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 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 Jamie McMurray (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 2 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 15 Timmy Hill (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 16 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 20 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Tim George Jr. Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Dodge 28 Derrike Cope Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 33 Clint Bowyer (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 38 Jason Leffler Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 39 Josh Wise Go Green Racing Ford 40 Scott Wimmer Key Motorsports Chevrolet 41 Jennifer Jo Cobb (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 52 Danny Efland Means Motorsports Chevrolet 60 Carl Edwards (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 62 Michael Annett Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 68 Carl Long Fleur-de-lis Motorsports Chevrolet 70 Dennis Setzer ML Motorsports Dodge 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 79 Tim Andrews 2nd Chance Motorsports Ford 81 Donnie Neuenberger MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 82 Blake Koch (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 88 Aric Almirola JR Motorsports Chevrolet 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 99 Michael Waltrip (i) Pastrana-Waltrip Racing ToyotaOfficial Entry list
Qualifying Elliott Sadler won the pole for the race with a time of 53.331 and a speed of 179.558. Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed 1 2 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 53.331 179.558 2 33 Clint Bowyer (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 53.386 179.373 3 7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53.463 179.115 4 1 Jamie McMurray (i) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 53.629 178.560 5 16 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53.669 178.427 6 60 Carl Edwards (i) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53.708 178.297 7 20 Joey Logano (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53.771 178.089 8 62 Michael Annett Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 53.780 178.059 9 38 Jason Leffler Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 53.785 178.042 10 88 Aric Almirola JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53.786 178.039 11 4 Kevin Harvick (i) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 53.786 178.039 12 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 53.792 178.019 13 32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 53.793 178.016 14 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53.794 178.012 15 30 James Buescher (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 53.833 177.883 16 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Penske Racing Dodge 53.874 177.748 17 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 53.875 177.745 18 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 53.910 177.629 19 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 54.003 177.323 20 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 54.114 176.960 21 21 Tim George Jr. Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 54.154 176.829 22 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 54.155 176.826 23 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 54.164 176.796 24 99 Michael Waltrip (i) Pastrana-Waltrip Racing Toyota 54.322 176.282 25 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 54.334 176.243 26 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Dodge 54.697 175.074 27 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 54.711 175.029 28 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 54.731 174.965 29 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 54.784 174.796 30 44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 54.933 174.321 31 81 Donnie Neuenberger MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 55.032 174.008 32 82 Blake Koch (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 55.094 173.812 33 41 Jennifer Jo Cobb (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 55.140 173.667 34 15 Timmy Hill (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 55.211 173.444 35 40 Scott Wimmer* Key Motorsports Chevrolet 55.211 173.444 36 52 Danny Efland Means Motorsports Chevrolet 55.239 173.356 37 68 Carl Long Fleur-de-lis Motorsports Chevrolet 55.260 173.290 38 28 Derrike Cope Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 55.313 173.124 39 39 Josh Wise Go Green Racing Ford 55.318 173.108 40 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 55.324 173.089 41 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 55.491 172.569 42 79 Tim Andrews* 2nd Chance Motorsports Ford 55.654 172.063 43 70 Dennis Setzer* ML Motorsports Dodge 56.234 170.288Official Starting grid
* - 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