NASCAR at Talladega 2012: Massive crash mars finish of ‘Dega race

After Sunday’s NASCAR race at Talladega (results), team owner Roger Penske and Paul Wolfe questioned the finishing position of Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Dodge, which was fourth in the running order when caution froze the field after the last-lap wreck.

NASCAR rules, however, stipulate that a car will be scored where it blends back into line, even in the case of a wreck on the final lap.

Kurt Busch’s final drive with Phoenix Racing ended with a lap 99 crash and a reprimand from NASCAR that saw the 2004 Cup Series champion parked for disobeying orders to not drive away from safety officials.

Busch was leading when his throttle stalled, forcing him to fall back to Jamie McMurray, who had no choice but to turn the No. 51 Chevrolet off the racing surface. Busch’s car slammed backward into the inside retaining wall but was later restarted.

Entering Sunday’s NASCAR race, Denny Hamlin had a strategy to survive the carnage that is usually associated with racing at Talladega Superspeedway.

That plan entailed Hamlin spending the majority of the afternoon riding around in the back and biding his time until the closing laps. Then, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver planned to charge to front and hopefully leave with finish somewhere in the top 10 – a result which would almost certainly keep him in the thick of title contention.

If you saw the end of Sunday’s NASCAR race at Talladega, you probably realize it was a bit hard for NASCAR to figure out where everyone finished (and if you still don’t know why, here’s the video).

Anyway, NASCAR just passed out a revised finishing order a few minutes ago, so here are the UPDATED results from today’s race:

I’ve watched this video several times, and I still can’t believe it. The various angles and the in-car shots of today’s last-lap crash at Talladega Superspeedway are absolutely insane.

See for yourself:

Brad Keselowski entered Talladega with a five-point lead over Jimmie Johnson and left with a 14-point unofficial championship advantage. He received damage in the last lap crash but navigated through the melee to finish seventh.

After the race, Keselowski repeated several times that he was just “lucky to survive Talladega.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat on the stoop of the No. 88 hauler, holding his head and grimacing repeatedly. It wasn’t exactly clear what was causing him pain – his head, the way his car was mangled at the end of Sunday’s NASCAR race at Talladega or how much he has grown to dislike the restrictor-plate racing he once loved.

Perhaps it was all of the above.

The Big One waited until the final corner.

Matt Kenseth escaped a massive pileup in Turn 4 on Lap 189 of Sunday’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway to win the fourth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

It’s NASCAR race day at Talladega Superspeedway, and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about today’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 for you below.

What time does the race start today? First of all, you’ll note a later start time than most Sunday races due to the Chase: Most Sunday races in the final 10 weeks will begin at 2 p.m., and the last few races will start at 3 p.m. As for today’s race, movie star Kevin James will tell the drivers to start their engines at 2:11 p.m. Eastern (1:11 local time). The exact start time of the Talladega race is 2:23 p.m. ET.

Talladega Superspeedway will literally experience a change in seasons during the NASCAR weekend. A strong cold front moves through the state today into tonight. Temperatures will go from near 80 this afternoon to the low 60s by Sunday afternoon.

Along with this cold front comes the chance of isolated showers and storms late this afternoon and evening. The threat continues overnight and diminishes early Sunday morning. All though there is a chance for rain and storms tomorrow afternoon, most of the activity appears to be more miss than hit for the Camping World Truck Series race.

It will be a chilly afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway for today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Cold front that moved through Saturday has brought much colder air to the region. From the upper 70s to mid 60s later this afternoon. There will also be a slight northerly breeze that could make temperatures feel colder near the low 60s.

SUNDAY:

12:00 p.m. EDT

Sprint Cup Pre-Race - Clouds and some sun - temp: 59

1:00 p.m. EDT

Sprint Cup Race - Partly sunny - temp: 62

2:00 p.m. EDT

Sprint Cup Race - Partly sunny - temp: 63

3:00 p.m. EDT

Sprint Cup Race - Partly sunny - temp: 64

4:00 p.m. EDT

Sprint Cup Race - Partly sunny - temp: 64

5:00 p.m. EDT

Sprint Cup Race - Partly sunny - temp: 63

They say qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway has nothing to do with the driver and everything to do with the car, but you won’t find Kasey Kahne complaining about that.

Kahne won the pole on Saturday for the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500, his third pole of the season and the 25th of his career – but first ever on a restrictor-plate track.

When Jeff Gordon suffered a stuck throttle, causing him to crash out of NASCAR’s opening Chase race at Chicagoland Speedway, most observers believed the four-time champion had eliminated himself from title contention.

Gordon responded with a pair of top-five finishes at New Hampshire and Dover and has lost just one point to the leaders during that span. He’s even climbed out of the cellar, jumping to 10th place, 48 points behind leader Brad Keselowski.

But there’s still a long way to the top. So for Gordon, Talladega represents the ultimate opportunity to climb back into the championship picture – and he could do so with a win on Sunday afternoon.

Due to its unpredictability and knack for producing multi-car wrecks, odds are no track in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup will play a bigger role in deciding the outcome of the championship as Talladega Superspeedway.

Just ask Clint Bowyer.

A day after their new partnership was unveiled in Missouri, Tony Stewart and Bass Pro owner Johnny Morris made the union official and announced an 18-race sponsorship deal for 2013 in a press conference at Talladega Superspeedway.

Morris and Stewart have an existing friendship which developed into a business partnership – a rarity among top-level sponsors in NASCAR. Bass Pro has sponsored some of Stewart’s Sprint car efforts in the past, but 2013 will take their relationship to a far greater level.

The main challenge this NASCAR weekend at Talladega Superspeedway will be the development and placement of isolated storms across Alabama.

It’s not a bad weather weekend for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series at Talladega. The weather will go through drastic changes this weekend as far as temperatures but will remain mostly dry.

Brad Keselowski has more than once referred to Talladega Superspeedway as “its own animal” in recent weeks. It’s a beast he tamed just five months ago, but Keselowski knows that past successes and a recent hot streak are no guarantee of impending glory on NASCAR’s most unpredictable track.

Keselowski leads the Sprint Cup Series standings by five points over Jimmie Johnson heading to Sunday’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN), the fourth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup postseason. But Keselowski knows well that no points lead is safe at Talladega, where an otherwise strong day can end in tangled machinery.

“Nobody’s out of it until we get through Talladega.”

That has been the prevailing sentiment throughout the opening stages of the Chase for the 2012 Sprint Cup - and throughout the playoff format’s nine-year history. A rough start to the Chase, such as the ones experienced by Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and regular-season point leader Greg Biffle, is not a death sentence until 500 miles around NASCAR’s biggest, baddest track are complete. The pulse might be thready, but it can be resurrected if the right cards fall.