Jamie McMurray Ends a Long Winless Steak With a Win at Talladega

           After a last lap caution in turn 2 interrupted the craziness at Talladega, Jamie McMurray was able to coast across the finish line to grab his first victory in one hundred and eight races. In turn 2 on that final lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. turned Austin Dillon and sent Dillon down the track, but he would come back up. He came back up the track into traffic, but all of the drivers were able to avoid except Casey Mears. Mears slammed into the back of Dillon and sent Dillon straight up in the air back first. He landed hard and rolled to a stop like Mears did. This incident resulted in a caution and allowed McMurray to coast across the finish line. It has been a tumultuous past few years for McMurray. He went two years without a win and pretty much most of 2013. This long drought from victory lane did not stop McMurray when the race entered the final stages and he was able to capitalize on the victory. But that caution does raise some questions. Would Dale Earnhardt Jr. have won the race without the caution? Would Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have taken his first win with help from the drivers behind him? We will never know these answers, but the outcome that happened was just as favorable. This race at Talladega was surprisingly calm. Only two wrecks happened during the race and each wreck only involved two cars. Even though the cautions were limited to a few drivers, the racing action was still amazing. Drivers battled side by side for most of the event, drivers bumped each other, and drivers even ran three and four wide to get in the corners. All in all, it was a race that lacked cautions, but one that did not lack in the action factor.

        Aric Almirola started on the pole. Qualifying had been rained out on Saturday afternoon and this meant that the lineup would be set based on first practice speeds. This put Almirola on the pole for the first time in 2013. The race went green and the action immediately started. Almirola came back around to lead the first lap, but the storm raged around him. The storm was calmed only a short time into the race when the first caution waved on lap 3. Tony Raines lost an engine in turn 1. His car began to smoke on track and fluid came out. He went to the garage and he would not return to the event. No drivers received the lucky dog. A little bit of strategy occurred during the caution. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and other drivers at the back of the field came down pit road to top off with fuel. This was a little bit of strategy to see if they could last longer before their first stop. It would be interesting to see if they could use this extra fuel to last a little bit longer on track.

        The race went back green and Jeff Burton took the lead from Aric Almirola. After the restart, the lead began to shuffle a good bit. Matt Kenseth took the lead from Burton on lap 12, Greg Biffle took the lead from Kenseth on lap 15, and Joey Logano took the lead from Biffle on lap 19. After this pass, the lead began to change every lap before Matt Kenseth finally stabilized as the leader. Kenseth held off the field behind him until the first round of green flag pit stops began on lap 42. These stops would lead to a few problems for some drivers. Kyle Busch came in to make his pit stop and he did not judge his stall right. He missed it and he had to come back around. His team was able to perform the pit stop well, but Busch had lost enough time to lose the draft. Brad Keselowski and Bobby Labonte also had trouble on pit road as they were both caught speeding. Both had to come back down for a pass through, but they had also lost the draft. It would be a matter of time before they would go a lap down, but could they come back? It would be very interesting to see if this question would be answered.

        After the pit stops finished, Dale Earnhardt Jr. cycled to the lead after taking only two tires during his stop. Junior would hold the lead for a few laps before Jimmie Johnson took the lead on lap 49. Johnson and Junior began to change the lead back and forth before Matt Kenseth took it away on lap 58. Kenseth held the lead until Jimmie Johnson once again took the lead back on lap 69. Johnson would hold the lead until the second caution waved on lap 79. Marcos Ambrose broke loose in the trioval. Ambrose went down the track and slammed hard into Juan Pablo Montoya. Both cars made extremely hard contact and immediately were damaged. Ambrose slid down the track after the contact as Montoya reached a stop with heavy front end damage. Ambrose would drive around to pit road and his team would fix his car, but he fell a lot of laps down and would not get back into contention. Kyle Busch, who had troubles on the first round of green flag pit stops of the race, received a break by getting the lucky dog. He would be back on the lead lap and in contention for the win. A little bit of strategy occurred during the caution. Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and others took two tires while Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, and others took four tires. It would be interesting to see which strategy worked to give a driver the win.

