Stewart started eighth and rocketed to the lead on just the first lap. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) led the first 16 circuits around the 2.66-mile oval and ran among the top-five until lap 100. There, after a series of green-flag pit stops, Stewart’s engine began to run hot.

Three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion Stewart had to duck out of the draft to get clean air onto the grill openings in the nose of his Chevy, and while he was able to cool the engine’s water temperature, the engine’s water pressure still was dangerously high. It wasn’t until a lap 177 pit stop under caution that the team was able to go under the hood and decrease the water pressure.

Stewart left pit road and restarted in 18th with an Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy that was back to the strong form it showed at the beginning of the race. But as is often the case in restrictor-plate racing at Talladega, where cars run in packs and one small misstep by one driver drastically affects others, a multi-car crash on lap 186 collected Stewart as he was making a run toward the front.

“I thought it was a pretty good race. I made it further than I thought I would before I got crashed,” said a sarcastic Stewart after the race.

Despite the 24th-place finish, Stewart gained one position in the championship standings. He rose to seventh and has 328 points, 50 behind series leader Greg Biffle.

Stewart’s SHR teammate, Ryan Newman, had an even worse day at Talladega. The driver of the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet finished 36th after an engine failure 42 laps into the race. Newman fell three spots to 13th in points. He’s 92 points out of first with a tally of 286.

Brad Keselowski won the Aaron’s 499. It was his sixth career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his second at Talladega. Keselowski’s win marked the first time in 36 years that a Dodge has won at Talladega. The manufacturer’s last win at Talladega came in August 1976 with Dave Marcis behind the wheel. It was also the first Sprint Cup win at Talladega for Penske Racing.

Kyle Busch finished .304 of a second behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot, while Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Biffle rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 24 laps, with 19 drivers failing to finish the 194-lap race, which was extended six laps by a green-white-checkered finish.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the 63rd running of the Southern 500 on Saturday, May 12 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race starts at 7 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

“I smelled oil off of (Turn) 2 and felt the motor tightening up, and I lost oil pressure and gained a bunch of water pressure,” Newman said. “I just pulled it out of gear. I knew it was blowing up, but just seeing if we had a chance to fix it and hoping we could. But I’m pretty sure it’s hurt.

“I’ve got to thank Johnny Morris and everybody from Bass Pro Shops for jumping on board for this race.”

Newman, who ran in the top-five early before dropping to the back of the pack, was just riding around and biding his time at Talladega when he reported to his crew that his motor was “blowing up” at lap 40.

Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats driver Newman told crew chief Tony Gibson the water temperature was rising, oil pressure was lost, and water was spewing from the car. Gibson told Newman to bring his Chevrolet to the garage so the crew could diagnose the problem and see if there was a chance that Newman could get back on track.

But the problem was determined terminal after members of the Stewart-Haas Racing crew and the Hendrick Motorsports engine shop inspected under the hood. Newman’s day was over after just 42 laps.

Brad Keselowski won the Aaron’s 499 to score his sixth career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his second at Talladega. Keselowski’s race win marked the first time in 36 years that a Dodge won at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. The manufacturer’s last win at Talladega came in August 1976 with Dave Marcis behind the wheel. It was also the first Sprint Cup win at Talladega for Penske Racing.

Kyle Busch finished .304 of a second behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot, while Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 24 laps, with 19 drivers failing to finish the 194-lap race, which was extended six laps by a green-white-checkered finish.

With round 10 of 36 complete, Tony Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He is seventh with 328 points, 50 behind series leader Biffle. Newman is 13th with 286 points, 92 out of first.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the 63rd running of the Southern 500 on Saturday, May 12 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race starts at 7 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

“It’s pretty warm here today, but since they re-paved this track (in 2006), handling hasn’t been an issue,” said Stewart, who has one Sprint Cup victory at Talladega, earned in October 2008. “They did such a good job that the asphalt has a ton of grip in it. I wish I could say handling was going to be an issue, but unfortunately it’s not.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet for SHR, will start 14th after turning a lap of 50.383 seconds at 190.064 mph.

“We feel like we have a good racecar for tomorrow,” said Newman, who has a best Talladega finish of third, earned in April 2009. “We’ll just hope for some luck to be on our side and see what happens.”

Jeff Gordon captured his 71st career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his third at Talladega by posting a lap of 49.973 seconds at 191.623 mph.

