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Brad Keselowski wins crash-marred Talladega race

 


TALLADEGA, Ala. -- A look at all the results and action from Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway:

 


TALLADEGA, Ala. -- A look at all the results and action from Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway:

WINNER: Brad Keselowski won a wreck-filled GEICO 500 on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway in a race marred by two massive wrecks, hard hits to several drivers and two airborne race cars.

The Team Penske driver won for the fourth time at Talladega under caution as the field wrecked behind him, former series champion Kevin Harvick sliding up the track on his side.

 

“One of the tickets to stay out of the wrecks at Talladega is to stay up front," Keselowski said. "This No. 2 machine, man. This feels really good, really good. ... This is Talladega and it's my fourth win here. I never thought I'd win at Talladega four times.”

THE BIG ONE: With 28 laps to go, Talladega’s famed Big One finally struck. It appeared Kurt Busch got into Jimmie Johnson, who in turn made contact with Paul Menard and started a massive pileup. Among the 21 cars involved: Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, AJ Allmendinger, Jamie McMurray, Regan Smith, Brian Scott, Michael McDowell, David Gilliland, Greg Biffle and Ryan Blaney.

 

THE BIG ONE II: Matt Kenseth and Danica Patrick were involved in a hard crash on lap 181. Patrick hit the interior wall - covered by a SAFER barrier - very hard, but quickly climbed out and walked to the interior wall. Kenseth's car flipped and nearly hit the same interior wall roof-first. He immediately put his driver net down and also climbed out. It appeared Patrick's car sailed under Kenseth's as it went airborne. Also involved in the incident were Harvick, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Bobby Labonte, Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell.

 

FLIPPING OUT: Chris Buescher went barrel-rolling down the track in a scary incident just past the halfway point of Sunday’s race after an incident triggered by McMurray and Austin Dillon. As the pack was four-wide, Dillon was squeezed into Gilliland’s car and turned into the wall. Danica Patrick turned to avoid the wreck and it knocked Johnson out of the pack and sent him spinning. Then, at the back of the pack, Michael Annett and Buescher collided – which somehow sent Buescher tumbling in a frightening, airborne wreck. None of the drivers were injured in the incident.

 

"It was so quick, never had any time to react," Buescher said. "I thought we were clear of the wreck. Next thing you know, I'm upside down. I'm pretty sick and tired of superspeedway racing at this point."

MICHAEL’S MOVE: Michael Waltrip, making a rare on-track appearance, caused a crash on Lap 59 when he attempted to merge into the pack after being bumped out of line. Waltrip got loose after a shove from Truex Jr. and shot out of the pack below the yellow line. He saved it, but then kept going and came back onto the track. His No. 55 car promptly made contact with Casey Mears, and Aric Almirola was also caught in the crash.

 

DISAPPOINTMENT FOR DALE, PART I: Defending Talladega spring race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. brought his famed and fast Amelia car back to the track, but the day went sour when he suddenly lost control while trying to make a move and crashed on lap 50. Earnhardt had to go to the garage for extensive repairs. “Same thing we did in Daytona,” said Earnhardt, who also crashed in the Daytona 500. “It gets loose. The car wasn’t driving real well.” Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne and Matt DiBenedetto also sustained damage in the incident.

DISAPPOINTMENT FOR DALE, PART II: At some point after the crash and following repairs, Earnhardt returned to the track only to have the steering wheel come off in his hand. An in-car camera showed Earnhardt tried to initially steer the car himself with no wheel by putting his hand on the steering column, but he quickly got the wheel back on.

PHOTOS: Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway

 

 

DISAPPOINTMENT FOR DALE, PART III: Later in the race, Earnhardt was taken out in a hard crash when Carl Edwards suddenly blew a tire and shot up the track into him. Earnhardt finished 40th and Edwards was denied a shot at his third straight win.

 

BRIEF RUN FOR SMOKE: Tony Stewart started the race but climbed out of the car after 53 laps as a protective safety measure for his still-healing back. He was replaced by Ty Dillon under caution. The driver swap took just over one minute to complete. Dillon finished sixth, but Stewart will get the points as the driver of record per NASCAR rules.

WEATHER OR NOT: NASCAR had to dodge scattered thunderstorms to start the race on time, but it went off as planned. One small but powerful cell just skirted by the track minutes before the green flag - which was moved up - but rain did not fall initially.