         The race went back green and Jimmie Johnson took the lead immediately on the restart, but Matt Kenseth was able to pass him on the backstretch of the same lap. Kenseth would hold the lead only a lap before Johnson once again stabilized as the leader. He would hold the lead a few laps before Clint Bowyer passed him on lap 93. The two began to battle hard for the lead and it switched back and forth every lap. Johnson once again stabilized as the leader before his teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., came up and started to battle Johnson. Johnson stabilized again before Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made his first move to the lead in the race. Johnson and Stenhouse battled until the second round of green flag pit stops began on lap 122. Again, a driver would struggle on the stop. Kasey Kahne, who had went down a lap early in the race after losing the draft, was caught speeding on pit road. He would have to make a pass through and the result was another lap lost. He would not be a key factor in the entire race after losing the two laps. After the stops, Aric Almirola cycled to the lead. He would only hold the lead for a couple laps before Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead on lap 128. On lap 133, Jimmie Johnson made his way back to the front and took the lead from Earnhardt. The two teammates began to battle again before Earnhardt submitted himself as the major leader. Earnhardt would lose the lead a couple of times during the next thirty or so laps, but he would be the major leader during the stretch before the third and final round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 161. This would be the last stop for the leaders and the stops would have to be to perfection.

        The stops were pretty good for the leaders as Kyle Busch cycled to the lead. Now, the final run to the finish was set up and the action would be crazy. Busch began to battle hard with Carl Edwards in the ensuing laps as the field raced behind the two leaders. Edwards and Busch switched the lead before Jamie McMurray would make his way through the chaos to take the lead for the first time. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Austin Dillon ran behind McMurray as the race entered the final few laps. As McMurray took the lead on lap 174, the field began to straighten out in preparation for the final laps. This line stayed on the outside as the race entered the final ten laps, but some drivers were looking to make the inside work. The race went quickly to five laps to go and the inside line still wasn't going. McMurray crossed the line a few laps later and only two remained. Still, the inside lane was not working as McMurray took the white flag. But the chaos would start. Drivers began to weave in the line and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon made the first move in turn 2. But they would make a mistake. Dillon would go too quick in front of Stenhouse and the two made contact. Dillon went around and slid down the track. He went back up the track and into traffic. Somehow, the majority of the drivers missed him, but Casey Mears was not so lucky. He slammed into the back of Dillon and lifted him off the track. Dillon went up in the air back first and landed hard on the ground. Dillon and Mears rolled to a stop on the backstretch with heavy damage, but both drivers were okay. This resulted in the third and final caution and the race was over. Jamie McMurray coasted across the line to take his first win in just over three years. It was a much needed victory for McMurray and one that could lead to a lot of momentum.

         What a terrible past couple of years it has been for Jamie McMurray. He could not find victory lane and finishes at the top eluded him. He missed the Chase the past few years, but he still sat just outside and on the verge of being able to make it one year. Finally, he broke through at Talladega in 2013 to put his momentum back on track. It is a very favorable victory in the garage since McMurray is such a likeable guy and one that I like. It was once again so close, but yet so far away for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He went into the final lap second and with a chance to take over the lead from McMurray easily. He seemed to have a plan in place and it probably would have worked, but he just did not have enough time with the caution coming out early in the final lap. We will never know what would have happened on the final lap if the caution did not come out, but we can not question it now. The points did not change too much like we expected. Jimmie Johnson took the points lead, but it was only by a few select points over Matt Kenseth. With another wild card race in Martinsville coming up next week, these two points leaders will be challenged even more as the races wind down. After the calm madness that was Talladega, the series heads to the smallest and roughest track on the circuit known as Martinsville. Will Jimmie Johnson continue to hold his lead over Matt Kenseth, will Matt Kenseth take his lead back, or will another driver move closer to the two leaders out front? We will have to wait until next week to find this out.
(More Stats Down Below!)





Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 3- Tony Raines lost an engine in turn 1.

2nd Caution: Lap 79- Marcos Ambrose got loose in the trioval. He went down the track and made hard contact with Juan Pablo Montoya, which caused the two drivers to roll to a stop on track.

3rd Caution: Lap 188- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Austin Dillon exiting turn 2. Dillon went around and went into traffic. Casey Mears slammed into Dillon and sent him flying in the air. Both drivers were okay and exited their cars safely.

Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Kyle Busch
3rd Caution: None

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Jamie McMurray
2nd: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3rd: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4th: Paul Menard
5th: Kyle Busch

Notables Not in Top 5:
9th: Ryan Newman
10th: Clint Bowyer
11th: Greg Biffle
12th: Kevin Harvick
13th: Jimmie Johnson
14th: Jeff Gordon
16th: Joey Logano
17th: Carl Edwards
18th: Kurt Busch
20th: Matt Kenseth
36th: Kasey Kahne





Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/lapbylap/view-all-laps.html?intid=lapbylap_lapbylapleaderboard_08292013
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/live-standings.html?intid=livestandings_livestandingsleaderboard_08292013
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Camping_World_RV_Sales_500/W
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/b0837ec539b801c7c675bda0d0a61515c0f7d248/c=1258-102-3073-1470&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2013/10/20/1382305688000-10-20-13-jamie-mcmurray-celebrate.jpg