David Gilliland pushed Ragan, his teammate, to the lead on the final circuit in a green-white checkered-flag finish that took Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 four laps past its scheduled distance of 188 laps. Gilliland came home second, followed by pole sitter Carl Edwards, Michael Waltrip and series leader Jimmie Johnson.

As Ragan put it, two Davids beat the Goliaths of NASCAR racing in one of the sport’s most unlikely finishes ever.

Ragan’s victory followed a massive wreck that took the race to overtime–and to near-darkness, in what truly was truly was a Talladega night. In fact, NASCAR gave the drivers a chance to change their tinted visors for clear ones during the final caution.

Afterwards, Ragan tried to put the win in perspective.

“I can only imagine what it felt like back in 1988 when Mark Martin got that first win for Jack Roush or when Geoff Bodine won that first race for Hendrick Motorsports,” said Ragan, who scored his only Sprint Cup win at Daytona in July 2011, his last season with Jack Roush. “I’m sure it was just as special.

“A lot of these guys have been to Victory Lane in the Sprint Cup Series and late model racing, short tracks, ARCA – all kinds of series – but to do it here at Talladega in 2013, like I said, it’s a true David vs. Goliath story. I couldn’t be more proud to play my own role.”

Ragan restarted 10th and Gilliland 11th for the final two-lap sprint. As the cars raced into Turn 1, they were barely visible from the frontstretch grandstand, but the teammates managed to find each other on the track. For the first time in NASCAR’s new Gen-6 car, Gilliland pushed another car through the corners–to the amazement of Edwards, whose jaw dropped in the post-race news conference as Gilliland described the final two laps.

“We got restarted there, and it was sprinkling, and it was dark and there was (speedy-dry) on the track so it got on the windshield where it was wet but I could see, and I could see David there and he came down,” Gilliland said. “Michael Waltrip was behind me, giving me a good run and just carried a lot of momentum up through there and got hooked up with David and figured he’s got the best chance of anybody sticking together with him out there and just worked our way up there.

“It got real tight getting into (Turn) 3 and 4 with Carl there. I know David was sideways and out of the gas, and Carl was right up on his door, and could have gone a number of ways. But, thankfully I just stayed on his bumper. I pushed him all the way through the corners. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that with this car, with these style of cars, because with these type of cars in practice I’ve pushed people down the back straight and it actually kind of gets underneath that little lip underneath the back bumper cover and I’ve always been kind of scared getting into the corner. As the front car compresses, the back part of the nose doesn’t have anywhere to go because the splitter is already on the racetrack.

“But I just pushed him all the way around there and Carl about stalled out a little bit, and we were just able to carry some good momentum and come home one-two.”

On Lap 183, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tried a four-wide move to the outside, but contact with J.J. Yeley’s car triggered a multicar melee that wiped out Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Danica Patrick and Clint Bowyer, among others.

That set up the two-lap dash in overtime with Matt Kenseth in the lead and Edwards beside him on the front row. Kenseth, who led 142 laps dropped to eighth at the finish.

Michael McDowell blew a tire and hit the wall on Lap 174 to cause the fourth caution of the race and bunch a field that had become segmented during a series of green-flag pit stops that ended on Lap 168. When NASCAR threw the yellow, Johnson led a six-car breakaway that included Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Edwards, Bowyer and Waltrip.

The caution, however, brought 19 other lead-lap cars back into play and the massive wreck at the end of the backstretch changed the game completely.

NASCAR slowed the race on Lap 122 and stopped it after Lap 125 when showers that had been forecast for race day arrived shortly after 3 p.m. ET. Edwards had nosed ahead of Stenhouse moments earlier and was ahead at the last scoring loop the cars crossed before the yellow.

That left the Fords of Edwards, Stenhouse, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski at the front of the field when NASCAR red-flagged the race, forcing drivers and fans to wait and see whether the event would resume.

After a stoppage of 3 hours, 36 minutes, the race restarted after pit stops, and Kenseth quickly surged to the front.