A.J. Allmendinger will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 50.107 seconds at 191.111 mph. Marcos Ambrose was third (50.126 seconds at 191.039 mph), while Aric Almirola (50.141 seconds at 190.981 mph) and Kasey Kahne (50.196 seconds at 190.772 mph) rounded out the top five.

Forty-four drivers attempted to qualify for the Aaron’s 499. The lone driver not making the cut in the 43-car field was J.J. Yeley.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot via Gordon’s pole run. Dodge was next best at the hands of Allmendinger. Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to Ambrose, while ninth-quick Michael Waltrip (50.335 seconds at 190.245 mph) carried the flag for Toyota.

The Aaron’s 499 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with a pre-race show at noon.

HOW WAS THE CAR ON THE TRACK TODAY? “It seems fine. It is so hard to tell. Practice really is hard to gauge anything here until you get everybody out there. You don’t get the pack you are going to race in. You just go out and check for vibrations. Might try a couple of different cowl combinations, but that’s about it.”

ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT TEMPERATURES IN THE FIRST PRACTICE? “You look at it. Everybody was looking at their temps in practice to see where they are at, and what they are going to have to do to manage it. It’s part of what we know we are all going to have to pay attention to on Sunday, but it didn’t seem like it was something that was going to be out of control right now.”

ARE YOU HAVING AN ISSUE WITH YOUR FEET GETTING HOT? THE TEAM WAS SAYING THEY ARE PUTTING FANS ON THE FLOOR: “I’m not worried about it.  The hotter it is, the better I like it. I’m not worried about temperature right now to be honest, as far as inside the car. I’m more worried about the motor than I am me right now.”

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST TRIP TO TALLADEGA? “I do. I remember I wrecked in a Nationwide car in three and four, and backed up and caught Mark Martin between me and the fence. It pealed the whole door off the car. I remember how bad I felt crashing Mark Martin. It was a different animal than it is now, obviously. It had a lot more bumps, sealer and seams and everything. It is a pretty cool place to come to. It’s fun…actually this is the first time we have ever worked on handling is this weekend. It’s not a big issue. We’re finally having to work on the handling of the cars a little bit. It makes it fun.”

ROBIN PEMBERTON TOLD REPORTERS THAT THE DEBRIS (AT RICHMOND NEAR THE END OF THE RACE) WAS A PIECE OF ALUMINUM. ARE YOU OK WITH THAT EXPLANATION? “They picked it up. They know what it is. It looked like a bottle to me. But, the end result is the same thing. It still cost us an opportunity. It still cost us a win.  The good thing is, no matter what it is on the race track. You can’t have a race car hit and then go in the stands and hurt somebody. They did what they needed to do, but you just hate the timing of it. And, you hate that it even happened in the first place.”

FANS ARE UPSET BECAUSE THEY DON’T SEE THE DEBRIS ON TV A LOT OF TIMES.DOES TV NEED TO SHOW THE DEBRIS SO EVERYONE IS CLEAR WHAT IT IS? “No. I think NASCAR has done a really good job in the last year or so of making sure if there is a debris caution, it’s not a just mystery caution. There is something out there that they are picking up. I’ve got the trust in them that when they through the debris caution that there is something out there. The big thing is you don’t want something to be out there and it get hit by a race car and it goes in the stands and hit somebody or hurt somebody. They have pretty good eyes around the race track to make sure that there’s not stuff laying out there.”

Of the 21 tracks where Stewart has won a Sprint Cup race, he has scored multiple wins at 15 of them. He has only one victory apiece at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Phoenix International Raceway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway – site of Sunday’s Aaron’s 499.

Stewart’s lone victory at the 2.66-mile oval came in October 2008 when he started 34^th and led 24 of 190 laps en route to victory in a race that was extended two laps due to a green-white-checkered finish. It was his last win as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing before he became co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2009.

Since he moved to SHR, Stewart has scored 13 victories and one Sprint Cup championship, but Talladega has been anything but pleasant to the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet.

His seventh-place finish in last October’s Good Sam Club 500 is his only top-15 result at Talladega since his victory four years ago. And Sunday’s race, like the previous 26 Sprint Cup races Stewart has competed in at Talladega, will be a crapshoot. Drivers know that being in the right place at the right time on the last lap is the key to victory, for one moment a driver can be in the lead, and then seconds later get shuffled out of the draft and jettisoned from winning to wondering what would’ve been.

