Good Sam Club 500 - Notable Races

Notable Races

• The race is famous for the high number of dark horse and first-time winners in its history — in the race's first 40 years seven drivers posted their first career win*; notable dark horses to win include James Hylton, Dave Marcis, Jimmy Spencer, and Jamie McMurray. Note: Regan Smith at the 2008 race does not count; although he crossed the finish line first, he had gone below the yellow line, so NASCAR penalized him by re-scoring him as the last car on the lead lap, giving the win to Tony Stewart.

• 1969: The race was marred by a driver's strike by the Professional Drivers Association over track safety issues, even though officials proved the track was safe for racing.

• 1971: In the 1971 race Bobby Allison collided with Richard Petty and Pete Hamilton on the last lap, sending Hamilton into the inside wall.

• 1973: In 1973 Dick Brooks survived heat and humidity to himself as well as an overheating engine and shot down heavy favorites Buddy Baker and David Pearson to his only career win. Driving a Plymouth Roadrunner, Brooks started 24th and whipped his way into contention right away. The lead changed 64 times, a motorsports record that stood until 1978. Tragedy marred the race when sophomore driver Larry Smith crashed and was killed in his car early in the race.

• 1974: Before the race, crewmen found slashed tires, tampered alignments, and dirt clogging fuel lines in the garage area. NASCAR threw several competition yellows to allow teams to further check their cars for undetected sabotage; two early crashes happened when cars slipped in oil from other sabotaged cars. Richard Petty won on the last lap by sideswiping David Pearson in the tri-oval and winning by a nose.

• 1975: The race was blackened when former Daytona 500 winner Tiny Lund was crushed to death in a vicious melee on the backstretch by the spinning car of Terry Link. Dick Brooks survived a wild tumble down the backstretch later in that race. Buddy Baker edged Richard Petty after 60 lead changes among 17 drivers.

• 1980: In 1980 Neil Bonnett fought off a hard challenge from Dale Earnhardt to win in a frantic four-car finish. Driving for the Wood Brothers, Bonnett pulled off what would be the final win for the Mercury automobile brand; it was also the brand's seventh career Talladega win.

• 1981: The race was famous for the finish between Terry Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, and Ron Bouchard. Running third on the final lap, Bouchard darted under both Labonte and Waltrip to pick up his first and only career win. CBS Sports, which televised the event, experienced technical errors in the last laps of the race, and showed replays with audio of the finish a week later.

• 1982: The race at Talladega would be the final start for Country Music singer Marty Robbins. Robbins would die later that year on December 8. Darrell Waltrip became the first multi-time winner of the race.

• 1983: The rivalry between Waltrip and Bobby Allison came through in a dramatic finish. Allison, two laps down, pushed Dale Earnhardt past Waltrip on the final lap for the win. Waltrip and the Junior Johnson team were upset that Allison was seemingly "blocking" for Earnhardt; Allison claimed he was racing Joe Ruttman, also in the lead back by laps down, for position.

• 1984: Dale Earnhardt's first win with Richard Childress came in the 1984 running, for many years considered NASCAR's greatest race. The lead changed 68 times among 16 drivers. Terry Labonte stormed to the lead with seven to go in a ten-car pack; crew chief Dale Inman radioed him to get out of the lead in the final laps so he could counterattack on the last lap, but Labonte stayed ahead. Harry Gant made a charge to a battle for third with two to go, but could not get up to the leaders, and on the final lap Earnhardt and Buddy Baker drafted past on the highside; Labonte fought Baker down the stretch, allowing Earnhardt to blast away by three lengths at the stripe.

• 1986: The 1986 race won by Bobby Hillin Jr. saw 26 different leaders, a motorsports record that stood until 2008. Wrecks eliminated numerous leaders, among them Richard Petty, Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, and Cale Yarborough. On the final lap a six-car melee erupted when Sterling Marlin, racing Tim Richmond and Bobby Allison for third, hooked Allison in Turn One and Allison slid into the path of traffic.

• 1993: Dale Earnhardt edged Ernie Irvan by inches.

• 1996: On lap 117, battling for the lead in the tri-oval, Sterling Marlin tried to pass Dale Earnhardt on the outside. Ernie Irvan tapped Marlin from behind, sending Marlin into Earnhardt. Both cars slid hard into the outside wall. Earnhardt's car flipped over, and was struck again while sliding down the track on its roof. About 6 cars escaped on the inside, while the rest of the field became tangled up in the incident. Ten cars were destroyed, and several more were involved (including some already damaged from an earlier crash). Video of the crash showed what appeared to be a fatal incident, but once medical workers arrived at Earnhardt's car, he climbed out and waved to the crowd, refusing to be loaded onto a stretcher despite a broken collarbone, sternum, and shoulder blade. A red flag ensued, and because of the late start caused by a rain delay, the race ended with a five-lap shootout on the ensuing restart.

