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SOUTHERN
SHORT TRACK RACING NEWS
| Busch wins at Talladega ahead of final-lap wreck | Compliments of Nascar, Inc.
TALLADEGA, Ala. -April 27, 2008- Superspeedway racing makes for strange bedfellows, as Kyle Busch found out Sunday in winning the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.
With pushes from the Chevrolet of Jeff Gordon and the Dodge of Juan Montoya, Busch had his No. 18 Toyota in the lead when a wild wreck in Turn 2 on the final lap brought out the eighth and final caution of the race, freezing the field and giving Busch his first win at Talladega.
"First Jeff Gordon and then Juan -- those guys behind us were just awesome," said Busch, who won for the second time this year and the sixth time in his Cup career. "We just kept blocking the way we needed to stay up front.
"I don't think I've ever finished here without wrecking, or at least, without getting torn up. ... The 42 [Montoya] was just my savior [Sunday]. He pushed me all the way to the front."
Cumulatively, Busch won for the seventh time in NASCAR's top three series this year. He has three Nationwide victories and two Craftsman Truck Series wins to go with his Cup successes. The win at Talladega also enabled him to gain ground on points leader Jeff Burton, who leads Busch by 22 points.
Busch's Toyota was strong enough to recover from a mistake on pit road. On Lap 63 of the 188-lap race, he missed his stall while attempting a green-flag pit stop and had to return to pit road for service a lap later. But Busch got a free pass as the first car a lap down after Carl Edwards' blown tire brought out the second caution of the race on Lap 116.
From that point, he surged back to the front, ultimately with help from Gordon, who faded to 19th, and Montoya.
It was the best finish of the season for Montoya, who moved into 12th place in the point standings, the first time the former open-wheel star has occupied a Chase-eligible position in the Cup standings.
Montoya restarted ninth on Lap 169, after the fifth caution of the race for debris in Turn 1, and worked his way toward the front.
"I made a couple of moves to get to second, and then I managed to get on [Busch's] bumper," Montoya said. "When you can get on someone's bumper, you can push him all the way around the lap and really make up some ground."
Hamlin had one of the strongest cars in the field, and in the early stages of the race, he and teammate Tony Stewart dominated. But Stewart cut a tire and brushed the wall while leading on Lap 144 and then with 15 laps to go was a casualty of an accident that ended his day.
"I had a car that could do whatever I wanted it to," Hamlin said. "We were right there in the lead with 20 [laps] to go and made a bad move there and got shuffled back. With all the cautions [three in the final 16 laps], we could only make it back to third, but that just shows you how strong the car was."
After a caution for Bobby Labonte's solo spin in Turn 4 on Lap 180, Michael Waltrip led the field to a restart with five laps left. With help from Gordon, Busch surged past Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson, who was running second at the time, to take the lead for good at the line on Lap 184.
Notes: Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 12 times for 46 laps and finished 10th. Stewart, who finished 38th, led the most laps, 61. ... Despite racing among the leaders most of the afternoon, David Stremme was caught up in the final wreck and finished 28th. Stremme was making his first Cup start of the season, subbing for Dario Franchitti in the No. 40 Dodge. Franchitti suffered a broken ankle in Saturday's Nationwide race at Talladega (read more). ... A.J. Allmendinger, also making his first start of the season, finished 30th. ... Burton finished 12th. He has finished in the top 15 in all nine races.
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's Most Colorful Fan 190/5 188 Running
2 26 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Wrigley's Juicy Fruit 175/5 188 Running
3 7 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 170/5 188 Running
4 6 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Travel 160/0 188 Running
5 8 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 160/5 188 Running
6 14 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Northern Tool + Equipment 150/0 188 Running
7 36 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 146/0 188 Running
8 21 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Alltel 147/5 188 Running
9 41 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 138/0 188 Running
10 9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard 139/5 188 Running
11 35 7 Robby Gordon Dodge RVs.com 130/0 188 Running
12 38 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 132/5 188 Running
13 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 129/5 188 Running
14 22 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Turtle Wax / Menards 126/5 188 Running
15 40 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditRep
ort.com 123/5 188 Running
16 19 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 115/0 188 Running
17 32 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 112/0 188 Running
18 31 16 Greg Biffle Ford American Red Cross / 3M 109/0 188 Running
19 20 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Pepsi / DuPont 111/5 188 Running
20 30 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS / 134th Kentucky Derby 103/0 188 Running
21 16 109 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 100/0 188 Running
22 29 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 102/5 188 Running
23 42 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 99/5 188 Running
24 39 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 96/5 188 Running
25 1 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet National Day of Prayer / Furniture Row 88/0 188 Running
26 24 00 Michael McDowell * Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 85/0 188 Running
27 27 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 87/5 188 Running
28 43 40 David Stremme Dodge TUMS Quik Pak 84/5 188 Running
29 18 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Garmin 81/5 188 Running
30 4 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull 78/5 188 Running
31 17 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge LifeLock 70/0 186 Running
32 15 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Marathon / Wells Fargo / PVA 67/0 186 Running
33 28 8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet U.S. Army 64/0 186 Running
34 34 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 61/0 183 Running
35 37 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 58/0 180 Running
36 12 21 Jon Wood Ford Little Debbie Honey Buns 55/0 179 Running
37 33 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 52/0 174 Accident
38 2 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 59/10 173 Accident
39 23 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 46/0 173 Accident
40 11 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 43/0 153 Running
41 13 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 40/0 150 Running
42 3 70 Ken Schrader Chevrolet Hunt Brothers Pizza 42/5 141 Engine
43 25 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Polaroid 34/0 4 Engine
* Denotes Rookie
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