As the cars approached Turn 1 on lap 43, a tap from Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota turned Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet into the outside wall and triggered a wreck that damaged 16 cars, among them the Chevys of Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick, the Toyota of Brian Vickers (after a driver change with Denny Hamlin) and the Ford of Greg Biffle.

“I know I got in the back of the 5 (Kahne), and I guess I was trying to go to the outside of him,” Busch said. ‘But he just moved up in front of me, and I wasn’t expecting it, and I tried to go to the outside of him, and before I could get to the outside of him I got in the back of him.

“I just hate that I caused a hell of a melee for everybody. I hate that. A lot of cars got torn up, and it’s way too early in the race to be doing any of those sorts of moves, whether he made it or I made it. Just I hate it that we all got crashed in that deal.”

Both Kahne and Busch visited the infield care center after the wreck, and both were released in short order.

“I just kind of got shot through the center (of the field) there, just a lot of momentum coming from behind,” Kahne said of the action immediately before the crash. “Felt the No. 18 pushing me, and next thing I know, I was spinning.

“You just can’t push with these cars. We learned that at Daytona. He was pushing me and spun me in the wall, and then (it) happened again, so that is what it is.”

Kahne said he and Busch didn’t speak in the care center.

“No, I didn’t talk to him,” Kahne said. “I think we both probably understand what happened, and we’ll figure it out from there.”

Notes: Johnson’s margin in the Cup standings over second-place Edwards shrank by two points to 41. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (17th Sunday) is third, 59 points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate… Paul Menard finished 26th with a sour engine but gained two spots to eighth in the standings because other drivers in Chase-eligible positions had bigger issues… Ragan and Gilliland won a combined $608,261 for their 1-2 finish, a welcome payday for a team run by owner Bob Jenkins predominantly out of his own pocket.

Kerr joined the team after serving as crew chief for JTG Daugherty Racing’s No. 47 team and drivers Bobby Labonte and Marcos Ambrose. Kerr also served as crew chief for Xxxtreme Motorsports’ No. 44 car, driven by David Reutimann at the end of last season.

Kerr and Gilliland worked together in the Nationwide Series in 2005.

Kerr said:

I’m looking forward to working with this young team. As an organization they’ve only been on track for a few short years, but there’s a lot of experience in the shop, in the leadership and behind the wheel. I’m looking forward to helping them continue to grow.

Lane joins FRR after stints at Petty Enterprises — now Richard Petty Motorsports — and Chip Ganassi Racing, which merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc to become Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

Lane is returning to FRR, as he led the team’s first campaign in the Cup series in 2009, serving as crew chief for John Andretti. He also served as crew chief for Travis Kvapil in 2010, when he drove the No. 34 FRR machine.

Lane said:

This will definitely feel like a homecoming of sorts, back with Front Row and back with Ford. It was a great experience to help get Front Row’s first full-time Cup team off the ground back in 2009, and this will be a similar experience working with Josh as he expands his role with the team.

And, Jay Guy will return as crew chief for David Ragan and the No. 34 team.

Derrick Finley, who was crew chief for Gilliland since last October, will return to his role as competition director.

Related Stories

• Front Row Motorsports Finalizes 2013 Cup Plans
• Ragan To Drive For Front Row Motorsports
• Kvapil, Gilliland To Return To Front Row Motorsports

The team will continue to field Ford Fusions with power from Roush-Yates Engines.

Team owner Bob Jenkins said:

 You often see a lot of young teams going through a lot of changes trying to make it in the Sprint Cup Series. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had a lot of stable partners, people who believe in our approach and are seeing year-to-year improvements as a result of that approach. David Gilliland has been a rock for us for three years and David Ragan brought race-winning experience to us last year and returns for 2013. That stability is huge for a young, developing team, and I know we’ll continue to improve and have even better results this upcoming season.

Jay Guy will return as crew chief of the No. 34 FRM team with Ragan behind the wheel. Meanwhile Derrick Finley will return as crew chief for Gilliland and the No. 38 team.

