David Ragan, driver of the #34 Farm Rich Ford, performs a burnout in celebration of winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on May 5, 2013
Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Fans waited through rain, wrecks, and a nail-biting green-white-checker finish to witness an incredible victory by the underdog, David Ragan. No one was talking about Ragan until the last lap when he emerged at the front of the field with drafting help from his teammate, David Gilliland. Both the David’s shot to the lead and blocked everyone else to make sure that Front Row Motorsports got to victory lane. They were successful and FRM got to celebrate their first Sprint Cup victory. Many will agree, the race was worth the wait and the ending didn’t disappoint. It may have taken a while, but this Talladega race was truly remarkable.

Although Ragan didn’t appear at the front of the field until the last lap, he was one of the few drivers to lead a lap throughout the day. Martin Truex Jr. jumped to the lead early in the race as he passed pole-sitter Carl Edwards on lap one. Matt Kenseth made his way to the lead on lap six, camping in that place for much of the race. The first race caution came on lap 23 for Trevor Bayne who blew an engine.

The inevitable big wreck struck early in the race when on lap 43, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne made contact, sending Kahne straight into the wall. Busch only made a slight tap with Kahne, but that little tap created the “big one.” When drivers saw the carnage ahead, they tried to miss it, but many couldn’t avoid the chaos . Other drivers involved in the wreck include, Brian Vickers, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose, David Stremme, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, and David Reutimann. This wreck left many major contenders in the garage, but some drivers involved were able to return to the track to rack up more points.

A major rain storm unleashed on Talladega Superspeedway with 66 laps remaining and the third caution came out for rain. At first, it seemed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in the lead, but it turned out that Carl Edwards was actually the leader when the caution flag waved. What does that matter? Well, if at that point, the race ended due to weather, fans want the correct winner in victory lane.

This yellow-flag period soon turned into a red flag situation and a major delay was underway. NASCAR did the best job possible in making sure the race continued and were successful after a three-and-a-half hour red flag period. Fans rejoiced once the cars were back on track after the delay and now, everyone was amped for a dramatic finish.

Just a few laps after the restart, Matt Kenseth reclaimed the lead he held for much of the race before the delay and would continue holding it for many of the closing laps.

After the fourth caution of the day for Michael McDowell, the leaders were once again bunched and the effects of a pack at Talladega soon followed with the second “big one” of the day unfolding with six laps remaining. The wreck began when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. squeezed to the outside of J.J Yeley on the backstretch. With not enough space for four-wide across the track, Yeley was shoved down the track and spun right in the middle of the track, turning Kurt Busch who then flipped over in the air and landed on Ryan Newman’s car. Busch’s car then came to an upright rest and he was okay. Many other cars piled into the wreck and major race contenders were now left with torn-up race cars.

Other drivers involved in the wreck include, Clint Bowyer, Terry Labonte, Danica Patrick, Jamie McMurray, Bobby Labonte, David Stremme, and Marcos Ambrose. All of these drivers were checked and released from the infield care center.

Due to darkness setting in on Talladega, NASCAR limited the race to only one attempt at a green-white-checker finish and this finish was a classic Talladega closing lap. Kenseth held the lead when the field took the green, but was soon passed by Carl Edwards. Edwards held off the rest of the field for another lap before the field went down the backstretch for one last time.

David Ragan got a tremendous draft from David Gilliland and both snuck through the middle of the pack to the lead. Once they were in turn three, Ragan was now in-command of the top-spot. Gilliland continued to give help to his teammate and both blocked their competitors through the tri-oval to assure their team a victory. Ragan was ahead of Gilliland by a few car lengths and that allowed Ragan to win his second career Sprint Cup race. Gilliland ended up second, making it a one-two Front Row Motorsports finish. A true underdog team was on top after this race and they more than deserved their victory.

FRM has never been super competitive as an organization, but they always seem to be in the mix at restrictor-plate tracks. They were in the right place at the right time on the last lap and allowing them to celebrate their first win as an organization in victory lane. This win is a major accomplishment for their whole team and a proud day for NASCAR, since fans rarely see an underdog team like FRM in victory lane.

Talladega definitely didn’t disappoint today and the ending was worth sitting around for a three-hour delay. The true unpredictable Talladega showed up today and the saying “anyone can win at Talladega” was especially true. This race delivered big time and NASCAR did a great job of getting the full-race in the books.

It’s on to Darlington next weekend where the Gen 6 cars meet the lady in black and the cars will definitely become good friends with the wall before the night is over. Talladega was great, but Darlington could top the amazing race fans witnessed today.

Results via ESPN.com