Hamlin returns to track at Talladega
After a severe back injury at Fontana, Denny Hamlin was told by doctors that he would miss the next five to six races. Hamlin had hoped to return at Richmond, a track where he has an impressive record. The doctors, however, would not clear him to return to competition.
He did receive better news this week and it was decided he would make his return at Talladega Superspeedway. The plan was for Hamlin to start the race and Brian Vickers would replace him during the first caution. Vickers drives full time for the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) team in the Nationwide Series and also drives part time for Michael Waltrip Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, this weekend, however, Michael Waltrip is in the car.
JGR installed a special roof hatch to permit Hamlin to quickly exit the car without risk of injuring his back further or causing him additional pain. The hatch worked very well. Vickers was able to get in the car during the first yellow on lap 24 without losing a lap.
Hamlin stayed at the back of the pack to make sure he stayed out of trouble. After he exited the car Hamlin thanked all the drivers who helped him out by dropping to the rear and keeping him close to the lead pack by drafting with him saying, “… I got to thank all the drivers – Montoya and Stewart and Michael and Stenhouse that really sacrificed the first part of the race for me and I can’t thank them enough. It means a lot as a driver to have your peers that have got your back like that.”
Asked if it was hard knowing that he would have to drop the back and then get out of the car, Hamlin responded, “I was enjoying it more than anything because it gave me something to do today. I knew in my head that I wasn’t going to be competing today. I wasn’t going to be in the middle of the pack trying to make passes. It was all about just going through the motions and getting the process of making a comeback – getting that started.”
Many fans are anxious to see if he can still make the Chase for the championship even after missing five races. Coming into Talladega, Hamlin was sitting in 28th place in the standings, 126 points out 10th – the final Chase spot. If he can’t make it to 10th, he would have to make it into the top 20 and have enough wins to secure a wildcard spot.
Hamlin says he is – “…definitely looking forward to getting back to full competition next week.” He will make his return at the Bojangles Southern 500 next week at Darlington Raceway.
Lap by Lap: Aaron’s 499 won by David Ragan
In a shocking last lap pass, David Ragan would win the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Green flag at Talladega – Edwards and Truex side-by-side for the lead
Lap 2 Truex leads up on the high side ahead of Logano
Lap 4 Truex and Kenseth side-by-side for the lead at the line
Lap 6 Kenseth pulls ahead with the lead as Johnson and Truex are side-by-side for second
Lap 7 Kenseth leads Johnson at the front of the field.
Lap 10 Kenseth leads Johnson Kahne Almirola Mears Bayne Stremme Ambrose Gordon Busch
Lap 20 Kenseth and Johnson lead ahead of Kahne and Gordon
Lap 21 Earnhardt Jr. and Travis Kvapil make contact and both come to pit road with damage
Caution Lap 22 Trevor Bayne goes up in smoke, says it’s the transmission. Landon Cassill gets the lucky dog. Leaders head down pit road while nine drivers stayed out. Those nine drivers pitted the next lap.
Restart lap 29 Kenseth pulls out ahead of the field.
Lap 30 Burton leads at the line on the outside…..Kenseth pulls ahead off of turn two…..
Lap 31 Kenseth and Johnson lead the field
Caution lap 43 Busch hits Kahne, turning him into the outside wall, collecting many others. Vickers Gordon McMurray Burton Gilliland Biffle Ambrose Mears Stewart Harvick Stremme. Leaders go down pit road. Kenseth leads Johnson off pit road. Seven drivers stay out, including Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Restart lap 52 Kenseth has the advantage ahead of Johnson.
Lap 57 Ryan Newman to the front of the pack ahead of Keselowski and Edwards
Lap 59 Kenseth and Ku Busch both pass Newman for the lead
Lap 63 Kenseth leads Johnson
Lap 74 Kenseth leads Johnson KuBusch Almirola Menard Smith Keselowski Truex Stremme Patrick
Lap 83 Kenseth leads Johnson KuBusch Almirola Menard Keselowski Truex Smith Montoya Stremme
Lap 89 Montoya, Regan Smith and McMurray make their way down pit road.
