MOTORSPORTS 101

Matt Kenseth wins his second restrictor plate race of the season after a huge last lap crash takes out the field. It's Kenseth's second win of the 2012 season and the 23rd of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

"It was fast…Doug Yates and the boys in the engine shop did a really really good job. We've been so strong at all four of these plate races I feel really really good. Restrictor plate racing isn't really about the driver it's about Jimmy Fennig and all these guys back at the shop," said Kenseth in victory lane.

The win was overshadowed by a huge last lap crash that started when Tony Stewart cut down on Michael Waltrip's #55 Toyota and for lack of a better term chaos after that.

Involved in the crash were the following drivers: Tony Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Sam Hornish Jr, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr, David Gilliland, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose, Paul Menard, Regan Smith, Dave Blaney, Jeff Burton, Travis Kvapil, Terry Labonte, and Trevor Bayne.

After all the smoke cleared it came down to a race of damaged cars to start-finish line. Finishing in the second position was Jeff Gordon, with Kyle Busch finishing third, David Ragan coasted his heavily damaged Ford to a fourth place finish with Regan Smith finishing fifth in his last run with Furntiure Row Racing. Finishing sixth was Greg Biffle, with Brad Keselowski ending up seventh, Travis Kvapil coming home eighth in the BK Racing Toyota and Ryan Newman finishing ninth. Jeff Burton rounded out the top ten.

When the race started it was a pretty mellow race early on, with Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman leading the field to the green flag. Like typical Talladega races the race had 54 lead changes among 18 drivers. The following drivers led at least one lap today: Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, Marcos Ambrose, Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Trevor Bayne, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Travis Kvapil, Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

The race's first caution fell when Cole Whitt got turned by Casey Mears. Whitt's #33 Chevrolet got hit by Carl Edwards and Joey Logano. Whitt finished 40th, with Edwards coming home 36th and Logano finishing 32nd.

On lap 40 Matt Kenseth was being pushed to the lead by teammate Greg Biffle and got sideways and nearly wrecked his #17 Ford. Kenseth saved it and would continue in the 33rd position. No caution came out due to the spin.

On lap 60 green flag pit stops began for all teams. The round would continue through lap 62. Those stops had three penalties all for speeding exiting off of pit road. Those drivers were Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. All three drivers fell a lap down due to the penalties.

On lap 99 on of the most interesting things of the day happened. That's when Kurt Busch got spun when he ran out of gas and got turned around by Jamie McMurray. Busch slammed the inside wall hard ending his day in the 39th position. What Busch did after the crash though is what had everyone talking. Busch's #51 was stopped on the racetrack when saftey workers came to attend him and his car. While the workers were around and nearly inside the car, Busch sped away putting the workers in an unsafe situation. NASCAR issued Busch to stop, but he did not have his helmet on. NASCAR told the #51 team they were parking the car for the day and many people believe that Busch will be suspended next weekend at Charlotte, his first race with Furniture Row Racing.

Lap 138 had the races' third caution of the day when debris was found in turn four. This caution was a huge break for both Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kyle Busch as both drivers got their laps back.

On lap 158 Juan Pablo Montoya had engine trouble. He went to the bottom of the racetrack and didn't cause a caution but Montoya's day was done. He finished 38th.

On lap 183 the races fourth caution flew because of Jamie McMurray's spinning #1 Chevrolet. McMurray got turned by Kevin Harvick. McMurray, who led the most laps of the day, had a lot of damage on his splitter. His day was done and he finished 34th.

McMurray's caution was with five laps to go and then the massive accident happened on the final lap.

Other notable finishes include: Kevin Harvick in 11th, Kasey Kahne in 12th, Martin Truex Jr in 13th, Denny Hamlin in 14th, Jimmie Johnson in 17th. Bobby Labonte finished 18th with Dale Earnhardt Jr coming home 20th, Trevor Bayne 21st, Tony Stewart 22nd and Clint Bowyer 23rd. Michael Waltrip finished 25th.

Brad Keselowski extended his points lead to 14 points over Jimmie Johnson, with Denny Hamlin in third 23 points back. Fourth in the standings is Kasey Kahne 36 points back with Clint Bowyer fifth 40 points behind. Sixth in the standings is Jeff Gordon 42 points back with Tony Stewart seventh in the standings 46 points back and 48 points back in the eighth spot is Martin Truex Jr. Ninth in the standings is Greg Biffle 49 points back and tenth in Kevin Harvick 49 points back as well. Dale Earnhardt Jr fell to 11th in the standings and he is 51 points behind with Matt Kenseth 12th 60 points back.

Due to the circumstances on the final lap all positions are ruled unofficial.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will race at the Bank Of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night October 13th.

Tags: Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., matt kenseth, michael waltrip, Motorsports, NASCAR, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Talladega Superspeedway, Tony Stewart

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