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Sprint Cup Series
Camping World RV Sales 500, Talladega Superspeedway, 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, ESPN (ESPN on air at 1 p.m. ET) | RESULTS | WEEKEND SCHEDULE
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McMurray wins at Talladega
Jamie McMurray led just 16 laps but it was enough to earn his first win of the season and his second career victory at Talladega in the Camping World RV Sales 500 on Sunday. | Read the full story | Final Laps | Victory Lane
RELATED: Full coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
MORE NEWS
— Differing ‘Dega demeanors for Johnson, Kenseth
— Patience doesn’t pay off for Dale Jr.
— Stenhouse earns first top-five finish
— Montoya’s day ends early at Talladega
— Burton’s career defined by stint with RCR
— Zipadelli fills in for Addington on No. 14
— Attitude is everything for Danica
— Smoke itching to return after recent setback
— MWR restructures, will have two full-time teams in 2014
–– Vickers out for remainder of 2013 season
— NASCAR announces 2014 schedule
— Air Titan will be at every 2014 Sprint Cup race
Camping World Truck Series
fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola, Talladega Superspeedway, 4 p.m. ET, Saturday, FOX Sports 1 (FS1 on air at 3:30 p.m. ET) | RESULTS | WEEKEND SCHEDULE
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Sauter wins at Talladega
Johnny Sauter won a wreck-filled finish at Talladega Superspeedway to take the fred’s 250. A big wreck on the final lap of the race involved Kyle Busch, Miguel Paludo and many others. | Read the full story | Final Laps: See the crash
MORE NEWS:
— Wallace, Busch OK after 12-truck wreck
— Crafton extends points lead
— Victory Lane: Johnny Sauter
— Busch OK after hard crash
— Buescher loses out on real estate battle
— Blaney, Hornaday crash late at ‘Dega
— Multiple trucks damaged in ‘Dega wreck
— Gaughan announces future plans
— Voting open for most popular driver awards
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Kenseth has three straight top-10 finishes at ‘Dega, including a win last October
RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Matt Kenseth sat down in the media center and immediately began scratching a finger against the top of a microphone placed in front of him, filling the room with abrasive noise. Then he leaned in. "Is this thing on?" he deadpanned, raising his voice a little too loud, so it boomed from the speakers overhead.
The leader in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup cracked a sly grin.
Kenseth has been doing that a lot lately. And not even the potential chaos of Talladega Superspeedway, the most unpredictable track remaining in the playoff, can change it.
No question, the 2.66-mile facility is capable of erasing the hopes of any championship contender, through no fault of their own. The possibility of the "Big One" looms over it, every bit as real as the giant cast iron Vulcan statue that towers over nearby Birmingham. But if you think Kenseth is wringing his hands over some Talladega trouble costing him the four-point edge he holds over Jimmie Johnson — think again. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has made his peace with this place, and knows fretting over the uncontrollable is about as useless as a race car with three wheels.
"I don’t know what good it’s going to do me to get freaked out about it right now," said Kenseth, who will start 12th in Sunday’s race. "I think they’ve been working really hard on this car, and I know (Toyota Racing Development) has been working on engines, so hopefully we’ve got some speed when we get out there …. Just like every week, I think — you go out and try to do the best job you can do with controlling the things that you can control, and not worry about the things that you can’t."
It’s not the most popular point of view at a polarizing race track where some drivers are just happy to finish, regardless of where they end up. On many fronts, every trip to the Alabama heartland is preceded by emotions ranging from trepidation to loathing. Kenseth used to feel the same way — until a few good cars and a few good runs here changed everything. Arguably the best restrictor-plate racer working today, Kenseth hasn’t finished worse than eighth here in his past three outings — and that eighth-place result came this past spring, when he led 142 laps before finding himself in the wrong lane at the end.
"There were a lot of times when you’d come here and you’re like, ‘Man, when you do wreck, I hope nobody gets hurt,’ so you can get home after the race. Other times you’re like, ‘Man, I hope we don’t wreck.’ I went through a lot of that. Just last year and the first race here this year, the speed in my cars was just so fast, so that probably gives you a little different outlook," Kenseth said.
