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Whether or not they suffered a tire problem on their own car, several Sprint Cup drivers and teams felt the effects of multiple tire issues during Sunday's AMP Energy Drink 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The first problem struck on lap 53 on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile circuit when Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann spun sideways after the right-rear tire exploded on the No. 44 Toyota. Directly behind him, Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon swerved to miss the spinning Reutimann and caught the nose of Jon Wood, sending the front-end of the No. 24 in to the wall.
The impact for Gordon sent him behind the wall for cosmetic, suspension, and radiator repairs. He would return after about 30 laps, but the car that had looked quite competitive early in the event later lost an engine while trying to make up points.
Reutimann never went a lap down in the incident, but later suffered electrical problems while running in the Top-10.
The next tire issue creeped up at the least favorable spot on-track as Brian Vickers also suffered an exploding tire -- though this time it was on the right-front -- while running at the front of the lead pack as it entered the tri-oval.
Vickers' Toyota shot up the track, collected Martin Truex Jr., and set off a melee on lap 68 that included David Gilliland, Kasey Kahne, Mike Skinner, Terry Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Tony Raines and Aric Almirola.
The incident brought out a lengthy red flag to clean up the big mess that stopped on the exit of the tri-oval.
Mike Wallace, driving a one-race effort in the No. 33 of Richard Childress Racing, suffered the next failure while running in the Top-10 on lap 81 and brought out a caution for debris, though he managed to not lose control of the Chevrolet.
Denny Hamlin, as of 22 laps to go in the race, was the last victim of a tire issue, and he likely suffered the biggest hit, as he was transported to the hospital after smacking the turn 2 wall by himself while leading.
