From Steve McCormick,
Your Guide to NASCAR Racing.
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Apr 27 2008

The 2008 Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway was a typical Talladega race. The drivers were cautious during most of the race and there was a lot of give and take. This lead to a pretty safe race until the laps started to wind down.

With 50 laps to go you could feel the intensity increase. The race finished with two "Big Ones" and a yellow flag finish. Kyle Busch was out front when the final caution flew to claim a Talladega win for Toyota.

Qualifying

Qualifying featured two surprises in Chevrolets and three fast Toyotas in the top five

"Front Row Joe" Nemechek surprised many fans by taking the pole during qualifying in his National Day of Prayer Chevrolet. Tony Stewart won the Nationwide Series race on Saturday and was second quick in qualifying for Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing.

Another surprise started on the inside of row number two as Kenny Schrader rolled off third. Alongside him was AJ Allmendinger in a Toyota. Kyle Busch rounded out the top five in his Gibbs Toyota.

Drop Of The Green

The Gibbs drivers hooked up on lap one as Kyle Busch pushed Tony Stewart to the lead on lap one. Pole sitter Joe Nemechek fell to third on the start.

Denny Hamlin quickly moved up to third which put all three Joe Gibbs drivers into the top three. Drivers were patient and cruising comfortably in single-file during the early going.

Storylines

Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart were among drivers who had tire problems today in Talladega. The right front tire seemed to be the problem as those three all had sudden tire failures that turned them into the outside wall and eliminated them from contention.

Goodyear has taken a lot of abuse in recent years. First for tires that weren't safe enough, then for tires that were too hard and didn't have enough grip to allow them to race. I hope today's failures don't indicate a swing back towards unsafe tires.

Chasing The Checkers

Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart had been the class of the field for much of the race. Stewart had a tire go down while he was leading and brushed the wall. This knocked him back into the pack as the race was winding down.

Denny Hamlin was out front as the green flag flew with 20 laps to go. Ryan Newman, David Ragan, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon were lined up behind him.

That late race sprint was wild as the leaders were bumping, banging and trying to wreck. Finally they got what they wanted as Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray and a bunch of others were involved in a big mess.

The final green flag flew with just five laps to go. Michael Waltrip lead them to the green over Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon. Kyle Busch shuffled the leaders on the restart and lead the final segment.

The lead pack stayed in single-file and was shaping up for a big finish when there was another big crash in turn two on the final lap. This froze the field and handed the win to Kyle Busch.

Top Ten

1. Kyle Busch
2. Juan Pablo Montoya
3. Denny Hamlin
4. David Ragan
5. Brian Vickers
6. Travis Kvapil
7. Casey Mears
8. Ryan Newman
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The Points

Jeff Burton maintained his point lead but second place Kyle Busch narrowed the lead to just thirteen points with his victory today.

Juan Pablo Montoya jumped into the top twelve with his strong second place finish today. He bumped Kasey Kahne from an all-important Chase qualifying spot.

The top twelve are now:

1. Jeff Burton
2. Kyle Busch -13
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -70
4. Denny Hamlin -90
5. Jimmie Johnson -93
6. Kevin Harvick -133
7. Clint Bowyer -156
8. Greg Biffle -184
9. Tony Stewart -201
10. Carl Edwards -254
11. Ryan Newman -276
12. Juan Pablo Montoya -309

Next Week

The month of May in NASCAR brings night races in prime time. We start next Saturday night as the Sprint Cup stars roll into Richmond for a short-track battle under the lights.

Last year Jimmie Johnson won the race that started on Saturday and finished on Sunday because of uncooperative weather in Richmond.