Elliott Sadler started on the pole after qualifying was rained out. The race stayed green for the first 20 laps before the first caution came out on lap 21. Johanna Long's engine blew up and left oil on the track. No driver received the lucky dog. There was a short green flag run before the first of many large wrecks occurred on lap 29. Kurt Busch turned Brian Scott into Jason Bowles on the frontstretch. After Scott hit Bowles, he went hard into the outside wall. Other drivers involved were Morgan Shepherd, T.J. Bell, and Josh Richards. For the second caution in a row, no driver received the lucky dog. The longest green flag run of the race, 29 laps to be exact, began after the restart and ended with the third caution of the race on lap 63. The wreck began when Brad Sweet got loose in front of his drafting partner at the time, Mike Wallace, and went straight into the outside wall. While trying to avoid the wreck, John Wes Townley spun Eric McClure towards the inside wall, but McClure did not hit the wall. The other driver involved was Timmy Hill. Josh Richards, who was involved in the first wreck, received the lucky dog. A 15 lap green flag run ended on lap 81 when Josh Richards blew a tire in turn 2, causing him to spin out. This incident brought out the 4th caution of the race. During pit stops, a driver change occurred. Timmy Hill, who was suffering from an intestinal flu, was replaced by Blake Koch. John Wes Townley, who was involved in the third caution, received the lucky dog. Another long green flag run, 22 laps, ended on lap 110 when the 5th caution came out. Elliott Sadler, who had damage on the front of his car that was said to have caused the wreck, turned Mike Bliss in turn 3. Kurt Busch, who received two lucky dogs in the race, received the lucky dog. As the cars came around to complete the first lap after the restart, Mike Wallace got loose in turn 4 and tapped Danny Efland. Efland received no damage, but Mike Wallace had to retire from the race. Kurt Busch received his second lucky dog of the race. This led to the first of two green-white-checkereds and I will never, I mean never, forget what happened on the first green-white-checkered.
With 2 laps to go, the cars left in contention to win the race crusied down the backstretch looking for a drafting partner to pull off the victory. As they were nearing the end of the backstretch, Michael Annett got a run, but had nowhere to go. As Annett tried to find a lane, he made contact with Kevin Harvick and turned Harvick into Brad Keselowski. Keselowski went down the track into Annett and Austin Dillon while Harvick was hit hard by Tayler Malsam. Behind them, Elliott Sadler attempted to dodge Malsam, but he went down too far and turned Danica Patrick. The worst part of the wreck was when Kurt Busch tried to get into a lane to dodge Malsam and Harvick. When Busch went down, he hit Eric McClure and McClure went down on Jeffrey Earnhardt. Earnhardt turned McClure towards the wall and McClure flew into the wall with tremendous force. Earnhardt hit the wall as well, but not nearly as hard. Robert Richardson Jr., who was trying to avoid the wreck, hit Harvick on the driver's side and then Richardson ran into Jeffery Earnhardt. The only two drivers that appeared to be injured were Richardson and McClure. Richardson was able to get out of his car after a few minutes, but still looked shaken up. McClure had to be cut out of his car and was airlifted to a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. As of the time this is posted, he was released with a concussion and mild internal bruising. After the wreck, there was a fifteen minute red flag that allowed the track crew to clean up the wreck and get McClure out of his car. Blake Koch, who had replaced Timmy Hill, received the lucky dog. The cars began rolling when the red flag was lifted and the final dash to the finish was set up.
The green flag came out once again and the cars barely kept it clean. As they were coming down the backstretch, Justin Allgaier turned Sam Hornish Jr into Joe Nemechek. They were able to save it, but Nemechek received a lot of damage. Because the cars had to slow down to avoid Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Cole Whitt, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr were able to run away from the pack. The white flag waved and I, along with many others, were on the edge of their seat, wondering who would make the move to win the race. Cole Whitt, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr pushing, was not able to get a run to pass Kyle Busch, who was being pushed by Joey Logano, on the last lap to win the race. Joey Logano, on the other hand, was able to get a run on Kyle Busch and passed him in the trioval to win his 11th Nationwide Series race. In my opinion, it was probably one of the best finishes so far this year, but the race was far from being over.
Sam Hornish Jr, a former winner in the Nationwide Series, had a confrontation with Danica Patrick after the race. Hornish blew a tire in turn 4, but he could not slow down or get to pit road because he was still being pushed by Eliott Sadler. In the trioval, Danica Patrick attempted to pass Hornish, but couldn't and ran into him. Since Hornish had blown a tire, he couldn't turn his car and forced Patrick into the outside wall. Patrick didn't take too kindly to, in her mind, his actions. As they came into turn 1 for their cool-down lap, Patrick went in the corner hard and shoved Hornish into the wall. When both drivers made it to pit road, they patched things up and everything should be clean for the race at Darlington. Well, not really, but at least they can try.
Once again, in case it was undermentioned due to all the action in this race, Joey Logano won the race on a last lap pass over Kyle Busch. The Nationwide Series heads to Darlington next week where the action is sure to pick up. Coverage begins at 6:30 PM on ESPN2.
Credits:
-My own notes
-Caution Laps and Lucky Dog Winners:
http://www.racing-reference.info/race/2012_Aarons_312/B
-Eric McClure Crash Video:
http://www.nascar.com/video/post-race/highlights/120505/nns-tal-high-four/index.html
-Final Green-White-Checkered:
http://www.nascar.com/video/post-race/final-laps/120505/nns-tal-high-final/index.html
-Photo: http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/05/joey_logano_passes_kyle_busch.html 