Joey Logano will leave the Talladega Superspeedway victorious in his No. 22 Shell/Penzoil Ford. Logano captured his 14th career Sprint Cup Series victory in a highly controversial finish between him and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the end of the race. The Connecticut native swept the Contender Round and now has six victories, 20 top five and 26 top 10 finishes in 2015.
Good thing nobody told Logano he would later sweep the Contender Round.
“I would have said you were crazy,” Logano said after the race. “It is amazing. Dreams come true I guess. We have to keep this dream rolling. We have a long way to go. We are back to zero going into Martinsville so we need to make something happen in the next three races.”
Several drivers, including Earnhardt, were surprised Logano had chosen the outside line for the restart. Logano also explained that decision later in victory lane.
“Yeah, I did. 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,” continued Logano. I saw the lights come on when I was still in the lead and I thought we had it. It is all about how the timing loops are and the camera to make sure that is what happened. It is such a crazy race. That were such long green flag runs, you never see that. To pull it into victory lane here at Talladega is so cool.”
NASCAR changed the green-white-checker rule for the CampingWorld.com 500 weekend due to safety concerns in the past. That rule would eventually come into play after Kevin Harvick and Trevor Bayne tangled just after the leader took the green with two laps remaining in the first and only green-white-checker finish attempt. NASCAR later declared Logano as the race winner.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will walk away with the runner-up finish in his No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet. Earnhardt started the afternoon in fourth and led the field for a total of 61 laps. The 40-year old driver fell inches short of advancing into the Eliminator round of the Chase. Earnhardt now holds 14 top five and 19 top 10 finishes in 2015.
Jeff Gordon made his final appearance at the Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday and took his No. 24 Chevrolet to a third-place finish. Gordon started on the pole and led the field for a total of eight laps during the race. The Indiana native will go into Martinsville next weekend still searching for a Sprint Cup Series victory in 2015. Gordon has three top five and 17 top 10 finishes through 32 races.
Denny Hamlin had problems all afternoon long in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota when a roof hatch kept coming loose. The racing team tried taping the part numerous times throughout the event and could never keep it down. Finally, after two previous attempts, the crew found a solution for the problem. The bad news is Hamlin would later finish in 37th.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head over to the Martinsville Speedway for the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500. Coverage will begin at 1:15 p.m. ET. on NBCSN and NBC Live Extra. Fans can also hear radio coverage provided by the Motor Racing Network.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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