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Updated April 28
Can you imagine if every weekend was a restrictor-plate race? With their unpredictable nature and the new cars, we could very well end up with 36 different winners.
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| Talladega has been entertaining and exasperating. (AP) |
Sunday was the textbook example of how Talladega can be entertaining and exasperating at the same time.
For three-quarters of the race, it was fairly clean with plenty of passing and lead changes.
And then in the final quarter, all heck breaks loose, ultimately resulting in the race ending under caution.
Tony Stewart led the most laps, but once everybody started to ramp it up with the race winding down, a couple of late wrecks dropped him to 38th in the final running order.
"The majority of the day we had a great day going," said Stewart, ultimately finished by a wreck that also took out Bobby Labonte, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch. "We were really in good shape with this Home Depot car until I had the right front go down and then I got us in the back.
"As late as it is in the race with 15 laps to go, you've got to sit there and do what you can to get those spots back. I thought we were all right, and the closer we got to Turn 1, the smaller that hole got, so I was as close to Bobby (Labonte) as I could get right there and the hole closed up. It's just what happens late in these races."
Truex was beside himself.
"It is Talladega, man," he said. "You know, you get to the end and guys do things that shouldn't do. Try to fit in holes they shouldn't fit it. It's just typical here. It is too boring for a while and then people are too stupid at the end, so there is really no reason. It just sucks sitting in the garage with 10 to go looking at a good finish."
On the flip side, for those who managed to avoid the carnage like Kyle Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin, Sunday's race was about the most fun they've had at Talladega in a while.
"Every time you come to superspeedway racing, it seems like it's with 25 to go things just really kind of bust loose and it gets kind of crazy," Hamlin said.
"I thought the race was still really good up to that point. There was a lot of exchanges for the lead between myself and the 20 (Tony Stewart) and the 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and those guys. I thought it was a great race. I think this package is really right where it needs to be for a superspeedway, so I really commend NASCAR with all of the adjustments they made to this car for superspeedway racing."
Busch admitted he wasn't too excited coming to Talladega, but winning changed all that.
"I wreck every time I come here, so what's there to be excited about except a tore-up race car?" Busch said about his attitude before the race. "But I am (excited) now and that's pretty cool."
Power Rankings after Talladega:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Carl Edwards | 2 |
| Did you know that only twice this decade has the driver with the season's most wins captured the Cup title? Jeff Gordon did it in 2001 and Jimmie Johnson last season. | ||
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Perhaps next year he can rebound to win his third Power Rankings title in a four-year span. Johnson did trump Edwards in at least one major statistical category: 1,959 laps led to 1,282 for Edwards. | ||
| 3 | Greg Biffle | 3 |
| He came on like gangbusters at the start of the Chase and then was just sort of average the rest of the way. Much like his season as a whole, there was no consistency with the 16 team. | ||
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 4 |
| It's hard to figure what happened to the 18 team down the stretch. Sure there was a little bit of tough luck involved, but Busch and his crew completely lost their way during the Chase after dominating the regular season. | ||
| 5 | Jeff Gordon | 5 |
| He hasn't won in more than a year, a span of 41 races. I'm wondering whether an offseason crew chief swap with Dale Earnhardt Jr. could be in the works. | ||
| 6 | Kevin Harvick | 6 |
| The 29 team found another gear the second half of the season with 14 of Harvick's 19 top 10s coming in the final 18 races. With just a little more muscle under the hood, Harvick can give the Hendrick Motorsports and Roush-Fenway Racing boys a run for their money. | ||
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | 9 |
| He has been a very good driver since he landed on the scene in 2005, but I'm beginning to wonder if he and the 11 team are going to take the next step and become great. | ||
| 8 | David Ragan | 8 |
| I was completely wrong about this kid. After a dismal rookie season and a wreck in this year's Daytona 500 that took out teammate Matt Kenseth, I questioned how he still had a ride. But he has turned things around and appears to be one of the young up-and-comers of the sport. | ||
| 9 | Jeff Burton | 7 |
| After winning Race 5 of the Chase, putting him in the thick of the title hunt, the 31 team fell apart. And that's the problem. Whenever it looks like they're ready to become a contender and start receiving praise, they suddenly fall into funk. | ||
| 10 | Clint Bowyer | 10 |
| Though still with RCR, he'll have a new crew chief and pit crew next season as he gives up the 07 car to Casey Mears. | ||
| 11 | Matt Kenseth | 11 |
| While he rallied to make the Chase after a subpar start, his first season without Robbie Reiser as crew chief was a rough one. He went winless for the first time since 2001, with his last victory coming in the 2007 season finale at Homestead. Don't be surprised if 2009 is his last at Roush-Fenway Racing. | ||
| 12 | Jamie McMurray | 14 |
| Jack Roush has been waiting for McMurray to show up since he signed him away from Chip Ganassi Racing. After more than 2½ seasons, it appears he might have finally arrived. | ||
| 13 | Tony Stewart | 13 |
| For a minute there, it looked like he was going to end his Joe Gibbs Racing tenure with one last victory. Statistically, 2008 was the worst season of his career with just one win, 10 top fives and 16 top 10s. | ||
| 14 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 12 |
| Easily my most disappointing driver. The season started with such promise and then, for some strange reason, disintegrated after his victory at Michigan. In the 21 races that followed that win, Earnhardt had only five top 10s. | ||
| 15 | Martin Truex Jr. | 15 |
| His first season as the lead dog at Dale Earnhardt Inc. wasn't a good one. He sunk from one win, seven top fives and 14 top 10s in 2007 to zero wins, three top fives and 11 top 10s in 2008. | ||
| 16 | Casey Mears | 16 |
| Though his performance was much steadier over the final months, he did nothing to make Rick Hendrick believe he was making a mistake in letting him go. It's off to RCR next season. | ||
| 17 | Mark Martin | 17 |
| He had 11 top 10s in 24 races, the same amount as his DEI teammate Truex had in 36. He also finished with more top fives (4-3). Next season, he's back full time with Hendrick Motorsports. Should be interesting. | ||
| 18 | Kurt Busch | 18 |
| A roller-coaster ride down the stretch. The new Dodge power plant had its moments but struggled at the 1.5-milers, which doesn't bode well for 2009. I wonder if he ever regrets jumping ship from Roush. | ||
| 19 | Brian Vickers | 19 |
| The first half of the season, Vickers and Red Bull Racing looked to be making significant strides. But over the final three months, he failed to snag a top 10 and finished outside the top 30 six times. Last season, when he failed to qualifying for 13 races he had five top 10s. He made all 36 races and had just six top 10s. | ||
| 20 | David Reutimann | 20 |
| Last season, he missed 10 races as rookie driver on a start-up team and finished 39th in points. He ended his second season 22nd in points with four top 10s and captured the first pole of his career in the season finale at Homestead. | ||