TALLADEGA NOTEBOOK: Tire problems lead to several wrecks

TALLADEGA — Five drivers had tires blow during Sunday’s Amp Energy 500, and one triggered the first “Big One” wreck of the day.

On lap 68, Brian Vickers had a right front tire blow as he collected Martin Truex Jr. and David Gilliand to start a chain reaction accident involving eight cars.

“I felt like a bomb exploded on my right front tire,” Vickers said. “I went down into the tri-oval and it didn’t cut, it exploded.”
Truex Jr. was visibly upset when he exited his torn up car.

“I heard ‘Bam’ like a shotgun going off,” Truex Jr. said. “Just along for the ride from there. I took a pretty hard hit down there on the inside wall.

“I am going to have a bit of a headache tonight, I think.”

Kasey Kahne, one of the early leaders, was among those knocked out of the race due to the accident.

“It’s just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Kahne said. “I tried to stay as far left as I could; I think (Clint) Bowyer might have been underneath me a little, so I was just trying to creep down there.

“Then I got hit in the back and turned me back into the field.”

Denny Hamlin was the fourth driver to have a tire blow during the race, and took a hard hit as he went into the wall on Turn 2 after his right front tire went down.

Hamlin was assisted from his car and treated in the infield care center. He was alert, but transported to a hospital for further evaluation.

“It was quite a shot — kind of hurt him a little bit — but he should be OK,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. “It was a scary deal, but it’s at least nice that he’s alert and with it.”

The troubles began early for Jeff Gordon when he slammed into an inside wall on lap 53 when David Reutimann blew a tire and went in front of Gordon.

“He just turned left out of nowhere,” Gordon said. “I tried to avoid him, and when I did, the car turned to the right and just lost control and went into the wall.”

Gordon later returned to the track, but engine troubles with about 50 laps left sent Gordon to the garage for good.

Ryan Newman had an early departure thanks to an engine problem.

“We broke a valvetrain or something in the engine,” Newman said. “The car just shut off when I was coming down the pits.”

Familiar number
Pole-sitter Travis Kvapil has a familiar number for Talladega race fans, driving a No. 28 Ford of Yates Racing. The No. 28 was the number driven by the late Davey Allison in the 1990s, one of Talladega’s all-time favorites.

Ernie Irvan later drove the No. 28 car, and was on the pole three times at Talladega.

While Kvapil won his first career Sprint Cup pole on Saturday, it marked the first time the No. 28 has been on the pole at Talladega since 1997.

Though he was contending late in the race, Kvapil finished 27th after being involved in a wreck.

Anniversary celebration
Talladega Superspeedway is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Construction began on the track on May 23, 1968 and the first race — the Talladega 500 — was held on Sept. 14, 1969. Richard Brickhouse won the first race and Richard Childress made his first NASCAR start.

Start your engines
Ryder Cup golfer Boo Weekley was honorary starter of Sunday’s race.