2007 Aaron's 499 @ Talladega NEXTEL Cup Event Thread *SPOILERS*

[rustyfan]

After leaving the Valley of the Sun and Phoenix International Raceway, it's time to tighten that seat belt and get ready for one of the wildest rides on the NEXTEL Cup schedule. Yes, it's time to visit steep banks of Talladega for the first time this season.

Expect to see the usual frantic three-wide racing and don't be surprised if "the Big One" rears its ugly head during the race as well.

The 2006 event saw Jimmie Johnson grab the lead during the final couple of laps and hold off Tony Stewart to win the race, leading just three laps in total. Brian Vickers came in third, his best performance thus far, while Jeff Burton finished fourth and Jamie McMurray came in fifth. Jeff Gordon, who had lead most of the laps and looked like a candidate for the win during the early going was shuffled down the order towards the end and finished 15th, one spot ahead of the pole sitter and early leader Elliott Sadler.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had another rubbish day at Talladega, finishing 31st after first crashing and later losing his engine. It marked the third straight time he finished outside the top-14 at Talladega (which would be extended by a fourth time when he later finished 23rd in the fall race), a major contrast to the seven previous races, before his average/bad streak started, at the same track during which he finished either first or second.

Eight cautions, including one for a minor version of "the Big One", a 13-car pile-up, slowed the race, while there were 56 lead changes among 22 different drivers. Jimmie Johnson left Talladega as the points leader once again, having taken it back from Matt Kenseth. Tony Stewart jumped up to third in the standings with his strong second place in the race, overtaking both Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin.



Track Specs: 2.66 mile oval, 33 degrees of banking in the turns, 18 degrees of banking in the tri-oval and minimal banking on the straightaways for drainage. Roughly 143,000 grandstand seats.

NEXTEL Cup Qualifying Record: 212.809 mph, by Bill Elliott on May 1st, 1987. Bill Elliott holds the qualifying record with a restrictor plate (15/16th inch plate) as well, 199.388 mph set in May, 1990.

NEXTEL Cup Race Record: 188.354 mph (2 hours, 39 minutes, 18 seconds) set by Mark Martin on May 10th, 1997. The race was run caution free.

This will be the 76th race at Talladega since 1969. Dale Earnhardt Sr. is, by far, the all-time winningest driver at Talladega with ten victories - that is twice as many as the driver in second, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has five victories (the most of any active driver). Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the only driver with four straight victories at Talladega.

The furthest down anyone has won from is the 36th starting spot. Jeff Gordon did that in 2000. 30 of the 75 NEXTEL Cup races run at Talladega have been won from the front row of the grid.



There are 52 cars going for 43 spots. NASCAR.com has the entry list. Note: James Hylton was supposed to enter the Aaron's 499 but has yet to be added to the entry list.

Kevin Lepage will be looking at qualifying for his first race of the season, as will James Hylton if he indeed does enter the race.

Mark Martin will once again hand over the #01 U.S. Army Chevrolet to Regan Smith.

This is the fourth race of the 2007 season where this years' owners points determines who is locked into the top 35 in qualifying. There were no changes in the points standings around the 35th spot after the race at Texas.

David Reutimann, Ward Burton, Mike Wallace, Scott Riggs, Paul Menard, Ken Schrader, Dave Blaney, Kevin Lepage, Jeremy Mayfield, John Andretti, Mike Bliss, Michael Waltrip, Boris Said, Kenny Wallace, Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger will all have to qualify on speed to get into the race, as will James Hylton if he indeed does enter the race. Dale Jarrett has a Champions' Provisional available and get into the race regardless of how he does in qualifying.

Speaking of Jarrett, he moved up three spots in the points standings to 36th spot after Phoenix. A good run at Talladega, a track where he usually does quite well, and he should be able to get into the top-35 and lock himself into the field for at least the next race.



This is not a race using the Car of Tomorrow.



TV: Pre-race show on FOX starts at 1:30pm ET, April 29th. Green flag is scheduled for 2:10pm ET.

In Scandinavia the TV broadcast gets underway at 19:30 CET on Viasat Sport 3.



My pick for the win: Dale Earnhardt Jr. - c'mon Dale, it's about time you conquer Dega again!

[rustyfan]

Here are some great finishes in previous races at Talladega:

2001 Aaron's 499: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2rx24HI5ys

2000 Winston 500: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoyT4QOqjT0

1988 DieHard 500: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qqrl7-CToo

1977 Winston 500: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxaRrhIWmxY


Oh yeah, and have you heard about the Talladega Curse? If not, here's a little clip explaining what it's all about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9pH8i27jls

[Knowlesy]

Great stuff once again rusty!

Talladega, the first truly great race after Daytona in the calendar! I am so excited about it, bring it on!

[Erki]

Hylton is back?

[rustyfan]

He tried to qualify for the Daytona 500 earlier this year and was doing pretty good in his qualifying race until he had some mechanical problems which slowed him down. After Speedweeks he mentioned that he would try to qualify for some more races this year, the spring race at Talladega being one of them, but it seems he called it off.

[Craig]

Bring it on baby!

I'm scare what will happen if Jeff Gordon beats Dales record this time out though... will the crowd go nuts again and start throwing bottles?

I'd love to see Smoke pull off the win this time out. He's back to his (controversial) best this week - he's been great entertainment!!

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by Craig

I'm scare what will happen if Jeff Gordon beats Dales record this time out though... will the crowd go nuts again and start throwing bottles?

Some were throwing beer cans at Phoenix already so I'd say the chances of that are pretty high at Talladega where the Earnhardt name probably carries more weight than at any other track among the fans in the stands.