But before Stewart attempts to draft his way into Talladega’s victory lane and hoist a trophy on Sunday, he’ll pick up his Driver of the Year trophy on Thursday night from the International Motorsports Hall of Fame during a black-tie banquet that will also honor 2011 ARCA champion Ty Dillon, as well as induct drag racing legends John Force and Kenny Bernstein and NASCAR owner Richard Childress into the Hall of Fame.

TONY STEWART, Driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How would you rate yourself as a restrictor-plate racer?

“Well, I’m not any happier about it than I’ve always been, but we’ve had a lot of success at restrictor-plate tracks, especially Talladega. We’ve run in the top-two there a gazillion times. I’m glad we’re halfway decent at it, but it’s still always frustrating when you have to rely on what everybody else does. It’s not what you do. It’s what you do along with somebody else who decides that they’re going to follow you and help you. That’s the part that frustrates you as a driver.”

As a driver, how much input do you have in making the car go fast at Talladega?

“The race situation is a lot different from practice. You tend to have a much larger pack of cars and that makes a really big difference. But you’re still able to figure out what your car likes and dislikes in the draft during practice. It may not be exactly what you’ll experience in the race, but it’s the closest thing to it. Basically, it gives you an idea of what your car is capable of and where you need to be to make the moves you want.”

When you’re in the draft, how much control do you feel you have inside the racecar?

“It depends on the circumstances. You can’t see the air and you hit different pockets (of air). You hit a pocket where you get a real big tow or you hit a pocket where it seems they’re getting a tow and pulling you back, and you just have to play the circumstances. That’s why we spend so much time and run so many laps in practice. You just try getting in different scenarios and try to learn if you get in the middle of the draft, what does it do? Will it give you a push? Will it not give you a push? If you get next to this car, does it suck you up or does it slow you down? That’s why so many guys will stay out for so long in practice. It’s trial and error, but at the same time, it’s like pulling a pin on a grenade. You know through that process that if one guy makes a mistake, the car’s torn up for the race. It’s just a delicate balance of how hard you go, how many things you try, and how much time you spend doing it.”

With the return of pack racing, do you expect the return of multi-car crashes at Talladega?

“Well, if I knew that I would probably be a bookie in Las Vegas. I mean, nobody knows that for sure. Any time that you’re in a pack where you’ve got cars on top of each other like we do, that potential is always there. It’s no different now than it was 20 years ago when I was watching this series and they were doing the same thing. The game is the same. It hasn’t changed that much. So, that potential is always going to be there.”

When you made your first Sprint Cup start back on Feb. 14, 1999, did you envision that you would win championships and contend for wins?

“No, I was just happy to be here. You dream of it, but I’m not sure when you start that you say, ‘This is what’s going to happen,’ and you can predict that’s what’s going to happen. There are so many talented drivers and teams in this series that you can’t start in this series and expect to have those kinds of results. I think if you are, you’re being kind of foolish and being more ambitious than realistic. We’ve been really lucky to be with really good people for 14 years now in this series, and that’s what’s gotten us where we are.”

Back in the day, restrictor-plate racing meant racing against Dale Earnhardt, at least if you were racing for the win. Do you have any special memories from your time racing against him?

“You just always knew that, if he was behind you, it wasn’t going to be easy keeping him behind you. There was a reason that he got the nickname ‘Intimidator.’ When you looked in the mirror, you were intimidated by him. Not so much that you were actually intimidated, but you knew that it wasn’t going to be like racing with someone else. If he got to you and if he didn’t get by you in a couple of corners, then he was going to lean on you a little bit. You might wreck, you might keep going, but he was going to make it interesting. That’s what made him so special. The first Bud Shootout we won at Daytona, we outran him there and that was as much as I ever wanted to see of that black ‘3’ in my mirror. That was way too much stress. It was more mental stress than it was physical stress. My mind was wore out after winning that race because he had such a large bag of tricks at Daytona and Talladega that just watching what he was doing and trying to figure out what he was thinking or trying to set up just made you exhausted. Driving the car was easy, it was just trying to mentally figure out and trying to stay up to pace with what his thought process was at the time and knowing how to anticipate what his next move was going to be to beat him.”

TONY STEWART’S TALLADEGA PERFORMANCE PROFILE

× Race length extended due to green-white-checker finish.
† Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points.

Next to his family and racing, there’s no greater passion for Ryan Newman than fishing.

An avid outdoorsman, Newman is always looking for an opportunity to make his way to the local fishing hole nearest the track where the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is in action on any given weekend. While on the road, Newman carries about 12 fishing rods, tackle boxes and a three-piece boat with a trolling motor and battery so he can head out to fish whenever he can.

