Talladega NASCAR: Keselowski wins but Johnson and Earnhardt out

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