[Craig]

It happened there last year too. A guy a few rows in front of us was hit and was led out by security with blood pouring from his head

[StuiE]

I love the plate races, can't wait!

I predict Michael Waltrip will get into the show, and was going to predict Dale Jr for the win, but rustyfan already has, so I'm going to guess Jimmie Johnson..

[Erki]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

He tried to qualify for the Daytona 500 earlier this year and was doing pretty good in his qualifying race until he had some mechanical problems which slowed him down. After Speedweeks he mentioned that he would try to qualify for some more races this year, the spring race at Talladega being one of them, but it seems he called it off.

I understood that at the last restart he either spun the tyres or missed a gear but ell, it doesn't matter anyway. I was pulling for him to get into the show.

[rustyfan]

I looked it up and he had a clutch problem towards the end of the race which really killed him on the final restart.

As for his supposed entry to the race this weekend, he said back in February that he was talking to Retirement Living TV about them coming back on board for Talladega. If that deal fell through I guess that might be the reason he never showed up.

[Speed]

RACE LINEUP:

POS CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND
1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 192.069 49.857 Leader
2 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M's Dark 192.069 49.857 Leader
3 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Freight 191.551 49.992 -0.135
4 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management / Ginn Resorts 191.023 50.130 -0.273
5 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers 190.924 50.156 -0.299
6 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet National Day of Prayer / Furniture Row 190.909 50.160 -0.303
7 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 190.787 50.192 -0.335
8 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 190.757 50.200 -0.343
9 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Stanley Tools / Valvoline 190.465 50.277 -0.420
10 6 David Ragan* Ford AAA Travel 190.393 50.296 -0.439
11 160 Boris Said Ford SOBE - No Fear 190.393 50.296 -0.439
12 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 190.306 50.319 -0.462
13 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 190.234 50.338 -0.481
14 00 David Reutimann* Toyota Domino's Pizza 190.204 50.346 -0.489
15 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet State Water Heaters 190.177 50.353 -0.496
16 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 190.162 50.357 -0.500
17 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 190.151 50.360 -0.503
18 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 360 OTC 190.098 50.374 -0.517
19 15 Paul Menard* Chevrolet Turtle Wax Ice / Menards 190.079 50.379 -0.522
20 40 David Stremme Dodge Wrigley's Winterfresh 189.974 50.407 -0.550
21 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet FleetPride / Yellow 189.940 50.416 -0.559
22 01 Regan Smith Chevrolet U.S. Army 189.785 50.457 -0.600
23 45 Kyle Petty Dodge National Tire & Battery 189.714 50.476 -0.619
24 42 Juan Montoya* Dodge Texaco / Havoline 189.665 50.489 -0.632
25 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Sharp AQUOS / 3M Vikuiti 189.639 50.496 -0.639
26 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 189.635 50.497 -0.640
27 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 189.598 50.507 -0.650
28 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Kodak 189.429 50.552 -0.695
29 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 189.223 50.607 -0.750
30 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 188.935 50.684 -0.827
31 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 188.872 50.701 -0.844
32 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 188.675 50.754 -0.897
33 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet CertainTeed 188.493 50.803 -0.946
34 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy 188.448 50.815 -0.958
35 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Spider-Man 3 188.422 50.822 -0.965
36 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 188.389 50.831 -0.974
37 1 Martin Truex Jr.+ Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 188.370 50.836 -0.979
38 7 Robby Gordon+ Ford MAPEI / Menards 188.304 50.854 -0.997
39 19 Elliott Sadler+ Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 187.313 51.123 -1.266
40 07 Clint Bowyer+ Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 187.101 51.181 -1.324
41 29 Kevin Harvick+ Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 186.882 51.241 -1.384
42 31 Jeff Burton+ Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 186.579 51.324 -1.467
43 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS / 133rd Kentucky Derby Champion's Provisional

[rustyfan]

Thanks Speed, I completely forgot about mentioning the line-up.

Of the drivers outside the top-35 in points, Kenny Wallace (Chevrolet), Scott Riggs (Dodge), Boris Said (Ford), David Reutimann (Toyota), Ward Burton (Chevrolet), Jeremy Mayfield (Toyota), Paul Menard (Chevrolet) and Dale Jarrett (Toyota) made the race. Jarrett used his final Past Champion's Provisional.

Michael Waltrip (Toyota), Brian Vickers (Toyota), Dave Blaney (Toyota), A.J. Allmendinger (Toyota), Ken Schrader (Ford), Mike Wallace (Chevrolet), Kevin Lepage (Dodge), John Andretti (Dodge) and Mike Bliss (Dodge) failed to qualify.

[rustyfan]

Here's a little something for you; it's a short clip of the infamous incident when the start of a Winston Cup race at Talladega back in 1986 was delayed due to a rather intoxicated fan stealing the pace car:


Click the thumbnail to download the 6MB clip.

[FIRE]

[Knowlesy]

[rustyfan]

The pre-race show is underway

[rustyfan]

The drivers have gotten the command to start the engines. We're not far away from the drop of the green flag now.

[Knowlesy]

Let's go racin'!

[rustyfan]

Glad to have you onboard - I was getting worried this would be a one-man show

[Knowlesy]

Oh no, I wouldn't miss this!

[rustyfan]

...and the Aaron's 499 at Talladega is underway!

[rustyfan]

Three-wide before they even reached turn 1 lol.

[rustyfan]

It's not often you see Marlin challenge for the lead these days, but he's doing it today!

EDIT - And he lead that lap!

[Knowlesy]

Yep, lead that lap.

Ah, this is great to see! Proper hairy stuff.