I usually don’t revisit results even though I just post the unofficial results as soon as possible after the race.  The reason why is usually, the finishing order remains the same from unofficial to official.  This is one of those rare occasions when there is a small change.  Simple enough explanation if you watched the NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron’s 499 on Sunday.  The last lap crash was crazy further back in the field.  NASCAR had to review video and all of the scoring loop data to determine who was where when the caution came out because, remember, the field is frozen as soon as the yellow flag flies.  There is, surprisingly, only one change.  Sterling Marlin and Regan Smith were shown as 21st and 22nd in the unofficial results.  In the official results, they are flipped; Regan is 21st and Sterling is 22nd.  Not bad considering the mayhem that ensued on that final lap.  As expected, Talladega delivered another exciting weekend.

Yesterday’s Aaron’s 499 is only the second time that the Car of Tomorrow (CoT) has been at Talladega in competition and only the third time that it has been on a superspeedway.  Looking at the first two times, I’m not sure how much they really represented the CoT’s performance. 

At the Talladega race last October, everyone was curious as to what exactly to expect from the CoT.  Everyone seemed very content to run single file and just tick off laps.  It was, by all accounts, one of the most boring times that I’ve ever seen at Talladega.  I don’t know if it was the CoT, the fact it was a Chase race or what but it was just painful.  It epitomized what non-NASCAR fans say all the time about sitting and watching a bunch of cars drive around in a circle.

Fast-forward about four months to Daytona this year.  The CoT is here to stay, it’s the second plate race that the car has been in and the drivers and teams have had some more time to test and figure this car out.  It was a much better race, all the way down to when Kurt Busch pushed his teammate Ryan Newman past Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch like they were sitting still for the win at the tail end of the last lap.  Even then, I heard a lot complaints from people who were saying that the CoT wasn’t as fun to watch as the old car.  I enjoyed the heck out of Daytona this year.  Of course, I had been race deprived for about 3 months.  I do have to remind people, the CoT didn’t create boring races, we had plenty of them well before the CoT was ever thought about.

Now, here we are at Talladega again.  We’ve now had a eight straight races this season in the CoT.  Drivers and crews have shown that they’ve started figuring this car out.  Man, have they ever.  To anyone that called the race yesterday boring, I’d have to laugh and ask what they were expecting to see.  That was one of the most exciting races that I’d seen in quite a while, all they way down to the last lap crash.  I also ask, who amongst us that is a regular fan of Talladega, did not expect the last two crashes?  Talladega is well known for the "big one" and yesterday was no exception.

Now for the bad part.  I expect that the restrictor plate will be looked at back in Concord NC this week.  Several times during the race yesterday I saw cars running well over 200 mph.  Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin were running at between 204 and 206 mph at one point.  There is no way that NASCAR Tech will miss that.  I look for the plate to be resized in time for the July race at Daytona in an attempt to keep em below 200 mph.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you.  How fast can a car go around the track at Talladega without the plate?  In 2004, Rusty Wallace ran 228 mph during a test without a restrictor plate.  In the article, Rusty said that he felt that they could get 235 mph out of it with some tweaking.  The track qualifying record is held by Awesome Bill Elliott from back in 1987 for the Winston 500 where he qualified at 212.809 mph.  That was the race where Bobby Allison flew into the catch fencing injuring spectators after his car blew a tire and got backwards in the tri-oval, highlighting the need for the restrictor plate. 

According to a press release from Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Dario Franchitti will be sitting out the NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron’s 499 Sunday.  Dario suffered a fractured left ankle during a lap 11 crash in the Nationwide Series, Aaron’s 312 on Saturday after his car blew a right-rear tire.  The search is on to find a substitute driver to sit in for Dario’s 43′d starting spot Tums Dodge for the Sunday Talladega race.

Dario was transported to the infield care center where he was sent on to Physicians Medical Center Carraway in Birmingham, where the slight fracture was further evaluated, treated and released.

In his twenty-third NASCAR Talladega start, Tony Stewart finally takes home a trophy from Talladega with his win of the Nationwide Series Aaron’s 312 Saturday.  Tony led 81 of the 117 laps and held off Dale Jr. for the win after an attempted a last-lap pass on the backstretch.

