Backstretch Motorsports

TALLADEGA, ALA. — Jamie McMurray added his name to the victory list Sunday in a surprising finish to a typical race at Talladega Superspeedway.

McMurray, odd-man out in Jack Roush’s compliance move to fielding a maximum of four teams in 2010, crept home the winner in a green-white-checker finish that only made it three-quarters-of-a-lap before a wild crash brought out a caution flag making McMurray the winner.

NASCAR rules allow only one attempt at a green-white-checkered finish and McMurray was in the right position at the right time.

“I saw the guys wreck behind me,” said McMurray, “(and) I didn’t know if you had to take the white in order for, I wasn’t real sure what the rules were, and the 9 went to the outside because he saw the same issue, but I just moved up and kind of tried to block him. As soon as I crossed the start-finish line I shut the engine off and pushed the clutch in and coasted around as far as I could. What an exciting day.”

Kasey Kahne was second, followed by Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Burton.

Probably the story of the day was sixth-place finisher and still leader in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus decided to spend a majority of the race running at half throttle or so in the back of the pack to hopefully stay out of harm’s way and protect a lead in the standings that could eventually make Johnson NASCAR’s first driver to win four championships in a row.

The strategy nearly backfired when Johnson began a move to advance his position about 25 laps from the finish. He moved up to 22nd by narrowly avoiding a spectacular, multi-car crash that put Ryan

Newman on his roof and ended the day for other contenders Kevin Harvick and Marcos Ambrose. Both Harvick and Ambrose were among 25 drivers who led the race at one time or another.

NASCAR officials red-flagged the race after Newman’s accident just five laps from the finish while safety workers righted his car and extracted the uninjured driver from the pancaked remains.

With the green-white-checker looming, the race took on that typical style of Talladega nail-biting.
It was nose-to-tail, three and four wide racing when another huge accident broke out as the cars came towards the tri-oval and headed towards the finish line. Cars went everywhere.

Championship contender Mark Martin was hit and flipped upside down on the front straightaway as cars scattered and spun through the grass and through the smoke on the track. The wreck relegated both Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya to finishes they didn’t deserve. Both drivers were strong contenders during the afternoon and among the leaders. Martin wound up 28th and Montoya 19th.
It was a great win for McMurray, his first since the July 2007 race at Daytona, who led on several occasions.

It was also a win for points leader Johnson, with his sixth place finish. He never led a lap in this one but he dodged a million bullets.

This place is known for a lot of things…but mostly for its edge-of-the-seat, white-knuckle, heart-racing action over its 2.66-mile, high-banked tri-oval track that reeks speed and excitement.

Johnson, starting from the pole, led only three quarters of the first lap. At Talladega, drivers don’t lead for long because the competition is so intense and the cars run so close together. The lead often changes half-a-dozen-times on a single lap.
For instance, in the first 20 laps, there were numerous leaders, David Reutimann and Casey Mears among them and those are drivers who aren’t normally expected to lead races at Talladega.

You do expect the unexpected at this massive superspeedway and points leader Johnson, Tony Stewart, and several other Chase contenders unexpectedly chose to ride in the back of the pack to potentially avoid any of the troubles normally associated with running wide open at the front of the pack, a strategy obviously ignored by many of the others.

A two-car accident on lap five brought out the first caution of the sunny afternoon. Paul Menard cut a tire and gathered Joe Nemechek on the backstretch.

Cars started pitting under green flag conditions at 45 laps.

Elliot Sadler was the leader when the race was slowed again by caution when Kurt Busch spun wildly through the tri-oval.

On the restart, Sadler led with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his bumper. At 60 laps, Jeff Gordon was fourth and Harvick fifth. Harvick took the lead a few laps later. Earnhardt was still running second.

At the halfway mark at Lap 90, Harvick led with Earnhardt, Montoya, Martin and Ambrose in tow, flat-out, foot-to-the-floorboard.

Kyle Busch was next with Denny Hamlin seventh. Greg Biffle was running in the top 10 when the field made green flag stops near Lap 95 but a tire infraction during his stop forced him to make another pass through the pits which relegated him to 36th spot. He rebounded to finish fourth.

NASCAR Race Number 33
Unofficial Race Results for the Amp Energy 500 - Sunday, November 1, 2009
Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL - 2.66 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 191 Laps - 508.06 Miles - Purse: $5,492,493

