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2011 Aaron's 312

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2011 Aaron's 312
Race details[1]
Map of Speedway
Map of Speedway
Date April 16, 2011 (2011-04-16)
Official name 2011 Aaron's 312
Location Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course Tri-oval
2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance 124 laps, 330 mi (531.084 km)
Scheduled Distance 117 laps, 311.2 mi (500.83 km)
Weather Sunny
Average speed 126.618 mph (203.772 km/h)
Attendance 65,700
Pole position
Driver Kevin Harvick Inc.
Time 53.331
Most laps led
Driver Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing
Laps 23
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN2
Announcers Marty Reid, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree

The 2011 Aaron's 312 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama on April 16, 2011. The race was the 20th iteration of the event and the 7th race of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series. Elliott Sadler won the pole while Trevor Bayne led the most laps as the race saw the most lead changes in a Nationwide Series race at Talladega at 56 while also being the longest running Nationwide Series race at Talladega distance wise until 2022 which tied it. But it was Kyle Busch who would be the last lead change of the race and won the race after a big crash occurred on the final lap that saw a car flip over. It would be Busch's first win at Talladega in the Nationwide Series.[2]

Background

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Talladega Superspeedway, the race track where the race was held.

The track, Talladega Superspeedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway.[3] The standard track at the speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.66 miles (4.28 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at thirty-three degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 16.5 degrees. The back stretch has a two-degree banking.[4] Talladega Superspeedway can seat up to 143,231 people.[5]

Entry List

[edit]
  • (R) denotes rookie driver
  • (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points
# Driver Team Make
01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet
1 Jamie McMurray (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
2 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet
6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet
09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota
11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge
14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
15 Timmy Hill (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford
16 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
20 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Tim George Jr. Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge
23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Dodge
28 Derrike Cope Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
33 Clint Bowyer (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet
38 Jason Leffler Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
39 Josh Wise Go Green Racing Ford
40 Scott Wimmer Key Motorsports Chevrolet
41 Jennifer Jo Cobb (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford
44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet
52 Danny Efland Means Motorsports Chevrolet
60 Carl Edwards (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford
62 Michael Annett Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota
66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota
68 Carl Long Fleur-de-lis Motorsports Chevrolet
70 Dennis Setzer ML Motorsports Dodge
74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet
79 Tim Andrews 2nd Chance Motorsports Ford
81 Donnie Neuenberger MacDonald Motorsports Dodge
82 Blake Koch (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
88 Aric Almirola JR Motorsports Chevrolet
89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet
99 Michael Waltrip (i) Pastrana-Waltrip Racing Toyota
Official Entry list

Qualifying

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Elliott Sadler won the pole for the race with a time of 53.331 and a speed of 179.558.[6]

Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 2 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 53.331 179.558
2 33 Clint Bowyer (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 53.386 179.373
3 7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53.463 179.115
4 1 Jamie McMurray (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 53.629 178.560
5 16 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53.669 178.427
6 60 Carl Edwards (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53.708 178.297
7 20 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53.771 178.089
8 62 Michael Annett Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 53.780 178.059
9 38 Jason Leffler Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 53.785 178.042
10 88 Aric Almirola JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53.786 178.039
11 4 Kevin Harvick (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 53.786 178.039
12 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 53.792 178.019
13 32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 53.793 178.016
14 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53.794 178.012
15 30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 53.833 177.883
16 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge 53.874 177.748
17 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 53.875 177.745
18 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 53.910 177.629
19 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 54.003 177.323
20 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 54.114 176.960
21 21 Tim George Jr. Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 54.154 176.829
22 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 54.155 176.826
23 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 54.164 176.796
24 99 Michael Waltrip (i) Pastrana-Waltrip Racing Toyota 54.322 176.282
25 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 54.334 176.243
26 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Dodge 54.697 175.074
27 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 54.711 175.029
28 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 54.731 174.965
29 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 54.784 174.796
30 44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 54.933 174.321
31 81 Donnie Neuenberger MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 55.032 174.008
32 82 Blake Koch (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 55.094 173.812
33 41 Jennifer Jo Cobb (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 55.140 173.667
34 15 Timmy Hill (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 55.211 173.444
35 40 Scott Wimmer* Key Motorsports Chevrolet 55.211 173.444
36 52 Danny Efland Means Motorsports Chevrolet 55.239 173.356
37 68 Carl Long Fleur-de-lis Motorsports Chevrolet 55.260 173.290
38 28 Derrike Cope Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 55.313 173.124
39 39 Josh Wise Go Green Racing Ford 55.318 173.108
40 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 55.324 173.089
41 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 55.491 172.569
42 79 Tim Andrews* 2nd Chance Motorsports Ford 55.654 172.063
43 70 Dennis Setzer* ML Motorsports Dodge 56.234 170.288
Official Starting grid

* - Scott Wimmer, Tim Andrews, and Dennis Setzer all had to start at the rear of the field. Wimmer and Setzer had adjustments after impound while Andrews missed the drivers meeting.