For Newman, fishing provides a much-needed escape from the hectic schedule he has on the weekends. He can turn off the outside world for a little while and simply relax and enjoy the peacefulness of the scenery around him.

Newman’s been fishing as long as he can remember. His grandfather bought him his first fishing rod and took him fishing on a lake in Michigan when he was just a kid. In fact, he started fishing and racing right around the same time – at the tender age of 4.

Perhaps that’s why the always-analytical Newman can find a connection between the two very different sports he loves, which will come together this weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway as the South Bend, Ind., native pilots the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevy for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup race.

So, what’s the common thread between fishing and racing?

In Newman’s eyes, there’s one thing any good fisherman or good racecar driver must have to have to be successful –patience. It’s important to take your time and not get frustrated, whether at the pond or on the racetrack, because that can affect the outcome.

As a fisherman, Newman knows there’s a good chance he won’t catch a fish in his first few minutes on the lake. In fact, he knows it’s a process that could take hours. Cast your line, reel it in, repeat. If there’s no fish, then find another area of water and cast your line, reel it in, repeat.

The same goes on the racetrack. As Newman explains it, patience behind the wheel is crucial, particularly in the extremely tight packs of cars that will circle the famed Talladega Superspeedway this weekend in the Aaron’s 499. The temporary phenomenon of two-car tandem racing that took center stage at the 2.66-mile racetrack the last two seasons is already a thing of the past. With that, the old, familiar tight-pack racing that is so conducive to the multi-car melee is expected to be back in full effect this weekend.

Thus, the series’ biggest and fastest racetracks – Talladega and its sister track, Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway – remain the ones where Newman’s patience is continually tested more than any other racetrack.

The key to survival in such circumstances is to stay calm and just wait for your turn, Newman says. Eventually, the opening will be there and the driver will be able to make his move. Patience keeps you from getting frustrated, losing your cool and making a mistake that could end your day, as well as that of many others.

Seeing his day end early at Talladega is something Newman knows all too well. Over the years, the superspeedway hasn’t been particularly kind to the 2008 Daytona 500 champion. He’s been spun, turned end-over-end and has landed on his roof in the infield.

In 20 starts at Talladega, Newman has four top-five finishes and seven top-10s. In six starts there since joining SHR in 2009, Newman has just one top-five finish and three finishes of 35th or worse.

His third-place effort during the 2009 spring race is his best-ever finish at the superspeedway, and it actually ended with a demolished racecar. Newman managed to finish third despite not being able to see through the massive front-end damage his car received during a spectacular last-lap altercation with Carl Edwards.

Even though Newman has endured his share of Talladega tribulations, he remains patient and confident his luck will turn around and he will finally get that elusive win at the Alabama track. While everyone will be talking about avoiding the “Big One” – the multi-car accident that’s been a trademark occurrence at the 2.66-mile superspeedway – Newman will be angling for his own version of the “Big One,” both while trying to reel in the largest fish from the local pond, and while piloting the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevy to his first restrictor-plate race win with SHR.

RYAN NEWMAN, Driver of the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Talk a little bit about racing luck Talladega.

“I’m just wanting to know, when the dice get rolled, if they’re going to play in our favor or not. In all honesty, Talladega is a crapshoot. This team has proven time and again at the restrictor-plate tracks that we will do what we have to do to put ourselves in position to go for the win, and we’ll just have to see if luck is on our side on Sunday when we’re in that spot. If you think about the law of averages, sooner or later we’re not only going to finish a race at Daytona and Talladega, we’re going to get a good finish – maybe even a win – considering all the wrong-place, wrong-time wrecks we’ve been caught up in at both tracks. Hopefully, this is our time to come out of Talladega with a strong finish and a racecar in one piece.”

You’ve had some bad experiences at Talladega and have been quite vocal about the racing there. So, what are your thoughts on coming to Talladega and how do you approach coming here?

