four positions to 17th, his teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya likewise gained four positions with his 3rd place finish moving into a more competitive 20th position. David Ragan, the forgotten member of the Roush stable moved up four positions with his sixth place finish moving into 22nd.
Adding to the intrigue of this historic day at Talladega is bonus racing after the Cup event. The Nationwide race was postponed to a late afternoon start due to volatile weather in the region including deadly tornadoes just to the west in Mississippi. Kevin Harvick, Jaime McMurray, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards are competing in both races. Technically, one could add Joe Nemechek who started both races, but quitters never win and winners never quit. We used the term “competing” on purpose – start and park entries are not competitors. As long as this idiotic practice is allowed to call any NASCAR race, competition, must have a footnote noting the number of drivers who took the starting green flag only to make an appearance and quit.
Record lead changes 29 leaders 88 lead changes
5th green/white/checker out of 9 races – first to go to 3rd attempt
Nobody likes Jimmie, even the racing gods
Harvick wins for sponsor that stiffed him earlier in the week
The Aaron’s 499 came down to the very last fraction of a second to determine the winner. With some brilliant maneuvering, Kevin Harvick running on the tale of recent restrictor place ace, Jaime McMurray, pulled the classic slingshot stunt to slightly loosen up McMurray move side-by-side and capture the win. The win was Kevin Harvick’s first in 115 races when he won the 2007 Daytona 500. Surely the mood in the #29 garage and Richard Childress racing had to be anxious and displeased after the car’s primary sponsor Shell Oil/Pennzoil announced a multi-year deal to sponsor Kurt Busch with the Penske organization for 2011 and beyond.
It was also a good day for Earnhardt/Ganassi racing with Jaime McMurray, who recently has become the master of restrictor plate racing winning last fall’s Talladega race and the Daytona 500 finished second in a photo finish just a small fraction of a second from taking the win. Juan Pablo Montoya, looking so promising last year but snake-bitten in 2010, finished third.
In a race that was clean and close for most of the day until late race calamity and dare devil desperation started to set in, overall twenty nine different leaders, far more than half the field, competed for 88 lead changes. Under older rules, the race would have finished under yellow with the caution flag flying on lap 183 when Jeff Gordon and Scott Speed got together which knocked laps leader Jeff Burton out of competition. The field was bunched up after a restart for lap 179 from the 5th caution in lap 176, Bobby Labonte spun out by David Reutimann.
What transpired after the restart assured at least a green/white/checker would provide the most unique kind of Talladega racing. Did we mention, the “big one” hadn’t happened yet?
Jaime McMurray took the green flag on lap 189 with Tony Stewart to his side. The racing action wouldn’t last two laps when caution #7 flew on lap 190. Yes, this was the big one with Joey Logano hitting Ryan Newman in the rear collecting multiple cars. The caution was largely due to cars being bunched up from the recent restart.
Green flag racing resumed to start lap 195 with McMurray once again in the lead with Greg Biffle on the outside. Biffle immediately got in trouble presumably running out of the fuel. His drifting back and not able to maintain speed created more havoc with a bunched up field wrecking Jimmie Johnson and knocking him out of the race. The 8th caution was displayed leading to what would be the first time the 3rd attempt rule for green/white/checker would be employed. They were now deep into bonus laps. The final green would fly for lap 198, ten laps past the scheduled finish. Any further calamity would result in a yellow finish.
Once again, McMurray led the field with partner Juan Pablo Montoya to his side admittedly going for broke running on fumes. McMurray maintained the lead as the white flag flew with Kevin Harvick charging hard. The two front drivers then separated from the field with Harvick on McMurray’s bumper until he was able to slide off, loosen McMurray just enough to make the pass. They’d duel side by side as the rest of the pack began to close in coming down the home stretch. Kevin Harvick held on to win by just inches the 8th closest win ever.
With the multiple lead changes, the three attempts to finish under green/white/checker, and the close finish, the spring, 2010 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega would be a race for the history books of NASCAR. While the typical Talladega racing features were there, the big long train of cars racing in formation holding on to the draft and the “big one,” a multicar caution, Talladega couldn’t have been racier. Keep in mind the restrictor plate size has been revised and the cars have a new aerodynamics package reverting to the conventional spoiler, adding the shark fin to direct air across the rear of the car on the driver’s side, a long with other minor tweaks. NASCAR also loosened the grip on forbidding bump-drafting allowing drivers to race more aggressively. Only the inside double line rule remained as a specific requirement for the gigantic track requirements.
The race tightened up the points standing closing Jimmie Johnson’s large point margin to only 26 points over Kevin Harvick who swooned into 2nd with his win. Greg Biffle, despite his late race difficulty, maintained 3rd while Matt Kenseth dropped back to 4th. In the coveted top 12, teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon were the biggest winner and loser in the points battle. Martin gained four positions up to 6th while Gordon dropped to 10th place losing five positions. The winner/loser scenario also played out with two Childress drivers, Bowyer jumping into the top 12, up three positions to 11th, while Jeff Burton’s hard luck day lost four positions even though leading the most laps to fall to the borderline spot of 12th. Outside the top ten, it was a good day for three drivers with top 10 finishes, his second place finish moved Jaime McMurray up four positions to 17th, his teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya likewise gained four positions with his 3rd place finish moving into a more competitive 20th position. David Ragan, the forgotten member of the Roush stable moved up four positions with his sixth place finish moving into 22nd.
Adding to the intrigue of this historic day at Talladega is bonus racing after the Cup event. The Nationwide race was postponed to a late afternoon start due to volatile weather in the region including deadly tornadoes just to the west in Mississippi. Kevin Harvick, Jaime McMurray, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards are competing in both races. Technically, one could add Joe Nemechek who started both races, but quitters never win and winners never quit. We used the term “competing” on purpose – start and park entries are not competitors. As long as this idiotic practice is allowed to call any NASCAR race, competition, must have a footnote noting the number of drivers who took the starting green flag only to make an appearance and quit.
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