Brad Keselowski has booked his place in the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 with a final-lap victory in an Alabama 500 which featured three red flag periods.
Keselowski rounded up Ryan Newman in the final bends to take victory, the first of only four of the 12 Playoff drivers to make the finish.
The #2 Miller Lite Team Penske Ford led for the first time at the end of Stage 1 and again before the final red flag on Lap 184 of 188.
Hamlin got by at the restart but couldn’t hold on as Keselowski took a third win of the season and moved up to second in the standings.
Aside from Keselowski, the Playoff drivers who were able to greet the chequered flag were Denny Hamlin in sixth, Kyle Larson in 13th, and Matt Kenseth in 14th.
Half of the Playoff contenders were caught up in ‘the big one’ which saw the race red-flagged with 17 laps to go and accounted for a total of 16 cars.
David Ragan and championship leader Martin Truex Jr. set off the incident when the latter gave the former a push.
The pile-up took Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Kyle Busch out of the race.
A four-crash crash shortly after the restart ended the races of Stage 2 winner Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick, among others.
Chase Elliott went out inside the final half-dozen laps after turning around Daniel Suarez while battling for the lead.
Jamie McMurray dropped to the bottom of the Playoff group having been taken out while trying to make pit road in an early incident.
The Round of 12 concludes with the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Monday 23 October (AEDT).
VIDEO: The big one
VIDEO: Race highlights
Results: Alabama 500, Talladega Superspeedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Make | Laps | Laps led | Status | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 188 | 7 | Running | 59 |
| 2 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 188 | 3 | Running | 35 |
| 3 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 188 | 0 | Running | 36 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 188 | 59 | Running | 42 |
| 5 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 188 | 0 | Running | 32 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 188 | 4 | Running | 32 |
| 7 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 188 | 7 | Running | 30 |
| 8 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 188 | 5 | Running | 30 |
| 9 | 83 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 188 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 10 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 188 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 11 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 12 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 14 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 187 | 7 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 184 | 11 | Crash | 22 |
| 16 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 182 | 26 | Crash | 28 |
| 17 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 182 | 0 | Crash | 20 |
| 18 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 177 | 27 | Crash | 37 |
| 19 | 75 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 177 | 6 | Crash | 0 |
| 20 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 176 | 0 | Crash | 20 |
| 21 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 175 | 0 | Crash | 16 |
| 22 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 172 | 1 | Crash | 15 |
| 23 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 171 | 0 | Crash | 14 |
| 24 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 171 | 0 | Parked | 23 |
| 25 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 171 | 3 | Crash | 21 |
| 26 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 171 | 6 | Crash | 18 |
| 27 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 171 | 4 | Crash | 12 |
| 28 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 171 | 0 | Crash | 9 |
| 29 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 171 | 0 | Crash | 13 |
| 30 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 171 | 0 | Crash | 11 |
| 31 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 171 | 12 | Parked | 6 |
| 32 | 23 | Joey Gase | Toyota | 164 | 0 | Crash | 0 |
| 33 | 55 | D.J. Kennington | Toyota | 164 | 0 | Crash | 4 |
| 34 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 155 | 0 | Crash | 3 |
| 35 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 155 | 0 | Crash | 15 |
| 36 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 26 | 0 | Crash | 1 |
| 37 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 25 | 0 | Crash | 1 |
| 38 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 25 | 0 | Crash | 1 |
| 39 | 15 | Mark Thompson | Chevrolet | 25 | 0 | Crash | 0 |
| 40 | 7 | Justin Marks | Chevrolet | 16 | 0 | Crash | 0 |
Standings
| Pos | Driver | Pts | Gap | Wins | Starts | Top 5s | Top 10s | Poles |
| 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 3120 | 6 | 31 | 14 | 21 | 2 | |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | 3101 | -19 | 3 | 31 | 13 | 18 | 2 |
| 3 | Kyle Larson | 3096 | -24 | 4 | 31 | 14 | 19 | 3 |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 3089 | -31 | 1 | 31 | 10 | 18 | 4 |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | 3088 | -32 | 2 | 31 | 13 | 18 | 1 |
| 6 | Chase Elliott | 3087 | -33 | 0 | 31 | 9 | 17 | 1 |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney | 3076 | -44 | 1 | 31 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
| 8 | Jimmie Johnson | 3074 | -46 | 3 | 31 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
| 9 | Kyle Busch | 3067 | -53 | 4 | 31 | 12 | 18 | 8 |
| 10 | Matt Kenseth | 3066 | -54 | 0 | 31 | 8 | 14 | 2 |
| 11 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 3052 | -68 | 2 | 31 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| 12 | Jamie McMurray | 3045 | -75 | 0 | 31 | 3 | 16 | 0 |
| 13 | Kasey Kahne | 2104 | -1016 | 1 | 31 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 14 | Ryan Newman | 2103 | -1017 | 1 | 31 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| 15 | Austin Dillon | 2099 | -1021 | 1 | 31 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | Kurt Busch | 2089 | -1031 | 1 | 31 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
| 17 | Joey Logano | 794 | -2326 | 1 | 31 | 10 | 15 | 1 |
| 18 | Clint Bowyer | 775 | -2345 | 0 | 31 | 5 | 12 | 0 |
| 19 | Erik Jones | 749 | -2371 | 0 | 31 | 4 | 12 | 1 |
| 20 | Daniel Suarez | 708 | -2412 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 21 | Trevor Bayne | 584 | -2536 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 22 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 571 | -2549 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 23 | Paul Menard | 532 | -2588 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | Ty Dillon | 515 | -2605 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Chris Buescher | 484 | -2636 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | A.J. Allmendinger | 467 | -2653 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 27 | Michael McDowell | 461 | -2659 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | Danica Patrick | 457 | -2663 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | David Ragan | 387 | -2733 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 30 | Aric Almirola | 386 | -2734 | 0 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 31 | Matt DiBenedetto | 318 | -2802 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | Landon Cassill | 316 | -2804 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Cole Whitt | 279 | -2841 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Corey LaJoie | 202 | -2918 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Gray Gaulding | 148 | -2972 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 36 | Reed Sorenson | 125 | -2995 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 116 | -3004 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Derrike Cope | 36 | -3084 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Michael Waltrip | 29 | -3091 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 40 | Billy Johnson | 15 | -3105 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Boris Said | 15 | -3105 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Gary Klutt | 6 | -3114 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | D.J. Kennington | 6 | -3114 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Cody Ware | 6 | -3114 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Alon Day | 5 | -3115 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Stephen Leicht | 5 | -3115 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Kevin O’Connell | 4 | -3116 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Tommy Regan | 3 | -3117 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | B.J. McLeod | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Joey Gase | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Brett Moffitt | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Ryan Sieg | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 55 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | J.J. Yeley | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | Elliott Sadler | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | Regan Smith | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Ross Chastain | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 60 | Carl Long | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 | Josh Bilicki | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 62 | Mark Thompson | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Ray Black Jr. | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 | Justin Marks | 0 | -3120 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US
Discussion about this post