Talladega NASCAR: Keselowski wins but Johnson and Earnhardt out
Brad Keselowski kept his 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship hopes alive with victory at Talladega, as reigning champion Jimmie Johnson was among four drivers ruled out of title contention
The quartet of eliminated drivers features several of the series' biggest names, with Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch all joining Johnson in missing out as the Chase moves into its penultimate phase.
Keselowski, who was controversially involved in post-race fighting last weekend at Charlotte, realistically needed to win to make the cut, and did so after timing his move to the front to perfection in a thrilling green-white-chequered finish.
The Penske Ford driver led home Toyota duo Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer by a tenth of a second to secure a sixth victory of the season, as Ryan Newman slipped to fifth place behind fellow Chevrolet driver Landon Cassill having led the pack at the final restart.
"The adversity last week makes this win even more special," said Keselowski. "I'm not proud of last week, but I'm very proud of today. We had one job to do, and we did it."
Along with Kenseth and Newman, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon were also able to make the Eliminator Round of the Chase by playing it safe at Talladega, with Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick having already secured their spots by virtue of their wins at Kansas and Charlotte respectively.
Busch was also playing the percentages when saw his title hopes evaporate after getting caught up in a multi-car pile-up that caused the second caution period just after half-distance.
He was able to coax his badly damaged Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota back to the pits and rejoin the action 49 laps down after lengthy repairs, but it wasn't enough to prevent his elimination from the Chase.
Taking the opposite approach was Johnson, who was a constant factor at the front virtually throughout the race, leading for 84 of the 194 laps.
But after being shuffled back through the order at the penultimate restart, Johnson's already faint hopes of taking a seventh Cup title were extinguished with a 24th place finish.
Earnhardt also went on the offensive in the early part of the race, leading 31 laps, but had already been swallowed up by the pack when he was caught up in a multi-car shunt during the first attempt at a green-white-chequered finish.
Like his Hendrick Motorsports team-mates, Kahne led a handful of laps early on, but after slumping to 12th at the finish found himself missing out on a place in the next phase of the Chase thanks to Keselowski's win.
Another driver to enjoy a spell at the front of the pack was Danica Patrick, who led seven laps towards the end of the race before plummeting down the field during a restart en route to a 19th place finish.
Results - 194 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 3h13m09.000s
2. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +0.142s
3. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +0.187s
4. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet +0.203s
5. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet +0.272s
6. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota +0.358s
7. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +0.359s
8. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford +0.500s
9. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +0.526s
10. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet +0.559s
11. Joey Logano Penske Ford +0.579s
12. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet +0.582s
13. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet +0.641s
14. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet +0.722s
15. Cole Whitt BK Toyota +0.727s
16. Michael Waltrip Waltrip Toyota +0.830s
17. Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet +0.930s
18. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota +0.932s
19. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +0.938s
20. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota +0.986s
21. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford +1.014s
22. Ryan Blaney Penske Ford +1.056s
23. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet +1.081s
24. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet +1.084s
25. Greg Biffe Roush Fenway Ford +1.133s
26. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +1.188s
27. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet +1.273s
28. Josh Wise Parsons Chevrolet +1.306s
29. David Gilliland Front Row Ford +1.350s
30. David Ragan Front Row Ford +1.915s
31. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +5.164s
32. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford +9.194s
33. Terry Labonte Go FAS Ford -1 lap
34. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet -4 laps*
35. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet -5 laps
36. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet -6 laps*
37. Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet -7 laps*
38. Mike Wallace Robinson Toyota -8 laps
39. Aric Almirola Petty Ford -28 laps
40. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota -49 laps
* Not running at finish
Retirements:
Michael McDowell Leavine Ford 127 laps
JJ Yeley BK Toyota 92 laps
Alex Bowman BK Toyota 92 laps
Drivers into next round of Chase:
Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski
Latest drivers eliminated:
Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr
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