"We’ve been able to lead a lot of laps. I was fortunate enough to win last fall. Before last year, I haven’t really had that opportunity before to feel like we were fast enough, or I could do the right moves or the right things, or whatever. So, that probably changes your outlook a little bit. I think if you go through a few plate races and you have trouble and get caught up in all the wrecks and all that, certainly I’m sure your view changes and you don’t look at it quite the same."
When it comes to Talladega, attitude can be everything. It seems no coincidence that the drivers who perform the best on average here are the ones who embrace the place, all its potential risks and rewards included. Five-time winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. certainly feels that way.
"I think you can psych yourself out, and you can definitely anticipate negative results and negative things happening so much that you almost guarantee that as your fate. I think if you think positively, ‘Man, this is going to work, I’m going to make the right choices when things aren’t quite working right, I’m going to keep striving and pushing and I’m going to make this a good results, I’m going to get something out of this today,’ typically it works out. Typically that attitude is going to prevail over, ‘Man, this isn’t going to work, every time I come here I’m going to wreck, every time I come here I’m going to have trouble, I can’t figure it out why even try.’ That attitude never works," he said.
"Here you are at the mercy of the draft and what line you are in. A choice to change lines a couple of laps ago might have you just going backwards with no option to get out — you are trapped in that box. … That is kind of frustrating, but you have to stay positive, I think to not end up in that crash or not end up having a terrible result because you make all these terrible choices. You have to stay positive and keep pushing. And try to stay positive. I mean, you will make five bad decisions, but that one right decision you made might be the one that gets you where David Ragan ended up. Just like that, he wins the race. You’ve just got to keep plugging away."
Ragan was the surprise winner here in May, bursting up the middle lane at just the right time, positive proof of how the aerodynamic whims of Talladega can give every bit as much as they take. No wonder then, Kenseth looks at a track so many other drivers view as an obstacle, and sees an opportunity. In the 10-year history of the playoff, no Chase leader has ever won the fall race at Talladega. No one would be surprised if Kenseth brought that drought to an end.
"I think when you go somewhere and things have been going well, it’s easy to feel good about going there and having a good attitude," he said. "And vice-versa, when you go somewhere and you just keep having trouble and get caught in wrecks or what have you, it’s easy to come with a bad attitude. I think you just have to come with an open mind, and hope your car is fast and you can stay up front and stay out of trouble. If not, hope circumstance works out and you can get it in the right place and get with the right cars to get up there and get a finish."
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As Burton’s Richard Childress Racing career comes to a close, veteran aiming for wins
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TALLADEGA, Ala. — It was six years ago this week when Jeff Burton went to Martinsville Speedway with a seemingly comfortable lead halfway through NASCAR’s playoff, a 45-point advantage bolstered by a knack for staying out of trouble. "The new Iceman," as Dale Earnhardt Jr. had referred to him after the previous race, seemed on the verge of delivering overdue championships both to himself and Richard Childress Racing.
It never happened.
Burton went to his home track in south Virginia and blew an engine, plummeted to fifth in the standings, and was never a serious threat again. How often does he think about that weekend, and what might have been had it unfolded differently?
"Daily," the veteran racer said Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Such thoughts might come more naturally these days, as Burton nears end of a tenure with RCR that in large part has come to define his career. After the final five races of this season, Burton is parting with the organization to make room for Ryan Newman, who will take over the No. 31 car beginning in 2014. Hopes of keeping Burton in the Childress fold in a fourth car were scuttled after sponsorship for the vehicle failed to materialize.
So this season will bring the end of a stint with RCR that, while not as productive as his tenure at Roush Fenway Racing, was perhaps even more significant. Burton has spent eight and a half seasons at RCR, one longer than his time at Roush. And while only four of his 21 career victories came in the Childress stable, it was at RCR where Burton emerged as the conscience of his race team, as a spokesman for his sport, and enjoyed his best shot at winning a title — that 2006 campaign where his hopes went up in smoke at Martinsville.