“I wouldn’t say that I dread coming to Talladega. It’s not my favorite racetrack, but I don’t say that I dread it. I love doing what I do. I love driving a racecar even at Talladega. I think the difference is there’s more potential to get involved in something not of your making there, and that’s frustrating to me. But that’s not just me. Everyone hopes they can avoid the big crash there. And, to be honest, when you’re up front at Talladega, it’s great. When you’re not, it can be miserable. When you’re the recipient of somebody else’s lack of judgment, then it’s not easy to talk about it. And that’s pretty much it. It’s just that there is way more potential for that there than there is at most other racetracks. So, I don’t think I’m any different than anybody else. I’d love to win the race but, when I’m the recipient of somebody else’s misjudgment, that’s even more aggravating to me. But what I can say is we’ve had very good superspeedway cars since I’ve been at Stewart-Haas Racing. We’ve led the most laps and we’ve been in position to win a couple of races. And (Tony) Stewart has won a couple of races. So, I’m very confident coming into Talladega, and I feel good about our racecars. Now, we just have to have some luck on our side to finish the deal.”

You mention luck a lot. How much of winning a restrictor-plate race is luck, as opposed to skill?

“I’ve always said there is always luck in racing. You can create the destiny of your own luck. That luck can be good luck or bad luck. You have to prepare yourself to get out of the bad luck and into the good luck. When I won the Daytona 500 in 2008, part of it was lucky, part of it was the timing of things, part of it was Kurt (Busch) driving his tail off to get behind me coming off turn two. That was skill and, for me, it was luck. It is all a matter of opinion. You can ask 42 other guys out there, they might have thought I got lucky when I won. For me I thought it was skill.”

RYAN NEWMAN’S TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY PERFORMANCE PROFILE

× Race length extended due to green-white-checker finish.

† Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points.

Tony Stewart dodged the calamity Talladega offers up – tandem racing where a driver has to rely on another driver to push him around the vast 2.66-mile oval at speeds approaching 200 mph – to finish seventh and move up to fourth in the championship standings.

Stewart’s No. 14 El Monterey/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) was strong throughout the 188-lap contest, as he led five times for a race-high 30 laps en route to his 16^th top-10 result of 2011 and his 13^th top-10 in 26 career Sprint Cup starts at Talladega.

But the run to the front didn’t come without some hairy moments, the most notable of which involved his teammate, Ryan Newman.

Newman and Stewart showed their strength early, with Stewart pushing Newman to the lead four times for five laps. But the tandem racing that allowed them to move to the front bit them on lap 81. While racing through the tri-oval, Newman and Stewart came upon David Reutimann, and as the pair passed him low, aerodynamics and a bump-draft from Stewart sent Newman sideways.

The momentary loss of downforce caused when Newman slipped past Reutimann, combined with the nose of Stewart’s car tapping the rear bumper of Newman’s No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, sent Newman spinning onto the infield grass, whereupon the splitter was ripped from beneath the front bumper. It was damage Newman was never able to overcome, and he wound up 16 laps down in 38^th.

Making matters worse was that Stewart was left without a drafting partner. The banged-up car of Joey Logano, who lost his left-front fender when a cut tire earlier in the race tore apart the sheetmetal, was Stewart’s only hope. Amazingly, with Logano pushing Stewart, the duo drove through the field, ultimately running 1-2 from laps 136-145 and again from laps 149-156.

As successful as the pairing was, it was broken up with less than 25 laps remaining. Logano, employed by Joe Gibbs Racing, was instructed to assist his teammate, Denny Hamlin.

Exit Logano, enter Paul Menard. The winner of this year’s Brickyard 400 attached himself to Stewart’s rear bumper beginning with a restart on lap 168. The duo proved just as strong as the Logano pairing, with Menard pushing Stewart back into the lead for laps 169-178.

But with Menard’s Richard Childress Racing (RCR) teammates, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton, posing as Stewart’s biggest challengers for the win, Menard got his instructions to not push Stewart past his RCR brethren. And in the race’s final restart on lap 187, Bowyer and Burton shot forward while Stewart and Menard dropped back, as Stewart’s pusher was suddenly not as strong as he’d been just a few laps earlier.

When the checkered flag dropped, Bowyer had his fifth career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his second at Talladega, with Burton .018 of a second behind him in the runner-up spot. Stewart was seventh.

“I screwed up and got out of sync with Ryan (Newman) and crashed him, and after that you just had to pick up whoever you could pick up,” said Stewart, who has one Sprint Cup victory at Talladega, earned in October 2008. “We had a good run with Joey (Logano) there for a long time and were lucky enough to pick Paul Menard up. I had good partners to push with. Paul and Joey both did a great job and Ryan did a great job. I let Ryan down today.”

Dave Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-five. Kasey Kahne, Stewart, Hamlin, Michael Waltrip and Martin Truex Jr., comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were nine caution periods for 38 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish.

