Speed and Stenhouse Jr. Suffer Tire Trauma; Allagier Triumphs at Talladega

In a wild ARCA race at Talladega Super Speedway, tire troubles were the talk of the day.  Both championship contenders, Scott Speed and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., suffered tire trauma during the race.  Almost every lap was punctuated by a blown tire, sometimes affecting multiple other cars and a few causing the "big" wrecks.

Coming into Talladega, Scott Speed led the points battle by sixty points.  Prior to the race, Speed admitted that it was "survival at this point".  He wanted to focus on "not doing anything stupid" and vowed to avoid "getting in someone else's accident".

Motocross "GOAT" (Greatest Of All Time), Ricky Carmichael, was also set to make his first ARCA start.  Carmichael has been doing well in the Camping World East series, currently eighth in points for the season with one race to go.  Carmichael, driving for Kevin Harvick Inc., said that he was "definitely anxious" and just wanted "to learn and to gain respect and to get ready for next year".

James Buescher had secured the pole position and led the field to the green flag.  Inexplicably, he quickly dropped below the yellow line at the start of the race.  Apparently, he had lost third gear, a problem that would plague him throughout the race, eventually ending his day.

On Lap 12, the first "big one" occurred when Brian Scott blew his right rear tire, the first of many tire issues throughout the race.  Over a dozen cars were involved in the wreck, taking many good cars out of contention.

After the clean up, Tom Hessert III led the race, followed nose to tail by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Scott Speed.  The order was shuffled up after pit stops, however, Stenhouse and Speed stuck closely together throughout most of the race.

But tire trouble was just around the corner and this time it bit Ricky Carmichaels.  His right rear tire blew dramatically, causing another spin and caution.

Then on Lap 60, the big tire trouble began for the championship contenders.  First, Stenhouse, Jr. blew a right rear tire, almost going airborne after wrecking with several other cars.  

While his team, including Cup driver Tony Stewart, scrambled to repair the severely damaged race car, it appeared that the championship battle with Scott Speed was over.

Then, unbelievably, with 26 laps to go in the race, tire trauma came to visit Scott Speed, spinning him around, causing him to graze the wall.  It was time for yet another team to scramble to repair a very badly damaged race car.

The battle for the championship then shifted to the pits, as the Speed and Stenhouse, Jr. teams worked furiously to try to get their cars back on the track to stay in points contention.

With ten laps to go, Joey Logano, in his number 15 Interstate Batteries car, assumed the lead.  Justin Allgaier was in second, and Frank Kimmel was in third.  The battered cars of Speed and Stenhouse, Jr. were well back, just trying to log laps.

As the laps went down, so did the sun, and the ARCA officials ruled that the race would have to end as scheduled, even if it was not under the green, due to darkness.

In an amazing finish, Allgaier continued to push Logano to the lead, but then had such momentum that he went around Logano, to assume the lead himself.  Justin Allgaier finally had reached victory lane at a super speedway.

The finishing order for the top ten is as follows:

1.   Justin Allgaier

2.   Joey Logano

3.   Bobby Gearhart

4.  Jeremy Clements

5.   Patrick Sheltra

6.   Frank Kimmel

7.   John Wes Townley

8.   Mark Thompson

9.   Chrissy Wallace

10.  Matt Carter

In spite of the tire trauma, especially for both championship contenders, Scott Speed retained his points lead.  He currently is 85 points ahead of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.  But the battle has tightened, with Justin Allgaier lurking only 105 points back and veteran Frank Kimmel only 145 points behind.

With only one race to go in the regular ARCA series, the championship will come down to the wire at the final race at Toledo Speedway next week.