Lap 90 Kenseth leads Johnson and KuBusch in a nine-car single-file pack. Kenseth leads some of the leaders down pit road – Johnson, Menard, KuBusch, Newman, Patrick, Waltrip, Almirola, Earnhardt. Penske Racing teammates Keselowski and Logano lead
Lap 91 Keselowski and Logano lead the next wave down pit road, handing the lead to David Ragan. Stremme, Edwards, Speed, B. Labonte down pit road.
Lap 92 Ragan heads down pit road, handing the lead to Gordon.
Lap 93 Gordon pits, handing the lead to Mears.
Lap 94 Mears pits, handing the lead back to Kenseth
Lap 101 Kenseth leads Johnson Earnhardt Jr KuBusch Bowyer Truex Waltrip Edwards Almirola Stremme
82 laps to go Kenseth leads Johnson Earnhardt Jr KuBusch Bowyer Truex Waltrip Edwards Almirola Keselowski Logano Newman Stenhouse
73 to go Johnson and Kenseth side-by-side for the lead.
72 to go Johnson now leads single-file ahead of Stenhouse and Edwards.
Lap 120 Johnson gets hung on the bottom; Stenhouse takes the lead with help from Edwards.
Caution Lap 122 Rain is falling. Edwards grabbed the lead from Stenhouse just before the moment of caution. Edwards leads Stenhouse Logano Keselowski Waltrip Bowyer Truex Johnson Earnhardt
Red flag
Caution flag, three hours later. Montoya can’t get car restarted. Leaders head down pit road. Logano leads Edwards Stenhouse Johnson Truex Waltrip off pit road. Eight cars stayed out as Kurt Busch is the new leader. Busch pits the next time by, handing the lead to the 38. The 38 pits, handing the lead to Bobby Labonte. Montoya gets back on track, changed the ECU.
Restart 58 to go Labonte and Gilliland lead the field. Labonte pulls ahead of Smith and Gilliland.
56 to go Gilliland and Labonte side-by-side at the line for the lead
55 to go Logano and Kenseth split Gilliland as Labonte pulls ahead of the field
54 to go Kenseth and Labonte are side-by-side for the lead
53 to go Kenseth leads Edwards as Edwards makes his move through the field
52 to go Kenseth leads Edwards Johnson Waltrip
47 to go Kenseth leads Edwards Johnson Waltrip KuBusch Truex
45 to go Logano has a motor gone south as Kenseth leads Edwards Stenhouse Ambrose
43 to go eight car single car getaway. Kenseth leads Edwards Stenhouse Ambrose Gilliland Johnson KuBusch Waltrip Truex McMurray Earnhardt
30 to go Kenseth and Edwards lead while Johnson and Stenhouse are side-by-side for the lead
29 to go Edwards jumps up high infront of Stenhouse, Kenseth joining him. kenseth is blocking the street.
23 to go Kenseth leads Johnson Waltrip while Truex and Stenhouse are side-by-side
22 to go Leaders hit pit road as Kurt Busch leads Almirola
21 to go Kurt Busch, Ambrose lead the second pack on to pit road. Stenhouse and Truex penalized for being too fast. Ragan leads Patrick.
20 to go Ragan and Patrick pit. Speed leads.
19 to go Speed pits. Almirola leads.
18 to go Almirola and Terry Labonte pit. Johnson leads Waltrip Kenseth
17 to go Waltrip tries to pass Johnson, Waltrip goes to the back of the line. Johnson leads Kenseth.
16 to go Johnson leads Kenseth KuBusch Edwards Bowyer and Waltrip
Caution 14 to go Michael McDowell hits the backstretch wall. Gordon got the lucky dog.
Restart 11 to go Johnson leads the field going into turn one.
