Kyle Busch finished a respectable 15th in Sunday's AMP Energy 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway - a race that was three-quarters uneventful and one-quarter wild.
Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), started 13th and like most other drivers in the 43-car field, hoped that when the checkered flag flew, he would be in a position to claim victory.
The 2.66-mile Talladega oval, along with its sister track - the 2.5-mile Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway - are the only two restrictor-plate tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit where aerodynamics and horsepower reign supreme. But when everyone has a car capable of hitting nearly 200 mph, drivers need drafting partners to push them through the air and ahead of their counterparts. So while the race is 500 miles in length, most of it is spent trying to put oneself in a position for the final mile.
Busch flirted with the lead, holding the top spot twice for two laps, but at the end of the race, he never really had a chance to make his move.
After making what was to be his final pit stop on lap 143 to top off his fuel tank, Busch and the M&M's team knew they were capable of going the distance - assuming the race ended at the scheduled 188-lap distance.
However, a multi-car accident on lap 185 caused a 12-minute red flag and also set up a green-white-checkered finish, meaning that the race would be extended three laps or a distance of 7.98 miles. Because of this, Busch and several other drivers who were also close on fuel had to pit before the lap-189 restart.
Despite starting toward the rear of the lead lap line of cars, Busch still had a chance at victory given how the draft typically works at Talladega, as it's not uncommon for a car in 25th to work its way to the front in one lap with the assistance of other cars.
Unfortunately, Busch did not get the opportunity. A second multi-car accident took place exiting turn four on lap 190, and since NASCAR rules only allow one opportunity for a green-white-checkered finish, the event was finished under yellow.
"It was typical Talladega," said Busch after recording his 17th top-15 finish of the season. "It's a crapshoot. We had to get fuel there at the end as did some other guys due to the green-white-checkered finish, and we just didn't have a chance to move to the front before the final accident."
Busch's JGR teammates - rookie Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin - finished third and 38th, respectively. It was the second top-three finish for Logano in his brief 36-race career, with the other podium finish coming via his victory in June at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. On the other side of the spectrum was Hamlin, whose car suffered an engine failure after 137 laps.
With only three races remaining, Hamlin leads the JGR trio in the championship point standings, as he is JGR's lone representative in the 12-driver Chase for the Championship. Hamlin fell two spots to 11th in the standings and is now 448 markers behind Chase leader Jimmie Johnson. Busch remained 13th in the standings while Logano gained one spot to climb to 19th.
Jamie McMurray beat Kasey Kahne under caution to win the AMP Energy 500 and score his third career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his first at Talladega.
Finishing fourth behind Logano was Greg Biffle, while Jeff Burton, Johnson, Michael Waltrip, Brad Keselowski, Elliott Sadler and Bobby Labonte comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were six caution periods for 23 laps, with 13 drivers failing to finish the race.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Nov. 8 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race begins at 3:15 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 2:30 p.m.
