Matt Kenseth has taken out the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega as a major wreck on the final corner saw the race end in chaos.
Tony Stewart led down the back stretch for the final time but found himself triggering the a shunt that captured the majority of the field when he turned down across the nose of a Michael Waltrip/Casey Mears drafting partnership in Turns 3 and 4.
Stewart’s car then spun up the track where it was hit by a wall of cars and became airborne. When the car finally came to rest, the three-time champion emerged unscathed, quickly taking the blame for the shunt.
He added of his physical condition: “I’m a finely tuned athlete – I’ve got a strenuous workout regiment so I’m really good.”
Kenseth had been running on the high line and escaped the shunt a clear winner. When NASCAR finally sorted the remainder of the field’s order as the caution waved, Jeff Gordon was declared second ahead of Kyle Busch, David Ragan, Greg Biffle, Regan Smith, points leader Brad Keselowski, Travis Kvapil, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton.
Denny Hamlin ran at the back all day to avoid any major wrecks and came home 11th – six places ahead of fellow title contender Jimmie Johnson.
Australian Marcos Ambrose was one of those to be caught in the final corner wreck and was eventually classified 27th. He had been running in the top 10 prior to the accident.
Jamie McMurray however had the biggest tale of woe to tell, leading much of the race before spun by a touch from Kevin Harvick with six laps remaining.
Keselowski now enjoys and extended 14 point championship lead over Johnson with six races remaining. Hamlin is a further six points adrift in third.
See below for the full race result
|
FIN |
ST |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
PTS/BNS |
LAPS |
STATUS |
| 1 | 15 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Ford Ecoboost | 47/1 | 189 | Running |
| 2 | 6 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 43/1 | 189 | Running |
| 3 | 13 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 42/1 | 189 | Running |
| 4 | 25 | David Ragan | Ford | MHP / 8 Hour Alert | 41/1 | 189 | Running |
| 5 | 5 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / National Breast Cancer Foundation | 40/1 | 189 | Running |
| 6 | 28 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 38/0 | 189 | Running |
| 7 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 37/0 | 189 | Running |
| 8 | 36 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 37/1 | 189 | Running |
| 9 | 2 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army | 35/0 | 189 | Running |
| 10 | 26 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar / DriveCat.com | 35/1 | 189 | Running |
| 11 | 23 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 33/0 | 189 | Running |
| 12 | 9 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 32/0 | 189 | Running |
| 13 | 1 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | 32/1 | 189 | Running |
| 14 | 21 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 31/1 | 189 | Running |
| 15 | 32 | David Gilliland | Ford | Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts | 29/0 | 189 | Running |
| 16 | 31 | Terry Labonte | Ford | C&J Energy Services | 28/0 | 189 | Running |
| 17 | 17 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 28/1 | 189 | Running |
| 18 | 40 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Scott / Kingsford / Bush Beans | 26/0 | 189 | Running |
| 19 | 8 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane / Warriors in Pink | 0 | 189 | Running |
| 20 | 18 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Gwaltney | 24/0 | 189 | Running |
| 21 | 12 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Diet Mountain Dew “Paint the 88” | 24/1 | 189 | Running |
| 22 | 4 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 23/1 | 189 | Running |
| 23 | 3 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-Hour Energy Benefiting Avon Foundation | 22/1 | 189 | Running |
| 24 | 10 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | SKF | 0 | 189 | Running |
| 25 | 11 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | Charlie Loudermilk Aaron’s Dream | 19/0 | 189 | Running |
| 26 | 19 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 19/1 | 189 | Running |
