The NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway was marred with a large wreck and pileup as well as a rain delay that saw the field thrown into chaos, leaving David Ragan as the winner on Sunday, just a day after many on social media congratulated him for winning the Nationwide race on Saturday, confusing him with Regan Smith.
The wreck occurred due to some pack racing at Talladega and may have started when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tapped into the wall, which knocked JJ Yeley into Kurt Busch to set off the fireworks on the track. Once he was hit Busch went up into the air and flipped and eventually landed on the top of Ryan Newman's hood. The crash took hold of a number of cars and damaged Danica Patrick and Terry Labonte's cars, forcing them to head to the garage afterwards. Patrick ended up 39th while Newman and Busch were enraged afterwards and criticized the cars and style of racing.
Ragan ended up on top at the end of the day with David Gilliland and Carl Edwards in second and third, while Michael Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five. Regan Smith, who won the Nationwide series on Saturday, made a weekend of it by finishing in sixth, while Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Scott Speed and Aric Almirola finished in the top 10.
The rain delay extended the race to seven hours and the crash dominated the news on the day before Ragan finished in first. Newman likely was frustrated since he has been caught up in a few crashes at both Daytona and Talladega, which are both restrictor plate tracks and he appeared fed up afterwards. The race needed overtime after the accident and Ragan was helped by David Gilliand with a push at the end. Denny Hamlin was back after fracturing his back and switched with Brian Vickers after going 23 laps and he finished 34th on the day after the change.
The car was able to remain on the lead lap when Hamlin jumped out on the roof and Vickers came in through the window. Waltrip was driving for the second time this season and also celebrated his 50th birthday this week. Vickers actually ended up in the crash, making it fortunate that Hamlin had switched out earlier. Matt Kenseth was in the lead for 142 laps and was also in position to win on the final restart, but ended up getting passed by Edwards on the overtime lap