McMurray wins on a mostly clean day at Talladega

Talladega, Ala. (AP) — Everyone expects the big one to happen at Talladega Superspeedway.

For some reason, it never occurred Sunday.

Oh sure, there was a wreck on the final lap, which allowed Jamie McMurray to coast to the victory under caution.

But by the standards of this place, it was about as clean as can be.

“Once you get toward the end, it usually gets more intense and everybody starts taking bigger risks,” McMurray said. “I was listening to my spotter and he would say, ’A line is forming, but it’s not very organized and they’re not making up any ground.’

“I’m really surprised they couldn’t put something together to make more of a run. I’m shocked by that, actually. I thought guys would take bigger chances at the end.”

McMurray won for the first time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since 2010, snapping a 108-race winless streak, and didn’t even have to worry about a planned last-lap charge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. after Dillon spun coming out of the second turn.

The only other driver collected in the crash was Casey Mears, who slammed into Dillon’s car and sent it flying into the air before it came back down upright. Everyone was OK.

Jimmie Johnson steered around trouble and finished 13th, emerging from the race with the lead in the Sprint Cup standings. The five-time Cup champion passed Matt Kenseth for the top spot and has a four-point edge with four races remaining.

Kenseth finished 20th. Busch and Kevin Harvick are tied for third, 26 points behind Johnson, with Jeff Gordon — who had hoped Talladega’s unpredictable nature might help him make a big push — made up only two points and is 34 off the lead.