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Brad Keselowski

Keselowski wins at Talladega; Earnhardt, Johnson out of Chase

Nate Ryan
USA TODAY Sports

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Breaking down the Geico 500 from Talladega Superspeedway:

Winner: In a win-or-else situation, Brad Keselowski scored his third victory at Talladega and transferred into the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The Team Penske driver, who couldn't have advanced via points, took the lead from Ryan Newman on a green-white checkered restart and hung on through the final restart while fending off several challenges. It was a remarkable turnaround for Keselowski, who had poor finishes in the first two races of the Contender Round at Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. He was fined $50,000 and put on probation after postrace altercations last Saturday with Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin.

"I went through a lot of adversity, that makes this week a little more special," Keselowski said. "There's probably not many people happy that I won, and I can understand that. I'm not real proud of last week, but I'm proud of today.

"I feel really good about the next round. This (current round) was always the round that scared me the most. For me, surviving this bracket was the biggest hurdle other than Homestead itself."

Chase outlook: It was a rough day for Hendrick Motorsports, which had three of its four drivers knocked from the Chase for the Sprint Cup — Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne.

"We had a real good car most of the day," Earnhardt said. "Got real loose, kind of shuffled out. ... It's just hard racing. That's the way it goes at the end of these races. We weren't in good position."

Said Johnson: "We tried our best. Unfortunately we just didn't get it done. We played with house money and didn't get it done. ... This year, for sure, there's disappointment. You're not going to win every championship battle you enter. We'll be back next year; rules will change and we'll start thinking about '15."

Kyle Busch, who finished 40th after entering Talladega ranked second in points, also was eliminated. Busch suffered a hard crash on lap 103.

Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon and Keselowski advanced to the next round and joined Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick, who already had qualified through wins the past two weeks.

Strange bedfellows: Pushing the winner to the checkered flag on the final lap was … Kenseth, who had collared Keselowski in anger last week at Charlotte. Mindful that he needed as many points as possible to advance to the next round, and boxed into the bottom lane without room to maneuver, Kenseth stayed behind Keselowski and finished runner-up.

Third-place finisher Clint Bowyer laughed when asked if he ever would have envisioned Keselowski getting help from Kenseth — who was still angry Friday and accused Keselowski of "acting like a little kid using a car as a weapon" for running into his car after the race at Charlotte.

"I can imagine that," Bowyer said. "If he could have flipped him to win the race, he probably would have. That's me being a (wiseacre), though."

Green, green green: The first 60 laps were run without incident despite plenty of shuffling up front after Jimmie Johnson swiped the lead from pole-sitter Jamie McMurray on the first lap. The yellow flew for the first time on Lap 61 when Jamie McMurray's Chevrolet cut a tire and collected Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer in a multicar crash that was small by Talladega standards. The damage dropped Logano off the lead lap, but his No. 22 Ford already had qualified for the next round of the Chase.

New leader: Ryan Blaney, making only his second Sprint Cup start, took first from Jimmie Johnson on the second lap and led the next 13 circuits. Blaney was running a Ford for Team Penske, which entered a third car to help title contenders Keselowski and Logano.

Driving blind: Kevin Harvick plummeted from the top 10 to 42nd early in the race after his windshield was covered in oil leaking from the No. 1 Chevrolet of Jamie McMurray. "You're going to have to tell me what's going on and where to go if something happens," Harvick radioed his crew. He was able to reach the pits for service that averted disaster without sacrificing his spot on the lead lap.

Next: The third three-race segment, dubbed the "Eliminator Round," will begin Oct. 26 at Martinsville Speedway. The circuit then heads to Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway, where the Nov. 9 race will determine the four drivers eligible for the championship in the Nov. 16 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Follow Ryan on Twitter @nateryan

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