Nothing done Sunday was against NASCAR rules. NASCAR executive Steve O’Donnell said in a Monday morning appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the strategy did not violate any rule.

“In this case, we look at the strategy decision that the team made, and they executed it,” O’Donnell said. ” … In this case, that wouldn’t be something that we look at that violated that rule.”

Kenseth, Busch and Edwards stood second through fourth in the standings entering Talladega. In the past two years of elimination races, the driver who was second in the standings entering the race ended up eliminated when the dust settled at Talladega. Coincidentally, both times it was a JGR car; Busch in 2014 and Hamlin in 2015.

RELATED: History shows second in points far from secure at Talladega

Perhaps with that history in mind, Gibbs was committed to the team’s strategy play.

“Everybody talked it over, crew chiefs and everything,” Gibbs said Sunday. “I think it was just a strategy we needed to start off with and really depended on how it would go.”

Ironically, that loophole will effectively be closed up with Talladega moving to the middle race of the Round of 12 in 2017.

All Gibbs and JGR did was a find an edge in the rules. Some will cry foul, others say it’s a sandbag move and others might even heap praise and call it genius. But there is no denying it worked. On the level, the move itself was smart and legal.

Given JGR’s dominance of late — the organization has 21 wins in the past 52 races and Kyle Busch won the 2015 Sprint Cup championship — you could argue that the four-car organization is NASCAR’s version of the NFL’s New England Patriots — disliked for its success and for its ability to find a way to take advantage of nearly every potentially advantageous situation.

ALL THEIR WINS: Busch | Kenseth | Edwards | Hamlin

Bill Belichick, the Patriots coach, is known as an innovator, someone who pushes the envelope in an effort to find a competitive advantage or loophole that will aid his team. Much as Gibbs did at Talladega.

Consider: In a 2015 playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Patriots used a unique offensive formation on several plays that essentially caused confusion among the Ravens defense as to who was an eligible receiver and who was ineligible. Running back Shane Vereen lined up as the slot receiver on several plays, but was ineligible. Adding to the confusion was that the Patriots essentially only had four offensive linemen on the field, instead of the usual five. You can see that broken down a bit further here by CBSSports.com. The formation helped lead the Patriots on a touchdown drive in what was ultimately a 35-31 win for New England. 

That formation has since been deemed ineligible by the league. Yet at the time, it was perfectly legal according to the rule book, and the Patriots found and took advantage of it. The victory over the Ravens began New England’s march to a fourth Super Bowl title in 14 years for the duo of Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.

Even in early part of the 2016 season, the Patriots worked around a new NFL rule. Starting this year, kickoffs that result in touchbacks will see the ball placed at the 25-yard line and eliminate kickoff coverage out of the equation. Yet, several teams have elected to have their kickers boot balls high and just short of the end zone to allow for coverage teams to get down the field and stop returners short of 25-yard line. Perfectly within the rules since a returned kick is more than likely to result in worse field position than a touchback.

Even before his stint as a head coach, Belichick was a defensive savant, serving as the defensive coordinator for two Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants, which came during one of Gibbs’ two stints as the head coach of the division rival Washington Redskins. In Super Bowl XXV, he called a defensive effort that slowed down one of the league’s most high-powered offenses in the Buffalo Bills in New York’s 20-19 win. As a defensive coach, he drilled his players on normal offensive signals teams would use to help them diagnose plays before they were run, as this New York Daily News article details. He over-prepares, using every little advantage he can find.

Maybe it roots from Joe Gibbs’ ties to football, but that is exactly what Gibbs did Sunday. He weighed the percentages, the numbers and the odds and knew it was in the team’s collective best interest to adopt a ride-around strategy rather than race up front.

Does that make JGR evil? No. It makes the team smart for finding a way to continue the path toward the main goal of a championship. And if the season ends in a championship for one of the team’s drivers, there will be no doubt.

Nothing done Sunday was against NASCAR rules. NASCAR executive Steve O’Donnell said in a Monday morning appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the strategy did not violate any rule.

“In this case, we look at the strategy decision that the team made, and they executed it,” O’Donnell said. ” … In this case, that wouldn’t be something that we look at that violated that rule.”

Kenseth, Busch and Edwards stood second through fourth in the standings entering Talladega. In the past two years of elimination races, the driver who was second in the standings entering the race ended up eliminated when the dust settled at Talladega. Coincidentally, both times it was a JGR car; Busch in 2014 and Hamlin in 2015.

RELATED: History shows second in points far from secure at Talladega

Perhaps with that history in mind, Gibbs was committed to the team’s strategy play.

“Everybody talked it over, crew chiefs and everything,” Gibbs said Sunday. “I think it was just a strategy we needed to start off with and really depended on how it would go.”

Ironically, that loophole will effectively be closed up with Talladega moving to the middle race of the Round of 12 in 2017.

All Gibbs and JGR did was a find an edge in the rules. Some will cry foul, others say it’s a sandbag move and others might even heap praise and call it genius. But there is no denying it worked. On the level, the move itself was smart and legal.

Given JGR’s dominance of late — the organization has 21 wins in the past 52 races and Kyle Busch won the 2015 Sprint Cup championship — you could argue that the four-car organization is NASCAR’s version of the NFL’s New England Patriots — disliked for its success and for its ability to find a way to take advantage of nearly every potentially advantageous situation.

ALL THEIR WINS: Busch | Kenseth | Edwards | Hamlin

Bill Belichick, the Patriots coach, is known as an innovator, someone who pushes the envelope in an effort to find a competitive advantage or loophole that will aid his team. Much as Gibbs did at Talladega.