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 22 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Marathon Ford 191 195 10 99.4 $229,275 Running 4 32
2 11 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 191 175 5 75.1 $212,098 Running 1 1
3 20 20 Joey Logano # The Home Depot Toyota 191 170 5 91.2 $184,301 Running 1 1
4 8 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Filterete Ford 191 160 77.5 $142,500 Running
5 18 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 191 160 5 100.8 $156,706 Running 4 4
6 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 191 150 70.3 $151,876 Running
7 33 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 191 151 5 69.7 $110,675 Running 1 2
8 36 09 Brad Keselowski Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet 191 147 5 89.4 $94,150 Running 2 7
9 26 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Ford 191 143 5 80.8 $97,875 Running 4 12
10 37 71 Bobby Labonte TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet 191 134 70.3 $90,300 Running
11 24 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy Get on the 88 / National Guard Chevrolet 191 135 5 110.5 $106,325 Running 5 9
12 15 33 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 191 127 66.7 $93,650 Running
13 12 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 191 124 82.6 $112,648 Running
14 10 99 Carl Edwards SUBWAY Ford 191 126 5 70.0 $139,431 Running 2 2
15 13 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 191 123 5 91.1 $127,073 Running 2 4
16 29 43 Reed Sorenson Liberty Medical Dodge 191 115 50.1 $119,051 Running
17 28 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 191 112 89.2 $89,600 Running
18 41 36 Robert Richardson, Jr Mahindra Tractors Toyota 191 109 48.7 $77,250 Running
19 5 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 191 111 5 97.3 $115,248 Running 2 3
20 3 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 191 108 5 98.1 $119,351 Running 4 12
21 21 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 191 105 5 101.9 $122,678 Running 3 28
22 30 12 David Stremme No. 12 Penske Dodge 191 102 5 83.6 $112,340 Running 2 10
23 35 34 John Andretti WindowWorld.com Chevrolet 191 99 5 47.4 $88,075 Running 2 2
24 14 17 Matt Kenseth DEWALT Ford 191 91 83.0 $121,790 Running
25 19 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 191 93 5 91.4 $93,750 Running 1 20
26 16 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 191 90 5 67.8 $104,873 Running 2 6
27 38 82 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 190 82 43.3 $94,573 Accident
28 2 5 Mark Martin Pop-Tarts / CARQUEST Chevrolet 190 84 5 74.1 $85,750 Accident 2 7
29 42 13 Max Papis # GEICO Toyota 190 76 42.2 $74,600 Running
30 6 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 189 78 5 65.8 $93,425 Accident 1 7
31 23 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet 189 75 5 74.8 $112,765 Accident 1 1
32 34 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam Toyota 189 72 5 70.0 $95,335 Accident 2 3
33 25 44 A J Allmendinger Hunt Brothers Pizza Dodge 189 64 34.9 $74,875 Running
34 17 47 Marcos Ambrose Clorox / Kingsford / Little Debbie Toyota 188 66 5 67.6 $88,323 Running 2 3
35 4 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet 183 63 5 67.4 $85,648 Accident 1 1
36 7 39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army Chevrolet 183 60 5 63.7 $101,054 Accident 2 3
37 31 96 Erik Darnell Academy Sports & Outdoors Ford 167 52 39.5 $100,929 Running
38 9 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 137 54 5 83.6 $91,175 Engine 5 11
39 43 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 99 46 39.1 $73,050 Engine
40 27 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 44 43 51.9 $91,670 Engine
41 40 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 12 40 27.9 $72,755 Vibration
42 32 98 Paul Menard Zecol / Menards Ford 4 37 24.8 $103,031 Accident
43 39 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 4 34 24.4 $73,006 Accident
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 127,500, Jamie McMurray won the AMP Energy 500, his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following car dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #9 (engine change).
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 13 Mins, 54 Secs. Average Speed: 157.213 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Caution Flags: 6 for 23 laps: Laps: 6-8 (#87, 98 accident turn 1 [None]); 50-55 (#2 spun tri-oval [20]); 106-108 (Debris [16]); 139-143 (Oil on track [2]); 185-189 (#14, 19, 29, 39, 47 accident backstretch [Red Flag: Lap 186, 12:34] [43]); 191-191 (#00, 07, 09, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 24, 36, 42, 43, 82 accident tri-oval [None]).
Lead Changes: 58 among 25 drivers: 0; M. Martin 1; Kurt Busch 2-8; C. Edwards 9; D. Reutimann 10; C. Edwards 11; D. Reutimann 12-16; J. Gordon 17-21; C. Mears 22-41; D. Earnhardt Jr. 42; E. Sadler 43-46; J. Burton 47; R. Newman 48; T. Stewart 49; M. Waltrip 50-51; E. Sadler 52-57; D. Hamlin 58; E. Sadler 59; D. Earnhardt Jr. 60-61; D. Hamlin 62; K. Harvick 63-88; D. Earnhardt Jr. 89; J. Montoya 90; K. Harvick 91; M. Martin 92-97; M. Ambrose 98-99; D. Hamlin 100-105; J. Andretti 106; D. Hamlin 107-108; R. Gordon 109-110; J. Burton 111; J. Gordon 112-113; R. Gordon 114; J. Logano # 115; D. Earnhardt Jr. 116-118; D. Hamlin 119; Kyle Busch 120-122; R. Newman 123-124; Kyle Busch 125; J. Burton 126; J. Gordon 127-130; D. Stremme 131-135; B. Keselowski 136-139; J. Andretti 140; B. Keselowski 141-143; J. Gordon 144; K. Harvick 145; M. Truex Jr. 146; K. Kahne 147; E. Sadler 148; J. Montoya 149-150; J. Burton 151; J. McMurray 152; M. Ambrose 153; J. McMurray 154-167; D. Earnhardt Jr. 168-169; J. McMurray 170-175; D. Stremme 176-180; J. McMurray 181-191.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) J. Johnson 6,248;(2) M. Martin 6,064;(3) J. Gordon 6,056;(4) J. Montoya 6,009;(5) T. Stewart 5,969;(6) Kurt Busch 5,936;(7) G. Biffle 5,908;(8) R. Newman 5,846;(9) K. Kahne 5,834;(10) C. Edwards 5,811;(11) D. Hamlin 5,800;(12) B. Vickers 5,692.
Coors Light Pole Award : Not awarded, # DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Greg Biffle, #16 crew chief Greg Erwin
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Jamie McMurray, #26 EA Sports Move of the Race : Jamie McMurray, #26
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Dale Earnhardt Jr, #88 194.61 mph, Lap 168 Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Jamie McMurray, #26
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Michael Waltrip, #55 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9 0.351 sec
O’Reilly Auto Parts People, Service and Performance : Carl Edwards, #99 240.283 sec Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Joey Logano, #20
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Jamie McMurray, #26 Tissot Pit Road Precision : Carl Edwards, #99 191.014 sec
WIX Filters Lap Leader : Kevin Harvick, #29 28 Laps
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
Next Race: Nov. 8, 2009 - Texas Motor Speedway