Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Runner-up Finish at Talladega

“That’s a crappy way for Harvick to have to get in the Chase; to wreck somebody – what I believe to be on goal [but] maybe it wasn’t”, Bayne said. However, NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton said after a review of video and conversation with a number of teams, “We believe we did everything procedurally correct and the 4 vehicle did nothing wrong”.

With Harvick slow to start, Trevor Bayne moved to the outside of Harvick prior to the start-finish line.

TV relays showed the green light was lit as the cars approached the start-finish line. Due to his victories, Logano is the only driver who was guaranteed a spot. The race was the last of the Contender Round and reduced the 12 still in the Chase down to eight. I have 100 percent faith in the choices that they make.

What the heck? Is Harvick to blame for insane end to Talladega race? There were such long green-flag runs, you never see that.

And the fans at Talladega showed their disgust by showering Logano with beer cans and assorted bottles during his victory lap.

He appeared poised to get a shot at overtaking Logano at a track where he’s won six times.

The No. 11 FedEx Toyota suffered a fluky mechanical issue early, then was victimized on a last-lap restart when he was caught up in a massive pileup that left Hamlin irate with defending Sprint Cup champ Kevin Harvick. Brad Keselowski was third and Jeff Gordon fourth. “We stayed up front when it counted and took care of our race vehicle. I think he knows the limits of his auto and where it’s at, so that’s why I think it was intentional.” . I am so proud of this team. All of a sudden, he had drafting help with a few other lapped cars, a huge lead – and a chance to win the race, provided he could stretch his fuel for almost 50 laps.

Everyone knew going into the race, that Talladega would shake things up. I’m fine with the new rule (which limited the race to just one GWC restart). “Fortunately, we got a second opportunity and did the same thing”. I can live with that. The 22 (Logano) did a great job. Logano led Earnhardt by just a few feet when the mult-car accident happened behind them, ending the race.

But on Lap 133, the engine of Justin Allgaier’s vehicle let go to bring out the first caution of the day.

Two years ago at Richmond, Clint Bowyer was accused of intentionally creating a caution flag to help teammate Martin Truex Jr. qualify for the Chase.

“It took us four times to get it fixed and that in the end put the nail in the coffin”, Hamlin said.

Everyone except Greg Biffle cycled through green-flag pit stops with just under 20 laps remaining. As a result, Earnhardt was able to stay on the lead lap and rejoin the pack. That margin was erased by the second yellow flag on lap 183 of the race that was scheduled for 188 laps but went 196. So attempt 1 of the one attempt at a Green-White-Checker didn’t count. The change was made for safety reasons….

After the final race of the second round of the chase at Talladega, what do the NASCAR Chase Standings look like?

Joey Logano won under caution today in the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega.

Earnhardt, meanwhile, needed to win the race to advance to the next round and was in good position to do so.