SportsFullCircle

The weekend that was in racing was one that will not be forgotten for some time, as every series that raced this weekend saw some sort of excitement. Whether it was a first time winner, the closest finish in history, or just plain old competitive racing, this weekend had it all, and we’re gonna wrap it all up! Get ready, because we’ve got NASCAR, ARCA, IndyCar, Formula 1, and more!

ARCA

The ARCA Series Presented by Menard’s kicked off the weekend in Talladega, albeit a bit delayed. Severe weather plagued the south on Friday, postponing the ARCA race to Saturday at an early start of 9 am. Ty Dillon (#41 RCR Chevy) sat on pole for the race, and did not look back. Dillon was dominant throughout the race, but faced a late challenge. Frank Kimmel (#44 Ansell Ford) and Grant Enfinger (#36 Dodge) sat ahead of Dillon with five laps to go. No matter, as Dillon passed Enfinger with three to go and would pass Kimmel out of the tri-oval on the final lap to take the win, brining back shades of the late Dale Earnhardt. Below is the rundown of the finishers:

1. 41 Ty Dillon

2. 44 Frank Kimmel

3. 5 Bobby Gerhart (Points Leader)

4. 94 Brett Hudson

5. 17 Chris Buescher

6. 52 Tom Hessert

7. 19 Brian Rose

8. 25 Scott Lagasse Jr.

9. 51 Will Vaught

10. 32 Matt Merrell

11. 16 Joey Coulter

12. 12 Maryeve Dufault

13. 36 Grant Enfinger

14. 22 Dakoda Armstrong

15. 6 Pierre Bourque

16. 82 Sean Corr

17. 58 Chad Hackenbracht

18. 31 Tim George Jr.

19. 63 Milka Duno

20. 1 Chad McCumbee

21. 23 Nick Igdalsky

22. 14 Barry Fitzgerald

23. 11 Richard Harriman

24. 28 Rob Jones

25. 4 Brandon McReynolds -1 Lap

26. 3 Brent Brevak -10 Laps

DNFs:  75 Benny Chastain, 55 Hal Martin, 06 Wayne Peterson, 98 Bryan Silas, 34 Darrell Basham, 26 Brad Smith, 48 James Hylton, 10 Charlie Vest, 30 Terry Jones, 15 Kyle Fowler, 77 Joey Licata, 68 Will Kimmel, 0 Tim Mitchell

NASCAR Nationwide Series

The NASCAR Nationwide Series was the next series to take the track at Talladega Superspeedway. Elliott Sadler (#2 OneMain Financial Chevy) sat on pole as it was the first time the new Nationwide Car would see action on the high backs of Alabama. It would also be the first time the Nationwide Series would experiment with the “two-car tango” created by the Sprint Cup drivers at Daytona. Early on, trouble found the owner of Kevin Harvick Inc. as Kevin Harvick (#4 Armour Vienna Sausages Chevy) would lose an engine early in the race. As the race continued, there would be over 50 different lead changes, easily surpassing the previous Nationwide record of 36.

With 30 laps to go, “The Big One” hit Talladega. Over 30 cars were involved in the wreck on the backstretch, started when Kyle Busch (#18 Z-Line Designs Toyota) slid into Michael Waltrip (#99 Aaron’s Toyota) and collected the rest of the field. However, the wreckage was not over. With two laps to go, Sam Hornish Jr (#12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge) spun off turn two and just missed hitting the inside wall. Then, during the first green-white-checkered finish, Michael Annett (#62 Flying J Toyota) slammed the wall down the backstretch off the bump draft from James Buescher (#30 ABF Toyota), collecting Reed Sorenson (#32 Dollar General Toyota) and Joey Logano (#20 GameStop Toyota). Then, during the second green-white-checkered finish, Jason Leffler (#38 Great Clips Toyota) and Reed Sorenson spun off contact with James Buescher, all teammates at Turner Motorsport. Finally, the last green-white-checkered finish ended under caution when Mike Wallace (#01 G&K Services Chevy) spun off the nose of Reed Sorenson, and barrel-rolled down the backstretch, collecting Sorenson and Carl Edwards (#60 Fastenal Ford). In the end, Kyle Busch in a severely damaged car held on to win the race, but kudos to Joe Nemechek (#87 Extenze Toyota) and Mike Wallace for contending for the win with underfunded teams. Below is the rundown of the finishers:

1. 18 Kyle Busch

2. 20 Joey Logano

3. 87 Joe Nemechek

4. 22 Brad Keselowski

5. 2 Elliott Sadler

6. 16 Trevor Bayne

7. 31 Justin Allgaier

8. 7 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

9. 32 Reed Sorenson

10. 88 Aric Almirola

11. Brian Scott

12. 40 Scott Wimmer

13. 12 Sam Hornish Jr.

14. 15 Timmy Hill (Rookie)

15. 38 Jason Leffler (Points Leader)

16. 82 Blake Koch (Rookie)

17. 60 Carl Edwards

18. 01 Mike Wallace

19. 62 Michael Annett -2 Laps

20. 81 Donnie Neuenberger -3 Laps

21. 52 Danny Efland -3 Laps

22. 33 Clint Bowyer -4 Laps

23. 30 James Buescher DNF

24. 51 Jeremy Clements -14 Laps

25. 09 Kenny Wallace DNF

26. 14 Eric McClure -15 Laps

27. 28 Derrike Cope -20 Laps

28. 23 Robert Richardson Jr. -21 Laps

29. Dennis Setzer -24 Laps

DNFs:  89 Morgan Shepherd, 39 Josh Wise, 66 Steve Wallace, 99 Michael Waltirip, 1 Jamie McMurray, 19 Mike Bliss, 21 Tim George Jr, 41 Jennifer Jo Cobb, 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 4 Kevin Harvick, 74 Mike Harmon, 79 Tim Andrews, 68 Carl Long, 44 Jeff Green

And to think, this is just from Saturday! The Sunday rundown will be coming tomorrow, with Sprint Cup, IndyCar, and Formula One!