Big One leaves Chasers behind, Labonte confused

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- After the Big One in Sunday's UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, everybody knew who caused it, but nobody -- not even Bobby Labonte -- knew why it happened.

Labonte suddenly lost control in Turn 4 on Lap 144, triggering an 11-car pileup -- one that included Chase drivers Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. Labonte, who was running in the top five at the time, spun and clipped Busch, as many of the lead draft cars had nowhere to go (watch video).

When the smoke cleared, the cars of Labonte, Busch, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Brian Vickers were deemed too damaged to continue. David Ragan was able to complete two more laps before calling it a day, while Kenseth and Robby Gordon returned to the track many laps down.

Lap-by-Lap

Jeff Gordon led only one lap at Talladega, where there was only one Big One but more trouble for some Chase drivers.

• Lap-by-Lap, click here
• Race Video, click here
• Inside Chase, click here

Dave Blaney and Denny Hamlin, who suffered minimal damage, were able to rebound for top-five finishes.

The accident appeared at first glance to be the result of a cut tire, but Labonte said that wasn't the case.

"Well, it surprised me, that's for sure," Labonte said. "I looked at the right-rear tire and it was up, and the left-rear tire was up, so I'm not really sure what happened.

"You don't find a problem like that and all of a sudden, I just went into the corner and all of the sudden, the rear end goes out from under it. It's my fault, I know, but I don't know what happened."

Busch has now finished 32nd or worse in five of his six Talladega starts, having been sidelined by a crash on three occasions. His No. 5 limped back to the garage area with heavy damage.

"[Labonte] came right across the racetrack and we were the first one that hit him," Busch said. "It's a shame, not only for us but all the other guys involved in the wreck.

"It's unfortunate for our Chase chances but we knew that Talladega was going to be our mulligan. We knew this was the one we were going to wreck in because every time we come here, it seems if there's a wreck, we're right in the middle of it."

Busch's 36th-place finish left him in eighth place in the points, 260 behind Jeff Gordon -- and with little hope for a comeback in the last six races.

"The team wants to be optimistic and they want me to be optimistic, but sorry, it's the realism that sets in," Busch said. "You're so far back that it's going to take a lot to get back in this deal and you've got great racers like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart who are up front."

Kenseth, who wound up 26th -- and trails Gordon by 313 points -- tried to use a strategy similar to Gordon's, but ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"We rode around for about 350-400 miles and then sooner or later you've got to go race and try to get a partner up there and see how your car is gonna handle," Kenseth said. "When we decided to go up there, we got up to the third or fourth row on the inside and then the leader wrecked. When the leader wrecks, there's not a whole lot you can do to miss it."

McMurray had a feeling there would be a multi-car accident. However, he was hoping to witness it from a different viewpoint. He climbed from his battered No. 26 and was credited with a 37th-place finish.

"We talked about it and we felt like there was gonna be a big wreck because of the way the cars draft and everything," McMurray said. "It doesn't really matter what happens for the first 450 miles because you're just kind of riding around.

"With 50 laps to go we all decided that we'd go up and try to race. Once the 15 cars that had been riding around all day elected to go race, it put a lot larger group up there. I was just kind of waiting on it to happen."

No one was more disappointed -- and confused -- than Labonte, who might have had a car capable of a top-five finish.

"That's what's so weird," Labonte said. "With the grip level and the way the cars are, you don't have [a loose condition]. For some reason or another, it just took off."