Nascar 2012 - race ten

“Talladega Frustrations” Submitted by Rick A. Talford NASCAR Enthusiast TALLADEGA, ALABAMA - Saturday, May 5 the Nationwide Series ran their “Aaron’s 312” This was 117 laps of hard racing on the two and two-thirds of a mile Superspeedway. The Temperatures were hot at the track, with 90’s through most of the race. The Pole Setter was # 2 Elliott Sadler, with # 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. starting second. There were many Cup drivers in this race, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Joey Lagono, Brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski. Due to some morning rain, the race began a little behind schedule. Dale Earnhardt Junior’s nephew, Jeffrey Earnhardt was in the race, as was Danica Patrick for their first attempt at the Talladega Superspeedway. A couple single car cautions happened within the first fifty laps, then on lap 62, # 01 Mike Wallace tagged # 38 Brad Sweet. This turned Sweet sideways and he collected # 24 John Wes Townsley, # 14 Eric McClure, and # 41 Timmy Hill. Later on lap 83, #39 Josh Richards blew a tire bringing out another caution. During the caution, Hill would get out of the race car due to illness. Blake Koch would get into the car to finish the race. Lap 110 # 44 Mike Bliss would spin after being tagged by Elliott Sadler. Lap 114 Mike Wallace and # 4 Danny Efland would get together creating a caution. The race would have to be restarted in over-time. The first Green-White-Checked attempt was a major pile up, when # 43 Michael Annett tried to go three wide on the restart, and collided with # 22 Brad Keselowski up front.. # 3 Austin Dillon, # 14 Eric McClure, # 15 Jeffrey Earnhardt, # 19 Taylor Malsam, # 22 Keselowski, # 23 Robert Richardson Jr., # 33 Kevin Harvick, # 41 Blake Koch, and # 43 Annett, were all collected by the wreck. A “RED FLAG” was brought out, stopping the field to attend to the multiple cars damaged on the track. # 14 Eric McClure had to be cut from his racecar after he slammed into the inner wall, at over 180 mph. He was then airlifted to the Birmingham Hospital to get evaluated and cared for. Reports on the following day were that McClure was responsive and in fair condition, with right side injuries. As the race concluded under the second Green-White-Checkered attempt, # 18 Joey Lagono beat # 54 Kyle Busch, making a great move coming to the finish line, to break the two cars apart, giving Lagono the victory. The rest of the top ten were: # 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., # 88 Cole Whitt, # 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr., # 1 Kurt Busch, # 30 James Buescher, # 31 Justin Allgaier, # 09 Kenny Wallace, and # 2 Elliott Sadler. While the leaders all passed the Checkered flag, # 12 Sam Hornish Jr. decided to block # 7 Danica Patrick all the way up the track and into the wall. Patrick did not take this well, and after they finished the race, she drove up behind Hornish and tagged him, sending him into the outer wall nose first with his race car. In my mind, this was a good thing, it was very seeable that Hornish intentionally drove her car into the wall, to keep the position when she was fast enough to beat him to the line. My words for Patrick, “WAY TO GO” The next race will be held next Fri. night at Darlington. Aaron’s 499 TALLADEGA, ALABAMA - Sunday, May 6 event was held close to noon, but again was delayed a bit due to morning rains. The Cup Series would race at Talladega for 188 laps. Pole Setter was # 24 Jeff Gordon, with # 22 AJ Allmendinger starting second. This race track is located on an old WWII airfield that covers three-thousand acres of land. Gordon’s pole gave him at least one pole for every year of his twenty year career so far. In the race, # 55 Michael Waltrip decided to run another race since retiring. He had a special paint scheme on his car, that a seven year old girl drew. He also had a # 55 Junior Seau memorial sticker on the side panel of the car. Racing with the Talladega Nights ( Ricky Bobby) paint scheme, was # 51 Kurt Busch. During the race it is very common for these cars to run over 200 mph at the start/finish line each lap. On lap 16 # 78 Regan Smith blew an engine, and brought out the first caution of the day. During the caution # 22 Allmendinger and # 38 David Gilliland both were caught for speeding on pit road. They were penalized and forced to start at the back of the field. Lap 44, # 39 Ryan Newman left the race with engine troubles. It was found to be a problem with the oil pump. He would not return to the race after this finding. Lap 57 began a green flag round of pit stops. During all the stops, # 48 Jimmie Johnson had engine failures as well, taking him out of the race too. This was the second Hendrick engine to have a failure with the oil pump. Lap 142 brought one of two big wrecks. # 43 Aric Almirola got into # 36 Dave Blaney causing a big pile up. Just prior to this starting, # 29 Kevin Harvick, # 51 Kurt Busch and a couple other cars began running out of fuel. As they were limping around the track to get to pit road, the “BIG ONE” happened. # 36 Dave Blaney, # 99 Carl Edwards, # 24 Jeff Gordon, # 56 Martin Truex Jr., # 20 Joey Lagono, # 42 Jaun Montoya, # 47 Bobby Labonte, and # 83 Landon Cassill were all involved. Another caution fell at lap 176 when # 9 Marcus Ambrose tagged # 13 Casey Mears and # 21 Trevor Bayne. There were minimal damages and all cars continued on. With nine laps remaining, the restart brought another caution out, when # 2 Brad Keselowski drove through # 51 Kurt Busch on the race track. With just a few laps remaining, the restart would create the second big wreck of the day. # 11 Denny Hamlin decided to try and make a pass, right as they were crossing the start/finish line. He attempted to get his car in between the two lead car. He ran into # 22 Allmendinger, spinning him sideways into the wall and then back into the field of cars. # 9 Ambrose, # 14 Tony Stewart, # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 16 Greg Biffle, # 20 Joey Lagono, # 23 Robert Richardson Jr., # 27 Paul Menard, # 29 Kevin Harvick, #31 Jeff Burton, and # 55 Michael Waltrip were all involved. The final laps were run under a Green-White-Checkered condition. # 2 Brad Keselowski won the race ahead of # 18 Kyle Busch, # 17 Matt Kenseth, # 5 Kasey Kahne, # 16 Greg Biffle, # 15 Clint Bowyer, # 34 David Regan, # 21 Trevor Bayne, # 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., and # 31 Jeff Burton. Kenseth led the most laps of the race. This was the first victory for Dodge since 1976 at Talladega. A race record 19 cars were knocked out of the race, with 17 different leaders, and 34 lead changes. The next race will be held next Sat. Night at Darlington. Danica Patrick will start her second Cup race there.