Talladega Superspeedway has always been known for great racing, exciting finishes and big crashes. Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 was no exception to the rule. Big wrecks bookended the 188-lap event and in the end it was the young Brad Keselowski that ended up in Victory Lane for his first career victory.

"Wow! Pinch me, I don't know, am I awake," Keselowski exclaimed upon exiting his No. 09 Chevrolet in Victory Lane. "How bout this team. How bout that. All them fans out there. Man, this is the best show on Earth."

With the laps winding down, the field tucked behind Kyle Busch, who led the single-file around the high side of the track. For nearly ten laps the field took a breather as they prepared for the chaos that was about to ensue as they decided the end of the race.

The calm gave way with about twenty laps remaining as the field began to stack up two and three wide. With Kyle Busch still out front, Matt Kenseth looked to the outside for the lead. As the cars entered the corner, the rear of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota broke loose. Busch dipped onto the apron and came back on the banking. Unable to hang on to his wild ride, Busch spun his car out of the lead.

On the restart with thirteen laps to go, Kenseth brought the field to the green. Racing mid-pack, Ryan Newman jumped to the outside with help from Denny Hamlin. The two-car push on the top of the track went to the lead past Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford.

With less than ten laps remaining, the second Big One of the day broke loose on the backstretch. Robby Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, David Stremme, Sam Hornish Jr. and others were involved in the late-race incident.

The incident set up a four lap dash to the checkers. Ryan Newman led the field to the green with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his mirror followed by Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, David Ragan, Marcos Ambrose, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and Casey Mears rounding out the top-10.

Restarting the race with four laps to go, Newman, Eanrhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch began to pull away as Stewart dropped to the apron and out of contention. Pulling away by a few car-lengths over the rest of the field, it looked as if the race would be decided amongst the top-three. 

Making a charge on the outside, Brad Keselowski pushed Carl Edwards’ No. 99 around the leaders. Edwards took the lead going into Turn 1 with the young driver pushing him from behind. Newman and Earnhardt Jr. charged back on the inside but they could do little to make up the lost ground.

As Edwards closed in on the checkered flag, contact was made and Edwards’ car got airborne as Keselowski drove past to score his first victory of his young career. Keselowski explained in Victory Lane Edwards attempted the block and tried to force the No. 09 car below the yellow line, but Keselowski was having no part of it.

"I gotta apologize to Carl [Edwards] for wrecking him, but man the rule is you can't go below the yellow line, and he blocked and I wasn't goin' below it so I don't want to wreck a guy. But your forced in that situation." Keselowski expressed his apologies saying, "I hope he's okay, I feel bad about that."

After climbing from his wrecked racecar Edwards was determined to finish the event, running across the finish line.

It has been reported that several Hardcore Race Fans sitting in the grandstands along the frontstretch were treated for various injuries after the violent crash at the start/finish line.

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