Late Wreck Knocks Out Multiple Chasers

With 15 laps to go in Sunday's AMP Energy Drink 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, a good portion of the Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders looked ready to challenge for a win in a race known for being a wild card on the Chase schedule.

And with 14 laps to go, they found out why Talladega was such a wild card.

Heading in to turn 3, Carl Edwards was running second in the outside line of cars when he pushed a little too hard on teammate Greg Biffle while the two were bump-drafting. Biffle lost control of his Ford and slid into his other teammate Matt Kenseth.

With all three cars sliding across the track, chaos ensued in the pack behind them.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. slammed into the side of Kenseth's No. 17, pole-sitter Travis Kvapil got clipped in the rear and hit the outside well head-on and Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Michael Waltrip, Dave Blaney, Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson all got a piece of the mess.

Edwards, who had rode around most of the race at the back of the pack to avoid trouble, directly apologized for the incident and accepted full responsibility, though that didn't please his teammates or Harvick.

"Looked like the 99 should have drafted all day because he obviously wasn't ready to come up front," said Harvick.

Following the mess, Tony Stewart was shown as the race leader as only 18 cars remained on the lead lap after a crash-heavy day at the Alabama track.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-05-2008 @ 6:55PM

George said...

As if Harvick should talk lol. Bald-headed no driving POS he is.

10-05-2008 @ 11:23PM

Brad said...

That's right George,,,,,Harvick should have just said,,,,,,'That's ok Carl go ahead and wreck your team members, myself and Jr. and who ever else you want to take out the race,,,,,,we won't get upset' SSSSHHHEEESSSSHHHH

10-06-2008 @ 9:13AM

Ashley said...

Carl Edwards bump drafted going into a turn which is FORBIDDEN and took out 6 chase drivers, he needs to be penalized. He could still win a championship but he made it nearly impossible for 6 others. That makes him worse than Kyle Busch at this point in the game. He apologized but that does not give those drivers the points they lost because of a thoughtless decsion on Edwards part.

10-06-2008 @ 10:28AM

Shellie said...

OH for the love.......Did you hear his interview?????
He took responsibility for the wreck.
It's racing it happens at least he stepped up and admitted it was his fault, not like some of the other drivers in NASCAR
Really Ashley - he should be penalized? Guess you think they should just start a new rule, you can say what ever you want about Carl Edwards but he is a stand-up guy

10-06-2008 @ 10:40AM

Anton said...

He was onl;y doing whatJeff Gordan and Jimmy johnson always get away with so lighten up or get on all the drivers about it

10-07-2008 @ 1:54PM

Rita said...

REMINDER:: Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson do not play that game..Anton,you need to catch up on your Nascar info! Carl Edwards was doing nothing extra that the others were doing the entire race, it was an accident and he was man enough to take all the blame after the race! So let's lay off the Team of 24,48 and 99 Shall we. They are the best drivers in over 20 years of racing..

10-06-2008 @ 12:47PM

JdogSofla said...

Edwards SHOULD be penalized bump drafting in the turn. He's an idiot. They were told in the pre-race meeting not to. Plus it's common sense. JR was on the verge of winning. If not a top 3 finish. He ends up getting sanwiched between Kenseth & Biffle when he was making another move to the front. He had a lock on drafting with the best cars all day. Maybe he would've hooked up with smoke at the end. Who knows?

The 2nd "Big One" was just a waste.

10-06-2008 @ 1:58PM

Even though Nascar had ' CAUTIONED ' drivers to not bump draft in the corners it went on all day with just about every driver Jr. included, and some do it better than others. Let's give at least a minimal prop to Edwards for standing up and taking complete blaim for the accident stopping just short of calling himself an idiot, give the guy a break it's not like he wanted to wreck himself or anyone else........Anybody out there ever try pushing a car at 200mph surrounded by other cars?

10-07-2008 @ 11:43AM

DEBRA said...

let the duck drive next time!

10-16-2008 @ 9:34PM

john said...

debra you right the duck can probly drive better than ewards

10-08-2008 @ 1:37PM

Rob said...

what nascar should do is make a new rule called the ASHLEY-JDOGSOFIA RULE . with this new rule there would be no more bumping,hitting,rubbing or any other contact involving two race cars.if another car pulls up behind a driver,the one in front has to move over and let the other go to be sure there is no contact! of course, nascar would have to take talladega,daytona, bristol,martinsville and darlington off of the schedule but at least the racing would be REAL exciting,right?