Through no fault of his own, Joey Logano may have achieved the most unpopular sweep in NASCAR history on Sunday afternoon.
Why? Because his victory in the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway knocked Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup—by a matter of inches.
When NASCAR threw the third caution of the race moments after the first bona fide attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag restart on lap 195—with Kevin Harvick’s engine turning sour and cars wrecking behind him—Logano was inches ahead Earnhardt.
That call ended the race, giving Logano his third straight victory in the Chase’s Contender Round, the first time since the elimination format was instituted last season that a driver has won all three races in a single round.
The victory was Logano’s series-best sixth of the season, his first at Talladega and the 14th of his career.
“I had a good start, and then the 24 was pushing me and the plan worked perfectly but the inside lane started pulling back up,” Logano said of the final restart. “I saw the (caution) lights come on when I was still in the lead, and I thought we had it.
“It’s all about how the timing loops are and the camera makes sure that is what happened. It’s such a crazy race. There were such long green flag runs, you never see that. To pull it into victory lane here at Talladega is so cool.”
In addition to Logano, Carl Edwards (fifth on Sunday), Jeff Gordon (third), Kurt Busch (tenth), Brad Keselowski (fourth), Martin Truex Jr. (seventh), Harvick (15th) and Kyle Busch (11th) advanced to the Eliminator Round of the Chase.
As formidable as Logano’s achievement was, it didn’t sit well with the heavily partisan Earnhardt crowd in the Talladega grandstands. Catcalls, debris and thumbs-down gestures greeted Logano’s celebratory burnout after NASCAR declared him the winner
The green-white-checkered-flag restart came four laps after NASCAR extended a yellow-flag period when cars began wrecking in the tri-oval before the leaders crossed the start/finish line coming to green to start lap 191.
Though NASCAR had amended a rule before the race, limiting the number of attempts at a green-white-checkered to one (down from three), the sanctioning body ruled the first try was not a bona fide attempt since the yellow waved before the first cars reached the stripe.
Earnhardt supported the amended rule before the race, and he continued to do so afterward, despite the outcome.
“Everybody is going to ask me a hundred times how I feel about the green-white-checkered rule now,” Earnhardt said. “I feel good about it. It was a good safe call. The race ended per the rules, and I’m totally OK with that.
“They decided officially who won the race, and Joey won it. He has had an awesome round. Unbelievable, really. We did everything we could today. Almost perfect, tried really hard.”
Earnhardt, who needed to win the race to advance to the Chase’s Eliminator Round, wasn’t the only casualty on Sunday. Matt Kenseth, in the same position as Earnhardt entering the race, was bounced from the Chase after wrecking on the green-white-checkered attempt and finishing 26th.
Ryan Newman (12th on Saturday) and Denny Hamlin were the other two drivers eliminated, Hamlin after the escape hatch above his driver’s seat dislodged during the race, requiring repeated repairs on pit road. Hamlin lost three laps in the process, got wrecked on the last restart and finished 37th to drop from second to tenth in the Chase standings.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega
Talladega Superspeedway
1. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 196, $283973.
2. (5) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 196, $197100.
3. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 196, $193886.
4. (11) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 196, $170716.
5. (15) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 196, $128100.
6. (13) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 196, $123665.
7. (43) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 196, $127860.
8. (29) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 196, $132498.
9. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 196, $109515.
10. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 196, $108790.
11. (16) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 196, $134431.
12. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 196, $124230.
13. (33) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 196, $90830.
14. (26) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 196, $131491.
15. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 196, $138305.
16. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 196, $129886.
17. (21) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 196, $113945.
18. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 196, $132036.
19. (2) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 196, $102025.
20. (19) Greg Biffle, Ford, 196, $118233.
21. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 196, $127350.
22. (34) Cole Whitt, Ford, 196, $104183.
23. (35) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 196, $98408.
24. (23) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 196, $113283.
25. (12) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 196, $112189.
26. (4) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 196, $121911.
27. (20) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 196, $92400.
28. (27) Michael McDowell, Ford, 195, $81150.
29. (40) Josh Wise, Ford, 195, $84000.
30. (22) David Ragan, Toyota, 195, $111539.
31. (28) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 195, $106328.
32. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 194, $100108.
33. (37) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 194, $89847.
34. (41) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 194, $80100.
35. (42) Travis Kvapil(i), Chevrolet, 193, $79925.
36. (31) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 193, $97770.
37. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 192, $97634.
38. (30) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 192, $74877.
39. (24) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, Engine, 182, $100796.
40. (36) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 177, $68305.
41. (32) Timmy Hill(i), Ford, Electrical, 168, $62805.
42. (39) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Engine, 130, $66805.
43. (9) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, Engine, 84, $55305.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 167.311 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 06 Mins, 58 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution.
Caution Flags: Three for 18 laps.
Lead Changes: 30 among 18 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Gordon 1-7; D. Earnhardt Jr. 8-10; D. Hamlin 11-14; D. Earnhardt Jr. 15; D. Hamlin 16; D. Earnhardt Jr. 17; J. Gordon 18; D. Earnhardt Jr. 19-39; M. Waltrip 40-41; J. Johnson 42-63; D. Earnhardt Jr. 64-79; M. Waltrip 80; D. Ragan 81; P. Menard 82; J. Logano 83-94; C. Bowyer 95-96; K. Harvick 97-100; K. Kahne 101-118; R. Stenhouse Jr. 119-120; G. Biffle 121; J. Johnson 122-133; R. Newman 134; Kurt Busch 135; D. Gilliland 136; M. Kenseth 137-139; Kyle Busch 140-150; D. Earnhardt Jr. 151-169; P. Menard 170; D. Gilliland 171; G. Biffle 172-188; J. Logano 189-196.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): D. Earnhardt Jr. six times for 61 laps; J. Johnson two times for 34 laps; J. Logano two times for 20 laps; G. Biffle two times for 18 laps; K. Kahne one time for 18 laps; Kyle Busch one time for 11 laps; J. Gordon two times for eight laps; D. Hamlin two times for five laps; K. Harvick one time for four laps; M. Kenseth one time for three laps; M. Waltrip two times for three laps; C. Bowyer one time for two laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. one time for two laps; P. Menard two times for two laps; D. Gilliland two times for two laps; R. Newman one time for one lap; D. Ragan one time for one lap; Kurt Busch one time for one lap.
Top-16 in Points: J. Logano – 3,142; C. Edwards – 3,115; J. Gordon – 3,113; Kurt Busch – 3,112; B. Keselowski – 3,111; M. Truex Jr. – 3,107; K. Harvick – 3,101; Kyle Busch – 3,098; R. Newman – 3,095; D. Hamlin – 3,090; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 3,083; M. Kenseth – 3,054; J. Johnson – 2,161; J. McMurray – 2,159; P. Menard – 2,148; C. Bowyer – 2,123.