“I don’t care if it’s a bicycle race, I finally won a race at Talladega,” a beaming Stewart said. “I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight, I’m so excited. This is not like winning just any Nationwide race. To me, this is the biggest one I’ve had, to finally win at Talladega.”
 
“This place means a lot to me. Everybody knows how close I am to Red Farmer and Donnie Allison. It was important for me to win here in this state in front of people who I consider family, and we’re close like family. Now I can go to Red Farmer and Donnie Allison and say, ‘I finally won one here.’ ”

Here’s the rest of the finishing order.

Unofficial Race Results for the Aaron’s “312″ – Saturday, April 26, 2008

Fin	Str	Car	Driver	Team
1	1	20	Tony Stewart	Old Spice Toyota
2	24	64	David Stremme	Atreus Homes & Communities
3	36	25	Bobby Hamilton Jr.	Smithfield Ford
4	3	38	Jason Leffler	Great Clips Toyota
5	26	70	Mark Green	ForeTravel Motorcoach/Biomet
6	7	5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	DELPHI Chevrolet
7	2	1	Mike Bliss	Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet
8	12	9	Patrick Carpentier #	Lipton Dodge
9	19	29	Scott Wimmer	Holiday Inn Chevrolet
10	20	7	Mike Wallace	GEICO Toyota
11	15	16	Greg Biffle	CitiFinancial Ford
12	23	1	Kertus Davis	RACEGIRL Chevrolet
13	33	89	Morgan Shepherd	Victory in Jesus Racing Dodge
14	39	52	Donnie Neuenberger	Royal Farms Wraps Chevrolet
15	29	24	Eric McClure	Hefty Brand Chevrolet
16	8	18	Kyle Busch	Z-Line Designs Toyota
17	43	84	Mike Harmon	Talladega Dirt Track Chevrolet
18	21	6	David Ragan	Discount Tire Ford
19	37	4	Robert Richardson Jr.	Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
20	27	99	David Reutimann	Aaron’s Dream Machine/Best Western
21	35	11	Jason Keller	America’s Incredible Pizza Chevrolet
22	9	33	Cale Gale #	Camping World Chevrolet
23	5	88	Brad Keselowski	NAVY Chevrolet
24	16	27	Brad Coleman	United States Postal Service Ford
25	6	2	Clint Bowyer	Camping World/RVs.com Chevrolet
26	17	81	D.J. Kennington	Northern Provincial Pipe Lines Dodge
27	40	5	Brett Rowe	31W Insulation/CertainTeed Chevrolet
28	30	59	Marcos Ambrose	Kingsford with Hickory Ford
29	32	22	Reed Sorenson	Arctic Ice/Supercuts Dodge
30	28	28	Kenny Wallace	U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet
31	11	60	Carl Edwards	Save-a-Lot Ford
32	25	66	Steve Wallace	Atreus Homes & Communities
33	14	41	Kyle Krisiloff	Polaroid Dodge
34	13	21	Stephen Leicht	Childress Vineyards Chevrolet
35	38	61	Kevin Lepage	Ford
36	18	47	Kelly Bires	Clorox Ford
37	10	32	Denny Hamlin	Hass Avocados From Mexico Toyota
38	42	57	Justin Ashburn	dverne.net/Fidelity Printing Dodge
39	41	90	Johnny Chapman	MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet
40	31	0	Dwayne Leik	Lori Morgan, LLC Chevrolet
41	4	40	Dario Franchitti #	Fastenal Dodge
42	22	75	Johnny Sauter	Arctic Ice Chevrolet
43	34	91	Larry Gunselman	MSRP Motorsports Ford

(Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Normally, a third place starting position isn’t particularly newsworthy but this is definitely an exception.  When the driver’s name is Ken Schrader and the car is the Haas CNC Racing number 70, that’s worth talking about.

