Brian Vickers loses control after blowing a tirecausing a multi-car incident during the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images Photo)
ยป More Photos
After a second red flag, with some cars pitting on Lap 176 for tires but eight cars staying out and taking the lead: Stewart, Nemechek, Sadler, Ragan, Mears, Regan Smith, Menard, and Almirola. Johnson was ninth, the first of the drivers to pit.
The race restarted with 10 laps to go, Sadler planting himself on Stewart’s bumper, with the two cars pulling away to a big lead on the pack. With seven to go, Sadler got hung out and the three DEI Chevys hooked up behind Stewart.
With five to go, Burton, Bowyer and Johnson formed an outside row. The following lap, McMurray blew a right-rear tire to bring out a caution flag and set up a green-white-checkered finish.
The order on the restart was Stewart, Smith, Menard, Almirola, Sadler, Ragan, Burton, Bowyer, Bobby Labonte and Scott Riggs. Almirola got hung out on the restart and fell to sixth.
Smith went below the yellow-line on the last lap and crossed the finish line ahead of Stewart. But because passing is not allowed below the yellow line, Stewart got the victory ahead of Smith, Menard, Almirola and Sadler.
AMP ENERGY 500 RESULTS
Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to
Attention Race Fans! Play SPEED's 'CHASE For The FANTASY CUP' Pick a team of 5 championship drivers every week... Compete throughout the 10 CHASE race weeks. Cash prizes are awarded to teams with the most year-to-date and weekly points!
Keep track of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase with our interactive scorecard! Simply create an account, make your picks each week before the race, and then come back after the race to see how your pick rates against the actual results of all 12 drivers.
Sign-Up Now!
