Background , the track where the race was held.
Talladega Superspeedway is one of six
superspeedways to hold
NASCAR races; the others are
Daytona International Speedway,
Auto Club Speedway,
Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
Pocono Raceway and
Michigan International Speedway. The standard track at the speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. 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. Before the race,
Jimmie Johnson led the
Drivers' Championship with 5,998 points, and
Denny Hamlin stood in second with 5,992 points.
Kevin Harvick followed in third with 5,936 points, 110 ahead of
Kyle Busch and 141 ahead of
Jeff Gordon in fourth and fifth.
Carl Edwards with 5,785 was 23 points ahead of
Tony Stewart, as
Jeff Burton with 5,752 points, was 31 ahead of
Kurt Busch, and 47 in front of
Matt Kenseth.
Greg Biffle and
Clint Bowyer were 11th and 12th respectively with 5,682 and 5,592 points. In the
Manufacturers' Championship,
Chevrolet was leading with 236 points, 42 points ahead of their rival
Toyota.
Ford, with 149 points, was 24 points ahead of
Dodge in the battle for third.
Jamie McMurray was the race's defending champion.
Practice and qualifying (pictured in 2007) scored his fifth Sprint Cup Series career
pole position, with a lap time of 51.863 seconds. Two practice sessions were held on Saturday before the race. The first session lasted 45 minutes, while the second session lasted 60 minutes. During the first practice session, Hamlin, for the
Joe Gibbs Racing team, was quickest ahead of Kyle Busch in second and McMurray in third. Jeff Gordon was scored fourth, and Johnson managed fifth. Burton and Kyle Busch followed behind Martin, both with a time of 48.414 seconds.
Juan Pablo Montoya clinched his fifth
pole position in the
Sprint Cup Series, with a time of 51.863. He was joined on the front row of the
grid by Bowyer. Randy Norris, from Alabama Raceway Ministries, began the pre-race ceremonies by giving the
invocation. Average Joe's Entertainment recording artist
Josh Gracin then performed the
national anthem, and the AMP Energy grand marshal winners gave the command for drivers to start their engines.
Post-race Bowyer appeared in victory lane after his
victory lap to start celebrating his second win of the season, and his first Sprint Cup Series win at
Talladega Superspeedway. The race result left Johnson still leading the Drivers' Championship with 6,149 points. Hamlin, who finished ninth, maintained second at 6,135, twenty-four points ahead of Harvick and 193 ahead of Jeff Gordon. Three days following the race,
Michael McDowell and his team,
Whitney Motorsports, were given a penalty. Whitney Motorsports' penalty included a $50,000 fine to Thomas Tucker (McDowell's
crew chief) and an indefinite suspension of Tucker, and both Dusty Whitney and McDowell lost 50 owner and driver points respectively. The team's car chief, Richard Boga, and team manager Tony Furr were also given indefinite suspensions. Whitney Motorsports was penalized because of unapproved added weight location and unapproved added weight, which was caused by the lower
A-frames being filled with weight pellets. ==Results==