Jamie McMurray Scores an Upset Win at Talladega

Wow, what a wild race at Talladega today! Before the race, NASCAR president Mike Helton told the drivers during their meeting that bump-drafting in the corners was not allowed, there must be daylight between every car.

The drivers were also informed that penalties would be imposed if the rule was not followed. The first infraction would result in a warning, the second infraction would involve a pass through penalty. Obviously, a lot of the drivers were not very happy about it but they went along with it anyway.

It almost cost three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson dearly. He puttered around the back of the pack most of the afternoon and almost ran out of time to charge through the field.

But with five laps remaining, the first "big one" occurred when Tony Stewart hit the wall and Ryan Newman went airborne down on the apron on the backstretch, landed upside down on top of Kevin Harvick's car, slid up the track upside down, slid down the track onto the grass, did a 360 and came to a rest on its top.

This frightening accident caused the red flag to be displayed for nearly 13 minutes while NASCAR officials worked to turn the car back over and extract Newman from it. He explained in his interview, after release from the infield care center, that he was unable to communicate with his crew right away due to a broken antenna. Thank God that he was able to walk away sore but okay. He was not very happy with the new rule as well as NASCAR in general.

At this point, Jimmie Johnson was scored in the 16th position(I'm not sure) and drivers ahead of him began to run out of gas and had to pit. He was credited with an eighth place finish, which likely sealed his bid for a fourth straight championship.

With two laps left, the final "big one" occurred and sent Mark Martin flipping across the racetrack. The race ended under caution, allowing Jamie McMurray to pick up the third win of his career. He had not won a race since July 2007 at Daytona, 86 races ago. Kasey Kahne was second, followed by Sprint Cup Rookie Joey Logano.