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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Stewart Tames Talladega
Tony Stewart survived a wild afternoon to win Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted October 05, 2008   Talladega, Ala.
Brian Vickers leads during the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo Courtesy of Toyota Motorsports)

Tony Stewart survived a wild afternoon to win Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, surviving a spate of tire failures to capture the fourth and final restrictor-plate race on the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.

Stewart fended off a furious last-lap charge by three Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates Regan Smith, Paul Menard and Aric Almirola to win his first race of the season in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Smith dove under the yellow out-of-bounds line on the final lap in an attempt to pass Stewart for the victory. But NASCAR ruled the pass illegal and dropped him to 18th-place, the final car on the lead lap. That left the finishing order Stewart, Menard, David Ragan in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford and the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets of Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer.

Jimmie Johnson finished ninth and now leads Carl Edwards by 72 points and Greg Biffle by 77 markets. Burton is fourth, 99 markers back of Johnson.

The first major incident took place on Lap 55 and it dire consequences for four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jeff Gordon. David Reutimann blew a right-rear tire on the backstretch and Gordon had to turn hard right to avoid him, in the process hitting the outside wall, heavily damaging the nose of his car. “No chance on us winning this race and making up any points,” Gordon said. “We had a great car, great pit stops and everything was going the way we wanted it to.”

Jimmie Johnson’s car was hit by Reutimann’s tire, which broke a front splitter brace on the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Under caution, Brian Vickers took the lead over Kvapil, Mike Skinner, Kyle Busch and Menard. Carl Edwards made multiple pit stops to make sure he didn’t suffer any damage in the incident.

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