Talladega

The good thing about pre-race shows for Talladega is that you can always count on an interview with Elliott Sadler talking about his crash/flip/wreck that happened there in 2003. The bad thing about pre-race shows for Talladega is having to watch footage of his crash/flip/wreck. Scary.


Michael Waltrip is on the pole! Happy face! And leads only 1 lap. Sad face. He actually ends up leading a few more laps throughout the race. Oh, here's a funny story about him. We saw him at the track in Texas a couple of years ago and he was surrounded by several scantily clad buxom women and I said to WD, "Michael Waltrip is such a big star he doesn't need those girls around him to bring in fans." WD looked at me for a few seconds and finally said, "You do know those are the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, right?" Um, whatever, he still didn't need them.


Back to Elliott. He starts 10th, leads some laps, and does good. Really good. Until the "Big One" at lap 145. He runs over some debris and starts to struggle. Late in the race, Waltrip blows a tire and takes out Elliott. His day is done and he finishes 24th. (Talladega ends up taking 18 cars out of the race).


With only a few laps left there was a line of Dodges on the outside led by Ryan Newman and a line of Chevrolets on the inside led by Jimmie Johnson. Will it be Newman or Johnson? Neither! Jeff Gordon passes Johnson on the final lap and takes the checkered flag. He also takes a lot of trash thrown at him from the stands.


Jeff Gordon gets the win, Jeff Burton gets the Red Lantern, and we're in Charlotte on Saturday night.