RCR Post Race Report — Aaron’s 499

[media-credit name=”talladegasuperspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”162″][/media-credit]RCR Post Race Report — Talladega Superspeedway

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

RACE: Aaron’s 499

TRACK: Talladega Superspeedway

Race Highlights:

Richard Childress Racing teammates finished 10th (Jeff Burton), 17th (Paul Menard) and 25th (Kevin Harvick).

Each of the RCR’s Sprint Cup Series drivers led laps during the weekend’s premier race, making RCR the only multi-car team to do so: Menard (10), Burton (3) and Harvick (1).

Burton’s 83.3 driver rating was his third-best of the 2012 season.

Burton’s 214 quality passes was his best showing of the season (190 at Daytona).

According to NASCAR Loop Data Statistics, Menard ranked ninth-fastest amongst all drivers early in a run (196.538 mph), seventh-fastest late in run (195.818 mph) and third in green-flag speed (196.257 mph).

Menard led on three occasions for 10 laps around the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

Kevin Harvick ranked second in Fastest Laps Run, after running 13 of the fastest laps of the race (7.9 percent).

Brad Keselowski scored the win in Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. He was followed to the checkered flag by Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle.

The next scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, May 12, televised live on FOX beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio beginning at 6 p.m. EST.

Paul Menard and the No. 27 Turtle Wax/Menard Team Salvage 17th-Place Finish After Late-Race Incident at Talladega

Paul Menard started from the 17th position in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway and was running the third in the closing laps when he received heavy damage in a multi-car incident, relegating the No. 27 Turtle Wax/Menards Chevrolet team to a 17th-place finish. Inclement weather delayed the start of the Aaron’s 499, however, when the green flag was displayed, the race was uncharacteristically marred by only one caution period in the first 144 laps. Menard opted to comfortably race in the back of the pack, monitoring his gauges in an effort to avoid overheating as rising oil and water temperatures plagued many teams while engaged in pack racking. With approximately 50 laps remaining in the scheduled 188-lap event, Menard began to work his way to the front. The Eau Claire, Wis., native visited pit road for routine service and was returning to the track from a green-flag stop on lap 144 when the “Big One” erupted in turn three, collecting nine cars in the accident. The field was slowed with Menard scored in the third position. With the lead cars coming to pit road to top off on fuel, he led the pack to the green flag for the restart and remained there for eight laps. Menard continued to hold a position in the top 10 and was poised for a top-five finish, narrowly avoiding the melee that resulted in the caution flag on lap 181 as the No. 51 car spun directly in front of the neon yellow machine. Menard restarted from the third position on lap 185 and was collected in turn one as the car in the outside line was tapped and turned hard into the right-side of the No. 27 Chevrolet. The Slugger Labbe-led team worked tenaciously to remain on the lead lap, pitting on eight occasions for repairs to the heavily damaged car. Lining up in the 19th position for the green-white-checkered finish, Menard advanced two spots to collect a 17th-place result. Menard remains 14th in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

Start – 17                 Finish – 17                Laps Led – 10             Points – 14

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:

“Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) and the guys gave me a great car this weekend. We raced in the back for the majority of the laps and stayed out of trouble. The Turtle Wax/Menard Chevrolet was fast and I was able to drive through the field, and we missed the ‘Big One’ that happened just as we were coming off of pit road from a green-flag stop. Usually you’re safe up front, but at these restrictor-plate tracks, you never know what is going to happen next. During the restart (on lap 185), we got nailed on the right-side when the No. 22 car turned right into us. The team did a great job making repairs in the pits and we managed to salvage a decent finish. It was frustrating for all of us because we had a top-five car that could have contended for the win.”

