7. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski led early, then ceded the lead by taking four tires on the first pit stop. He led late, but didn’t quite have the car capable of keeping up with the leaders by the end. Oh, and he took a spin into the wall on Lap 194 to bring out the caution. Just another day at the office for the series points leader. Watch Keselowski’s race highlights here.
8. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Following a Lap 188 wreck, Busch said his car was "absolutely wrecked." He wasn’t wrong, but his No. 18 crew taped it up enough to stay out of the garage. And he made up ground as the race went on, finishing with a race-leading pass differential of 25, for a stunning top-10 finish. See Busch’s race highlights here.
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Following a caution for debris on Lap 105, Junior noted on the restart that he thought there was a loose wheel. He pitted again. "Great decision," crew chief Steve Letarte said, after confirming the problem. The No. 88 eventually got back on the lead lap and avoided the late trouble that plagued so many others. See Junior’s race highlights here.
10. Brian Vickers, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Vickers stood alone in at least one aspect Sunday — he was the only driver in the field to run all 303 laps in the top 15. And he also led 15 circuits, the first time he’s been out front for multiple laps in a race since Talladega in May.
11. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Finishing 11th was the best showing for Dillon since July, and there was a fascinating moment during the race when the No. 3 and No. 88 made contact. Past meets present.
12. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. "I worked all day for ya," Truex said as the race concluded, and it was evident. He was two laps down after a Lap 181 wreck, but rallied for his best showing since the first race at Loudon — also a 12th-place finish.
13. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger was one of the only Chase drivers not involved in some sort of trouble Sunday. Despite running 25th or so most of the race, he climbed into the top 15. Due to that and others’ misfortune, he’s 10th in the standings with one race remaining in the Challenger Round.
14. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Always one of the best radios in which to tune, Bowyer uttered a "we aren’t worth a (expletive)" early on, and then noted that Kyle Larson was "taking this (expletive) too seriously." For uncensored audio during the race, click here.
15. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard led all drivers with 64 green-flag passes. His day seemed destined to end with a top-10, but wrecking with Matt Kenseth on Lap 270 while battling for fifth ended those thoughts.
16. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. "What a (expletive) (expletive) show," Biffle uttered after the race. As his radio would indicate, he was fortunate to even finish 16th and benefited from a spate of late cautions. The top 12 drivers advance out of the Challenger Round, and Biffle is 14th with one race to go. To subscribe to RaceView, click here.
17. Carl Edwards, No. 99 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Edwards’ car seemed to get worse as the race went on, and he’s now finished outside the top 15 for three consecutive races.
18. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman qualified for the postseason by virtue of his consistency, something that’s been lacking during the Chase. He’s currently the bubble driver, sitting 12th in the standings.
19. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick ran in the top 10 and was in fifth with the race more than 80 percent of the way finished. The spate of late cautions (five in the final 50 laps) didn’t help, and in fact sent her No. 10 Chevy sliding down the speed chart.
20. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier has improved as the season’s gone on, and this result bears that out. His finish was 17 places better than his first trip to Loudon, and it gives Allgaier his fourth top-20 in the past eight events.
21. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth may have had a more eventful day than any other driver. He was involved in one five-car wreck, then another that sent Brad Keselowski into the wall. "Gosh man, I gave him three lanes," Kenseth quipped. The worst incident came late, when a surefire top-five turned into a finish outside the top 20 after contact with Paul Menard. See his highlights here.
22. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, German Racing. A 22nd-place finish matches Mears’ best effort since the Bristol race a month ago, and it betters his finish in the summer Loudon race by 16 positions.
23. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne’s car handled OK, and it wasn’t mashed like Kyle Busch‘s following a five-car wreck in which Kahne was involved. The problem? As Kahne succinctly said over the radio: "It would be really good if it would just go faster."
24. Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Ambrose has been remarkably consistent lately, following a 27th at Richmond and 25th at Chicago with a 24th-place effort at Loudon. He has eight races remaining before heading back to Australia.
25. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Racing. Cassill improved nine spots on his previous performance at Loudon and improved five places from his starting position on Sunday.
26. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The thought of a smooth, no-frills top-10 in which Gordon’s pit strategy paid off went up in smoke when the veteran blew a right front tire on Lap 292. Thanks to his finish last week and his nine bonus points from the regular season, he doesn’t appear to be in any real danger of missing out on the next round, though.
27. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland had his best finish in four races and improved seven spots from his starting position, but he was slightly worse than his previous outing at Loudon (24th).
28. Alex Bowman, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. The 20-year-old had his best finish in five races and improved seven spots from his starting position.
29. Michael Annett, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. This was a nice finish for Annett after two weeks of struggles in finishing 37th and 40th, and two weeks of DNFs in two of the three races before that.
30. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart struggled and was on his way to a ho-hum finish when his spin on Lap 298 necessitated a green-white-checkered finish, shaking up the field in the process. See Stewart’s highlights.
31. Reed Sorenson, No. 36 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Sorenson ended a run of seven straight top-30 finishes as he completed 300 of 303 laps on Sunday.
32. Travis Kvapil, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. Kvapil was supposed to drive the No. 93 for BK Racing, but got this seat when the team announced Ryan Truex would not compete. This was Kvapil’s first race for BKR this year, and it produced his second-best 2014 finish in 18 starts.
33. Josh Wise, No. 98 Chevrolet, Phil Parsons Racing. Wise completed 297 of 303 laps as he finished 33rd for the third time in the past four races.
34. Mike Wallace, No. 66 Toyota, Jay Robinson Racing. In his only Sprint Cup Series race of the season, the veteran Wallace improved on his starting position by eight spots.
35. Timmy Hill, No. 32 Ford, GO Fas Racing. The 21-year-old improved eight spots from his starting position and six spots from his previous performance at Loudon this season.
36. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. The ‘Outlaw’ put himself in perfect position to get back on the lead lap on Lap 170 following a debris caution. But a cut tire sent Busch slamming into the wall on Lap 222. He was 15th at the time and, with one race remaining in the Challenger Round, is 15th in the standings. "I am not (expletive) coming in until there is another yellow," was one of his radio comments. Click here for his highlights.
37. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin had a good car and great stops on pit road early, but he also had a mechanical problem. His machine wouldn’t take on fuel, leading to a lengthy pit stop to fix it and a testy exchange with crew chief Darian Grubb. "Keep your mouth shut until we get it fixed," Grubb said after Hamlin’s colorful expression of dismay. He came out four laps down and was caught up in a later wreck. Click here to subscribe to RaceView and listen to in-race dialogues as they happen.
38. Cole Whitt, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. Typically BK Racing’s most consistent driver and often its top finisher, Whitt’s 38th-place effort was his worst showing since Watkins Glen. He had previously finished 30th for four consecutive races.
39. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. At times, Stenhouse ran consistently in the top 15 — and even top 10 — with the Chase drivers. His finish does not reflect that. Contact with teammate Carl Edwards sent Stenhouse slamming into the wall late, creating a tire rub which eventually resulted in a blown tire that ended his day on Lap 264.
40. David Stremme, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport Racing. Stremme’s ninth start of the season produced his worst finish of the year.
41. Corey Lajoie, No. 77 Ford, Randy Humphrey Racing. Fellow drivers first started reporting a possible oil leak from the No. 77 after 45 laps, and Lajoie finally had to go to the garage after 88 laps to change a rear gear. He would return to the track and log 201 total laps, even tweeting while his car was being worked on, in his first career Sprint Cup Series start.
42. David Ragan, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Caught up in a wreck on Lap 180, Ragan’s day was done for good. His finish was the worst of the season and the only time he’s been outside the top 40.
43. Clay Rogers, No. 93 Toyota, BK Racing. Sunday was the first career Cup start for the 33-year-old, who found out Friday he’d have a seat when Travis Kvapil slid over to the No. 83 Toyota. Rogers went to the garage after completing 45 laps.
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