Zippadelli will join SHR as competition director. There was speculation during the season that Zipadelli would join SHR as Stewart’s crew chief, as the two won two Sprint Cup championships together. But, following the firing of Darian Grubb, Stewart chose Steve Addington to sit atop the pit box. Grubb joined JGR as crew chief for Denny Hamlin, with Mike Ford getting released.

JGR confirmed Zipadelli’s release. No word on who will replace him as crew chief for the No. 20 car.

Update: In another tweet, Utter reported that Jason Ratcliff will serve as crew chief for the No. 20 team. Ratcliff climbed the ranks in the Nationwide Series, working at Sadler Racing and Brewco Motorsports before joining JGR in 2005 as crew chief for JJ Yeley. He then went on to serve as crew chief for Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, winning the 2009 Nationwide Series championship with Busch.

Update 2: JGR issued a press release indicating the moves.

Team owner Joe Gibbs said:

Darian is a great addition to our organization and person to lead our No. 11 FedEx team. Obviously he has proven the ability to guide a team to a championship and we are excited to have him working with Denny toward achieving that goal here at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Grubb said:

I’m thrilled to join Joe Gibbs Racing. The chance to work with Denny is something I’m excited about. When you sit down with Joe and [president] J.D. Gibbs, you can’t help but be excited about this opportunity and the team aspects of JGR. There is no question about the level of support you get here and I’m looking forward to working with everyone across the entire organization.

Grubb was told halfway through the Chase that he would be fired from Stewart Haas Racing at season’s end. Following that discussion, Stewart went on a tear, winning the championship as the result of a tie-breaker with Carl Edwards. SHR released Grubb, as they said they would. Steve Addington replaced Grubb at SHR as crew chief for Tony Stewart.

Following his release, the Associated Press reported that Mike Ford had been let go as crew chief for Hamlin, citing Hamlin’s struggles this season, and the release of Grubb as factors.

After his release, Ford said:

I’m kind of relieved. It had been dragging on for so long, I’m actually relieved there’s finally a resolution.

Team owner Joe Gibbs issues a statement:

Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing appreciates what Mike has done for our organization over the past six seasons as crew chief with our No. 11 team. We’ve decided it was best to make a change with the team now to allow Mike the opportunity to pursue other opportunities.

While NASCAR did not publicize the fine, several anonymous sources have  confirmed it.

The comment that drew the fine came at an appearance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Keselowski said:

We’re not doing this because it’s better for the teams. I don’t think we’re really going to save any gas. It’s a media circus, trying to make you guys happy so you write good stories. It gives them something to promote. We’re always looking for something to promote, but the honest answer is it does nothing for the sport except cost the team owners money. Cars on the street are injected with real electronics, not a throttle body (like in NASCAR). So we’ve managed to go from 50-year-old technology to 35-year-old technology. I don’t see what the big deal is.

NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp acknowledged that NASCAR spoke with Keselowski about the comment:

We did talk to Brad following his recent comments that were highly critical of the series moving to electronic fuel injection next season. We made it clear to him that these kind of comments are detrimental to the sport, and we handled it accordingly with him.

The fine should not come as a surprise to Keselowski, as NASCAR fined both Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin for comments they made last season.

Keselowski has the right to his opinion, and he does have the right to express that opinion. But, NASCAR has just as much right to fine Keselowski if they believe his actions are detrimental to the sport.

With his fourth victory in the Chase and the 43rd of his career, Stewart put a dent in runner-up Carl Edwards’ series lead, scoring maximum points (48) to trim Edwards’ advantage from eight to three points with two races left in the season.

After winning last week at Martinsville, Stewart promised Edwards a sleepless three weeks  during the stretch run for the title. On Sunday afternoon, Stewart let his car do the talking, taking the lead from Edwards on a Lap 275 restart and coming back to the front through a cycle of green-flag pit stops late in the race.

“I don’t think we have to say anything,” Stewart said in victory lane. “I think our performance today spoke for itself. He knows we’re there—trust me. … Carl kept us honest today. We got all the bonus points we could get and we got the win, so we gained more than we needed to gain on the average for the week.

“It doesn’t take much right now. It’s one spot, if a guy wins the race. We’re doing exactly what we need to do. I’m really confident right now.”

Stewart didn’t regain the lead until Lap 330 of 334, when Jeff Burton lost his fuel-mileage gamble and ran out of gas with just over four laps left.

Edwards, whose lone win this year came at Las Vegas in March, found consolation in retaining the points lead and in putting distance between himself and third-place Kevin Harvick (33 points back) and fourth-place Matt Kenseth (38 points back).

