A 2.66-mile tri-oval with 33 degree high banks, a 4,300-foot, 16.5-degree frontstretch, grandstands full of over 200,000 fans and upwards of 40 cars running within a few feet of one another in a flying wedge at 195 miles per hour, Talladega Superspeedway is simply the most outlandish and outrageous motor racing facility in the world. And what it may lack in polish, fit and finish, it more than makes up for in gritty, white knuckle, hold on and pray for the best racing. And on Sunday, April 27, 2008, it was Kyle Busch mastering the asphalt monstrosity by winning the 188-lap Aaron’s 499, taking the lead on lap 184 with the help of a aero push provided by Jeff Gordon and Juan Montoya. “First Jeff Gordon, then Juan Montoya,” explained Busch of how Gordon and Montoya Busch lined up on the rear bumper of his Toyota. “Those guys behind me were pretty awesome in helping push us. Man, we just kept blocking ‘em like we needed to stay up front and keep ahead of ‘em.

“I got a huge shot that spit me right out in the middle there and then the 42 got behind me and he was my savior, man,” added Busch of how Montoya helped him win his third race of the 2008 season.

Second place was awarded to former Formula 1 ace Juan Pablo Montoya and his Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge. Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin finished in third. “If the fans didn’t like that, they just don’t like racing,” said a happy Hamlin after climbing from his car. Roush-Fenway Ford driver David Ragan was fourth and Brian Vickers of the Red Bull Racing Toyota outfit was fifth.

Untypical of Talladega, major crashes and caution periods were held to a bare minimum on Sunday, but “The Big One” — a term for the expected big crash that is an axiom of restrictor plate racing — DID happen on lap number 173 when Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt and Joe Nemechek tangled in Turn 1. He spooky crash also collected Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte and Martin Truex Jr.

Once the wreckers collected and hauled off all the bent, battered and bruised race cars, the race went back green on lap 184 and the top four drivers broke away from the field, Busch getting the better of anyone to race away to victory.