I thought I had a lot of chances at Roush to win championships, and to be perfectly blunt about it we just didn’t have everything together," Burton said. "One year we would have pit stops that couldn’t get it done, the next year we would have too many engine failures. Kind of like Mark (Martin‘s) career, too, where he had a lot of chances to win championships and it just wasn’t all together at the right time. We had the speed to win championships, but didn’t have necessarily everything else."
That’s what made 2006 stand out. Burton won just one race that year, but it was the second event of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Dover, and it established him as the driver to beat over the opening half of the playoff. He emerged from a wreck-strewn Charlotte event with a 45-point lead under the previous system, but remained cautious. "Five races is a long time," Burton said that night. Five races later, he was in seventh place.
"They are never over until they are over, and watching this championship everybody keeps saying it’s a two- or three-car race. No, not yet," he said, referring to a Chase in which Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson have built some separation from the rest of the field. "But that year honestly, I really thought we had everything in place that year to get it done — pit crew, crew chief, driver, everybody was in sync, and it just didn’t work out.”
That 2006 campaign was the high-water mark of Burton’s tenure at RCR, an organization he’s ridden through some down times, including when he first joined the team in the middle of 2004. But Burton helped return it competitive viability, making the Chase four times, most recently in 2010. His most recent race victory was at Charlotte in the fall of 2008. Kevin Harvick may be RCR’s flagship driver, but over much of the last decade Burton has become as synonymous with the team as anyone else.
Next year, they’ll both have moved on — Harvick to Stewart-Haas Racing, Burton to a destination yet to be announced. As his run with Childress nears its end, Burton wished he’d achieved a little more.
"I don’t think neither one of us are real happy with the total amount of success that we had, but at the same time we both know we gave 100 percent and did everything we could together. I’m disappointed that we didn’t have more success. I think when I went there it was a bit of a gamble, but it felt right to me. It was a team that kind of needed to get rebuilt," said Burton, who will start second in Sunday’s race by virtue of his opening practice speed, since qualifying was rained out.
"I think we did a really good job with helping rebuild that and get it to where it is. It was probably one of the best places to be. Then it got to where it wasn’t. We did a lot of stuff. We made the Chase three years in a row with all three teams. I took a lot of pride in being part of that. Ultimately with the No. 31, we just didn’t have the success that either one of us really wanted to have. That disappointed both of us, but there are no hard feelings about it. We both know we worked hard at it."
Saturday, Burton was unable to shed any more light on his situation for next season — "I’m really comfortable with where I am and what I am going to be doing. I’m just not in position to talk about it," he said — but he was certain about how he wanted to finish his run in the No. 31. He’s won before at Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix, three of the four events remaining after this weekend. He believes he has another victory left in him.
I want to win, so the next five races are about that," he said. "It’s really not very complicated. There are only a few chances left, so it means those races are more important, but at the same time they are putting the same amount of effort into it. There hasn’t been any let down in effort. We are trying real hard to finish up strong. We will see what we can get. I do feel like we’ve been building. There are days we run really well and there are days we run not so well. … I feel like we’ve got a lot of really good tracks coming up, and hopefully we can do something good.”
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Big wreck on final lap marred finish of fred’s 250
RELATED: fred’s 250 race results | Photo gallery
TALLADEGA, Ala. — His truck intact and headed in a straight line as most of the rest of the lead-lap trucks wrecked behind him, Johnny Sauter crossed the finish line first in Saturday’s fred’s 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Behind Sauter — chaos. Coming to the checkered flag with a huge run through the tri-oval, Jeb Burton spun off the bumper of Miguel Paludo and flashed up the track into the Toyota of Kyle Busch, who was pushing Dakoda Armstrong toward the finish.
Paludo’s truck flipped over and slid on its roof down the frontstretch, spraying sparks as the metal scraped the asphalt. In the aftermath of the melee, Busch sat dazed — the wind knocked out of him — with his back against the concrete wall in the tri-oval.