Race

[edit]

At the start of the race. Drivers started to form into tandems. Outside pole sitter Clint Bowyer took the lead from pole sitter Elliott Sadler with Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushing him and Bowyer led the first lap. On lap 2, Carl Edwards took the lead with Trevor Bayne but they were passed when Aric Almirola took the lead with Kevin Harvick and Almirola led lap 2. Edwards took the lead with Bayne from Almirola on lap 3. On lap 4, Clint Bowyer took the lead. On lap 5, Aric Almirola took the lead. On lap 6, Carl Edwards took the lead. On lap 7, Kevin Harvick took the lead with Bowyer pushing him. On lap 9, Carl Edwards took the lead with Bayne but both Bayne and Edwards switched and Bayne led lap 9 before they fell back and Harvick retook the lead. On lap 12, Kyle Busch took the lead. On lap 13, Jamie McMurray took the lead. On lap 15, Brad Keselowski took the lead after McMurray and his partner Elliott Sadler switched places. On lap 16, Sadler took the lead from Keselowski. On lap 19, Clint Bowyer took the lead after the leaders had to dodge lap traffic but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. passed Bowyer and his partner Kevin Harvick on the same lap and Stenhouse led lap 19 with Sam Hornish Jr. behind him. On lap 23, the first caution flew for debris. At the same time, Kevin Harvick's engine blew and he was out of the race. Kyle Busch won the race off of pit road but he missed his pit box and had to come back to stop and Elliott Sadler was the new leader and he led the field to the restart on lap 28. On the restart, Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. behind him but was passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 29 and Junior took the lead with Aric Almirola. On that same lap, the second caution flew when Brian Scott spun in turn 3 after he got turned by Joey Logano. The race would restart on lap 33. On the restart, Jamie McMurray took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. with Elliott Sadler. On lap 34, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. attempted to take the lead with Sam Hornish Jr. and led that lap but Stenhouse could not pass McMurray. On lap 36, Mike Bliss took the lead with Kyle Busch but was immeadietly passed by Reed Sorenson and Sorenson led lap 36 with Joey Logano. On lap 42, Brad Keselowski took the lead with Trevor Bayne. On lap 44, the third caution would fly when Sam Hornish Jr. spun through the tri-oval after he got turned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Brad Keselowski won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 49. On the restart, Trevor Bayne took the lead with Carl Edwards behind him. On lap 53, Jamie McMurray took the lead with Elliott Sadler. On lap 55, the fourth caution would fly when Mike Bliss spun in turns 1 and 2 after getting turned by Joey Logano. The race would restart on lap 60. On lap 61, Trevor Bayne took the lead. On that lap, Justin Allgaier tried to take the lead but couldn't get in front of Bayne. On lap 63, Jamie McMurray took the lead but Bayne took it back on the next lap. On lap 65, Kenny Wallace took the lead with Reed Sorenson. On lap 67, Jamie McMurray took the lead.

