From the April, 2007 issue of Stock Car Insider
Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway Recap
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| Yesterday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway gave fans the restrictor plate action they've come to love! The 2.67 mile long track is the longest on the circuit and allows cars with restrictive power to run at speeds approaching 200mph while being bundled together like one large swarm of bees. While the action during the race was non-stop, the finish was anti-climatic. Under the final caution of the day, Jeff Gordon claimed the checkered flag and his 77th career victory. The final caution was waved during the green-white checkered finish as cars were wrecking all over the back stretch. When the caution dropped, Gordon was in the lead. Loving fans adorned Gordon by showering him with beer cans from the stands. None-the-less, Gordon shrugged off the negativity and celebrated his historic win. How the top drivers faired: Jeff Gordon made a late race charge that only he could pull off. Coming from 16th position with 10 laps remaining, Gordon parternered with Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson to charge to the front of the pack. On the final caution of the day under a green-white checker condition, Gordon claimed his 77th victory of all time. He now sits comfortably in first, 203 points ahead of second place Jeff Burton. Tony Stewart had a tumultuous week that was anything but staged. Earlier last week, Tony made comments on his weekly Sirius radio show that some of the debris cautions NASCAR calls are akin to WWE staged performances. Unfortunately for Stewart, the 6am Friday morning meeting with Mike Helton followed by the late race crash at Talladega were all too real. Stewart finished the race in 27th position and now sits 6th in points. Dale Earnhardt Jr had one of the strongest cars of the day, but fear of running out of gas perhaps held Earnhardt back from charging for the win. Jr finished in 8th position and now sits 13th in points. Jimmie Johnson is exhibiting the same championship form he had last year. The reigning champion finished in 2nd place, his 6th top 5 finish of the year. He now sits 4th in points. Kevin Harvick returned to top form by finishing 4th at Talladega. Last year's Busch champion now sits 7th in points.
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