Talladega is the location of the Amp Energy 500.  Talladega, AL is home to a Nascar Speedway, and today Talladega was lit up as contenders raced for the Amp Energy 500.  The winner may surprise you.  Jamie McMurray was the first to cross the finish line in a suspenseful race.

You would think that Nascar veterans Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, or Juan Pablo Montoya would have won the race, but this is not so. The fact of the matter is that these high-ranking NASCAR drivers didn’t even make it to the top 3 at the Amp Energy 500 in Talladega, AL.

The Amp Energy 500 ends an 86-race losing streak for McMurray.  According to USA Today, McMurray stated the following about his Talladega finish:

“It’s been a long time since I’ve won and I want to assure every fan out there that I appreciate this as much as anybody,” McMurray said, “so thanks to all my fans who have stuck with me. I just can’t believe it’s here again.”

The Amp Energy 500 is a 500 mile race that equates to 188 laps around the 2.66 Talladega track.  In the next-to-the-last lap, a multi-car crash landed Mark Martin on the roof of his car, and Jeff Gordon was also caught up in the snare.

All in all, the Amp Energy 500 in Talladega was a great race.  Sometimes a great upset is just what Nascar needs to stay suspenseful.

Rick Hendrick

In October of 2004 a Hendrick Motorsports plane crashed on its way to a NASCAR race, killing all 10 people aboard.

Hendrick Motorsports identified the dead as: Ricky Hendrick, Rick Hendrick’s son and a retired NASCAR driver; John Hendrick, Rick Hendrick’s brother and president of the organization; Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, John Hendrick’s 22-year-old twin daughters; Joe Jackson, an executive with DuPont, sponsor of Gordon’s car; Jeff Turner, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports; Randy Dorton, the team’s chief engine builder; Scott Lathram, a pilot for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart; and pilots Dick Tracy and Liz Morrison.

Rick Hendrick owned the following teams: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers.

In 2004, Hendrick had been on a season-long celebration of its 20th anniversary in NASCAR’s top series. The organization had won five of the series’ top titles, three truck series titles, and one Busch series crown.

A documentary has been created in honor of Henrick’s 25^th anniversary in NASCAR called, “Together: The Hendrick Motorsports Story” and includes the good and bad the most successful NASCAR team.  It is a feature length film and should appeal to stock car race fans and those who are not.  It also looks at the emotional setbacks in Henderick’s life. 

The film is narrated by Tom Cruise and is scheduled for release on October 31, 2009.

Nascar results are in and some of the standings were a nice surprise but they were not too far from my own analysis. Its all too well known that many of the fans buy the tickets, get the pop corn and then wait to see which driver is going to head bang with the fence fall. Its a surreal experience for them. Let me tell you, I am not one of them. Moving on to the winners of this NASCAR, check out the listings below.

1. (4) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 334 laps, 127.7 rating, 190 points, $280,208.

2. (15) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 334, 91.3, 170, $207,766.

3. (19) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 334, 94.7, 165, $145,750.

4. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, 112.6, 165, $141,875.

5. (21) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 334, 88.6, 155, $128,775.

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When I think of Petty, I think of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers but now I have come across another kind of Petty. The one that leads a pack of rolling thunder in support of a charity.

Kyle Petty is a NASCAR driver. The Pettys began leading an annual cross-county charity-related motorcycle ride in 1995 to support various childrens’ hospitals and research facilities along the route.

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