Sunday was one of the most exciting races at Talladega in a real long time. No there were no dramatic wrecks for the highlight reel.
The action was non stop and while there was not the “big one” the racing was constant. Side by side action and literally in the final laps this race was up in the air on who would win.
We saw something on Sunday that we haven’t seen in recent years, strategy being played out.
Usually wrecks are attrition and the drivers that are patient and are able to stay out of those wrecks tend to bring home solid finishes.
Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch spent most of the race riding around in the back. Only a few occasions did you see these drivers race up near the front early in the race.
While Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Burton, Joey Logano and others were in the lead pack all day long.
For Earnhardt and Burton it didn’t pay off as those two ended up making contact and wrecking.
It wasn’t until less than 20 to go that Johnson and Gordon made their move to the front. They got shuffled back in the final caution of the race but in the end they both finished top 10.
Gordon finishes eighth and Johnson finished seventh.
Harvick who ran in the lead pack all day long suffered damage in a incident but he was able to recover and come home second.
The teams who decided to drop back early in the race stuck to that plan and in the end it paid off for most of them.
Fans are used to the big wrecks that take out half the field and they can be wild and exciting. In all honesty Sunday’s race was the most exciting race in a long time at Talladega.
You had to have a good car that can be pushed and you had to be able to push someone to the front. At times it didn’t have to be your teammate but in the end that was what it came down to for Hamlin.
"It wasn't very fun," Hamlin said. "I didn't get to race as hard as I would like to at times and thought I was in a good position there. I was actually in a great position with two [laps] to go. I had the No. 5 [Mark Martin] pushing me, but as soon as we passed the No. 48 [Johnson] he stopped pushing and that's teamwork.That's what I would expect of a teammate. We were in a bad spot. We weren't around our teammates when it counted right there at the end."
Once again strategy in the final laps dictated how well you would finish and who would be pushing you? It was all about when you make your move. Who do you work with and how quickly can you make it to the front?
With all three of the top Chasers in Johnson, Harvick and Hamlin finishing in the top 10, they are only separated by 38 points.
This is the closest the Chase has ever been and with only three remaining it is really anyone’s title to win.
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