It's Talladega

Those were the words most commonly said in the paddock through the race. It was nothing short of a nail biting, pulsating afternoon of racing that had me on the edge of my seat. 68 lead changes amongst 28 drivers, a record - and that was only the officially timed ones at the line.

Tony Stewart snapped a winless streak stretching back to Watkins Glen last season, after Nascar cancelled out Regan Smiths below the yellow line move. It was an unfortunate end to a great race that caused some confusion. As far as I was concerned, racing below the yellow line is a no-no for all the race, so why should the last lap be any different.

During the first half of the race, it looked like there could have been another Indy on our hands. A succession of tire blows out, accumulating in the first ‘Big One’ of the afternoon, had me thinking were we going to see another set of sprints coupled with competition yellows. Whether the issues were with the tires themselves, debris, rubbing or high pressures, they at least disappeared into the second half of the race to let them run for it.

The day saw a mix of strategy, with some of the Chasers sticking to the back to avoid any entanglements. It cost Jimmie Johnson early. The reigning champion lost the draft and fell a lap down. Johnson regained his lap later on via the Lucky Dog. Biffle and Edwards adopted a similar strategy, the latter even employing a unique pit stop strategy to keep himself out of trouble.

When the time to come forward came, it all went sour for the Roush cars. Edwards tipped into the back of Biffle, causing the catalyst for the second ‘Big One’ of the afternoon. Unlike Big One #1, which the Chasers avoided, #2 saw more than half the Chase field receive damage.

Watching Talladega is always a treat. Forget two wide, we had three wide racing for the majority of the race. Four and five when guys felt gutsy. The day saw a number of young guns, like Ragan, Smith, Almirola giving solid drives on the day. The track easily lived up to its tag as the wildcard in the Chase.

That, was pure racing enjoyment.