Sauter was the clear winner, having escaped the last-lap crash to win for the third time this season and the ninth time in his career. When NASCAR sorted out the rest of the finishing order, David Starr took second place, followed by Ross Chastain, Parker Kligerman, Armstrong and Timmy Hill.
Off the final corner, series leader Matt Crafton was pushing ThorSport Racing teammate Sauter, Busch was shoving Armstrong, and Kligerman was pushing Chastain. Those three tandems appeared ready to settle the issue between them, before Paludo and Burton entered the fray and tried to force their way through the trucks ahead of them.
Paludo and Burton, however, ran out of room, and every other potential winner but Sauter ran out of luck.
"When we just crested the tri-oval there coming to the start/finish line, I saw smoke and trucks spinning everywhere," Sauter said. "I saw Matt was gone, and I was like, ‘Uh, oh, this isn’t good.’ It’s unfortunate. It would have been pretty cool to have a 1-2 finish, but what a great day for everybody at ThorSport."
After exiting the infield care center, Busch talked ruefully about a great superspeedway truck that left the track on a wrecker.
"It’s all done for," he said. "It’s unfortunate. The (truck) was really awesome. I don’t know what happened. Somebody just came up from underneath me and hit me, turned me left, and then the wreck was on.
"When you see the checkered flag, and you see things going in front of you, you just keep your foot on it. I drove it all the way to the start/finish. I guess I knocked the wall down there on pit road. That wasn’t very fun. There were a couple of really good licks that I took, so there’s no sense in sitting in a hot vehicle, you might as well get out and get some fresh air."
Crafton, who finished ninth after spinning short of the stripe, expanded his series lead to 57 points over 14th-place finisher Ty Dillon.
Justin Lofton, who was involved in the last-lap crash, was examined in the infield care center and transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. He was discharged from the hospital with a fractured left thumb on Saturday night, according to his official Twitter account.
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Fast practice time gives Almirola his first pole of 2013
Related: Lineup | Full coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Aric Almirola had a rain plan, and it paid off with the top starting spot in Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
A rainout of Saturday’s qualifying session put Almirola on the pole for the sixth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and left the title contenders scattered throughout the starting grid.
Jeff Burton will start second on the outside of the front row, with Almirola’s Richard Petty Motorsports teammate, Marcos Ambrose, taking the green flag from the third position.
With possible rain in the forecast for Saturday’s qualifying session, Almirola and Ambrose posted the fastest lap they could in Friday’s first practice session, because the starting order for the race, in the case of a rainout, is set according to speeds in opening practice.
"We went into practice with a plan," Almirola said. "Me and Marcos got a big run on the pack and put up a good lap. We knew that there was a small chance for rain. Obviously, under the circumstances, we thought it would good to put up a good lap, just in case it did rain.
"We had a plan and stuck to it, and it worked out."
Almirola recorded a top speed of 202.000 mph during first practice to snag the pole. Burton, who was part of the same draft that propelled Almirola to the top spot on the grid, ran 201.987 mph, with Ambrose third at 201.876 mph.
Martin Truex Jr. will start fourth, followed by Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, the top two Chase drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed the eighth position, with series leader Matt Kenseth 12th — one spot behind five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who trails Kenseth by four points in the title battle.
To Almirola, however, the excellent track position he’ll have to start the race — always subject to the vagaries of the draft — is secondary to the first pick of pit stalls at the 2.66-mile track. Almirola will pit his car in stall No. 1, closest to the exit from pit road.
"When they have those yellow-flag pit stops, being in stall No. 1, when they drop the jack, you just have to go a couple of feet to cross that scoring line for the exit of pit road," Almirola said. "That’s going to be really important.
"The race jumbles up here so much. It’s not like a typical race where, if you qualify on pole, you have a good shot at staying up front all day just because of track position. In this race, you can be leading one lap and 16th the very next lap."
