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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Drivers Shrug It Off
It was another strange day at Talladega Superspeedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 01, 2009   Talladega, AL
Mark Martin crosses the finish line after being involved in an incident on track during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Another restrictor-plate race, another afternoon of carnage. That’s pretty much what Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was for the 43 drivers in the field.

The race went 183 of a scheduled 188 laps without a single major incident. In fact, there were long stretches where the field simply lined up single file, parading more than racing, while they waited for the inevitable end-of-race fireworks.

But between Lap 183 and the end of the race, 18 of 37 cars still running at the time were caught in one of two major incidents. Five were snared in Ryan Newman's backstretch flip on Lap 184, and another 13 were wadded up on the last-lap of the race, which ended up being extended to 191 laps.

And while the crashing may have looked dramatic and violent on televisions, the drivers knew it was coming.

“When all these cars are bunched up, just one little move by one car and the other guy moves the other way to block or just to go in another gap and that closes, the others wreck,” said Kasey Kahne, who finished second behind race-winner Jamie McMurray. “That’s just this type of racing and I think everybody understands that. It’s happened at Daytona plenty of times. It’s happened here.”

Obviously, drivers caught up in the mayhem weren’t quite as charitable in their assessment of what happened.

“It was just kind of a terrible race today in general,” said David Ragan, who ran near the front for much of the day, only to be crashed out on the last lap. “There was a lot of single-file racing. I know it’s exciting there at the end, but what happens is NASCAR slows these cars down. They’re too easy to drive and everyone just gets kind of crazy. It’s a shame to tear up a lot of good race cars like that for kind of being stupid, but that’s restrictor-plate racing. I’m glad we only have to do it three or four times a year.”

Two of the most bitterly disappointed drivers were Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and
Jeff Gordon, who effectively lost all hope of catching teammate Jimmie Johnson for the 2009 championship after they were both snared in the last-lap crash.


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