NASCAR Recap: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Eliminated From NASCAR Playoffs

Thank goodness Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed dignity in defeat after he was bounced from NASCAR’s playoffs. He earned enough points to advance to the Eliminator round of the Chase and should be considered a strong contender to win at Martinsville Speedway next week.

All of this after a day where Earnhardt was clearly the class of the field. That dropped him off the lead lap, too, and Earnhardt wound up two laps down and in 21st place heading to Talladega.

On the final pair of restarts, that turned out not to be restarts at all, Earnhardt was beside Logano, who had Jeff Gordon in the No. 24 Chevrolet pushing him, while Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 Ford was behind Earnhardt.

This time the caution came out and with no more overtime attempts, Logano as locked in as the race victor and Earnhardt was locked out of the next round of the Chase.

TALLADEGA – Joey Logano was in Victory Lane, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was out of the Chase and everybody around the track was trying to figure out what the heck happened.

NASCAR wanted fans, following a race with no wrecks, a chance for a few fireworks at the finish. The second caution led to the green-white-checker attempts and, ultimately, the caution that ended the race.

Yet there he was when it was all over and done playing the part of the ideal company man, without a hint of anger at his fate.

“Obviously a few of the teams have questioned what the 4 vehicle did on the restarts and we went back and walked through with them but procedurally, from NASCAR, we don’t see anything there that is suspect, so far”, NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton said. “So I can feel good about that”. “We got wrecked by the 19, and just didn’t run well at Kansas”.

After the CampingWorld.com 500’s first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish was waved off for an incident in the middle of the field, NASCAR officials made the decision to try again at a green flag finish.

“I’m fine with it”, he said.

As long as all the drivers and teams knew going into it that it was the deal, then you live with it. I just think it’s challenging when you play with rules non-stop or you move rules around because of an incident. “Per the rule book, it sorted out and I finished second”. We could argue they could have waited another 100 feet to throw the caution, but they didn’t have to. “They threw it when they needed to”.

“I could see daylight coming in”, Hamlin said.

Earnhardt said rather than hang his head for the remaining four Chase races, he intends to go out, and like he did last season, win one of them, even if it really won’t count. Kenseth, who has been furious with Logano for a week, left Talladega displeased with Harvick’s late-race tactics.

“We’re in a situation through the Chase we didn’t have to win but our job is to win; that’s what Roger Penske expects of us”. Two years in a row, the top points guy heading into the Talladega race has been knocked out of the Chase. I didn’t know if we could get back up there.

Gordon has newfound confidence because of his history at the tracks in Round 3; Martinsville Speedway, where he’s won eight times, is up first.

As race fans we always think we know what is best, but we forget to put ourselves in the drivers shoes.

“There is no evidence right now that there was anything that the 4 auto did that was questionable”, Helton said.

“This season has been a insane season for us”, he said. Of course. We were fighting him hard. No, it wasn’t a good ending to a race. After intense review, Logano was given the win and Junior’s championship hopes were destroyed.

When the series rolls in to Talldega twice a year, it’s nearly a guarantee that half the garage will be torn up when the checkered flag falls at the end of the weekend.

The final word goes to Earnhardt.

Earnhardt said he is glad the weekend was over.

I really enjoyed Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.

If Logano became the first driver to sweep all rounds of the two-year-old elimination format of the Chase and elevate himself to the driver to beat, Earnhardt Jr. became one of the more valiant losers at Talladega.

There is speculation that NASCAR bosses will look further into the situation and penalties to Harvick could be brought down later in the week.