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 "I can't believe it," Keselowski said. "Talladega is such a wild
card and to be able to win here you have to catch breaks and make
your own breaks, a little of both. I can't believe we won at
Talladega. This race is the scariest of the three in the bracket. To
be able to win here is really a privilege it really is."
Matt Kenseth finished second, Clint Bowyer third, Landon Cassill
fourth and Newman rounded out the top-five.
After assisting his teammate, Logano wound up 11th after losing
Keselowski just before the end of the race.
"He (Keselowski) was in good shape, but I was in bad shape where I
was and that's why we lost a bunch of spots there at the end,"
Logano said. "I thought we did a great job (in the Contender round
of the Chase) -- a win, a fourth and an 11th, unfortunately, here at
Talladega, but we're doing what we have to do to win this
championship."
While Keselowski raced his way into the third round of the Chase,
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson
and Kasey Kahne saw their championship hopes come to an end.
Kyle Busch was also eliminated from the Chase.
Earnhardt ran near the front through much of the race but was
involved in the final caution of the race that came at the end of
the race's scheduled distance on lap 188. Other drivers involved
included Paul Menard, Greg Biffle and Michael Annett. In the end,
Earnhardt wound up 31st after leading 31 laps.
"Got with the 16 (Biffle) there a little bit," Earnhardt said.
"Don't know if I came down on him. I thought I held my line."
Busch, who headed into Talladega in seemingly a much safer position
championship-wise, saw his shot at Chase survival fall into jeopardy
earlier. Busch spent a significant portion of the second half of the
race in the garage after his car sustained substantial damage during
a multi-car crash on lap 102.
Jimmie Johnson, meanwhile, dominated throughout the race, leading a
race high 84 laps. The bonus points for leading weren't enough to
move him into championship safety, though. Needing to win to stay
alive, Johnson raced Newman for the lead after the fourth caution of
the race that came out on lap 175. But he got out of line and was
shuffled back just before the next yellow flag on lap 184.
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Johnson pulled out of line again on the following restart in an
attempt to get back to the front. He didn't receive any drafting
help and fell further back. He wound up finishing 24th.
"It looked like he (Johnson) tried to make it three wide and ended
up going way back," Keselowski's crew chief Paul Wolfe said. "It is
about being smart and he understands this type of racing and Brad
does a great job of that."
Kahne finished 12th and Busch was credited with 40th.
Travis Kvapil finished sixth, Kurt Busch seventh, Marcos Ambrose
eighth, Kevin Harvick ninth and Casey Mears 10th.
The other drivers advancing to the Eliminator round with Keselowski
are Logano, Harvick, Kenseth, Newman, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and
Carl Edwards.
NOTES: Sunday's race was the 890th and final Sprint Cup Series race
for Terry Labonte. ... A modified qualifying format saw Ricky
Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier, who had made every race of the
year, fail to make the Geico 500, and Tony Stewart fall back on the
past champion's provision to get a starting spot. ... Heading into
Talladega, reigning and six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson
and most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. were tied for 11th and
12th in the standings among the 12 Chase drivers. ... Brad
Keselowski, the 2012 champion, was just ahead of Johnson and
Earnhardt in 10th, putting winners of seven of the eight most recent
championships at or near the Chase standings basement (Tony Stewart,
not in the Chase, won the other championship of the last eight). ...
Keselowski headed to Talladega tied with Team Penske teammate Joey
Logano for most wins, so far, this season with five. ... Earnhardt
had five previous wins at Talladega prior to Sunday's race, but the
most recent came in 2001.
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reserved.]
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