This time, the crash happened behind Kyle Busch. Instead of leaving Talladega Superspeedway with a smashed-up car, he drove into Victory Lane.
The kid who couldn’t conquer Talladega finally won at the harrowing track Sunday, and in this breakout season for Busch, it was only fitting that he coasted to the victory.
Busch came back from a lap down for his first win at Talladega, which was won under caution when a 13-car accident brought out the yellow flag on the final lap. It froze the field and allowed Busch to slowly make his way across the finish line — a rare completion considering his past history at this track.
In six previous Cup races, Busch failed to finish four times and wrecked out of both events last season. His accident in last spring’s Cup race was so hard, he cracked his head-and-neck restraint while finishing 37th. And his wreck in the fall officially ended his championship hopes.
“I don’t think I’ve finished one here without wrecking, or at least without a torn up car,” Busch said. “Today means a whole lot.”
But this year, he can’t seem to do anything wrong. His victory was his second Sprint Cup win of the year, and seventh spanning all three of NASCAR’s top series.
“It’s great for Kyle. He’s red hot,” car owner Joe Gibbs said.
Juan Pablo Montoya finished second to match his career best on an oval since moving to NASCAR midway through 2006. He also was second at Indy last July.
More at SI.com
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
FIN, ST, CAR, DRIVER, MAKE, SPONSOR, PTS/BNS, LAPS, STATUS
1 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s Most Colorful Fan 190/5 188 Running
2 26 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit 175/5 188 Running
3 7 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 170/5 188 Running
4 6 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Travel 160/0 188 Running
5 8 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 160/5 188 Running
6 14 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Northern Tool + Equipment 150/0 188 Running
7 36 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 146/0 188 Running
8 21 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Alltel 147/5 188 Running
9 41 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 138/0 188 Running
10 9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard 139/5 188 Running
11 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 135/5 188 Running
12 20 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Pepsi / DuPont 132/5 188 Running
13 32 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 124/0 188 Running
14 43 40 David Stremme Dodge TUMS Quik Pak 126/5 188 Qualified
15 22 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Turtle Wax / Menards 123/5 188 Running
16 19 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 115/0 188 Running
17 38 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 117/5 188 Running
18 1 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet National Day of Prayer / Furniture Row 109/0 188 Running
19 29 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 111/5 188 Running
20 35 7 Robby Gordon Dodge RVs.com 103/0 188 Running
21 18 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Garmin 105/5 188 Running
22 40 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditReport.com 102/5 188 Running
23 39 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 99/5 188 Running
24 42 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 96/5 188 Running
25 4 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull 93/5 188 Running
26 31 16 Greg Biffle Ford American Red Cross / 3M 85/0 188 Running
27 27 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 87/5 188 Running
28 30 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS / 134th Kentucky Derby 79/0 188 Running
29 16 109 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 76/0 188 Running
30 24 00 Michael McDowell * Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 73/0 188 Running
31 17 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge LifeLock 70/0 185 Running
32 15 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Marathon / Wells Fargo / PVA 67/0 185 Running
33 28 8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet U.S. Army 64/0 185 Running
34 34 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 61/0 182 Running
35 37 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 58/0 179 Running
36 12 21 Jon Wood Ford Little Debbie Honey Buns 55/0 178 Running
37 33 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 52/0 174 In Pit
38 2 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 59/10 173 In Pit
39 23 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 46/0 173 In Pit
40 11 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 43/0 152 Running
41 13 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 40/0 149 Running
42 3 70 Ken Schrader Chevrolet Hunt Brothers Pizza 42/5 141 Out of Race
43 25 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Polaroid 34/0 4 Out of Race
Kyle Busch survives a typical wild one and wins Talladega
