Moments that changed the course of the 32nd race of the 2014 season
KESELOWSKI WINS TO ADVANCE IN THE CHASE
In a must-win situation, Brad Keselowski advanced to the Eliminator Round by winning the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish on Sunday.
Keselowski was sent to the back of the field earlier in the race after being penalized for having too many men over the wall on a pit stop following a wreck. He led just 12 of the 194 laps, but soared to the front late.
Matt Kenseth finished second behind Keselowski, and also advanced to the Eliminator Round in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
The top five also included Clint Bowyer, Landon Cassill and Ryan Newman.
The three race winners in the Contender Round -- Keselowski, Joey Logano (Kansas) and Kevin Harvick (Charlotte) -- automatically advance to the Eliminator Round.
Newman, Denny Hamlin, Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon advanced based on points.
Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch have been eliminated from championship contention.
EARNHARDT JR.'S CHASE ENDS WITH BACKSTRETCH WRECK
With the right side of his car damaged in the wreck that brought out the first caution flag of the afternoon, Keselowski persevered, taking the lead during the first attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish and winning the race in the second overtime -- after a wreck that ended the title run of Keselowski's former boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt's run at a first championship came to a sudden end on the backstretch on Lap 188, when contact from Greg Biffle's Ford spun the No. 88 Chevy, which had spent 31 laps in the lead, but restarted 16th on the first green-white-checkered attempt.
"Got with the No. 16 (Biffle) a little bit," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't know if I came down on him or what. I thought I was holding my line, but we were all kind of tight back there."
With the car damaged in the wreck, Earnhardt finished 31st, a far cry from the victory he needed to advance to the next round of the Chase.
MID-RACE WRECK KNOCKS KYLE BUSCH OUT OF CHASE
Kyle Busch was involved in a 10-car incident on Lap 102 during Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, an incident that would end up severely hampering his chances of advancing in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Busch finished the race in 40th place and ninth place in the standings. Because of Brad Keselowski's win, Busch was the second driver to not advance to the Eliminator Round of the Chase.
Busch was running in the middle of the pack when Austin Dillon clobbered him from behind, knocking him out of control and into the wall. Busch incurred major damage and was forced immediately to the garage. He did return to the race but couldn't gain enough ground to hang on to a transfer spot.
"(Car's) really hurt, rear-end damage … whole front fascia gone, had to replace the whole front end," team owner Joe Gibbs said. "Our guys are going after it as hard as they can."
The wreck started when Aric Almirola and JJ Yeley got together.
"We were just all starting to shuffle around there and getting ready to pit," Almirola said. "I think it was the 83 (of Yeley) in front of me, and I think he might have been trying to check up to get to the bottom. I just barely started to push him and it hooked his car and we all wrecked."
Tony Stewart, AJ Allmendinger, Terry Labonte and Alex Bowman were among the others collected in the crash.
Busch entered the race second in the Chase Standings in points (3,082) but his rough finish at Talladega left him on the wrong side of the cut line.