Ken Schrader is one of my all time favorite drivers.  He, in all outward appearances, seems to be a genuinely nice person who loves the sport.  He has driven for some of the best known owners over the years in cars that weren’t always the most competitive but always managed to earn respectable finishes.  He races just about everything with wheels.  Shoot, I bet he even races shopping carts while out getting groceries.  Ken, Dale Jr. and Tony Stewart are also partners on the Paducah International Raceway which happens to be in my state of Kentucky.  I love that these drivers are taking an interest in preserving the Saturday night racing tradition that has produced so many of NASCAR’s star drivers over the years.  Most recently, Schrader was driving for BAM Racing which announced that due to some sponsor issues, they would not be returning to competition this season.  Glad to see that wasn’t the end of Kenny’s season as well.  If I were Haas CNC management, Kenny would be my new full-time driver.

When asked about the run, Kenny had this to say, “We knew we’d be pretty solid. Thought for sure top-10. And as times went on today, thought we might be better than top-10. We’re happy with it. It went the speed that we thought it would.”

Haas CNC Racing has been in the news quite a bit lately.  Most recently, Tony Stewart has been rumored to be going to Haas in some sort of an owner/driver deal.  So far, all parties involved deny the rumor has legs but it’s been the big story around the track this week.  Haas’ number 70 slipped out of the top 35 in owner points back after the Samsung 500 effectively ending Jeremy Mayfield’s ride for the year.  Haas let Jeremy go and has been filling the car with other drivers ever since.  With the car still outside of the top 35 so it’s a go or go home car every week.

Here’s the rest of the starting grid for the Aaron’s 499 in Talladega.

 

	Pos	Car	Driver	Team
Row 1:	1	78	Joe Nemechek	National Day of Prayer Chevrolet
	2	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot Toyota
Row 2:	3	70	Ken Schrader	Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet
	4	84	AJ Allmendinger	Red Bull Toyota
Row 3:	5	18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s Toyota
	6	6	David Ragan	AAA Travel Ford
Row 4:	7	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight Toyota
	8	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota
Row 5:	9	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet
	10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s Chevrolet
Row 6:	11	99	Carl Edwards	Office Depot Ford
	12	21	Jon Wood	Little Debbie Snack Cakes Ford
Row 7:	13	17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt Ford
	14	28	Travis Kvapil	Northern Tool + Equipment Ford
Row 8:	15	45	Kyle Petty	Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge
	16	9	Sterling Marlin	Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet
Row 9:	17	10	Patrick Carpentier #	LifeLock Dodge
	18	19	Elliott Sadler	GARMIN/Best Buy Dodge
Row 10:	19	66	Scott Riggs	State Water Heaters Chevrolet
	20	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet
Row 11:	21	12	Ryan Newman	alltel Dodge
	22	15	Paul Menard	Menards/Turtle Wax Chevrolet
Row 12:	23	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite Dodge
	24	0	Michael McDowell #	Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
Row 13:	25	41	Reed Sorenson	Polaroid Dodge
	26	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Dodge
Row 14:	27	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
	28	8	Aric Almirola	U.S. Army Chevrolet
Row 15:	29	1	Regan Smith #	Dale Earnhardt Inc./Principal Chevrolet
	30	44	David Reutimann	UPS Toyota
Row 16:	31	16	Greg Biffle	3M/American Red Cross Ford
	32	26	Jamie McMurray	Crown Royal Ford
Row 17:	33	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
	34	43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios Racing/Betty Crocker Dodge
Row 18:	35	7	P.J. Jones	RV’s.com Dodge
	36	5	Casey Mears	Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet
Row 19:	37	77	Sam Hornish Jr. #	Mobil 1 Dodge
	38	31	Jeff Burton	AT&T Mobility Chevrolet
Row 20:	39	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet
	40	38	David Gilliland	freecreditreport.com Ford
Row 21:	41	7	Clint Bowyer	DirecTV Chevrolet
	42	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser Dodge
Row 22:	43	40	Dario Franchitti #	Tums Quik Pack Dodge

Failed to qualify, # 22 Dave Blaney; # 96 J.J. Yeley; # 34 John Andretti.

(Photo Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Tony Stewart, the subject of this week’s biggest rumors and stories, took his winning Nationwide Daytona car on to claim the pole for today’s NASCAR Nationwide Aaron’s 312.  Tony turned a lap time of 51.676 seconds at 185.308 mph to claim his sixth Nationwide career pole.  Earlier in the year, Tony sat on the pole at the Nationwide Series opener in Daytona which, as you know, he went on to win.