Other Chase drivers will start as follows based on their speeds in first practice: Ryan Newman 17th, Joey Logano 18th, Jeff Gordon 19th, Clint Bowyer 20th, Kyle Busch 27th, Kasey Kahne 28th, Kurt Busch 30th and Kevin Harvick 33rd.
With the composition of the field set according to rainout rules, Sam Hornish Jr. failed to make the 43-car field because his No. 12 Ford had the fewest qualifying attempts this season among cars not already guaranteed starting positions.
The Camping World RV Sales 500, the sixth race in the Chase, is slated to go green at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.
Lofton, Paludo also among drivers involved in wreck
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. was still “a little freaked out” by his own admission Saturday evening nearly an hour after a being collected in a wild, fiery 12-car accident on the last lap of the fred’s 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
"Hardest hit of my career, scared the hell of out me," Wallace said managing a smile after emerging from the infield care center.
"Makes you want to drive 10 miles per hour under the speed limit in your regular car. I’m all good though. My pride’s hurt, but my Tennessee Vols won so I’m all good.
"Coming to this track you have to expect the worse and it doesn’t matter if it’s just 30 feet from the line, something’s gonna happen.
"It’s just scary coming through there and getting hit and seeing a car upside down getting hit. All of a sudden I’m in the wall getting hit, then on pit lane, it happened so fast, just glad it’s all over with."
Wallace was unhurt even as his No. 54 Camping World/Good Sam Toyota Tundra was among the dozen cars totaled in the day’s final and most dramatic edition of Talladega’s "Big One."
Of the 12 drivers involved in the accident, only Chevy driver Justin Lofton was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Lofton suffered a fractured left thumb and was discharged on Saturday night, according to his official Twitter account.
The incident happened as the field was approaching the finish line. Three two-car drafts spread out across the track heading out of the final turn when just behind them Miguel Paludo’s Chevy got into the back of polesitter Jeb Burton’s Chevy triggering the accident.
Burton’s truck veered right and hit Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch’s Toyota – which was one of the twosomes in the front of the field. As Busch’s truck ricocheted off the wall and came down across the track it collided with Paludo’s truck, flipping it on its roof for what looked like a frightening upside down ride around the tri-oval.
Busch’s car continued and made a hard impact in the pit wall. After climbing out of the wreckage, Busch sat down on track and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. Paludo was treated at the infield care center but declined to speak to reporters.
"I don’t know what happened there," Busch said after walking out of the care center. "Somehow the guys inside of me got turned around and hit me and I got turned left. Once you see a truck on fire you just keep your foot in it and try to drive through it.
"My truck was killed and I didn’t have any steering but I was still driving and then hit the end of pit road which wasn’t very smart. But when you’re racing for points you keep going till you see nothing.’’
“We were going to finish out the way it was — three tandems to the line, whoever made it there first was going to win."
Busch, who led twice for five laps, was pushing the less-experienced Dakoda Armstrong toward the finish and had resigned himself to a top-10 and 10th is amazingly what he ended up despite the accident.
Johnny Sauter won the race and five of the 12 drivers involved in the last lap wreck finished among the top-10.
"He (Armstrong) didn’t have enough experience to be able to side-draft those guys and it was frustrating being up there but not being able to do anything to go for the win."
Busch assured reporters he was fine, more aggravated at not having a real shot to win at the end.
"I took a couple good licks and instead of sitting in a hot steamy vehicle you might as well get out and get some fresh air that’s what I always try to do.
"It was going to end up okay, we just weren’t making up the ground we wanted to up top."
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Sprint Cup rookie looks to earn trust with speed at Talladega
RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Danica Patrick is convinced a good weekend at Talladega Superspeedway has as much to do with attitude as aptitude. And she’s shown plenty of both when it comes to NASCAR’s restrictor plate tracks.
In what’s been every bit the challenging learning curve the former IndyCar star expected in her Sprint Cup rookie season, the big tracks such as Talladega and Daytona have not only been bright spots for her but she is a reasonable favorite in Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 500.
