NASCAR Nation – 11-4

Many considered last Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway to be the “make or break” race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Most of the drivers viewed the race as the wild card event, saying “anything can happen.’
And as the laps drew to a close, it appeared as though defending champion Jimmie Johnson might actually finish outside the top 10 for the first time in the 2009 Chase, and Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon would be within striking distance of the points lead.
But 10 laps and two spectacular crashes later, Johnson found himself crossing the finish line in sixth place and all but clinching his fourth straight Sprint Cup championship.
The day began with a firm warning by NASCAR that bump drafting in the corners would not be tolerated, and violators would receive penalties. The threat seems to work, with nearly no incidents in the first 100 laps, despite over 50 lead changes among 20-some drivers.
Johnson, whether it be strategy or not, stuck around the rear of the pack for most of the first 150 laps, with Gordon, Martin, and Juan Pablo Montoya all taking advantage of Johnson’s struggles and positioning themselves to gain points on the championship leader.
But the action began to heat up within the final 15 laps, finally boiling over when Ryan Newman’s car went airborne and produced arguable the most horrific NASCAR crash in recent memory.
Marcos Ambrose made contact with Newman’s car in a long line of cars, sending Newman sliding across the track and flipping the car airborne. He landed upon the car’s roof on the hood of Kevin Harvick’s Chevrolet, slid up the high banking, hit the outside wall, then slid back down onto the infield grass where his No. 39 Chevrolet came to a rest upon its roof.
The wreck caused a 13- minute red flag, as track workers took nearly 10 minutes to upright Newman’s tattered car and cut the vehicle’s roof off to remove Newman from within. Newman climbed from the car under his own power and was okay.
Newman said he was sore when interviewed by reporters in the infield media center, and expressed his frustration with the recent trend of airborne wrecks.
“We don’t need the cars getting upside down like this,” he said. “This is ridiculous. There is way more technology than that to help us out. Whether it is a speed issue, a roof-flap issue, whatever. I said it myself in the media center after the spring race here, and now to be the guy standing here trying to live it all out again, I’m just happy I am living it out.”
When the race got underway with two laps remaining, only one lap was ran before a second airborne wreck brought out the final caution. This time it was Martin, who was hit by Martin Truex Jr. in a chain reaction crash. Martin’s car tumbled in the air before coming to a rest on its tires.
The caution ended the race, giving Roush Fenway Racing’s Jamie McMurray his first win since Daytona in July of 2007. He led 32 of the race’s 191 laps to snap an 86-race winless streak.
But with the late wrecks collecting the No. 24 of Gordon and the No. 5 of Martin, Johnson’s sixth-place finish allowed him to increase his points lead to 184 points with just three races remaining.
Kasey Kahne was second, followed by rookie Joey Logano in third, Greg Biffle in fourth, and Jeff Burton in fifth.
Following Kahne, Biffle, and Johnson, others chasers included Brian Vickers in 13th, Carl Edwards in 14th, Montoya in 19th, Gordon in 20th, Kenseth in 24th, Martin in 28th, Kurt Busch in 30th, Tony Stewart in 35th, Newman in 36th, and Denny Hamlin in thirty 38th.
Ocean County native Martin Truex Jr. finished 31st after being involved in the final wreck.
Chase for the Sprint Cup Standings (After seven of 10 races): 1. Jimmie Johnson (6248 points); 2. Mark Martin (-184); 3. Jeff Gordon (-192); 4. Juan Pablo Montoya (-239); 5. Tony Stewart (-279); 6. Kurt Busch (-312); 7. Greg Biffle (-340); 8. Ryan Newman (-402); 9. Kasey Kahne (-414); 10. Carl Edwards (-437); 11. Denny Hamlin (-448); 12. Brian Vickers (-556).
Camping World Truck Series: Kyle Busch made a daring move on the final straightaway to capture a dramatic win at Talladega Superspeedway last Saturday. Busch’s teammate Aric Almirola was second, followed by Todd Bodine in third, Terry Cook in fourth, and David Starr in fifth. Ron Hornaday finished 17th and leads Matt Crafton by 202 points with three races remaining.
In a side note, Chrissy Wallace finished 13th, beating her father Mike Wallace, who finished 28th. The two became the first father-daughter duo to compete in the same event in one of NASCAR’s top three series.
Coming Up: All three series head to Texas Motor Speedway for a wild racing weekend in the west. Don’t miss any of the championship action!
Bruce Knoll, 17, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com
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