A member of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pit crew looks at the damage from the late-race wreck. Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Late-race yellow shuffles Race for the Chase field

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- In the wake of 13 consecutive top-10s, Jimmie Johnson now has back-to-back finishes of 15th or worse. For a while Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, however, it looked like the No. 48 team was back on the beam.

Then came the Mini One, a late-race wreck that involved six drivers -- including points leader Johnson. Of course, there weren't that many cars left on the track following the Big One -- a 25-car melee on Lap 132.

Race for the Chase After Lap 186 of 194 at Talladega on Sunday ... No. Driver Behind 1. J. Johnson -- 2. J. Gordon -186 3. Ku. Busch -187 4. G. Biffle -212 5. E. Sadler -234 6. K. Harvick -301 7. D. Earnhardt Jr. -301 8. J. McMurray -321 9. T.Stewart -325 10. M. Martin -334 11. D. Jarrett -341 12. R. Wallace -349 13. R. Newman -358 14. C. Edwards -360 15. M. Waltrip -367 16. S. Marlin -374 17. J. Mayfield -381 Then came the eighth caution and here's where we stand after the green-white-checker: No. Driver Behind +/- 1. J. Johnson -- -- 2. Ku. Busch -130 +1 3. J. Gordon -151 -1 4. G. Biffle -187 -- 5. E. Sadler -204 -- 6. T. Stewart -280 +3 7. D. Jarrett -283 +4 8. K. Harvick -285 -2 9. D. Earnhardt Jr. -298 -2 10. J. McMurray -301 -2 11. M. Martin -302 -1 12. J. Mayfield -304 +5 13. R. Wallace -311 -1 14. C. Edwards -322 -- 15. R. Newman -323 -2 16. M. Waltrip -332 -1 17. S. Marlin -339 -- 18. J. Burton -355 -- Final lapsGordon holds off Stewart and Waltrip to take the checkers Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Running in the lead pack, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr., Travis Kvapil and Johnson tangled and brought out the eighth yellow of the race on Lap 186. That caution period set up a green-white-checker finish -- and ultimately juggled the point standings.

Prior to the wreck, Johnson held a 186-point advantage over teammate Jeff Gordon, with Kurt Busch third, Greg Biffle fourth and Elliott Sadler fifth.

When the dust settled on Gordon's 72nd career win -- and third this year -- Johnson's lead was only 130 points over Busch, with Gordon, Biffle and Sadler rounding out the top five.

Tony Stewart was one of those who benefited from the late-race caution. Before the yellow flag, he was ninth in points, 325 behind. After finishing second -- Stewart's fourth runner-up showing in 13 races at Talladega -- he is now sixth, 280 points behind.

"I've never had a strategy here," Stewart said of racing at Talladega. "If you do, it usually goes right out the window."

Nonetheless, he bump drafted his way to the front and was in position to challenge for the win at the end. During the final three-lap shootout, Stewart and Michael Waltrip improved their top-five positions to top-three finishes.

"If you're in the right position and get a push, yeah, sure you can do it," Stewart said of his late-race chances of making it to the front of the field. "If they want us to quit bump drafting, they should take the plates off."

Meanwhile, Dale Jarrett returned to the top 10 in points, vaulting from 11th before the crash to seventh at day's end after a ninth-place finish.

"The radios wouldn't work at the first of the race and then I got caught speeding going out of the pits," Jarrett said. "We got our lap back, but that's all we had. Things didn't work out there. Maybe it kept me from being in that last wreck. ... That's why, at times, I lay back there -- for that reason exactly.

"These guys are gonna wreck. You can bet your butt on that. You've just got to make sure that you're not around it when they do."