The 2012 Aaron's 312 was the 8th race of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series and the 21st holding of this event. The race was held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. In the end, Joey Logano won the race in a close finish with his Cup Series teammate Kyle Busch as Logano beat Busch by .034 seconds. But this race became notable for it being a wreckfest and for a terrible crash by Eric McClure that left McClure with a concussion.
Background
The track, Talladega Superspeedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway. The standard track at the speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked at thirty-three degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 16.5 degrees. The back stretch has a two-degree banking. Talladega Superspeedway can seat up to 143,231 people.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points #DriverTeamMake 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 2 Elliott Sadler Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Danny Efland JD Motorsports Chevrolet 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Danica Patrick JR Motorsports Chevrolet 08 Tim Andrews Randy Hill Racing Ford 10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Toyota 15 Jeffery Earnhardt Rick Ware Racing Ford 18 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Tayler Malsam TriStar Motorsports Toyota 20 Ryan Truex Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 24 John Wes Townley (i) RAB Racing Toyota 30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 33 Kevin Harvick (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38 Brad Sweet (R) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 39 Josh Richards Go Green Racing Ford 40 Erik Darnell The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 41 Timmy Hill Rick Ware Racing Ford 42 Josh Wise (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 43 Michael Annett Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 44 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Toyota 46 Chase Miller The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 47 Scott Speed (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 50 T. J. Bell MAKE Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 52 Kevin Lepage Hamilton Means Racing Chevrolet 54 Kyle Busch Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 70 Johanna Long (R) ML Motorsports Chevrolet 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 75 Blake Koch Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 81 Jason Bowles (R) MacDonald Motorsports Toyota 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 88 Cole Whitt (R) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 99 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing ToyotaOfficial Entry List
Qualifying Elliott Sadler won the pole after qualifying was rained out. Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 2 Elliott Sadler Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3 33 Kevin Harvick (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 18 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 6 38 Brad Sweet (R) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 7 30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 8 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 9 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge 10 43 Michael Annett Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 11 88 Cole Whitt (R) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 12 54 Kyle Busch (i) Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota 13 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 14 19 Tayler Malsam TriStar Motorsports Toyota 15 44 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Toyota 16 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 17 7 Danica Patrick JR Motorsports Chevrolet 18 20 Ryan Truex Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 20 99 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 21 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 22 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23 4 Danny Efland JD Motorsports Chevrolet 24 70 Johanna Long (R) ML Motorsports Chevrolet 25 81 Jason Bowels (R) MacDonald Motorsports Toyota 26 24 John Wes Townley (i) RAB Racing Toyota 27 40 Erik Darnell The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 28 41 Timmy Hill Rick Ware Racing Ford 29 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Toyota 30 08 Tim Andrews Randy Hill Racing Ford 31 1 Kurt Busch (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 32 10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 33 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 34 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 35 50 T. J. Bell* MAKE Motorsports Chevrolet 36 39 Josh Richards Go Green Racing Ford 37 52 Kevin Lepage Hamilton Means Racing Chevrolet 38 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 39 46 Chase Miller The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 40 42 Josh Wise (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 41 47 Scott Speed (i) The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 42 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 43 15 Jeffery Earnhardt Rick Ware Racing FordFailed to Qualify, driver changes, or withdrew 44 75 Blake Koch Rick Ware Racing ChevroletOfficial Qualifying results
* - T. J. Bell had to start at the rear of the field due to adjustments after impound.
Race Pole sitter Elliott Sadler led the first lap of the race. On lap 5, Sadler lost the lead to Kevin Harvick when Sadler and his drafting partner Joey Logano switched positions. On lap 6, Austin Dillon took the lead. On lap 8, James Buescher took the lead from Dillon. Kurt Busch took the lead on lap 14 followed by Joey Logano on lap 15 and Elliott Sadler on lap 16. Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 18 but lost it on the next lap to James Buescher. On lap 21, the first caution flew when Johanna Long's engine blew and she laid fluid on the racetrack. Kyle Busch won the race off of pit road which made him the race leader. On the restart on lap 26, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Kyle Busch with a push by Joe Nemechek. Earnhardt lost the lead to Logano on the next lap of the race. The second caution flew on lap 29 for a 5 car crash on the frontstretch. It started when Brian Scott got turned by Kurt Busch in the tri-oval and Scott turned into Jason Bowels and collected Kurt Busch, Josh Richards, and Morgan Shepherd. Some drivers pitted while others stayed out and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the leader on the restart on lap 35. But Jr. quickly lost the lead to Logano as Logano pitted under caution. Logano lost the lead to Mike Bliss on lap 42 but Logano got it back on lap 44. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead on lap 47 from Logano. Joe Nemechek took the lead from Jr. on lap 52 followed by Mike Wallace on the next lap but Jr. got it back on lap 54. On lap 63, the third caution flew for a 3 car crash on the frontstretch involving Eric McClure, John Wes Townley, and Brad Sweet. Austin Dillon won the race off of pit road making him the race leader. Dillon got passed by Cole Whitt on the restart as Whitt had a push by his boss at JR Motorsports in Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kenny Wallace took the lead on lap 71 followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the next lap. Elliott Sadler took the lead on lap 73 of the race. Ryan Truex took the lead with 43 laps to go followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. the next lap. With 40 laps to go, Danica Patrick took the lead from Jr. but Jr. took it back on the next lap. With 37 laps to go, Kevin Harvick took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. With 36 laps to go, the fourth caution flew when Josh Richards cut a tire and spun in turn 2. During that Caution period, Timmy Hill was taken out of his car and replaced by Blake Koch in his #41 car. Hill had not been feeling well for the last day so he was taken out during the caution period. Kevin Harvick won the race off of pit road which made him the race leader with 30 laps to go. On the restart, Joey Logano took the lead from Harvick.
Final Laps With 29 laps to go, Kyle Busch took the lead from Joey Logano. Busch was also able to hold off the pack behind him and never lost the lead. It looked like Busch was going to win the race depending on how the last few laps went. Unfortunately for Busch, with 9 laps to go the 5th caution flew when Mike Bliss spun in turn 3. The caution turned things around as cars were now all bunched back together and all of them were going to race hard for positions. The race restarted with 4 laps to go and Busch kept his lead with a push by Joe Nemechek. Unfourtantley again for Busch, the 6th caution flew on the same lap when Mike Wallace and Danny Efland crashed in turn 4. The wreck would set up 3 attempts of a green-white-checker finish.