NASCAR: Off-Weekend Video Web Gems

2008 Aaron’s 312 at Talladega

The 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series season was one of the greatest seasons for crazy racing. And the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega was one of its crowned jewels after a big wreck in the race. Lots of Cup Series drivers made appearances in this race too, including Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and David Reutimann.

Now known affectionately as “Lepaging the field”, relive the whole race as seen on ABC. The big wreck with under fifty laps to go was caused by a slow car driven by Kevin Lepage pulling off pit road unsafely in front of the pack. What happened after that was utter chaos.

Destroying more than half the field, only a dozen cars remained competitive for the final run to the checkered flag over the ensuing thirty plus laps. Not only that, but the driver for Specialty Racing appeared to not recall the warnings of NASCAR about the rules for safely exiting pit road during the race, instead blaming the leaders for not checking up for a slower lapped car.

Of course, not all the blame can be put onto a driver at a superspeedway race, where spotters prove to be so vital. Questions surrounded the #61 team following the controversial wreck about whether or not they could afford an effective spotter, considering the team’s lack of sponsorship for much of the season. Specialty Racing is now defunct.

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