9 to go Kenseth and Johnson side-by-side for the lead
8 to go Edwards gets off of Kenseth’s bumper, Johnson pulls back ahead….Johnson goes up to block Kenseth
7 to go Johnson leads three-wide for second…..Smith tries for the lead in turn two, no……Smith tries for the lead in turn three and yes……Kenseth and Johnson split Smith for the lead
Caution 6 to go The Big One strikes again…..Stenhouse tried to squeeze to the outside of Yeley four-wide, collecting Ku Busch, Yeley, Patrick, Newman, Bowyer, McMurray B. Labonte, Stremme, T. Labonte, Gordon, Ambrose
Restart Kenseth pulls ahead Johnson……..Edwards dives to the inside of Kenseth going into three….Edwards clears to the lead with Kenseth behind him off of turn four
Final lap. Edwards leads as Ragan looks underneath Edwards for the lead……….Edwards goes up, Ragan blocks…….avid Ragan takes the win. Gilliland. Edwards. Waltrip. Johnson. Smith. Truex. Kenseth. Speed. Almirola. Gordon. Stremme. Stenhouse. Ambrose. Keselowski. Blaney. Earnhardt. Bowyer. Wise. B. Labonte.
Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. Talladega Superspeedway – Aaron’s 499 – May 5, 2013
Well, we roll on to Alabama today in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Everyone knows the history, the wrecks, and the success at Talladega so I will save my speech this week and roll on to last week’s recap and a quick craps shoot as to who will win this thing.
Richmond Recap
I picked Kyle Busch early on last week, and with Kyle showing so much speed throughout the practice sessions and qualifying the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota in the eighth starting spot, I was looking pretty good for a win. Busch battled a loose racing condition through the first quarter of the 400-lap race, but still managed to pull into the top five. With each pit stop, the M&Ms crew was able to make improvements and Kyle would take the lead just past the half way point. Busch remained in the top 10 until lap 325 when the No. 14 of Tony Stewart got loose, collecting Jimmie Johnson and eventually Kyle Busch in the process. The M&Ms crew would repair damage to the front end of the car, but it was not enough to put the No. 18 back in the top 10. Kyle brought his damaged racecar home in 24th.
As for my Dark Horse last week, I chose another Joe Gibbs racing car, but Matt Kenseth would not have been a Dark Horse last week because of the season he has been having so far this season. It was the No. 11 car, driven last week by Brian Vickers as Denny Hamlin was not cleared by doctors to make his comeback last week from the compression fracture injury in his spine. Again, going into Saturday Night’s race, the No. 11 FedEx Delivery Manager Toyota looked like a solid Dark Horse. The JGR Toyota was fast in all practice sessions, and would start the race on the outside of the front row. Though he ran in the top 10 for the majority of the first half of the race, but when trying to make the car faster around the midway point, the car did not respond to adjustments. Vickers struggled back in traffic, being shown outside the top 20 in the latter half of the race. An incident with 80 laps to go involving Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin would finish off Vickers chances of winning last week, and my hopes of bringing home a solid Dark Horse finish. Vickers finished in 35th.
Talladega Picks
Well, it’s more of a craps shoot this week as far as who will win the race later this afternoon….but I have a couple cars in mind who have history on their side today at the world’s fastest racetrack.
Winner Pick
In April of 2009, Brad Kesolowski pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NASCAR history to earn his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. He pushed Carl Edwards towards the front from fifth with just two laps to go. Coming out of turn four with the checkered flag waiving, Kesolowski and Edwards were one and two. When Edwards came to the bottom of the tri-oval, in an effort to block the Finch Racing Chevy, driven by Kesolowski, the Michigan-Native stood his ground and eventually put Edwards into the outside catch fence. It was one of the more spectacular finishes in Talladega history, and even more meaningful because it was the start of Kesolowski’s breakout in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Since his first win in his first start at Talladega in April of 2009, Kesolowski has finished outside the top 10 just twice in 7 races, and is also the defending race-winner. He was fastest in Happy Hour on Friday and will start the Blue Deuce in the 11th starting spot. Kesolowski has earned the respect of fellow drivers through his solid finishes on the restrictor-plate tracks, and he will have help when he breaks out of line in the final laps this afternoon.
