Race 30 - UAW-Ford 500Pre-Race-It's the Wild Card event. We're in Talladega, Alabama, at the Talladega Superspeedway, the fastest and most dangerous track in NASCAR. With it's high banking and wide lanes, fans often see packs of well over 30 cars racing 3 by 3, with a massive wreck just one split second away. In the Chase, this event is even bigger. 12 drivers's seasons are on the line today, as a wreck could send their championship hopes to the junkyard along with the scrap metal heap of their destroyed racecar. On the flip side, if a Chase driver can pull off a win while others falter, it could be a massive points gain. There is an incredible amount of tension in the garage area. The fans are ready, looking forward to seeing another fabulous race at Talladega. Let's go racing boys!
Green flag-Brian Vickers, with his 2nd consecutive pole, leads the field to the green flag. Paul Menard follows the pace car down pit road with smoke trailing his car. He goes straight behind the wall and won't even complete a lap today. Rough break for the #1 DEI team.
Lap 2-Last week's winner Kevin Harvick leads the first lap.
Lap 3-J.J. Yeley to the lead.
Lap 4-Todd Kluever takes command. We're probably going to see somewhere around 80 lead changes today and these drivers are already going at it.
Lap 5-Casey Mears to the lead.
Lap 6-Mike Bliss is the newest leader.
Lap 9-CAUTION FLAG #1-Trouble! It's the big one! Jon Wood and Jeremy Mayfield were the first cars around entering turn 1 and soon cars were spinning all over the place. Fortunately, this wreck pales in comparison to last week's massive wreck at Richmond. About 10 cars look to have received damage in this one. Casey Mears, Tony Stewart, and Clint Bowyer are the Chasers that got damage. Mears looks to be alright but Stewart and Bowyer might have to go to damage control mode on just lap 9.
Lap 10-More trouble! As the field slows down after racing back to the line chaos unfolds. Brian Vickers drives across Carl Edwards's nose and spins back into traffic. Kurt Busch hits him, and then Kyle Petty, Matt Kenseth, and 3 other Chasers pile in. Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Vickers are done for the day, as are Kyle Petty and Elliott Sadler. This will have HUGE championship implications. Other cars with minor damage from this stack up are Denny Hamlin, Scott Riggs, and Ward Burton.
Lap 14-Green flag. Johnny Sauter leads Bliss, Travis Kvapil, Reed Sorenson, and Martin Truex Jr.
Lap 15-Bliss back to the lead.
Lap 16-Jamie McMurray takes the race lead.
Lap 17-Ryan Newman to the lead.
Lap 24-CAUTION FLAG #2-Spin at the front of the field! Here we go again! Another big crash unfolds, although this looks far less severe than the previous incident. Jeff Gordon turned the damaged car of Todd Kluever entering turn 1 and Kluever began spinning up into the pack but everybody anticipated it and avoided severe damage. 10 cars will be listed as part of the incident, but only Kluever is knocked out of the race. Gordon is the only Chaser involved.
Lap 26-Crash on pit road under caution. Jason Leffler hits Kurt Busch in the passenger side door and stops short and gets rear-ended by Kenseth. Kenseth will retire from the damage as his nightmare second half of the season continues. Leffler and Busch will continue.
Lap 29-Green flag. Newman leads Edwards, Truex Jr., Bliss, and Hamlin.
Lap 38-Bobby Hamilton Jr. to the race lead after breaking up a long segment of Newman leading.
Lap 41-Newman takes the lead back.
Lap 43-Move Bobby Jr. back to the top spot. He's looking very racy today.
Lap 44-Newman back to the lead.
Lap 45-New leader: Carl Edwards.
Lap 46-Hamilton Jr. to the lead again.
Lap 47-Ryan Newman back to the lead.
Lap 48-Aric Almirola blows an engine as Hamilton Jr. reclaims the race lead.
Lap 49-Edwards now in the lead.
Lap 50-Newman back to the lead as Johnny Benson makes an unscheduled stop on pit road with overheating concerns.
Lap 51-Chase Update #1:
Ryan Newman-1st
Carl Edwards-2nd
Jeff Burton-15th
Travis Kvapil-16th
Jeff Gorodn-18th
Casey Mears-23rd
Tony Stewart-25th, -1 lap
Clint Bowyer-26th, -1 lap
Brian Vickers-35th, OUT
Jimmie Johnson-36th, OUT
Kyle Busch-37th, OUT
Kevin Harvick-38th, OUT
Lap 53-Kurt Busch to pit road as Hamilton Jr. moves to the lead.
Lap 54-Hello Newman! After a one lap hiatus he moves back in front.
