Jamie McMurray wins after last-lap crash ends Talladega race

Jamie McMurray wins after last-lap crash ends Talladega race

Oct. 20, 2013 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

TALLADEGA, Ala.—Jamie McMurrray was in the right place at the right time Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway—at the front of the field when Austin Dillon's wild ride on the backstretch ended the Camping World RV Sales 500 under caution.

Dillon's last-lap crash off Turn 2 in the sixth race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup brought out the third caution of the race and froze the running order before race runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. could make a move.

The victory was McMurray's first of the season, his second at Talladega and the seventh of his career. Four of those victories have come at restrictor-plate race superspeedways.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., whose slight tap launched Dillon into the path of Casey Mears, finished third – a career-best finish for the rookie. Paul Menard came home fourth, followed by Kyle Busch.

David Ragan, the winner at Talladega in May, ran sixth. David Gilliland, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10.

Jimmie Johnson finished 13th but took over the series lead from Matt Kenseth, who fought an ill-handling car during the second half of the race and finished 20th after dodging the last-lap wreck. Johnson leads Kenseth by four points with four races left in the Chase.