Tony has yet to take the checkered at Talladega in Nationwide or Sprint Cup so this could be his weekend.  After a week when some doubted Tony’s future with Gibbs, he shared his confidence in JGR, “If you look at the effort of Joe Gibbs Racing every week in the Nationwide Series, they’ve been the car to beat whether it’s the 18 car or the 20 car,” Stewart said. “As an organization, I’m really proud of those guys.”  “Every race this year, the Joe Gibbs Racing cars have been fast. It’s a good feeling when you know you have a fast car as soon as you get to the track.”

I wonder, if it gets down to the last lap, Tony is in the lead and his teammate Kyle Busch is in second, would Tony let Kyle have it to make his Four-fer complete?  Na, of course not!!!

Driver introductions start at 1:30PM and the race is scheduled to start at 2:00PM.

Here’s the full starting grid:

 

	Pos	Car	Driver	Team
Row 1:	1	20	Tony Stewart	Old Spice Toyota
	2	1	Mike Bliss	Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet
Row 2:	3	38	Jason Leffler	Great Clips Toyota
	4	40	Dario Franchitti #	Fastenal Dodge
Row 3:	5	88	Brad Keselowski	NAVY Chevrolet
	6	2	Clint Bowyer	Camping World/RVs.com Chevrolet
Row 4:	7	5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	DELPHI Chevrolet
	8	18	Kyle Busch	Z-Line Designs Toyota
Row 5:	9	33	Cale Gale #	Camping World Chevrolet
	10	32	Denny Hamlin	Hass Avocados From Mexico Toyota
Row 6:	11	60	Carl Edwards	Save-a-Lot Ford
	12	9	Patrick Carpentier #	Lipton Dodge
Row 7:	13	21	Stephen Leicht	Childress Vineyards Chevrolet
	14	41	Kyle Krisiloff	Polaroid Dodge
Row 8:	15	16	Greg Biffle	CitiFinancial Ford
	16	27	Brad Coleman	United States Postal Service Ford
Row 9:	17	81	D.J. Kennington	Northern Provincial Pipe Lines Dodge
	18	47	Kelly Bires	Clorox Ford
Row 10:	19	29	Scott Wimmer	Holiday Inn Chevrolet
	20	7	Mike Wallace	GEICO Toyota
Row 11:	21	6	David Ragan	Discount Tire Ford
	22	75	Johnny Sauter	Arctic Ice Chevrolet
Row 12:	23	1	Kertus Davis	RACEGIRL Chevrolet
	24	64	David Stremme	Atreus Homes & Communities Chevrolet
Row 13:	25	66	Steve Wallace	Atreus Homes & Communities Chevrolet
	26	70	Mark Green	ForeTravel Motorcoach/Biomet Chevrolet
Row 14:	27	99	David Reutimann	Aaron’s Dream Machine/Best Western Toyota
	28	28	Kenny Wallace	U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet
Row 15:	29	24	Eric McClure	Hefty Brand Chevrolet
	30	59	Marcos Ambrose	Kingsford with Hickory Ford
Row 16:	31	0	Dwayne Leik	Lori Morgan, LLC Chevrolet
	32	22	Reed Sorenson	Arctic Ice/Supercuts Dodge
Row 17:	33	89	Morgan Shepherd	Victory in Jesus Racing Dodge
	34	91	Larry Gunselman	MSRP Motorsports Ford
Row 18:	35	11	Jason Keller	America’s Incredible Pizza Chevrolet
	36	25	Bobby Hamilton Jr.	Smithfield Ford
Row 19:	37	4	Robert Richardson Jr.	Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
	38	61	Kevin Lepage	Ford
Row 20:	39	52	Donnie Neuenberger	Royal Farms Wraps Chevrolet
	40	5	Brett Rowe	31W Insulation/CertainTeed Chevrolet
Row 21:	41	90	Johnny Chapman	MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet
	42	57	Justin Ashburn	dverne.net/Fidelity Printing Dodge
Row 22:	43	84	Mike Harmon	Talladega Dirt Track Chevrolet