TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Depending on who was doing the talking in the aftermath of the Aaron's 499 Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR's first three-overtime race was either a smashing success (pardon the pun) or a freakish carnival ride.

The race, scheduled for 188 laps at the 2.66-mile track, ended up going a full 200 after three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish were completely exhausted and multiple cars were destroyed.

“

It's a lottery. Points racing, racing for championships, shouldn't be a lottery.

”

-- DALE EARNHARDT JR.

Despite being the drivers of one of the cars that got wrecked late in the event, Jeff Gordon gave the day an excellent grade.

"I will say this: I thought it was a heck of a race. All day long, I thought the racing was amazing," said Gordon, who said he felt fortunate to finish on the lead lap -- in 22nd -- after becoming collateral damage in a wreck not of his own doing on Lap 183. "Sometimes it got a little wild. We all knew it was going to get wild at the end -- but I applaud that rear spoiler."

By all accounts, this was the first race where the spoiler that replaced the old, odd-looking wing a month ago seemed to make a discernible difference. The race that eventually was captured in a dramatic photo finish by Kevin Harvick featured a record number of lead changes and some undisputedly great racing.

But in the end, it came down to the green-white-checkers. Not once. Not twice. But three times.

And that didn't sit well with everyone.

"It's a lottery," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 13th in his No. 88 Chevrolet. "Points racing, racing for championships, shouldn't be a lottery."

The G-W-C appeal

Earnhardt wanted to make it clear that he's not totally against green-white-checkered finishes. He just thinks three attempts at it -- at least at restrictor-plate tracks such as Talladega -- are two too many.

"It's not really about someone's car handling better or somebody's motor being better," Earnhardt said. "Cars might as will be kit cars for these two races [each year]."

Fellow driver Ryan Newman's No. 39 Chevrolet was one of nine cars involved in a massive wreck on the first green-white-checkered attempt. He echoed Earnhardt's concerns, but blamed it more on the generally dangerous, unpredictable nature of running at the beast that is Talladega.

"I was thinking when I was out there that these shouldn't be points races," Newman said. "If they want to have these races for the fans, just let us come out here and do this -- but don't let it affect our championship because it's not racing. (Continued)