Contributing: Brant James; Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

PHOTOS: 2016 Sprint Cup race winners

SUNDAY'S RESULTS

1. (7) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 188 laps, 45 points.

2. (17) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188, 40.

3. (2) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188, 38.

4. (30) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 188, 37.

5. (1) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 188, 37.

6. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 188, 35.

7. (34) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 188, 34.

8. (18) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 188, 33.

9. (19) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 188, 32.

10. (13) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 188, 32.

11. (32) Landon Cassill, Ford, 188, 30.

12. (33) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 188, 30.

13. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 188, 28.

14. (28) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 188, 28.

15. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 188, 27.

16. (6) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 188, 25.

17. (39) David Gilliland, Ford, 188, 24.

18. (36) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 188, 24.

19. (26) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 188, 23.

20. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 188, 21.

21. (31) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 188, 20.

22. (5) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 182, 19.

23. (4) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, accident, 180, 19.

24. (37) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, accident, 180, 18.

25. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, accident, 180, 17.

26. (10) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, accident, 180, 15.

27. (23) Aric Almirola, Ford, accident, 180, 15.

28. (15) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 173, 14.

29. (24) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 173, 13.

30. (21) Brian Scott, Ford, 172, 11.

31. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 170, 11.

32. (25) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 168, 9.

33. (20) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 166, 8.

34. (40) David Ragan, Toyota, engine, 151, 8.

35. (9) Carl Edwards, Toyota, accident, 109, 6.

36. (35) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, engine, 98, 5.

37. (27) Chris Buescher, Ford, accident, 95, 4.

38. (38) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, accident, 94, 3.

39. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, accident, 82, 2.

40. (3) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, accident, 63, 1.

———

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 140.046 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 34 minutes, 15 seconds.

Margin of Victory: Under Caution.

Caution Flags: 10 for 41 laps.

Lead Changes: 37 among 17 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C.Elliott 1-13; M.Kenseth 14-28; C.Elliott 29-38; M.Waltrip 39; Ky.Busch 40-51; A.Almirola 52; A.Allmendinger 53; D.Ragan 54-55; M.Waltrip 56; M.Kenseth 57-71; B.Keselowski 72-82; D.Hamlin 83; B.Keselowski 84; D.Hamlin 85-88; B.Keselowski 89-96; D.Patrick 97-99; K.Harvick 100-102; C.Elliott 103-106; K.Harvick 107-108; T.Bayne 109-115; K.Harvick 116-117; T.Bayne 118; K.Harvick 119-120; T.Bayne 121-128; B.Labonte 129; R.Newman 130; C.Whitt 131; T.Bayne 132-135; K.Larson 136-137; T.Bayne 138; K.Larson 139-145; M.Kenseth 146-152; B.Labonte 153; M.Kenseth 154-155; T.Bayne 156; B.Keselowski 157-165; J.Logano 166-171; B.Keselowski 172-188.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): B.Keselowski, 5 times for 46 laps; M.Kenseth, 4 times for 39 laps; C.Elliott, 3 times for 27 laps; T.Bayne, 6 times for 22 laps; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 12 laps; K.Harvick, 4 times for 9 laps; K.Larson, 2 times for 9 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 6 laps; D.Hamlin, 2 times for 5 laps; D.Patrick, 1 time for 3 laps; M.Waltrip, 2 times for 2 laps; B.Labonte, 2 times for 2 laps; D.Ragan, 1 time for 2 laps; A.Allmendinger, 1 time for 1 lap; C.Whitt, 1 time for 1 lap; A.Almirola, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Newman, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: Ky.Busch, 2; C.Edwards, 2; J.Johnson, 2; B.Keselowski, 2; D.Hamlin, 1; K.Harvick, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 351; 2. Ky.Busch, 342; 3. C.Edwards, 337; 4. J.Johnson, 329; 5. J.Logano, 316; 6. Ku.Busch, 312; 7. B.Keselowski, 300; 8. D.Earnhardt Jr., 279; 9. M.Truex Jr., 274; 10. A.Dillon, 272; 11. C.Elliott, 271; 12. D.Hamlin, 269; 13. J.McMurray, 261; 14. A.Allmendinger, 232; 15. M.Kenseth, 231; 16. T.Bayne, 228.

 

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