• 1999: Dale Earnhardt charged from the 27th starting spot to 5th place in the first 3 laps. With 10 laps to go, Earnhardt charged to the front and held off Dale Jarrett for the last two laps to win his ninth Talladega race.

• 2000: The 2000 race was best remembered as being Dale Earnhardt's 76th and last recorded win before his death. With four laps to go, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was leading and his father was scored in 17th place. In the next four laps, Earnhardt Sr. found an opening and took the lead at the white flag. He then held off the field to win the race, while Earnhardt, Jr. went from leading to a 14th place finish when he was shuffled out of line in the last two laps.

• 2001: Over the last 55 laps, the lead changed multiple times between Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Bobby Labonte and Bobby Hamilton. Labonte was leading at the white flag, but heading into turn 1, Earnhardt Jr. passed Labonte for the lead. Going up high in turn 2, Labonte drifted back, out of the draft, and tried to block Hamilton, but on the back straightaway, Labonte was tagged by Hamilton, sending Labonte's spinning car into Johnny Benson, Jr.. This sent Benson head-on into the outside wall and started a 14 car crash. The cars involved included Jason Leffler, Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton, Robby Gordon, Mike Wallace, Ricky Craven, Terry Labonte, and Buckshot Jones. Labonte took the worst impact, as his car blew over on its roof and came to a rest upside down. As the wreck occurred, Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, and Tony Stewart were in front, racing towards the finish, followed by another group of cars: Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Kenny Wallace, and Hamilton. Earnhardt, Jr. rocketed away in the tri-oval to win the race by several car-lengths as Burton and Stewart battled for second. This was the first of Earnhardt, Jr.'s streak of four consecutive wins at Talladega.
  • Although he kept the win, Earnhardt, Jr. was docked 25 points after his car failed post race inspection, due to a shortened rear spoiler.

• 2002: Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s third consecutive Talladega win came in the third and last Talladega race to be caution-free. He won on fuel strategy.

• 2003: Michael Waltrip's fourth and last win came in this race in 2003. It is also his only non-Daytona race win. He and teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 1-2. With seven laps to go, Elliott Sadler, the third place finisher from the spring race, went airborne and tumbled down the backstretch into the turn three apron after being tagged by Kurt Busch. As this was the first restrictor plate race to follow the elminination of racing back to the caution, the yellow flag and subsequent red flag for cleanup caused by Sadler's accident nullified Ward Burton's pass on Waltrip into first.
  • This was DEI's fifth straight Talladega win, and first with Waltrip, after four straight with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
• 2004: Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s win in 2004, his fifth overall at the track, was a dramatic one, as on the last lap of the race, Jeff Gordon brushed the wall exiting turn two, collecting then-rookie Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle. No caution was thrown for the wreck, and the leaders continued to race to the finish line. At the finish, Elliott Sadler repeated the tumble of the previous year. This time, he flipped at the start-finish line after making contact with Ward Burton, in almost the same location that Rusty Wallace had taken a very violent airborne crash off Dale Earnhardt's bumper in 1993.
  • The race had several wrecks, the biggest one being a hard crash that took out championship contender Jeremy Mayfield. Brendan Gaughan triggered a scary crash that sent Bobby Labonte and Sterling Marlin head-on into the outside wall.
  • The race was also famous for Earnhardt Jr. using an obscenity during the post-race television interview, and being docked 25 championship points as a result (in the aftermath of the Super Bowl halftime show controversy, NASCAR imposed stiffer penalties for drivers who used obscenities in interviews; a similar one would be imposed when Tony Stewart won the Brickyard 400 in 2007).
• 2005: Much like the EA Sports 500 the year before, the 2005 UAW-Ford 500 was a wild race. Two cars flipped over in separate accidents. Michael Waltrip was hit by Mark Martin and flipped after being involved in a wreck that began when Jimmie Johnson spun Elliott Sadler. Not long after, Ryan Newman spun Casey Mears, which started a chain reaction resulting in Scott Riggs flipping several times before being hit by Jeff Burton. The race was incident-filled, and Dale Jarrett took his last win in the race. Scenes from this race were used in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and actors from the movie were introduced in driver introductions.

