30 Degrees of Banking

NASCAR Nuggets: Aaron's 499

By Ryan Frisco

For some reason these reviews of Sunday's race keep getting later and later in the week...I'll blame it on the baby. Alright let's go!

Photo Cred www.espn.com

The Victor: What did I say in last week's preview article?  'These tracks make winners out of no name or average drivers...'  Look at that!  David Ragan for the win! Bet you didn't see that coming.  Two laps to go, you've got Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson all battling for the win, and who scoots around them but David Ragan.  It's not his first NASCAR victory...he did the same thing two years ago at the July Daytona race (another restrictor plate race).  All in all it's not the most impressive victory, but it's great for his career and Front Row Motorsports, which leads me into my next segment...

The First Loser: David Gilliland, the teammate of Ragan at Front Row.  The pair finished on the front row this week, how's that for irony!  I'm impressed that Gilliland was content to ride it out for second place instead of making a move on his teammate for the win.  That's impressive to be able to restrain himself.  I'm guessing the duo have an agreement that next time they're in that boat, it will be Ragan pushing Gilliland to Victory Lane.

Pat on the Back: Obvious first choice here goes to Front Row Motorsports for the Top 2 sweep at Talladega.  But we've already talked about them.  So who else finished higher than they should have at Talladega?

Regan Smith: An impressive win Saturday night in the Nationwide Series, and was actually in contention for the weekend sweep before settling for 6th place.  Not too bad at all for a guy who's one of the many battling for a full time cup ride next year.

Photo Cred www.teferic.de

Scott Speed: This was good for Speed, who ended the race 9th!  I can't remember the last time he finished in the Top 10 in a race, he's usually one of the drivers starting and parking early.  Good run for him!

Aric Almirola: Another week goes by, another Top 10 for Almirola.  He's up to 7th in points.

Michael Waltrip: I guess I'll give him a shout out here.  He only runs three or four races a year and he finished fourth!  He definitely knows how to drive these restrictor plate tracks...now if only he could learn ovals.

The Big One(s):  Once again, pack racing led to big wrecks at Talladega.  One slip up ruins everybody's race. Not suprisingly, drivers weren't too happy about it.  Watch the below video of the race's biggest and scariest crash.

As exciting as it is to see one of these wrecks, it is definitely scary, especially for the drivers and their families.  Kurt Busch exclaimed that there are only two races his mom doesn't come to, Daytona and Talladega.  Ryan Newman expressed his dissatisfaction (to the tune of a $25,000 fine) that NASCAR can't figure out a way to keep cars from going airborne. We're just thankful that everyone is okay!

Tune in later for a preview of Saturday night's race at Darlington, nicknamed the Lady in Black!