"Having a good attitude helps," said Patrick, whose team press release declares this weekend’s visit to NASCAR’s biggest track: "2.66 Miles of Fun."
"And IndyCar racing on mile-and-a-halfs (ovals) was much like this kind of racing. Flat-out, close quarters and just trying to do whatever it took to keep the momentum up. I feel like visually it’s very familiar racing for me."
After becoming the first woman in history to win the Daytona 500 pole position in February, Patrick backed up her qualifying laps with a season-best eighth place finish in the sport’s most famous race — leading five laps and running among the top-five in the waning laps.
Another of her top-15 efforts came at Daytona in July, and Patrick is optimistic about her chances on the Talladega high banks come Sunday. And that’s not necessarily the prevailing attitude from the rest of her competitors, who dread the tight and unpredictable pack racing that characterizes this event.
“The reason they don’t look forward to it is exactly why I do, because someone like me has more of a shot there,’’ said Patrick, who will start 23rd Sunday in the No. 10 GoDaddy Breast Cancer Awareness Chevy.
“With superspeedways, it’s a toss-up what’s going to happen. So that’s why it’s fun for me because somebody like me has a chance. On top of that Stewart-Haas superspeedway cars are really good.’’
She is also realistic about what it takes to make friends at restrictor-plate venues Daytona and Talladega, where having a reliable drafting partner can be the difference between a shot at the win and being competitively ostracized.
“Everybody wants to be your friend when you are fast, so the best thing I can do is go be fast,’’ said Patrick, who acknowledges her showings at Daytona and Talladega have helped her earn trust in that regard.
Her showings on the big tracks have been highlights in a season of hard knocks when results (one top-10) and standings (28th place) don’t necessarily reflect her progress. Or potential.
While announcing that Aspen Dental as a new primary sponsor for two 2014 races, Patrick told reporters Friday she was satisfied with her effort.
“I’m right where I need to be, I’m right where I was going to be,’’ Patrick said. “All I know is that I’ve done everything I can to prepare for the year, to learn throughout the year and that is what’s going to lead into next year.
“I don’t think that you can ever plan how it’s going to go or give yourself a grade because everybody learns at a different rate. There are times that I probably was unexpectedly better than they thought and worse than they thought. It’s just my own personal progression and everyone’s is different.
“I know I feel very comfortable and confident on these (restrictor plate) tracks. … What I would like is for having some good races to not be a surprise.’’
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Almirola gets first pit pick
RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage | Lineup
With his second career Coors Light Pole Award and his first of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Aric Almirola got the first pit pick, choosing the No. 1 stall off of pit road, heading to Turn 1.
Qualifying was rained out on Saturday afternoon and the lineup for Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was determined by Friday’s opening practice session.
Almirola was one of 11 drivers to break the 200 mph barrier in the practice session. He posted the fastest speed at 202 mph to edge out Jeff Burton, Marcos Ambrose and Martin Truex Jr. for the top spot in Friday’s first practice.
Carl Edwards, who will line up fifth, selected the first stall of the entrance to pit road. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Burton and Ambrose all selected pit stalls with an opening in front of them.
The Camping World RV Sales 500 is the sixth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The race will start at 2 p.m. ET with ESPN beginning its TV coverage at 1 p.m. ET.
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Almirola earns second career pole after qualifying is rained out; Burton to start second
RELATED: Lineup | Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Intermittent rain on Saturday morning cancelled Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway, giving Aric Almirola his first pole of 2013 and second of his career.
The session was slated to begin at 12:10 p.m. ET, but weather instead forced officials to send dryers out onto the race track. Qualifying procedures reverted by rule back to speeds from Friday’s opening practice session, putting Almirola and Jeff Burton on the front row.
Saturday’s slate at Talladega also includes a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event to begin at 4 p.m. ET, but there were no immediate indications the start of that race would be affected. Jeb Burton is on the pole for that race.
The Air Titan drying system, which played a major role in getting rain-delayed Nationwide and Sprint Cup events completed here in the spring, is on site at Talladega this weekend.
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