Late-Race Accident Leaves Kevin Harvick with a 25th-Place Finish at Talladega

Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Rheem team came home with a 25th-place finish in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon after involvement in a late-race, multi-car incident. The Bakersfield, Calif., native started the 188-lap event from the 16th position before falling back in the pack to protect his Chevrolet from high water and oil temperatures that would create engine issues, which plagued several other cars in the field throughout the course of the event due to the tight pack racing which makes it difficult to cool the engines. With 50 laps complete, Harvick began to work his way toward the front of the pack, but rising temperatures in the Rheem Chevrolet caused the driver to pull out of the pack to find clean air to cool the car. On lap 144, the No. 29 Chevrolet ran out of fuel and Harvick coasted around the track for more than two miles. Just as he was making his way to pit road, the caution flag was displayed for a multi-car incident, allowing Harvick to come down pit road for service, but not before falling one lap down to the race leader. Harvick restarted the race in the 22nd position, one lap down from the leader on lap 150, but was able to gain the lap back as the Lucky Dog in the next caution on lap 177. On the ensuing restart Harvick hooked up with Tony Stewart in the outside lane and the duo charged their way toward the leaders, working his way into the 11th position before another competitor spun on the front stretch, bringing out the caution flag once again. As the field took the green flag for the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, a multi-car accident was triggered in front of the No. 29 Chevrolet which left Harvick with nowhere to go and he was collected in the melee’, ending the day early for the Rheem team. The finish moved Harvick up two positions to fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship driver point standings.

Start – 16                  Finish – 25                Laps Led -1            Points – 5

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:

“Today was another one of those racing deals, I guess two guys got crossed up there on the restart and just blocked the track. Talladega is fun racing to watch and I enjoy it, but NASCAR has got us in a terrible box here as far as temperatures and things like that. You run around in a pack at 260 (degrees) and the engines just can’t survive those conditions. I love this style racing, just wish we could have secured a better finish for the Rheem Chevrolet team today.”

Strong Rebound Gives Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Racing Team Top-10 Finish at ‘Dega

Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Racing team dealt with adversity at a number of points during the Aaron’s 499 but capitalized on good fortune toward the end of the race and left Talladega Superspeedway with a 10th-place finish. Burton qualified in the 29th position Saturday for the second of four superspeedway events of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Morning rain pushed back the start time but, as the green flag waved just before 1 p.m. Central Time, the gap from the pole position to Burton quickly vanished. He was 12th by lap three and moved into the ninth position three laps later. Rising water and oil temperatures in the engine forced Burton to drop back from the lead pack to allow more air onto the front of the No. 31 Chevrolet at the 40-lap mark of the race scheduled for 188 laps. Yeoman’s work by the Cat pit crew, during both caution periods and green-flag stops, kept the team in the hunt. Unfortunately, the fuel cell ran dry on lap 148, forcing Burton to make an unscheduled green-flag pit stop while down on power. The No. 31 Chevrolet remained on the lead lap, but it was relayed to Burton that the fuel cell wasn’t filled completely on the previous stop so they would need a caution before the checkered flag waved. That usually isn’t a problem at Talladega, where late-race theatrics are the norm. Multiple cautions in the last 15 laps of the race eventually forced one, and then a second green-white-checkered finish. The No. 31 Chevrolet suffered damage to the right-front fender on the last caution but the Cat crew fixed the problem without losing a lap and was ready for the trophy dash to the finish. The No. 31 Chevrolet sat 15th in the field for the final restart and picked up five spots by the time the checkered flag finally waved on lap 194. With the top-10 finish, Burton picked up two spots, to 18th, in the 2012 Sprint Cup Series driver point standings.

Start – 29                  Finish – 10                Laps Led – 3             Points – 18

JEFF BURTON QUOTE:

“The Cat Racing team never gave up despite some adversity and we got a well-earned top-10 finish. Not being able to race the way we want to race is frustrating. Every time we would get in the pack, our water pressure would get real high. We didn’t want to push water so we had to back out of the main pack to get some air on the front end. That wasn’t a lot of fun. But we caught a lucky break on a late caution and, fortunately, that helped us a lot.”