No word yet on who will be crew chief for Josh Wise, and the No. 26 team.

The No. 34 team will be sponsored by Margaret Holmes Peanut Patch for four races in 2013, while the MDS Transport will sponsor the No 26 team.

Matt Kenseth escaped a massive pileup in Turn 4 on Lap 189 of Sunday’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway to win the fourth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Jeff Gordon likewise dodged the 25-car crash — triggered by contact between Tony Stewart’s Chevrolet and Michael Waltrip’s Toyota — and ran second, followed by Kyle Busch, David Ragan and Regan Smith.

Brad Keselowski finished seventh and extended his championship lead to 14 points over Jimmie Johnson, whose Chevrolet was heavily damaged in the wreck and limped home in 17th.

The handling of Kenseth’s car was on the loose side, forcing the driver of the No. 17 Ford to run the middle lane. That turned out to be a blessing, as Stewart and Waltrip collided near the bottom of the track.

“The track kept getting looser for me as the day went on and we never could get it tightened up,” said Kenseth, who posted his second victory of the season, his first at Talladega and the 23rd of his career. “On the last lap, that’s why I chose the middle groove. I knew I couldn’t be on the bottom or I’d get spun out, so I had to run the middle or the top to try to make a move. . . .

“I didn’t know what was going happen and I’m still not sure what happened. Somehow, I think Tony got turned and caused a big wreck.”

Jamie McMurray, who had led 39 laps, spun in the tri-oval on lap 183, as he got a push from Kevin Harvick. McMurray brought out the fourth caution but, amazingly, no other cars were collected in the incident.

Clint Bowyer led the field to the restart on Lap 188, but Stewart quickly took the point. Trying to block Waltrip in the final corner, Stewart turned across the nose of the No. 55 Toyota and triggered the wreck.

Stewart took full responsibility for the melee that scrambled the order of finish.

“I just screwed up,” Stewart said. “I turned down across — I think it was Michael — and crashed the whole field. It was my fault, blocking to try to stay where I was at. I take 100 percent of the blame.

“I was trying to win the race, trying to stay ahead of Matt there, and Michael got a great run on the bottom, had a big head of steam. When I turned down, I turned down across the right-front of his car. It was just a mistake on my part, but it cost a lot of people a bad day because of it.”

Gordon wasn’t surprised at the last-lap chaos. He was surprised it didn’t happen earlier.

“I don’t know how we made it to the white flag,” said Gordon. “Coming through that tri?oval, being hit from behind, hitting the guy in front of me, you’re sandwiched in between, basically. There are cars doing the same thing on that side of you, cars on that side of them doing the same thing.

“I really don’t know how we made it to the white flag. It was just insane. But you’re doing all you can to try to move your lane and hope that you make it back around. In today’s case, we did.”

The first round of green-flag pit stops proved the undoing — albeit temporarily — of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Trevor Bayne, all of whom were flagged for speeding on pit road. After serving pass-through penalties, all three drivers were lapped by the pack.

Just past the halfway point, Kenseth surged past Kurt Busch into the lead, marking a full recovery from a Lap 42 spin off the bumper of teammate Biffle and subsequent spectacular save.

Bayne got his lap back as the “lucky dog” on Lap 99, when Kurt Busch lost fuel pressure off Turn 2 and spun off the bumper of McMurray’s Chevrolet, slamming the wall and causing the second caution of the afternoon.

Driving James Finch’s Phoenix Racing Chevrolet for the final time before debuting for Furniture Row Racing next weekend at Charlotte, Busch –helmet off and out of radio contact with his team and NASCAR — drove away from the accident scene before NASCAR had cleared him and was parked for his effrontery.

It wasn’t until 40 laps later that Earnhardt and Kyle Busch regained their lost laps. Earnhardt paced the field as the last car on the lead lap when NASCAR called a caution for debris on Lap 39. Busch also rejoined the lead lap as the highest-scored lapped car, and restarted third on Lap 144 after the vast majority of drivers returned to pit road to top off their fuel tanks on Lap 142.

