Backstretch Motorsports

TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 26, 2008) — Polesitter Tony Stewart held off a last-lap challenge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Saturday to claim his first victory at Talladega Superspeedway in any series.

“Boys, we won at Talladega!” Stewart shouted as he crossed the finish line in the Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series race .302 second ahead of runner-up David Stremme. It was Stewart’s third NASCAR Nationwide win of the season.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. ran third, Jason Leffler fourth and Mark Green fifth, as Earnhardt dropped to sixth after Stewart repelled his last-ditch run on the final lap.

“I didn’t think leading was the place to be,” said Stewart, who led Earnhardt to the line for a restart with two laps to go in the 117-lap event, after a caution for debris in Turn 4 had slowed the race on Lap 113. “I still don’t think, even after winning the race, that being the leader there with two laps to go was the right place to be.

“But we did what we had to do, and they got spread out behind us, and we got the push we needed there at the end.”

Earnhardt surged to the front on the final lap but faded on the outside when Stremme stayed with Stewart on the bottom of the track.

“Me and Tony worked great together the whole race,” Earnhardt said. It was down to the last lap, and I thought we had it timed good, but my run wasn’t as strong as it could have been — and Tony was just so strong.”

The entire complexion of the race changed dramatically in an instant, 12 laps past the halfway point.

Stewart was leading Earnhardt through Turn 1 on Lap 71 when Kevin Lepage pulled onto the track from the pit road into the front of the field and triggered a chain-reaction pileup that collected 15 cars, including the contending vehicles of Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, David Reutimann, Steve Wallace, Reed Sorenson and Kyle Busch.

Casualties of the wreck included six of the top 10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings entering the race and the other two drivers of the Wallace contingent — Mike and Kenny — all of whom were running in the top 10 when the melee occurred. Mike Wallace sustained minimal damage and was able to continue.

Notes: Dario Franchitti, driver of the No. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing entry, was injured during a crash on Lap 11 of Saturday’s race. Franchitti blew a tire, hit the outside wall and slid down the track in Turn 3 into the
path of Larry Gunselman, whose No. 91 Ford slammed into the driver’s side of Franchitti’s Dodge. Conscious and alert, Franchitti was taken to an ambulance on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Gunselman likewise was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

NASCAR announced that Franchitti suffered a fractured left ankle and minor contusions. He was expected to be released from the hospital Saturday evening. Soon after the race, Steven Lane, Franchitti’s crew chief in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, asked Stremme (who drove for Ganassi last year) if he would be available to sub for Franchitti in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499. Stremme recently signed with Penske Racing as a test driver and would need approval from Rusty Wallace Inc., his NASCAR Nationwide Series team, and from Penske, before he could fill a relief role for Ganassi.

Clint Bowyer entered the race as the series points leader but was caught in the same wreck that sidelined Franchitti. After repairs to his No. 2 Chevrolet, Bowyer returned to the track and finished 25th, helping him hold on to the top spot in the standings.

Race Results
Talladega Superspeedway
Aaron’s 312
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics Saturday, 4/26/2008 @ 5:19 PM Central UNOFFICIAL
Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
1 1 20 Tony Stewart Old Spice Toyota 117 195 10 Running 5 81
2 24 64 David Stremme Atreus Homes & Communities 117 170 Running
3 36 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Smithfield Ford 117 165 Running
4 3 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 117 165 5 Running 2 7
5 26 70 Mark Green ForeTravel Motorcoach/Biomet 117 155 Running
6 7 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. DELPHI Chevrolet 117 155 5 Running 1 14
7 2 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 117 146 Running
8 12 9 Patrick Carpentier # Lipton Dodge 117 142 Running
9 19 29 Scott Wimmer Holiday Inn Chevrolet 117 138 Running
10 20 7 Mike Wallace GEICO Toyota 117 134 Running
11 15 16 Greg Biffle CitiFinancial Ford 117 130 Running
12 23 01 Kertus Davis RACEGIRL Chevrolet 117 127 Running
13 33 89 Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Racing Dodge 117 129 5 Running 1 1
14 39 52 Donnie Neuenberger Royal Farms Wraps Chevrolet 116 121 Running
15 29 24 Eric McClure Hefty Brand Chevrolet 114 118 Running
16 8 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota 114 115 Running
17 43 84 Mike Harmon Talladega Dirt Track Chevrolet 113 112 Running
18 21 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 111 109 Running
19 37 4 Robert Richardson Jr. Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 108 111 5 Handling 1 1
20 27 99 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine/Best 105 103 Running
21 35 11 Jason Keller America’s Incredible Pizza 103 100 Running
22 9 33 Cale Gale # Camping World Chevrolet 101 97 Accident
23 5 88 Brad Keselowski NAVY Chevrolet 97 99 5 Running 3 9
24 16 27 Brad Coleman United States Postal Service Ford 95 96 5 Accident 1 1
25 6 2 Clint Bowyer Camping World/RVs.com 93 88 Running
26 17 81 D.J. Kennington Northern Provincial Pipe Lines 88 85 Accident
27 40 05 Brett Rowe 31W Insulation/CertainTeed 88 82 Accident
28 30 59 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford with Hickory Ford 81 79 Running
29 32 22 Reed Sorenson Arctic Ice/Supercuts Dodge 76 81 5 Accident 1 1
30 28 28 Kenny Wallace U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet 75 73 Accident
31 11 60 Carl Edwards Save-a-Lot Ford 70 70 Accident
32 25 66 Steve Wallace Atreus Homes & Communities 70 67 Accident
33 14 41 Kyle Krisiloff Polaroid Dodge 70 64 Accident
34 13 21 Stephen Leicht Childress Vineyards Chevrolet 70 61 Accident
35 38 61 Kevin Lepage Ford 69 58 Accident
36 18 47 Kelly Bires Clorox Ford 69 55 Accident
37 10 32 Denny Hamlin Hass Avocados From Mexico 47 52 Engine
38 42 57 Justin Ashburn dverne.net/Fidelity Printing Dodge 35 49 Rearend
39 41 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 29 46 Transmission
40 31 0 Dwayne Leik Lori Morgan, LLC Chevrolet 24 48 5 Transmission 1 2
41 4 40 Dario Franchitti # Fastenal Dodge 10 40 Accident
42 22 75 Johnny Sauter Arctic Ice Chevrolet 10 37 Ignition
43 34 91 Larry Gunselman MSRP Motorsports Ford 10 34 Accident

# = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led
Average Speed: 133.111 MPH Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 20 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.302 Seconds
Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers Cautions: 8 for 27 laps Attendance: 80,000