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Brad Keselowski wins Talladega marathon with last-lap pass
Brad Keselowski is heading to the third round of the Cup Series playoffs thanks to a last-lap pass of Ryan Newman at Talladega.
Keselowski swung to the high side of Newman as the field entered turn 3 and powered past off turn 4 thanks to the help of teammate Joey Logano to get his third win of the season and ensure a spot in the round of eight.
The pass came on a three-lap dash to the finish after the third red flag of the race. A half-dozen (significantly) unblemished cars were able to finish after a majority of the field was involved in crashes.
Keselowski has become the best restrictor-plate racer in NASCAR over the past few years thanks to his mastery of side-draft maneuvers like he used Sunday in passing Newman. The win is Keselowski’s fifth at Talladega in 18 starts and his second to guarantee an appearance in the next round of the playoffs. Facing certain elimination in 2014, Keselowski won and advanced to the third round.
Newman finished second and Trevor Bayne was third. The win comes in Keselowski’s 300th career start. Logano won in his 300th career start earlier in the year at Richmond.
Just three playoff cars were among the group racing for the finish as contenders like Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson and others were involved in crashes over the races final 20 laps.
The biggest crash came with 17 laps to go when Martin Truex Jr. — already advanced to the third round with his win last week at Charlotte — tried to move to the high side of David Ragan entering turn three. The contact set off a chain-reaction accident that sent Kurt Busch into the wall and collected Kyle Busch, Johnson, Harvick and many more cars.
That crash brought out a red flag and Ryan Blaney crashed with Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne shortly after racing resumed. As Blaney’s car was sliding on the track, Harvick ran into him. The damage from that collision forced both playoff cars to retire.
Then, in the crash that caused the final red flag, Daniel Suarez went spinning after contact while racing for the lead and Elliott was collected.
Here’s what the standings look like heading into the final race of the second round at Kansas next week. The top eight drivers in the standings move on. With Keselowski and Truex already locked in to round three, six of the remaining 10 drivers’ playoff fates are still to be determined.
1. Martin Truex Jr., 3,120 points [won at Charlotte]
2. Brad Keselowski, 3,101 [won at Talladega]
3. Kyle Larson, 3,096
4. Kevin Harvick, 3,089
5. Denny Hamlin, 3,088
6. Chase Elliott, 3,087
7. Ryan Blaney, 3,076
8. Jimmie Johnson, 3,074
9. Kyle Busch, 3,067
10. Matt Kenseth, 3,066
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 3,052
12. Jamie McMurray, 3.045
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
