2014 Aaron's 312

The 2014 Aaron's 312 was the ninth car race of the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, May 3, 2014, Lincoln, Alabama, at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66-mile (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 117 laps to complete. On the final restart with three to go, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Elliott Sadler would manage to hold off the field to take home his 10th career NASCAR Nationwide Series series victory and his only victory of the season.^[1] To fill out the podium, Roush Fenway Racing driver Chris Buescher and JR Motorsports driver Regan Smith would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4 km) tri-oval.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held on Thursday, May 1, at 2:00 PM CST. The session would last for one hour.^[2] Trevor Bayne, driving for Roush Fenway Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 50.300 and an average speed of 190.378 miles per hour (306.384 km/h).^[3]

Final practice

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Thursday, May 1, at 3:30 PM CST. The session would last for one hour and 30 minutes.^[2] Tommy Joe Martins, driving for Martins Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 51.514 and an average speed of 185.891 miles per hour (299.163 km/h).^[4]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, May 2, at 5:40 PM CST.^[2] Since Talladega Superspeedway is at least 1.25 miles (2.01 km) in length, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 25 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 25 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.^[5]

Sam Hornish Jr., driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole after setting a time of 51.268 and an average speed of 186.783 mph (300.598 km/h) in the third round.^[6]

Two drivers would fail to qualify: Chad Boat and Derrike Cope.

Full qualifying results

*Time not available.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Chase Elliott 339 1 2 Elliott Sadler 338 (-1) 1 3 Regan Smith 336 (-3) 1 4 Trevor Bayne 308 (–31) 1 5 Ty Dillon 308 (–31) 6 Brian Scott 277 (–62) 7 Brendan Gaughan 250 (–89) 8 James Buescher 244 (–95) 5 9 Chris Buescher 229 (–110) 10 Ryan Reed 225 (–114) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References