Caught up in the wreck on the last lap, Earnhardt came home 20th.

The following night in the Bud Shootout, Johnson was involved in a crash that collected  Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger, and resulted in Jeff Gordon flipping down the backstretch. Kyle Busch and a few other cars were involved, but they were able to continue. Johnson finished 14th.

Johnson’s weekend got a little boost when he finished third in his Gatorade Duel, earning him the eight starting position in the Daytona 500.

But, on lap 2 of the 500, Johnson was pushing Regan Smith with help from Elliott Sadler. As Sadler pushed Johnson, Johnson went high, it looked like, to pass Smith. Just as he got outside, Sadler made contact with Johnson in his left rear, an action that had catastrophic results throughout the weekend. The contact turned Johnson, turned down, then back up to correct it. He hit the outside wall head-on, then he spun across the track coming to rest in the middle.

Danica Patrick made contact with David Ragan while trying to avoid Johnson’s car, which sent both of them sliding into it. Ragan made hard contact with Johnson. Ragan’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford and Johnson’s Chevy were both done. Patrick repaired the damage and returned to the race nearly 70 laps down. Johnson wound up finishing 42nd.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the five-time Sprint Cup champion, NASCAR announced penalties, suspensions and fines for the No. 48 team.

The No. 48 car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-2.1E (if in the judgment of NASCAR officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted — unapproved car body modifications).

Crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron malec were suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series championship events.  They both have been placed on NASCAR probation until May 9th. Knaus was also fined $100,000.

Driver Jimmie Johnson and car owner Jeff Gordon have been penalized with the loss of 25 driver and owner points, respectively.

As a result, Johnson should be 23 points in the hole because he only earned 2 points by finishing 42nd.

Jeff Gordon’s wreck, which collects Johnson, others: 

Johnson’s Wreck in the Daytona 500:

Although the crowd did not cheer much when Busch won the race, they did  when he saved his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from near disaster, twice.

On Lap 48, Busch was going through Turn 1 with Jimmie Johnson on his bumper when Busch came down and made slight contact with Johnson. The contact sent Busch sideways as the car shot off sparks. Busch collected it momentarily before going sideways again. Just as the crowd was sure that Busch was about to wreck the entire field, Busch collected it, straighten out and kept on, keeping the field under green.  Needless to say, the fans were in awe of Busch and thankful for his impeccable driving ability.

Later, Jeff Gordon gave Busch a hard shove in the left-rear, sending Busch sliding down to the apron. Gordon then moved up to avoid Busch and made contact with Kurt Busch, who then made contact with Jamie McMurray, sending all three cars into the wall. Kyle Busch again collected his car twice, keeping it from spinning initially. Then, however, on its third attempt, the car did spin, but Busch kept it off the wall and managed to avoid major damage. Gordon, however, wasn’t so lucky. More on that later.

From the drop of the green flag, the race had somewhat of a frantic pace.  After the first big wreck involving David Ragan, Paul Menard, Michael Waltrip and Matt Kenseth, we all knew another big wreck was coming; we just didn’t know when.  On Lap 55, a chain-reaction wreck occurred when Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano got together, collecting pole sitter and front runners Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Matt Kenseth.

With only a few laps remaining in the race, it seemed as if Jeff Gordon and Stewart would be battling for the checkered flag.  On Lap 74, Gordon’s hopes of winning the race went up in the air – literally.  Coming off of Turn 4, Stewart had taken the lead from Gordon when a violent wreck struck, resulting in Gordon barrel rolling down the front stretch.  Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray were also collected in the crash.  Gordon came out of the wreck uninjured. He ended up finishing 15th.

