Nascar – Cardboard of Ragan and Front Row at Talladega

The Aaron 499 at Talladega was certainly interrupted by showers, but the spectators were rewarded for their wait by the spectacle offered by the drivers. The first Big One came early in the race when Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) collided sideways with the Chevrolet of Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports). The accident involved several contenders for victory, including Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing), Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing) and Kevin Harvick (Richard Childress Racing) who were among the 13 drivers involved. The race was disrupted again 63 laps from the finish, but this time it was the weather which played tricks on the competitors.

After a very long interruption, the race resumed with ten additional laps added to the 182 initially planned. Juan-Pablo Montoya (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing), who came very close to the feat at Richmond, saw his hopes of a good result come to an end when he encountered mechanical problems. But the Colombian was not the most unlucky. Another crash occurred in the final laps when Ricky Stenhouse Jr (Roush Fenway Racing) collided with the #36 SS of JJ Yeley (Tommy Baldwin Racing). Kurt Busch was the main victim, the Furniture Row Racing resident rolling over at more than 300km/h. Fortunately, all the pilots escaped the collision unscathed.

Pushed by his teammate David Gilliland, David Ragan took the lead at the green-white-checked flag to take his first victory of the season and offer a double to Front Row Motorsports which defied the predictions. Carl Edwards (Roush Fenway Racing) took third place ahead of Michael Waltrip (Michael Waltrip Racing). Jimmie Johnson continues his series of good results by securing a new top five ahead of Regan Smith (Phoenix Racing) and Martin Truex Jr (Michael Waltrip Racing). After leading a good part of the race until the red flag, Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) had to settle for eighth place ahead of Scott Speed ​​(Leavine Family Racing), with Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports) completing the top ten. ahead of Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports). Defending champion Brad Keselowski (Penske Racing) took 15th place.

A noter que Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) a fait son retour à la compétition suite à l’accident de Fontana où le pilote de la Toyota n°11 s’était blessé. Après avoir laissé son volant à son remplaçant Brian Vickers lors de la première interruption (le pilote prenant le départ décrochant les points au Championnat, la Camry s’est retrouvé sur le carreau lors du premier carambolage et ne termine que 34e.