Stewart and Newman are both in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup and came into Talladega fifth and 10^th, respectively, in the Chase standings. Stewart was 24 points behind Chase leader Carl Edwards while Newman was 61 points out of the top spot. Stewart leaves Talladega fourth in points, 19 markers behind Edwards. Newman fell two spots to 12^th in the standings and is now 88 points out of first.

With only four races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

1.             Carl Edwards (2,237 points)
2.             Matt Kenseth (2,223 points, -14)
3.             Brad Keselowski (2,219 points, -18)
4.             Tony Stewart (2,218 points, -19)
5.             Kevin Harvick (2,211 points, -26)
6.             Kyle Busch (2,197 points, -40)
7.             Jimmie Johnson (2,187 points, -50)
8.             Kurt Busch (2,185 points, -52)
9.             Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2,163 points, -74)
10.         Jeff Gordon (2,155 points, -82)
11.         Denny Hamlin (2,153 points, -84)
12.         Ryan Newman (2,149 points, -88)

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the seventh race of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup – is the Oct. 30 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 1 p.m.

For the first 80 laps at Talladega Superspeedway, Newman and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Tony Stewart, were a force to be reckoned with as the two drafting partners ran up front on the high-speed, 2.66-mile oval.

But on Lap 81 of 188, Newman became the victim of the two-car draft as he was accidentally spun by Stewart, causing major front-end damage to the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet. The severe spin in the grass tore off Newman’s front-bumper assembly and left him with a heavily damaged race car and a 38th-place finish in the Good Sam Club 500.

Newman eventually drove his car to the garage for repairs and when he returned to action he was 16 laps down.

“Up until the spin, I felt we had a car that would be challenging for the win,” said a disappointed Newman, who led four times for five laps. “I am not really sure what happened. All I know is that we’ve had really good cars this year at the superspeedways but zero luck.”

Stewart, who was pushing Newman’s car at the time of the spin, did not have any damage to his car and went on to post a seventh-place finish.

Regarding the incident with Newman, Stewart said, “I screwed up and got out of sync with Ryan and crashed him.”

Newman led late in the two Daytona International Speedway restrictor-plate races this season but got crashed in each. He basically suffered the same fate in the April Talladega race where he was a front runner before being spun out a couple of times and shoved to the back of the field.

“We’ll keep on fighting with our Army spirit and grit, ” said Newman. “Hopefully it will all come together for us at the next superspeedway race, which will be next year’s first race, the Daytona 500.”

The 38th-place finish dropped Newman from 10th to 12th in the Chase point standings. Stewart moved up one spot to fourth and is 19 points behind leader Carl Edwards with four races remaining.

The next Sprint Cup race is Sunday (Oct. 30) at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Stewart led five times for a race-high 30 laps en route to his 16th top-10 result of 2011 and his 13th top-10 in 26 career Sprint Cup starts at the 2.66-mile oval.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala for SHR, finished 16 laps down in 38th. Newman led four times for five laps early in the 188-lap race, but suffered damage to his racecar on lap 81 when contact with Stewart sent him spinning into the infield grass, ripping the splitter from beneath the front bumper.

Clint Bowyer won the Good Sam Club 500 to score his fifth career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his second at Talladega.

His Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton finished .018 of a second behind Bowyer in the runner-up spot, while Dave Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-five. Kasey Kahne, Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Michael Waltrip and Martin Truex Jr., comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were nine caution periods for 38 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish.

Stewart and Newman are both in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup and came into Talladega fifth and 10th, respectively, in the Chase standings. Stewart was 24 points behind Chase leader Carl Edwards while Newman was 61 points out of the top spot. Stewart leaves Talladega fourth in points, 19 markers behind Edwards. Newman fell two spots to 12th in the standings and is now 88 points out of first.

With only four races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

1. Carl Edwards (2,237 points)
2. Matt Kenseth (2,223 points, -14)
3. Brad Keselowski (2,219 points, -18)
4. Tony Stewart (2,218 points, -19)
5. Kevin Harvick (2,211 points, -26)
6. Kyle Busch (2,197 points, -40)
7. Jimmie Johnson (2,187 points, -50)
8. Kurt Busch (2,185 points, -52)
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2,163 points, -74)
10. Jeff Gordon (2,155 points, -82)
11. Denny Hamlin (2,153 points, -84)
12. Ryan Newman (2,149 points, -88)

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the seventh race of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup – is the Oct. 30 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 1 p.m.