Consider: In a 2015 playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Patriots used a unique offensive formation on several plays that essentially caused confusion among the Ravens defense as to who was an eligible receiver and who was ineligible. Running back Shane Vereen lined up as the slot receiver on several plays, but was ineligible. Adding to the confusion was that the Patriots essentially only had four offensive linemen on the field, instead of the usual five. You can see that broken down a bit further here by CBSSports.com. The formation helped lead the Patriots on a touchdown drive in what was ultimately a 35-31 win for New England. 

That formation has since been deemed ineligible by the league. Yet at the time, it was perfectly legal according to the rule book, and the Patriots found and took advantage of it. The victory over the Ravens began New England’s march to a fourth Super Bowl title in 14 years for the duo of Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.

Even in early part of the 2016 season, the Patriots worked around a new NFL rule. Starting this year, kickoffs that result in touchbacks will see the ball placed at the 25-yard line and eliminate kickoff coverage out of the equation. Yet, several teams have elected to have their kickers boot balls high and just short of the end zone to allow for coverage teams to get down the field and stop returners short of 25-yard line. Perfectly within the rules since a returned kick is more than likely to result in worse field position than a touchback.

Even before his stint as a head coach, Belichick was a defensive savant, serving as the defensive coordinator for two Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants, which came during one of Gibbs’ two stints as the head coach of the division rival Washington Redskins. In Super Bowl XXV, he called a defensive effort that slowed down one of the league’s most high-powered offenses in the Buffalo Bills in New York’s 20-19 win. As a defensive coach, he drilled his players on normal offensive signals teams would use to help them diagnose plays before they were run, as this New York Daily News article details. He over-prepares, using every little advantage he can find.

Maybe it roots from Joe Gibbs’ ties to football, but that is exactly what Gibbs did Sunday. He weighed the percentages, the numbers and the odds and knew it was in the team’s collective best interest to adopt a ride-around strategy rather than race up front.

Does that make JGR evil? No. It makes the team smart for finding a way to continue the path toward the main goal of a championship. And if the season ends in a championship for one of the team’s drivers, there will be no doubt.

Nothing done Sunday was against NASCAR rules. NASCAR executive Steve O’Donnell said in a Monday morning appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the strategy did not violate any rule.

“In this case, we look at the strategy decision that the team made, and they executed it,” O’Donnell said. ” … In this case, that wouldn’t be something that we look at that violated that rule.”

Kenseth, Busch and Edwards stood second through fourth in the standings entering Talladega. In the past two years of elimination races, the driver who was second in the standings entering the race ended up eliminated when the dust settled at Talladega. Coincidentally, both times it was a JGR car; Busch in 2014 and Hamlin in 2015.

RELATED: History shows second in points far from secure at Talladega

Perhaps with that history in mind, Gibbs was committed to the team’s strategy play.

“Everybody talked it over, crew chiefs and everything,” Gibbs said Sunday. “I think it was just a strategy we needed to start off with and really depended on how it would go.”

Ironically, that loophole will effectively be closed up with Talladega moving to the middle race of the Round of 12 in 2017.

All Gibbs and JGR did was a find an edge in the rules. Some will cry foul, others say it’s a sandbag move and others might even heap praise and call it genius. But there is no denying it worked. On the level, the move itself was smart and legal.

Given JGR’s dominance of late — the organization has 21 wins in the past 52 races and Kyle Busch won the 2015 Sprint Cup championship — you could argue that the four-car organization is NASCAR’s version of the NFL’s New England Patriots — disliked for its success and for its ability to find a way to take advantage of nearly every potentially advantageous situation.

ALL THEIR WINS: Busch | Kenseth | Edwards | Hamlin

Bill Belichick, the Patriots coach, is known as an innovator, someone who pushes the envelope in an effort to find a competitive advantage or loophole that will aid his team. Much as Gibbs did at Talladega.

Consider: In a 2015 playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Patriots used a unique offensive formation on several plays that essentially caused confusion among the Ravens defense as to who was an eligible receiver and who was ineligible. Running back Shane Vereen lined up as the slot receiver on several plays, but was ineligible. Adding to the confusion was that the Patriots essentially only had four offensive linemen on the field, instead of the usual five. You can see that broken down a bit further here by CBSSports.com. The formation helped lead the Patriots on a touchdown drive in what was ultimately a 35-31 win for New England. 

That formation has since been deemed ineligible by the league. Yet at the time, it was perfectly legal according to the rule book, and the Patriots found and took advantage of it. The victory over the Ravens began New England’s march to a fourth Super Bowl title in 14 years for the duo of Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.

Even in early part of the 2016 season, the Patriots worked around a new NFL rule. Starting this year, kickoffs that result in touchbacks will see the ball placed at the 25-yard line and eliminate kickoff coverage out of the equation. Yet, several teams have elected to have their kickers boot balls high and just short of the end zone to allow for coverage teams to get down the field and stop returners short of 25-yard line. Perfectly within the rules since a returned kick is more than likely to result in worse field position than a touchback.

Even before his stint as a head coach, Belichick was a defensive savant, serving as the defensive coordinator for two Super Bowl titles with the New York Giants, which came during one of Gibbs’ two stints as the head coach of the division rival Washington Redskins. In Super Bowl XXV, he called a defensive effort that slowed down one of the league’s most high-powered offenses in the Buffalo Bills in New York’s 20-19 win. As a defensive coach, he drilled his players on normal offensive signals teams would use to help them diagnose plays before they were run, as this New York Daily News article details. He over-prepares, using every little advantage he can find.

Maybe it roots from Joe Gibbs’ ties to football, but that is exactly what Gibbs did Sunday. He weighed the percentages, the numbers and the odds and knew it was in the team’s collective best interest to adopt a ride-around strategy rather than race up front.

Does that make JGR evil? No. It makes the team smart for finding a way to continue the path toward the main goal of a championship. And if the season ends in a championship for one of the team’s drivers, there will be no doubt.