2011 Aaron's 312

The 2011 Aaron's 312 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama on April 16, 2011. The race was the 20th iteration of the event and the 7th race of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series. Elliott Sadler won the pole while Trevor Bayne led the most laps as the race saw the most lead changes in a Nationwide Series race at Talladega at 56 while also being the longest running Nationwide Series race at Talladega distance wise until 2022 which tied it. But it was Kyle Busch who would be the last lead change of the race and won the race after a big crash occurred on the final lap that saw a car flip over. It would be Busch's first win at Talladega in the Nationwide Series.

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 2.66 mi 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

Qualifying
Elliott Sadler won the pole for the race with a time of 53.331 and a speed of 179.558.

* - Scott Wimmer, Tim Andrews, and Dennis Setzer all had to start at the rear of the field. Wimmer and Setzer had adjustments after impound while Andrews missed the drivers meeting.

Race
At the start of the race. Drivers started to form into tandems. Outside pole sitter Clint Bowyer took the lead from pole sitter Elliott Sadler with Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushing him and Bowyer led the first lap. On lap 2, Carl Edwards took the lead with Trevor Bayne but they were passed when Aric Almirola took the lead with Kevin Harvick and Almirola led lap 2. Edwards took the lead with Bayne from Almirola on lap 3. On lap 4, Clint Bowyer took the lead. On lap 5, Aric Almirola took the lead. On lap 6, Carl Edwards took the lead. On lap 7, Kevin Harvick took the lead with Bowyer pushing him. On lap 9, Carl Edwards took the lead with Bayne but both Bayne and Edwards switched and Bayne led lap 9 before they fell back and Harvick retook the lead. On lap 12, Kyle Busch took the lead. On lap 13, Jamie McMurray took the lead. On lap 15, Brad Keselowski took the lead after McMurray and his partner Elliott Sadler switched places. On lap 16, Sadler took the lead from Keselowski. On lap 19, Clint Bowyer took the lead after the leaders had to dodge lap traffic but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. passed Bowyer and his partner Kevin Harvick on the same lap and Stenhouse led lap 19 with Sam Hornish Jr. behind him. On lap 23, the first caution flew for debris. At the same time, Kevin Harvick's engine blew and he was out of the race. Kyle Busch won the race off of pit road but he missed his pit box and had to come back to stop and Elliott Sadler was the new leader and he led the field to the restart on lap 28. On the restart, Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. behind him but was passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 29 and Junior took the lead with Aric Almirola. On that same lap, the second caution flew when Brian Scott spun in turn 3 after he got turned by Joey Logano. The race would restart on lap 33. On the restart, Jamie McMurray took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. with Elliott Sadler. On lap 34, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. attempted to take the lead with Sam Hornish Jr. and led that lap but Stenhouse could not pass McMurray. On lap 36, Mike Bliss took the lead with Kyle Busch but was immeadietly passed by Reed Sorenson and Sorenson led lap 36 with Joey Logano. On lap 42, Brad Keselowski took the lead with Trevor Bayne. On lap 44, the third caution would fly when Sam Hornish Jr. spun through the tri-oval after he got turned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Brad Keselowski won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 49. On the restart, Trevor Bayne took the lead with Carl Edwards behind him. On lap 53, Jamie McMurray took the lead with Elliott Sadler. On lap 55, the fourth caution would fly when Mike Bliss spun in turns 1 and 2 after getting turned by Joey Logano. The race would restart on lap 60. On lap 61, Trevor Bayne took the lead. On that lap, Justin Allgaier tried to take the lead but couldn't get in front of Bayne. On lap 63, Jamie McMurray took the lead but Bayne took it back on the next lap. On lap 65, Kenny Wallace took the lead with Reed Sorenson. On lap 67, Jamie McMurray took the lead.

