TALLADEGA – “Typical Talladega” might just sum up Sunday’s running of the Aaron’s 499.A crash on the last lap ended what had been a relatively calm race that featured lots of three- and four-wide racing with few big wrecks. But as Kyle Busch took the white flag the field behind him started swapping sheet metal, which caused the race to end under caution, giving Busch his first victory at the 2.66-mile track.
The last-lap crash collected 12 cars, including fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. as well as several drivers who drove up front most of the day. David Stremme, who was driving in Dario Franchitti’s place in the No. 40, was having a good run up until that final lap when he became a casualty of the last crash of the day.
“It’s disappointing, but I had fun today,” Stremme said. “We ran well. There’s not much we can do. I ended up in a bad position at the end; I was left hanging out of the draft. When everything started, I had no place to go. Considering everything, we were there at the end with a chance for a good finish.”
Stremme ended the day in 28th position.
“We were in a good position toward the end but got there just a little too early,” said Jimmie Johnson, who was also caught up in the crash. “The No. 55 (Michael Waltrip) and I were working well together, but I think he blew up at the end there with me pushing him. We got some damage on the last lap, but we came out okay today. …”
Prior to the last lap, the biggest wreck of the day came on lap 175 when Tony Stewart got into the back of Dale Earnhardt Jr. while the pack was four-wide. Before all was said and done, six cars were involved to some extent including Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Bobby Labonte and Jamie McMurray. The accident brought out the sixth caution of the day.
“I went to the second lane there, and for a short amount of time I was there all right and the closer we got to Turn 1 the smaller that hole got,” Stewart said.
“So I was as close to Bobby as I could get right there. The hole closed up, so that’s what happens at these races. I look at the video, I don’t feel like I did anything wrong.”
The first caution of the day came on lap 21 when Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford blew the right front tire and hit the wall in Turn 2. Kenseth’s bad luck gave several drivers the opportunity to pit early in the race and make necessary changes to their cars.
Drivers got in a long run before the next caution, with the second yellow flag coming out on lap 118 when Carl Edwards blew a right front tire and hit the wall. Prior to that, the field had two green-flag pit stops with a long run without a yellow flag.
“It appears to be the wrong camber in the tire,” Edwards said. “We tore up one tire and had to pit early and I could feel it banging pretty hard. This one was coming apart, but I was going to let it get to the amount of banging that the other one was doing before I pulled in. Never got to that point. It’s just too bad. …”
Tony Stewart was leading at the time he slid up and brushed the wall, bringing out the third caution of the day on lap 145.
The No. 20 driver had a tire going down before hitting the wall.
The Aaron’s 499 consisted of eight cautions for a total of 23 laps.
“That was amazing,” Denny Hamlin said. “The whole race was crazy. I was in a little bit of single-file racing there, but I think everyone just got antsy. I had a car that could do relatively whatever I wanted it to do.
“When I wanted to pull up to somebody’s bumper, I could. When I would push ‘em, I’d push ‘em as long as my water temp gauge would let me or as long as they could hang on to it. That’s all you can ask for in a superspeedway race is to have a car as good as ours.”