Final laps

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With 49 laps to go, McMurray and his partner Elliott Sadler decided to switch spots and Sadler was the new leader. On that same lap, the 5th caution flew when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. turned across the nose of Trevor Bayne and Stenhouse hit the outside wall on the backstretch. The race would be red flagged for a few minutes after Stenhouse's car leaked oil and caught on fire. Jamie McMurray won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 43 laps to go. With 42 to go, Carl Edwards took the lead with Trevor Bayne behind him. With 41 to go, Kyle Busch took the lead with Clint Bowyer. With 40 to go, Jamie McMurray led that lap but could not get in front of Busch. But on the next lap, Trevor Bayne took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who passed Busch but did not lead the lap. With 37 to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead. Trevor Bayne took it back with 36 to go but Junior took it back with 35 to go. With 35 to go, the 6th caution would fly when Donnie Neuenberger got spun by Mike Bliss off of turn 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 30 laps to go. But on the restart, the 7th caution would fly for the big one that occurred down the backstretch. It started when Kyle Busch got bumped too hard from behind by Clint Bowyer and started a chain reaction where Busch came up into Michael Waltrip and Waltrip spun down collecting Jamie McMurray and sent a lot of other cars scrambling to avoid and end up running into each other and wrecking. The wreck collected a total of 20 cars. The cars involved were Jamie McMurray, Brian Scott, Eric McClure, Kyle Busch, Mike Bliss, Tim George Jr., Brad Keselowski, Robert Richardson Jr., Derrike Cope, Justin Allgaier, Clint Bowyer, Josh Wise, Scott Wimmer, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Jeremy Clements, Danny Efland, Michael Annett, Steve Wallace, Blake Koch, and Michael Waltrip. The race was red flagged for a short bit to clean up the mess. The race would restart with 25 laps to go. With 24 to go, Trevor Bayne took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. With 17 to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead with Aric Almirola but were passed by Brad Keselowski and Keselowski led with 17 to go with Sam Hornish Jr. With 15 to go, Junior took the lead but Keselowski took it back on the next lap. With 13 to go, Mike Wallace took the lead with Joe Nemechek behind him. With 12 to go, Keselowski took the lead back from Wallace. With 11 to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead but Keselowski immeadietly passed him. With 10 to go, Mike Wallace took the lead back. With 9 to go, Trevor Bayne took the lead. With 8 to go, Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead. With 7 to go, Trevor Bayne took the lead. On the same lap, the 8th caution flew when Sam Hornish Jr. spun down the backstretch after getting turned by Brad Keselowski. The race would restart with 3 laps to go. On the restart, Joe Nemechek took the lead. Nemechek was looking for his first Nationwide Series win since 2004. But on the same lap, the 9th caution would fly for a 4 car crash on the backstretch. It started when Michael Annett got hooked by Brian Scott and Annett hit the outside wall and came down and collected Scott, Joey Logano, and Reed Sorenson. The wreck would set up 3 attempts of a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Mike Wallace took the lead from Nemechek. Wallace was also looking for his first Busch Series win since 2004. But the 10th caution would fly on the backstretch when the Turner Motorsports cars in James Buescher, Reed Sorenson, and Jason Leffler crashed. This would mean a second attempt of a green-white-checkered. On the restart, Joe Nemechek took the lead with Brad Keselowski pushing him. Coming through the tri-oval, Trevor Bayne took the lead with Carl Edwards pushing him and took the white flag. Nemechek and Keselowski attempted to take the lead from Bayne and Edwards but they left the middle open and Kyle Busch snuck through the middle with Joey Logano and Busch took the lead. Down the backstretch, the 11th and final caution would fly for a 5 car crash. Elliott Sadler hooked Mike Wallace sending Wallace sideways up to the right where Wallace overcorrected to the left and spun where he got hit in the left front by Jason Leffler. The impact lifted Wallace's rear into the air and ended up flipping the car over while spinning nearly 270 degrees before it landed on all four wheels. The wreck also collected Reed Sorenson and Carl Edwards. Kyle Busch was in front when the Caution flew and Busch scored the victory. The win would be Busch's 4th of the 2011 season and his first at Talladega in the Nationwide Series. Joey Logano, Joe Nemechek, Brad Keselowski, and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top 5 while Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Reed Sorenson, and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 10. The race featured 56 lead changes among 18 different drivers which is currently the most at Talladega in Nationwide Series history.[7]

Race results

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Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Laps Led Status Points
1 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 124 4 running 0
2 20 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 124 0 running 0
3 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 124 0 running 42
4 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge 124 14 running 0
5 2 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 124 8 running 40
6 16 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 124 23 running 40
7 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 124 0 running 37
8 7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 124 16 running 0
9 32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 124 6 running 36
10 88 Aric Almirola JR Motorsports Chevrolet 124 2 running 35
11 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 124 0 running 33
12 40 Scott Wimmer Key Motorsports Chevrolet 124 0 running 32
13 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 124 2 running 32
14 15 Timmy Hill (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 124 0 running 30
15 38 Jason Leffler Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 124 0 running 29
16 82 Blake Koch (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 124 0 running 28
17 60 Carl Edwards (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 124 3 running 0
18 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 124 6 running 27
19 62 Michael Annett Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 122 0 running 25
20 81 Donnie Neuenberger MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 121 0 running 24
21 52 Danny Efland Means Motorsports Chevrolet 121 0 running 23
22 33 Clint Bowyer (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 120 2 running 0
23 30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 118 0 crash 0
24 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 110 0 running 20
25 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 109 2 electrical 20
26 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 109 0 running 18
27 28 Derrike Cope Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 104 1 running 18
28 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Dodge 103 1 running 17
29 70 Dennis Setzer ML Motorsports Dodge 100 0 running 15
30 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 98 0 rear axle 14
31 39 Josh Wise Go Green Racing Ford 92 0 crash 13
32 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 88 0 crash 12
33 99 Michael Waltrip (i) Pastrana-Waltrip Racing Toyota 87 0 crash 0
34 1 Jamie McMurray (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 87 20 crash 0
35 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 87 0 crash 9
36 21 Tim George Jr. Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 87 0 crash 8
37 41 Jennifer Jo Cobb (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 87 0 crash 7
38 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 68 6 crash 7
39 4 Kevin Harvick (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 21 4 engine 0
40 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 11 0 ignition 4
41 79 Tim Andrews 2nd Chance Motorsports Ford 4 0 rear end 3
42 68 Carl Long Fleur-de-lis Motorsports Chevrolet 2 0 electrical 2
43 44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 1 0 vibration 1
Official Race results

References

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  1. ^ "2011 Aaron's 312". Retrieved April 16, 2011.
  2. ^ "Kyle Busch Wins Nationwide Race In Overtime". Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  3. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "NASCAR Tracks — The Talladega Superspeedway". Talladega Superspeedway. Archived from the original on August 27, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  5. ^ "Talladega". NASCAR. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  6. ^ "Elliott Sadler wins the pole at Talladega for NASCAR Nationwide race". Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  7. ^ "Busch wins wild one at Aaron's 312 Nationwide race". Retrieved April 17, 2011.


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