Lap 57-Sorenson makes a pit stop as Bobby Jr. retakes the lead.
Lap 59-Newman back in front as fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. pits.
Lap 60-Points leader Tony Stewart pits.
Lap 61-Hamilton Jr. to the lead.
Lap 62-Greg Biffle and Leffler pit.
Lap 63-Big group including race leader Hamilton Jr. comes down pit road. Following the 34 are Bowyer, Truex Jr., Yeley, Sauter, Kvapil, Bobby Labonte, and McMurray. Hamlin is the new leader.
Lap 64-Edwards gets around the #09 for the lead. Pitting are Newman, Joe Nemechek, Ward Burton, Ken Schrader, Michael Waltrip, and Bliss.
Lap 65-Hamlin pits with Mears, Mayfield, and Jeff Burton.
Lap 66-Edwards pits from the lead with Robby and Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne.
Lap 67-Newman recycles to the lead.
Lap 68-Hamilton Jr. leads.
Lap 69-Newman back in front.
Lap 70-Edwards to the lead.
Lap 71-Newman retakes the lead.
Lap 71-CAUTION FLAG #3-Ken Schrader and Travis Kvapil have tangled on the backstretch. Very little damage for Kvapil, as he looks to make up some big time points on Stewart.
Lap 76-Green flag back out. Edwards leads Newman, Hamilton Jr., Truex Jr., and Hamlin.
Lap 77-Newman to the lead.
Lap 77-CAUTION FLAG #4-A big piece of bare bond has come off one of the wrecked cars in turn 2.
Lap 82-Green flag. Sauter is the new leader and is followed by Hamilton Jr., Newman, Sorenson, and Edwards.
Lap 83-Hamilton Jr. to the lead.
Lap 84-Edwards to the lead as Mayfield pits with a bad vibration.
Lap 90-Hamlin takes the lead.
Lap 93-Bobby Labonte to the lead for the first time all day.
Lap 94-Edwards back to the lead.
Lap 95-Halfway through, here's full-field rundown. As this is typed, Denny Hamlin is pitting for an unspecified reason.
Lead lap: 18, 12, 77, 15, 99, 34, 09, 78, 41, 55, 11, 16
-1 lap: 8, 01, 31, 7, 33, 92, 9, 42, 2, 24
-2 laps: 07
-3 laps: 0, 88
-4 laps: 91, 24, 23
-5 laps: 19
-6 laps: 02
OUT: 22, 17, 6, 45, 25, 48, 5, 29, 38, 43, 21, 1
Lap 96-Newman to the lead.
Lap 97-Hamilton Jr. to the lead.
Lap 99-Labonte retakes the lead.
Lap 100-Truex Jr. having a great run as he takes the lead.
Lap 101-Edwards retakes the lead as we update you on the Chase contenders still on track:
Carl Edwards-1st
Ryan Newman-3rd
Travis Kvapil-5th
Jeff Burton-15th, -1 lap
Casey Mears-20th, -2 laps
Jeff Gordon-21st, -2 laps
Clint Bowyer-23rd, -3 laps
Tony Stewart-27th, -4 laps
Lap 102-Hamilton Jr. to the lead.
Lap 105-Newman back in front.
Lap 107-Edwards to the lead again.
Lap 108-Ward Burton with an unscheduled pit stop.
Lap 109-Kvapil to the lead.
Lap 110-Newman back in front. Great day for Penske in the midst of big time struggles from Hendrick and Childress.
Lap 112-Labonte back to the lead.
Lap 113-Earnhardt Jr. starts the pit stop cycle as Hamilton Jr. takes the race lead.
Lap 114-Kurt Busch pits as Ryan Newman moves in front.
Lap 115-Kvapil, Yeley, and Sorenson pit as Edwards takes over the race lead.
Lap 116-Labonte, Jeff Burton, Stewart, Sauter, Biffle, Waltrip, Mears, and Benson all pit.
Lap 117-Jeff Gordon, Leffler, and Bliss pit.
Lap 118-Truex Jr. leads a lap as Edwards, Newman, Schrader, McMurray, Kahne, Hamilton Jr., Riggs, and Bowyer pit.
Lap 119-Truex Jr., Robby Gordon, and Nemechek finish the pit stop cycle.
Lap 120-Newman recycles to the lead.
Lap 121-Kvapil to the front.
Lap 123-Edwards takes the lead as Newman slows up! The dominant car of the day with an unscheduled trip to pit road for a likely soft tire. Tough break from the should-have been winner last weekend.
Lap 124-Truex Jr. takes the lead.
Lap 131-Edwards to the lead.
Lap 133-Truex Jr. in the lead.