Final laps
With 49 laps to go, McMurray and his partner Elliott Sadler decided to switch spots and Sadler was the new leader. On that same lap, the 5th caution flew when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. turned across the nose of Trevor Bayne and Stenhouse hit the outside wall on the backstretch. The race would be red flagged for a few minutes after Stenhouse's car leaked oil and caught on fire. Jamie McMurray won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 43 laps to go. With 42 to go, Carl Edwards took the lead with Trevor Bayne behind him. With 41 to go, Kyle Busch took the lead with Clint Bowyer. With 40 to go, Jamie McMurray led that lap but could not get in front of Busch. But on the next lap, Trevor Bayne took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who passed Busch but did not lead the lap. With 37 to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead. Trevor Bayne took it back with 36 to go but Junior took it back with 35 to go. With 35 to go, the 6th caution would fly when Donnie Neuenberger got spun by Mike Bliss off of turn 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 30 laps to go. But on the restart, the 7th caution would fly for the big one that occurred down the backstretch. It started when Kyle Busch got bumped too hard from behind by Clint Bowyer and started a chain reaction where Busch came up into Michael Waltrip and Waltrip spun down collecting Jamie McMurray and sent a lot of other cars scrambling to avoid and end up running into each other and wrecking. The wreck collected a total of 20 cars. The cars involved were Jamie McMurray, Brian Scott, Eric McClure, Kyle Busch, Mike Bliss, Tim George Jr., Brad Keselowski, Robert Richardson Jr., Derrike Cope, Justin Allgaier, Clint Bowyer, Josh Wise, Scott Wimmer, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Jeremy Clements, Danny Efland, Michael Annett, Steve Wallace, Blake Koch, and Michael Waltrip. The race was red flagged for a short bit to clean up the mess. The race would restart with 25 laps to go. With 24 to go, Trevor Bayne took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. With 17 to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead with Aric Almirola but were passed by Brad Keselowski and Keselowski led with 17 to go with Sam Hornish Jr. With 15 to go, Junior took the lead but Keselowski took it back on the next lap. With 13 to go, Mike Wallace took the lead with Joe Nemechek behind him. With 12 to go, Keselowski took the lead back from Wallace. With 11 to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead but Keselowski immeadietly passed him. With 10 to go, Mike Wallace took the lead back. With 9 to go, Trevor Bayne took the lead. With 8 to go, Sam Hornish Jr. took the lead. With 7 to go, Trevor Bayne took the lead. On the same lap, the 8th caution flew when Sam Hornish Jr. spun down the backstretch after getting turned by Brad Keselowski. The race would restart with 3 laps to go. On the restart, Joe Nemechek took the lead. Nemechek was looking for his first Nationwide Series win since 2004. But on the same lap, the 9th caution would fly for a 4 car crash on the backstretch. It started when Michael Annett got hooked by Brian Scott and Annett hit the outside wall and came down and collected Scott, Joey Logano, and Reed Sorenson. The wreck would set up 3 attempts of a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Mike Wallace took the lead from Nemechek. Wallace was also looking for his first Busch Series win since 2004. But the 10th caution would fly on the backstretch when the Turner Motorsports cars in James Buescher, Reed Sorenson, and Jason Leffler crashed. This would mean a second attempt of a green-white-checkered. On the restart, Joe Nemechek took the lead with Brad Keselowski pushing him. Coming through the tri-oval, Trevor Bayne took the lead with Carl Edwards pushing him and took the white flag. Nemechek and Keselowski attempted to take the lead from Bayne and Edwards but they left the middle open and Kyle Busch snuck through the middle with Joey Logano and Busch took the lead. Down the backstretch, the 11th and final caution would fly for a 5 car crash. Elliott Sadler hooked Mike Wallace sending Wallace sideways up to the right where Wallace overcorrected to the left and spun where he got hit in the left front by Jason Leffler. The impact lifted Wallace's rear into the air and ended up flipping car over while spinning nearly 270 degrees before it landed on all four wheels. The wreck also collected Reed Sorenson and Carl Edwards. Kyle Busch was in front when the Caution flew and Busch scored the victory. The win would be Busch's 4th of the 2011 season and his first at Talladega in the Nationwide Series. Joey Logano, Joe Nemechek, Brad Keselowski, and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top 5 while Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Reed Sorenson, and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 10. The race featured 56 lead changes among 18 different drivers which is currently the most at Talladega in Nationwide Series history.