Dark Horse Pick
She’s not really a Dark Horse because of her success at Speedweeks at Daytona in February, but Danica Patrick is a massive underdog yet again this week. She became the first female to claim a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pole, the first female to lead a green-flag lap in NASCAR history, and the first female to lead the Daytona 500 all at the other restrictor-plate track in Florida earlier this season. If there are any tracks Danica is comfortable on, it’s the restrictor-plate tracks because of her career in the Indy Racing League. She’s used to the flat out pack-style drafting and is comfortable in the car on these types of tracks. My only fear this week with the No. 10 team is if she will have help on the final laps of today’s Aaron’s 499. We saw her make a move in the late stages of February’s Daytona 500, but no driver would come to her rescue when she stepped out of line. It’s a long shot for Danica today, but the restrictor-plate tracks are the best shot she has of visiting Victory Lane this season.
That’s all for this Sunday edition of Matty’s picks, so until we head to Darlington…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!
NASCAR Drivers Looking Forward to a Sunday Off with Mom
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers are gearing up for Mother’s Day, next weekend, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, SC. The Bojangles’ Southern 500 will be held on Saturday, May 11. Having a Saturday Sprint Cup race gives drivers the chance to spend Sunday with the special women in their lives…their mothers.
This weekend, at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR drivers are speaking out about how their mothers have loved them, supported them, have influenced their careers, and their plans for the upcoming Mother’s Day.
Michael Waltrip discussed what he has learned from his mom over the years. He said, “She was a hardworking woman. When I was a kid I was the fifth of five and my dad worked at the Pepsi plant and she was a cashier lady at the IGA and so I would go to the IGA and I would have a dollar and I would try to buy $3 worth of stuff and get there and tell her that I needed that stuff. She was probably making $2 an hour and it wasn’t really fair for me to think I needed that, but I didn’t know much so I just told her to write a check. I saw she had some in her purse. I’m appreciative of who she was and how even though my mom and dad worked eight to ten hours a day, I felt loved. I had a home, it was clean and it felt like where I belonged. My mom is 86 now and we had a birthday dinner Monday night in Cornelius (N.C.) at Red Rocks and she’s just as sweet and as spry as ever. She’s physically a little bit off, but mentally she’s strong and loving and caring. I just want to feel loved—if I’m a kid I just want to know my parents love me and I’m fortunate I had that. I hope everybody gets that and I know they don’t and that sucks.”
When Michael Waltrip Racing driver, Clint Bowyer, was asked what his mom means to his career, he responded, “Oh, mom—everything. She’s been with me and is usually at every race track. Missing it this weekend. Definitely be there next weekend. It’s always fun to have her here. I’m telling you, she’s a racer. She wants to win and she’s going to tell you, ‘You’re doing wrong—shape up,’ when you need it and she’s going to tell you, ‘Proud of you,’ and, ‘You did a good job, when she’s proud of you. Just a neat lady and we all enjoy her.”
NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has special plans with his mother this Mother’s Day. He said, “Yeah, we’re going to cook a brisket together. I just started. I bought Myron Mixon’s book, that guy from the show, BBQ Pitmasters, and I’m trying to learn how to barbeque (laughter). So we’re going to cook us a brisket and see how that goes. So, yeah, that’s going to be Mother’s Day for me. She lives 100 yards from me. We took her to lunch this week. I like sushi a lot and I just got her to where she’ll eat some of that. So we went and took her to lunch this week and got a haircut and just typical, normal stuff.”
Last week’s Toyota Owners 400 winner, Kevin Harvick, will be celebrating Mother’s Day with his wife, Delana, who gave birth to their first child this past year. When asked if he has any special plans for Mother’s Day now that Delana is a mom, and how much of a help his mom has been to get him where he is today, he responded, “My biggest plan is to not screw up Sunday in the first year. You don’t want to screw up the first Mother’s Day. My main objective is to make sure that you have the gift pre-week, and don’t forget to hand it out on Sunday. Obviously, my Mom has always been there. Always been supportive of everything I do. That is something you don’t want to forget as well. You want to make sure you don’t forget on either front.”
Mother’s Day 2013 is a day that NASCAR drivers can shift focus from the fierce competition of the sport to paying tribute to their mothers and the mothers of their children.