• 2006: The October 2006 running was the first at Talladega since the track was repaved following the May 1 Aaron's 499. The new asphalt proved exceptionally racey and the lead changed hands 63 times among 23 drivers. The win by Brian Vickers was met by a storm of debris from enraged fans when he, while running third, hooked teammate and second place driver Jimmie Johnson into race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap, sending both spinning; Kasey Kahne passed Vickers in turn 3 but NASCAR ruled Vickers was leading when the yellow flew, freezing the field.

• 2007: The 2007 UAW-Ford 500 was won by Jeff Gordon in dramatic style. Gordon pulled off a comeback much like Dale Earnhardt had in 2000, working his way from the back in the closing laps, and passed teammate Jimmie Johnson with a push from Tony Stewart on the final lap. It was the first Talladega race for NASCAR's soon-to-be-controversial Car of Tomorrow.

• 2008: The newly named AMP Energy 500 in 2008 saw 64 lead changes among a motorsports record 28 leaders. Two accidents (one a ten-car crash that came when Brian Vickers' right-front tire disintegrated, the other a ten-car melee involving Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others) took a number of contenders out in spectacular fashion. Regan Smith passed Tony Stewart on the apron of the tri-oval at the finish. The pass was ruled illegal by NASCAR in prohibiting passing under the yellow line; controversy ensued, however, as NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston the year before had commented to the effect that the yellow-line rule did not apply on the final lap, and NASCAR was ridiculed in the media over the decision. The victory was awarded to Stewart, what proved to be his final win for Joe Gibbs Racing.

• 2009: The 2009 AMP Energy 500 was set up in a green-white-checkered finish after Ryan Newman spun and blew over, landing on top of Kevin Harvick with five laps to go, in the same place and in an eerily similar matter to Sadler's 2003 blowover. Before the cars got underway some ran out of fuel. Jamie McMurray led the restart alongside Brian Vickers; Vickers beat McMurray to the line, but was not penalized but McMurray squeezed ahead. When the field came off turn 4, Brad Keselowski spun Kurt Busch causing a chain reaction; Mark Martin tumbled on his roof and came back on his wheels as McMurray took the win. It was his 3rd career win and last for Roush as he went on to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in 2010. The race was criticized because during the prerace drivers meeting Mike Helton told the drivers "we will have a problem" with tandem drafting in the corners. The drivers spent three periods of 15-20 laps riding single file, but the lead changed 58 times among 25 drivers, both season highs.

• 2010: On Halloween 2010 NASCAR declared Clint Bowyer the winner after the yellow flew on the start of the final lap for AJ Allmendinger's blowover just past the start/finish line. Bowyer was ruled ahead of teammate Kevin Harvick at a Turn One scoring loop. Due to a brief delay by NASCAR in announcing who was ahead, Bowyer and Harvick were confused as to which one of them had won. Believing he was the leader, Bowyer did his victory burnout prematurely and almost had to be stopped as he drove back down pit road towards victory lane. The race lead changed 87 times among 26 drivers, the second straight Talladega race to break 80 official lead changes.

• 2011: This was the first Sprint Cup race to follow the death of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and several drivers painted tributes on their cars for this race. Clint Bowyer defended his previous win by slingshotting past his Richard Childress teammate Jeff Burton on the final lap and winning by a hood. It was the 100th career win for Richard Childress Racing and it came following announcement that Bowyer would move to Michael Waltrip Racing for 2012 (by coincidence, Bowyer was driving a special 100th Anniversary of Chevrolet paint scheme). The track before the race posted a $100,000 bonus if the race reached 100 official lead changes, the bonus going to the driver who made the 100th pass. The bonus went unclaimed as the race lead changed 72 times.

• 2012: Matt Kenseth won his first Talladega race in a very competitive run that saw 18 different leaders and 55 lead changes. On the final lap, with the entire field four abreast and Tony Stewart fighting Kenseth for the win, Stewart tried to block the advancing drafting pair of Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears coming in to turn 4. The ensuing move and subsequent contact caused Waltrip to spin up the banking in front of the entire field, and Stewart went airborne as Waltrip went into the outside wall and 23 cars were collected, the most cars to be involved in any single Big One since 2010. 10 of the 12 Chase drivers were involved (the only two not involved were Kenseth and Jeff Gordon, the top two finishers). Kyle Busch (who had finished in second place in the spring), David Ragan and Regan Smith escaped the melee to cross the start/finish line 3rd-5th. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., also involved was highly critical of the crash, and was sidelined for the next two races at Charlotte and Kansas after being diagnosed with a concussion, replaced by Smith for those races. Busch and Kenseth had been the runner-up finishers in the spring Talladega race.