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21st
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Jamie McMurray ended a three-year winless drought holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his second win at Talladega.
The unusually clean 500 miler had only three cautions; the fewest at the 2.66 superspeedway since 2002.
NASCAR has managed to end the fan-hated tandem drafting. And while there was plenty of three wide racing early in the race the top fifteen cars were running single file down the backstretch.
The race was halted about a half-lap from the finish by a when Austin Dillon, subbing for Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Chevy, spun out of the second turn down the backstretch. He said he was “hooked” by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. but, he may have gotten loose trying to block the rookie who finished third Dillon slid back into traffic and Casey Mears's Ford slammed into the rear of Dillon's car, sending it airborne spinning on its nose.
Dillon's car landed on its wheels and the young driver was not injured. Mears was seen in the infield care center and released.
Murray led 16 of the 188 laps to score his first victory of the season, seventh of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career and second on the 2.66-mile track. He also won at Talladega in the fall of 2009.
“I knew that our Chevrolet was good in practice and I just could never get the right line,” said McMurray. “At the plate tracks to get the right line, it requires a lot of risk and I felt like I was pretty patient all day and I saw the 17 (Stenhouse) and the 88 (Earnhardt) coming on the top. It just seemed the top was the better place to get hung out than if you got hung out on the bottom. Fortunately I was able to get myself in position. I don't know how the last lap would have played out because I could see the 88 trying to set me up and trying to figure out where he could get a run on me but when I saw the caution come out behind me.”
Earnhardt, a popular favorite, at the track was, obviously disappointed. “I had a plan we were going to get a run down the back straightaway me and the No. 14 (Dillon) and whoever else wanted to go,” he said. “They got together behind me getting into their quarter panels and we just never really got a chance to see what we could do. We had our run formed in the middle of (turns) one and two and we were coming off of (turn) two with pretty good steam when they spun out behind me.”
Jimmie Johnson who finished 13th moved into to fourth place ahead of Matt Kenseth, who finished 20th now took the points lead, by four points.
Kenseth, who came into the race with a four-point lead, said “It was just an incredibly disappointing day. The end there I just for the life of me can't figure out.”
The unusually clean 500 miler had only three cautions; the fewest at the 2.66 superspeedway since 2002.
NASCAR has managed to end the fan-hated tandem drafting. And while there was plenty of three wide racing early in the race the top fifteen cars were running single file down the backstretch.
The race was halted about a half-lap from the finish by a when Austin Dillon, subbing for Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Chevy, spun out of the second turn down the backstretch. He said he was “hooked” by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. but, he may have gotten loose trying to block the rookie who finished third Dillon slid back into traffic and Casey Mears's Ford slammed into the rear of Dillon's car, sending it airborne spinning on its nose.
 |
| Austin Dillon's crash. (Photo: NASCAR) |
Dillon's car landed on its wheels and the young driver was not injured. Mears was seen in the infield care center and released.
Murray led 16 of the 188 laps to score his first victory of the season, seventh of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career and second on the 2.66-mile track. He also won at Talladega in the fall of 2009.
“I knew that our Chevrolet was good in practice and I just could never get the right line,” said McMurray. “At the plate tracks to get the right line, it requires a lot of risk and I felt like I was pretty patient all day and I saw the 17 (Stenhouse) and the 88 (Earnhardt) coming on the top. It just seemed the top was the better place to get hung out than if you got hung out on the bottom. Fortunately I was able to get myself in position. I don't know how the last lap would have played out because I could see the 88 trying to set me up and trying to figure out where he could get a run on me but when I saw the caution come out behind me.”
 |
| Photo: NASCAR |
Earnhardt, a popular favorite, at the track was, obviously disappointed. “I had a plan we were going to get a run down the back straightaway me and the No. 14 (Dillon) and whoever else wanted to go,” he said. “They got together behind me getting into their quarter panels and we just never really got a chance to see what we could do. We had our run formed in the middle of (turns) one and two and we were coming off of (turn) two with pretty good steam when they spun out behind me.”
Jimmie Johnson who finished 13th moved into to fourth place ahead of Matt Kenseth, who finished 20th now took the points lead, by four points.
Kenseth, who came into the race with a four-point lead, said “It was just an incredibly disappointing day. The end there I just for the life of me can't figure out.”