The big one. When the green flag waves at Talladega Superspeedway, every driver is thinking about it, hoping that he will be able to avoid it. The infamous twenty car melees that define restrictor plate racing can take a car from a strong contender for a win to a pile of scrap in the blink of an eye, and change the whole look of the race. The Aaron's 312, the longest Busch Series race of the season, was no exception.
Joe Nemechek started from the pole, part of a group of Winston Cup regulars that took 5 of the top 6 qualifying spots. As soon as the green flag flew it became apparent that the draft was, as always, a make or break factor as the cars of Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne, who had both started in the top 5, took a higher line around the track and fell back as the line of cars on the inside flew by.
Only nine laps into the 117 lap event, the 4th place car of Johnny Sauter cut a tire and slowed suddenly, starting a chain reaction crash that caught nearly half the field. Twenty cars sustained damage, including six of the top 10 points leaders. As the smoke cleared and the race went green again, only 24 cars remained on the track, 22 on the lead lap. Through the caution and a quick pit stop, Joe Nemechek held on to the lead, followed closely by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The field stretched out, single file, and split into two packs of cars over an uneventful 25 lap run. David Green cut a tire in turn 4 and pulled to the bottom of the track without incident, but brought out a caution flag for rubber and debris on the track. The leaders all head to the pits. Both Nemechek and Mile Wallace opted for two tires, while Earnhardt took four. Ron Hornaday, Jamie McMurray, and Mike Bliss all took fuel only, hoping to pick up a few positions, and led the rest of the field off of pit road. In his pit, Brian Vickers blew a radiator hose, forcing hi behind the wall for more extensive repairs.
On the restart, Nemechek and Earnhardt teamed up to take the outside line to the front, getting around Hornaday, McMurray and Bliss with little trouble. Another caution for debris on lap 57 brought the leaders back into the pits just 20 laps later, as crew chiefs began fuel mileage computations, hoping that their team can complete the remaining 59 laps. Earnhardt made a quick, fuel-only stop and led leaving the pits. A minor collision with Kerry Earnhardt on pit road damaged the fourth place car of Mike Wallace as he was leaving his pit stall, but the damage wasn't severe and he remained on the track in second position.
With just eight laps to go, Chase Montgomery spun across the infield gas and onto pit road, bringing out the fourth caution of the day and easing the fuel mileage concerns somewhat. None of the leaders want to give up valuable track position to pit, and only a handful of cars stopped for fuel. Leader Dale Earnhardt Jr's team continued to worry about fuel, and he ran most of the caution on the apron to keep gas from sloshing away from the intake. On the restart, Ashton Lewis Jr. ran out of gas and couldn't make it back around to pit road, which brought out the fifth and final caution with 2 laps to go. The field raced to the yellow to determine finishing positions. For two, long, tense laps, the field followed the pace car, the leaders dropping to the apron to stretch their fuel. Earnhardt took the checkered flag with a sigh of relief, his car stalling half way around his victory lap and getting a push into victory lane to celebrate his second Busch win in his second start this season. Nemechek, Shane Hmiel, Ron Hornaday and Mike Bliss rounded out the top five in a finish that shuffled the point standings and cut Todd Bodine's early lead to only 39 points. Tina Gordon, a Craftsman Truck Series rookie, came from a last place starting spot to finish tenth in her first Busch Series start, despite replacing an engine during final practice.
Unofficial Results
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Joe Nemechek
- Shane Hmiel
- Ron Hornaday
- Mike Bliss
- Jamie McMurray
- Michael Waltrip
- Mike Wallace
- Coy Gibbs
- Tina Gordon
Unofficial Standings
- Todd Bodine
- Jamie McMurray -39
- Ron Hornaday -69
- Shane Hmiel -99
- Jason Keller -107
- Mike Bliss -138
- David Green -141
- Scott Riggs -181
- Kasey Kahne -183
- Mike Wallace -212