| 27 | 20 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Dewalt | 18/1 | 189 | Running |
| 28 | 16 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | CertainTeed Insulation / Menards | 16/0 | 189 | Running |
| 29 | 39 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Golden Corral | 15/0 | 189 | Running |
| 30 | 38 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 14/0 | 189 | Running |
| 31 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | K-Love / Curb Records | 13/0 | 189 | Running |
| 32 | 14 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 12/0 | 187 | Running |
| 33 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | SwanEnergyInc.com | 11/0 | 187 | Running |
| 34 | 24 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Allstate | 12/2 | 185 | In Pit |
| 35 | 43 | Robert Richardson | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 0 | 180 | In Pit |
| 36 | 7 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Subway | 8/0 | 179 | Running |
| 37 | 41 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | [email protected] | 7/0 | 163 | Out of Race |
| 38 | 27 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target / Gillette | 6/0 | 156 | Out of Race |
| 39 | 29 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction | 6/1 | 98 | Running |
| 40 | 42 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | Little Joes Autos.com | 0 | 16 | Running |
| 41 | 37 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 0 | 12 | In Pit |
| 42 | 35 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 2/0 | 8 | Out of Race |
| 43 | 33 | Josh Wise * | Ford | MDS Transport | 1/0 | 5 | In Pit |
See below for the updated points standings
|
RANK |
DRIVER |
POINTS |
| 1 | Brad Keselowski | 2179 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 2165 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | 2159 |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | 2142 |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | 2142 |
| 6 | Jeff Gordon | 2137 |
| 7 | Tony Stewart | 2136 |
| 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | 2132 |
| 9 | Greg Biffle | 2131 |
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | 2127 |
| 11 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 2121 |
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 2117 |
| 13 | Kyle Busch | 912 |
| 14 | Ryan Newman | 865 |
| 15 | Carl Edwards | 844 |
| 16 | Paul Menard | 832 |
| 17 | Marcos Ambrose | 818 |
| 18 | Joey Logano | 797 |
| 19 | Jeff Burton | 748 |
| 20 | Jamie McMurray | 714 |
| 21 | Aric Almirola | 681 |
| 22 | Juan Montoya | 675 |
| 23 | Regan Smith | 669 |
| 24 | Bobby Labonte | 655 |
| 25 | Mark Martin | 563 |
| 26 | Kurt Busch | 557 |
| 27 | David Ragan | 530 |
| 28 | David Gilliland | 520 |
| 29 | Casey Mears | 514 |
| 30 | Travis Kvapil | 512 |
| 31 | Landon Cassill | 475 |
| 32 | AJ Allmendinger | 400 |
| 33 | Dave Blaney | 368 |
| 34 | David Reutimann | 337 |
| 35 | Brian Vickers | 213 |
| 36 | David Stremme | 209 |
| 37 | Michael McDowell | 153 |
| 38 | J.J. Yeley | 151 |
| 39 | Josh Wise* | 123 |
| 40 | Ken Schrader | 111 |
| 41 | Stephen Leicht* | 107 |
| 42 | Michael Waltrip | 97 |
| 43 | Terry Labonte | 94 |
| 44 | Scott Speed | 89 |
| 45 | Tony Raines | 71 |
| 46 | Scott Riggs | 52 |
| 47 | Brendan Gaughan | 50 |
| 48 | Boris Said | 34 |
| 49 | Bill Elliott | 14 |
| 50 | Hermie Sadler | 13 |
| 51 | Mike Olsen | 11 |
| 52 | Robby Gordon | 11 |
| 53 | Mike Skinner | 10 |
| 54 | Tomy Drissi | 6 |
| 55 | Stacy Compton | 5 |
| 56 | David Mayhew | 4 |
| 57 | Kelly Bires | 3 |
| 58 | Patrick Long | 2 |
| 59 | Timmy Hill | 2 |
| 60 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 0 |
| 61 | Trevor Bayne | 0 |
| 62 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 0 |
| 63 | Mike Bliss | 0 |
| 64 | Austin Dillon | 0 |
| 65 | Danica Patrick | 0 |
| 66 | Robert Richardson Jr. | 0 |
| 67 | Elliott Sadler | 0 |
| 68 | Joe Nemechek | 0 |
| 69 | Reed Sorenson | 0 |
| 70 | T.J. Bell | 0 |
| 71 | Jason Leffler | 0 |
| 72 | Jason White | 0 |
| 73 | Cole Whitt | 0 |
| 74 | Chris Cook | 0 |
| 75 | Tim Andrews | 0 |
| 76 | Brian Simo | 0 |
| 77 | Jeff Green | 0 |
| 78 | Mark Green | 0 |
| 79 | Mike Wallace | 0 |
| 80 | Kenny Wallace | 0 |
See below for footage of the wild finish
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