2014 Alabama 500

The **2014 Alabama 500** was the 10th race of the 2014 Piston Cup Season.

This was one of the most chaotic and longest races in Piston Cup history after multiple crashes, wild moves, and a huge rain storm. Rex Revler was one of the only 5 CARS THAT FINISHED THE RACE! Bruce Miller got second, Bobby Roadtesta 3rd, Swift 4th, and Highbanks 5th.

On lap 4, the giant rain storm started, which caused the race to be under delay for 2 and a half hours. The green flag flew on lap 5 at 5:30 PM again. On lap 18, Todd Marcus got spun out into the inside wall on the back straight away, ending his race entirely. The race restarted at 5:52 PM and on lap 21, rain started again prompting a 3 hour delay which ended any racing for the rest of the day due to darkness. The race was scheduled to resume on lap 21, on Monday at 11:00 AM.

On Monday, the race restarted with green flag racing in a single file order from lap 24-49. On lap 50, Dirkson D'Agostino's bad season continued when he blew an engine which put oil on the track. The green flag flew again on lap 55 with Lightning McQueen and Bobby Swift leading. On lap 71, rain struck again which then caused the third delay of the race.

At 1:02 PM, the race resumed again. The big wreck finally took place on lap 89 when Lightning McQueen pushed Bobby Swift in the wrong spot, causing Swift to spin to the bottom of the track on the back straight away. 8 other cars were involved as Swift was the only one in the wreck to continue. On lap 94, the race restarted with Brick Yardley, the points leader, leading the race with about 94 laps to go as we reached the halfway point which made the race official.

Single file racing lasted multiple laps but on lap 162, after the final green flag pit-stops of the day, the racers were notified about the storm on its way in about 10 minutes. The race being past the halfway point, was now official and able to be called. On lap 164, with the storm minutes away, Darren Leadfoot who was in 4th, into the middle of the pack and flew up into the air and into the front straight away catch fence. The top 3 of Bruce Miller, Tommy Highbanks, and Bobby Roadtesta were the only ones able to get by besides Bobby Swift and Rex Revler who were in the very back of the field.

A total of 5 cars were upside down in the accident, Darren Leadfoot who went into the catch fence, Phil Tankson who got launched after Terry Kargas t-boned him in the side, Parker Brakeston who got clipped by a spinning Lightning McQueen which caused him to roll over, Brian Spark who was not shown in the replays but ended upside down in the end, and Ralph Carlow who dug the grass up causing him to lift into the air and barrel roll in it. This is still known as one of the scariest modern day accidents to happen and the worst crash of the 2010s in Piston Cup history and at Alabama. Darren Leadfoot suffered multiple injuries but was able to tough them out to race the following event. Murray Clutchburn suffered a massive concussion, which he was hiding so he could still race. It took until the second to last race of the season for anyone to find out about this and multiple severe crashes following this accident caused his concussion to get so bad that he couldn't run the final race in Los Angeles and was even ruled out for the first 2 races of 2015 as he didn't make a full recovery yet.

Sure enough, the rain fell but the storm blew by in a matter of minutes. The race restarted on lap 168 with only 5 racers left after the massive accident which was considered stupid now since the race got restarted anyway. Miller, Revler, Roadtesta, Highbanks, and Swift were the lucky 5 to continue. They all remained until the last lap in the order of Miller, Revler, Roadtesta, Highbanks, and Swift. Roadtesta and Highbanks went high of Miller and Revler which made Swift fall away from the 4 out in front. In the end in a classic photo finish, Revler beat Miller by a nose.

## Transcript

### Finish

Bob: Here we go final lap and NOW ROADTESTA AND HIGHBANKS TO THE HIGH SIDE!

Darrell: BACK STRAIGHT AWAY NOW!

Bob: Bobby Swift is losing the 4 as Miller and Roadtesta drag race into turn 3!

Darrell: OH ROADTESTA AND HIGHBANKS SEPARATE AS REVLER PUSHES BRUCE MILLER OUT FRONT!

Bob: Bruce Miller got his first career win just last season and now looking for his second but Rex Revler's only win is the 2011 Brickyard 400!

Darrell: Rex has had a slow start to the season but lately is turning that around and a win would mean a lot!

Bob: REX REVLER TO THE OUTSIDE OF BRUCE MILLER AND DOWN TO THE LINE!

Darrell: A PHOTO FINISH BOB!

Bob: REX REVLER HAS WON!

## Results

1. Rex Revler - 188 Laps - 38 Points
2. Bruce Miller - 188 Laps - 34 Points
3. Bobby Roadtesta - 188 Laps - 33 Points
4. Bobby Swift - 188 Laps - 32 Points
5. Tommy Highbanks - 188 Laps - 31 Points
6. Dino Draftsky - 162 Laps (crash) - 30 Points
7. Rev Roadages - 162 Laps (crash) - 29 Points
8. Lane Locke - 162 Laps (crash) - 28 Points
9. Reb Meeker - 162 Laps (crash) - 27 Points
10. Markus Krankzler - 162 Laps (crash) - 26 Points
11. Phil Tankson - 162 Laps (crash) - 25 Points
12. Terry Kargas - 162 Laps (crash) - 24 Points
13. Parker Brakeston - 162 Laps (crash) - 23 Points
14. Brian Spark - 162 Laps (crash) - 22 Points
15. Buck Bearingly - 162 Laps (crash)- 21 Points
16. Lightning McQueen - 162 Laps (crash) - 20 Points
17. Brick Yardley - 162 Laps (crash) - 19 Points
18. T.G Castlenut - 162 Laps (crash) - 18 Points
19. Ponchy Wipeout - 162 Laps (crash) - 17 Points
20. Cal Weathers - 162 Laps (crash) - 16 Points
21. Murray Clutchburn - 162 Laps (crash) - 15 Points
22. Todd Marcus - 162 Laps (crash) - 14 Points
23. Speedy Comet - 162 Laps (crash) - 13 Points
24. Jimmy Cables - 162 Laps (crash) - 12 Points
25. Chip Gearings - 162 Laps (crash) - 11 Points
26. Carl Clutchen - 162 Laps (crash) - 10 Points
27. Floyd Mulvihill - 162 Laps (crash) - 9 Points
28. Jack DePost - 162 Laps (crash) - 8 Points
29. Wayne Dasher - 162 Laps (crash) - 7 Points
30. Mac iCar - 162 Laps (crash) - 6 Points
31. Dud Throttleman - 162 Laps (crash) - 5 Points
32. Ralph Carlow - 162 Laps (crash) - 4 Points
33. Ernie Gearson - 162 Laps (crash) - 3 Points
34. Darren Leadfoot - 162 Laps (crash) - 2 Points
35. Dirkson D'Agostino - 50 Laps (engine) - 1 Point