Underdog of the Race

After a rocky and emotional season in 2011, Kurt Busch was thankful to land a ride with James Finch, Phoenix Racing’s No. 51 Chevy.  Phoenix is a single-car operations with limited resources. However, Busch ran near the front for most of the night, until becoming a victim of the wreck on Lap 74.  His driving efforts didn’t go unnoticed, and I believe he will be a driver to watch in the Daytona 500 this weekend — considering he’s got Hendrick horsepower under the hood of his Chevy.

Best Comeback of the Race

Last season Clint Bowyer left Richard Childress Racing to join Michael Waltrip racing’s No. 15 team.  Bowyer started his first race with MWR in 17th position and was soon racing at the front of the pack.  On Lap 31, teammate Martin Truex Jr. gave Bowyer a shove going down the frontstretch, sending Bowyer spinning through the grass.  After overcoming a variety of challenges throughout the race, Bowyer found himself in third for the green-white-checkered finish.  Although he wasn’t able to battle for the win, Bowyer finished the race in eighth position.

Team owner Steve Meehan said:

We feel incredibly fortunate to have David’s knowledge and experience to help launch our 2012 program and hopefully guide the team into the future.

 Additionally, GCMI’s will team up with Dave Jacombs Racing  to from GC Motorsports Canada, which will field two teams in NASCAR’s Canadia Tire Series in 2012. Andrew Ranger will drive one of those entries. He will also drive the Nationwide Series car in select races this season, including the series lone Canadian race, the Napa Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.  

The team expects to have more announcements on drivers and sponsorship in the coming weeks.

Ragan had to move on from Roush Fenway Racing after UPS decided to move its sponsorship from Ragan’s No. 6 to Carl Edwards and the No. 99.

Ragan was linked to several rides, including TRG Motorsports’ No. 71 and Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43, which was vacated by AJ Allmendinger who left to join Penske Racing in the No. 22 that became open after Kurt Busch and Penske agreed to part ways. Busch joined Phoenix Racing.

TRG suspended operations, while RPM signed Aric Almirola to drive the No. 43. RFR will field the No. 6 in select races. Ricky Stenhouse Jr is slated to drive that car in the Daytona 500.

Ragan earned his first career Sprint Cup victory, winning the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He was also in position to win the Daytona 500 when he made a mental mistake, changing lanes before crossing the start-finish line on a restart, which resulted in him being black flagged.

Jay Guy will serve as Ragan’s crew chief. Competition Director Derrick Finley will serve as interim crew chief for Gilliland until a permanent replacement can be found.

Both the Nos. 34 and 38 are locked into the first five races of the 2012 season because both cars finished in the top 35 in owner’s points.

Almirola drove JR Motorsports’ No. 88 in the Nationwide Series last season, finishing fourth in the championship standings. In 34 N’wide races, he posted seven top 5s and 18 top 10s.

He has also made 35 career Sprint Cup Series starts, posting one top 5 and two top 10s. The top five came in the 2010 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the No. 9 RPM Ford, which had been vacated by Kasey Kahne.

Almirola said:

One of the things I am most excited about is to have the chance to drive a car as iconic as the No. 43. There is so much history surrounding that number and to have my name above the door will be really special for me. This is the first real opportunity I’ve had to drive in the Cup Series full time. Last year the No. 43 team had a lot of speed and was competitive on a weekly basis. Greg Erwin is a great crew chief and I’m excited to work with him. Everyone at Richard Petty Motorsports has a lot of enthusiasm and drive and I’m really looking forward to getting to work.

Team owner Richard Petty said:

We are thrilled to welcome Aric Almirola into the RPM family. We feel extremely fortunate to have had a number of very talented drivers interested in joining our organization, but ultimately we felt Aric would be the best fit for the team and for our current and potential partners. We have had the chance to watch his progress for the past several years and we had success with him in the past. We are really confident in his potential as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. We think Aric has all the makings to be the next bright star in our sport.

No word on who will replace Almirola at JRM, but rumor has it that Camping World Truck Series driver Cole Whitt could be in line for that ride. David Ragan, who was a candidate for RPM’s No. 43, is said to be a candidate for JRM’s No. 88.