O.K.- who saw that coming? One can always expect the unexpected at Talladega, but I can tell NO ONE I read or talked to had Brad Keselowski pegged as the winner of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega.
Brad Keselowski is what is known in baseball parlance a “spot starter.” His first career Cup victory came in his 5th start in the “09″ car owned by James Finch. Who? Kez just made his debut last fall in Texas, and his best prior the win came in his debut race- a 19th place finish. Usually this car is driven by the semi-retired Sterling Marlin.
At the restrictor tracks, you know a wild card will come into play to set up an
unexpected finish, and in this race, it came early. Contact between Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon sent the 4-time champ up the track, triggering a massive crash that prematurely ended the days of David Gilliland, Mark Martin, Scott Riggs, Jamie Mc Murray and Clint Bowyer. Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and A.J. Allmendinger sustained enough damage to take them out of any real contention.
This race also marked thrill rides by Michael Waltrip and Kurt Busch. Both went into wild spins, but managed to miss the walls.
The “Rocky Balboa” Award has many deserving nominees, certainly Carl Edwards gets an award of unique standings for what he survived, but I’d give it to Jeff Burton. Mechanical issues put him on the canvas- three laps down. Thanks to his trademark patience and perseverance, “The Mayor” pulled off a finish of 10th and even escorted Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a while.
Between the “Big Ones” were runs typical of racing at super speedways. There were 60 lead changes among 25 cars, and times, moments in the sun for less heralded drivers such as Paul Menard, Joe Nemechek, Casey Mears and Elliott Sadler among others.
Kyle Busch actually led the most laps with 42, but late contact with Jeff Burton as Shrub was trying to be a single car three-wide sent him into a spin. Busch would end up 25th on the day.
Denny Hamlin got into Juan Pablo Montoya to trigger the second big crash of the race. Jimmie Johnson, Michael Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr., Bobby Labonte, Robby Gordon, David Stremme, Jeremy Mayfield and Sam Hornish all became unwilling participants in the melee.
Just when you thought you’d seen all the wild highlights there were to see- there was yet more in store. As the laps clicked away towards the finish- two pairs of cars pulled away: Ryan Newman escorted by Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Carl Edwards with Keselowski at his back. The “99″ and the “09″ pull ahead, and for a fleeting moment, Edwards strategy of hanging back to avoid the messes seemed to pay off.
Keselowski started to move high and then inside- the contact sending Edwards on the ride of his life. Edwards spun around, and further contact with another sent Edwards airborne and upside down, recalling the flight of Bobby Allison back in 1987. Edwards’ car would catch the front of Ryan Newman and Edwards would finish in a crumpled heap before the start/ finish line. Edwards jumped out of his car, threw off his gear and started jogging. He ran up to the line, and stepped over it to finish a la Ricky Bobby.
After the race, Keselowski tempered his victory celebration with an apology to Edwards, but pointing out he could not and would not go below the yellow line. For his part, Edwards was conciliatory, saying that from his point of view, Kez was doing was he was supposed to do.
Keselowski is more familiar to race fans as the driver of the “88″ car in the Nationwide Series as employee of Dale Earnhardt Jr. owned “JR Motorsports.” Junior, who finished the day second, was elated for Keselowski, surprised to see his protege up front pushing Edwards towards the finish.
Following the Michigan native and his mentor were Newman, Marcos Ambrose, Scott Speed, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Joey Logano and Burton in the top 10. Speed and Logano logged career best finishes. For Ambrose, his top 5 was his best of the year.
It should be noted that 8 fans were injured in the finish from debris flying from Edwards’ car. Two of the injured were airlifted to a local hospital. One for what appeared to be a broken jaw, and the other woman for a medical condition unrelated to the crash.
This is a classic example of Talladega racing- producing the 10th first time Cup winner in a race here. Anything can happen in Talladega, and we’ll all be talking about it for days to come- the good, the bad and the ugly.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
It was a wild race and thank you for covering it so well.
Overlooked by everyone I’ve read so far. Is that Carl’s wild ride, was caused by blocking. The same move that cost Regan, last race here. As long as a major series allows, & encourages blocking. These kinds of things are going to happen. The way Kurt Busch was blocking all over the track early (as in WAY too early for this stuff) it’s a wonder he didn’t cause another big one then. In no other series, ( except maybe Roller Derby) are cars encouraged to blatently block like this.
In no way is this meant as a slam on Carl. Blocking is legal, & It works. Just ask Tony.
Let’s give Carl Edwards credit for being a stand up guy for not blaming Brad for the crash.and the jog to the finish line how COOL was that. The fans loved it!
@Dawg. I thought the same thing but did not address it today. I expect that this this crash and all the fallout will be discussed all week. Whether or not they address, I know I plan to ask the question concerning blocking this week.
Your assessment is spot on.
I was having an awesome fantasy racing day until Denny took out or impeded several of my drivers. Wow, what a finish. I hate the plate races but thank god they weren’t going any faster than they were. I bet Ryan Newman had to go clean out his firesuit after seeing Carl bounce off his windshiled and up into the fence?!? Anyway, thanks again for a great recap. BTW, I posted a link to bump-drafts on my facebook page.