Lap 134-Edwards to the lead.
Lap 135-Truex Jr. retakes the top spot.
Lap 137-This back and forth battle continues. Edwards is now in front.
Lap 138-Truex Jr. persistently pissing off Edwards as he retakes the lead. Edwards is hoping to steal the most laps led bonus to help his Chase hopes stay alive.
Lap 139-Edwards to the lead.
Lap 140-Truex Jr. back in front.
Lap 142-Edwards takes the lead once again.
Lap 143-Truex Jr. gets around the 99 car again.
Lap 143-CAUTION FLAG #5-Trouble at the front! Truex Jr. bounces off the backstretch wall and slides across the apron as Mayfield goes spinning. Looks like the race leader got squeezed into the outside wall by an unsuspecting Mayfield. Neither driver got much damage though, we'll if Truex Jr. can still contend for the win.
Lap 144-Robby Gordon rear-ended Dale Earnhardt Jr. slowing down after the yellow and will take his #7 Toyota behind the wall.
Lap 146-Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon collide on pit road. Bowyer runs it around for a lap only to bring it down pit road and to the garage. Disappointing 30th place finish for the Chase dark horse.
Lap 148-Green flag with 41 to go. Labonte leads Kvapil, Edwards, Hamilton Jr., and Yeley. Nemechek and Newman are on the tail end of the lead lap, hoping for a very quick yellow flag.
Lap 148-Right after the green flag flies Earnhardt Jr.'s engine blows.
Lap 150-Kvapil to the lead.
Lap 151-38 to go for our final Chase update:
Travis Kvapil-1st
Carl Edwards-6th
Ryan Newman-10th
Jeff Burton-14th, -1 lap
Casey Mears-20th, -3 laps
Jeff Gordon-21st, -4 laps
Tony Stewart-22nd, -5 laps
Lap 153-Yeley to the lead. Gibbs cars looking strong in the late going here.
Lap 155-Hamilton Jr. very impressive as he takes the lead again. We all had the thought earlier but now that we're getting down to business, we have to recognize the possibility of Hamilton Jr. or Yeley winning and becoming the 5th driver to earn his first career victory this season. Toyota won the last plate track race at Daytona with David Stremme, so Hamilton Jr. should feel confident that his TRD engine can get the job done.
Lap 167-Yeley to the lead.
Lap 168-Hamilton Jr. takes it right back.
Lap 173-Yeley back in front as Mike Bliss blows his engine.
Lap 174-Labonte to the lead, looking for his first win since June of 2005.
Lap 174-CAUTION FLAG #6-Second debris caution of the day, this time for a strip of metal on the frontstretch.
Lap 180-Green flag out with 9 to go. The lead lap cars are Waltrip, Kvapil, Labonte, Sorenson, Yeley, Hamilton Jr., Edwards, Truex Jr., and Sauter. Waltrip and Sorenson both have to pit momentarily as they are short on fuel and are hoping for a serious of quick cautions to let them save.
Lap 181-Sorenson makes his stop. He stalls it exiting his box and will watch a top 10 run fall apart late.
Lap 182-Waltirp gives the lead to Labonte to make his stop.
Lap 185-Kvapil takes the lead from Labonte with 4 to go. Those two plus Hamilton Jr. and Yeley have separated themselves from the rest of the field. Kvapil is the only driver with a win this year and both Yeley and Hamilton Jr. are looking for their first win ever. If Hamilton Jr. could get it done it'd be the first win for him as a driver and for Braun Edwards Racing as an organization.
Lap 186-3 to go, Kvapil holding down that inside line and not giving up the lead.
Lap 187-The other three cars gang up! Labonte slingshots Kvapil and Yeley and Hamilton Jr. follow through! Hamilton Jr. then slingshots past Yeley and catapults from 4th with 3 to go to the lead with 2 to go! Can the Toyota outrun the Gibbs Chevys and the Penske Dodge?
Lap 188-White flag in the air! Will Hamilton Jr. hold on and get it done?
Checkered flag-Labonte and Yeley get side-by-side behind Hamilton Jr. and the #34 car cruises to victory! Bobby Hamilton Jr. pulls off the upset in Talladega to be the first non-Chase winner during the Chase and earns his 1st career Cup Series victory. It's also Braun Edwards Racing's first Cup Series victory. With this win, Toyota has now won the past two restrictor-plate events.
Results:
Driver Points:
Owner Points:
****One note on the owner points is that the #00 MWR, #40 CGR, and #74 McGlynn teams should have 30 attempts, not 29. Also, the #30 CGR team should have 7 attempts, not the 6 that is listed.
