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| Associated Press (click to enlarge)
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| Ken Butler III (22), Bryan Silas (11), Tayler Malsam (4) and Michael Phelps (45) crash during the ARCA RE/Max Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., Friday, Oct. 3, 2008. |
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Malsam's Talladega debut ends early
Posted
at
5:15 pm
by Scott Whitmore
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Taylor Malsam's first race at Talladega Superspeedway ended after just 11 laps, in a scene played out time and again at the high-banked Alabama track.
Malsam was caught up in "the big one" during the Talladega ARCA 250 on Friday, a multi-car wreck triggered when Brian Scott blew a tire in the middle of a tightly packed group of drafting cars.
"That's Talladega for you," Malsam said by cellphone. "We were rolling, just needed more time."
When Scott's tire blew, it caused a chain reaction through the field, with cars spinning and swerving in a cloud of tire smoke and debris. Malsam checked up and in television replays it appeared he had a clear path through the spinning cars in front of him. But the driver behind him was not as fast to the brakes and Malsam was shoved from behind, causing him to spin.
Malsam hit the car of Bryan Silas and then slid first up and then down the track, finishing in the infield. Although more were involved in the incident, the race was over for 10 drivers as a result of it.
"I'm fine -- I'm good," Malsam said. "I've had way worse crashes in sprint cars than that one."
The race was won by Justin Allgaier, with Joey Logano finishing second and Bobby Gerhart third.
Malsam started 32nd but began to move forward as soon as the green flag dropped. Talladega is known for high-speed drafting, with cars forming long lines and often running three-wide in formation.
"The Dodges qualify terrible," Malsam said. "And they're not good up front, either. But when you get in the draft, they suck right up to the car in front of them."
It was the Mill Creek, Wash., resident's first race at Talladega, but not his first time experiencing the high-banked 2.66 mile tri-oval. He tested an ARCA car at the speedway last year.
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