“Although we would have loved to have won today, to be three points ahead, and then to have the third- and fourth-place guys father behind, it looks like it’s truly going to come down to Tony and I, and that’s going to be a lot of fun,” Edwards said.

Kasey Kahne ran third, followed by Kenseth and Greg Biffle. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Stewart had led 142 laps by the time Joey Logano’s Toyota dropped oil on the backstretch on Lap 261, causing the fourth caution of the race. Edwards, Stewart and the five cars behind took right-side tires only on Lap 263.

Edwards got a huge jump on the restart on Lap 267 and pulled away to a lead of more than one second before NASCAR called the fifth caution on Lap 270 for debris in Turn 3. The first 13 cars stayed out under the yellow, and Stewart stayed with Edwards on a restart on Lap 275, moving around the No. 99 Ford to the outside.

“I think if I could have stayed in front of him, I’d have been able to get him,” Edwards said. “The restart before that, he spun his tires, and I felt really good about that one, (but) he timed it just right on that last restart and hung on my door.

“I give those guys credit. They’ve done a good job, but now we get to pull out all the stops here. We’ve been hanging on, we’re leading these points, we get to pull out all the stops these last two races, and there couldn’t be a better place to finish it than Homestead. I think folks ought to stay tuned. It’s going to get pretty exciting, and I’m just glad Tony and I are out there, and we can race for this thing.”

Notes: Subbing for Kyle Busch, who was parked by NASCAR for wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution in Friday’s truck race at Texas, Michael McDowell finished 33rd, three laps down. … Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman were eliminated from title contention.

While racing for second position on the 14th lap of the race, Hornday and Busch got three-wide going into Turn 1. Hornaday appeared to move up to pass a slower car, making it three-wide. Hornaday got a little loose and made contact with Busch, who was on his outside, in Turns 1 and 2.

Hornaday continued wiggling, trying to regain control of his truck. The two made contact again and both bounced of the wall. Both appeared to have tire rubs and cosmetic damage, but certainly nothing that would put them out of the race.

The caution came out and Hornaday was making his way back to pit road. Busch drove into the back of Hornaday and pushed him through Turn 3 wide open. He kept on Hornaday’s bumper, eventually turning him into the outside wall head-on. Hornaday made hard contact with the wall, but walked away from the incident.

Hornaday was a championship contender going into the race, but thanks to Busch, he will not win it this year. Busch was immediately parked for the remainder of the race.

On Saturday morning, Busch was then parked for the rest of the weekend’s events.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said:

The responsibility over the past two or three seasons we’ve given back to the drivers came, I think with a very clear understanding that there could be a line that got crossed. As annoying as the comments that I’ve made personally in the past about ‘we’ll know it when we see it’ might have been, we saw it [Friday] night. Obviously after the event, a lot of folks put their heads together to decide what, if anything, we would do. The volume of occurrences or reactions like I’m talking about, the rarity of those times that we’d make a step like this speak to the uniqueness and the severity of the topic. We understand the ramifications or the ripple effect of us making this type of a move, but we also take our responsibility very serious as to maintaining control of the event in all the garages; so it’s a balance there that we ultimately have to make a decision.

In response to NASCAR’s decision, Joe Gibbs Racing’s (Busch’s Sprint Cup team) owner Joe Gibbs said:

What we’re going to try to do now, [as in the past, with other situations involving Busch] we’ve tried to handle those things the right way and tried to make the right decisions and certainly that’s what we’re going to try to do with this.

Denny Hamlin was named to drive Busch’s Nationwide Series Toyota and Michael McDowell will drive JGR’s No. 18 Sprint Cup car.

This is the harshest punishment to date that NASCAR has issued since they instructed the drivers to “have at it.” This should serve as a warning to other drivers that “have at it” only goes so far.

An interesting note about the penatly, though, is that JGR is also punished by Busch’s actions when he was driving for his own Kyle Busch Motorsports team.

The Winners

Tony Stewart: Stewart survived mayhem throughout the race to steal the victory away from champions Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.  This win has moved Stewart to second place in the championship points standings.  After being told that he is just eight points behind Edwards, Stewart replied, “He better be worried, that’s for sure. He isn’t going to have an easy three weeks.”  This is Stewart’s 42nd career win and his third win of the season, all of which came in the Chase.

Carl Edwards: Edwards may not have won the race, but finishing in ninth position felt like a win after his misfortune during the race.  Due to qualifying being rained out, Edwards started the race in the pole position.  He lost the lead on Lap 27 under caution when he pitted and seven or more cars behind him stayed out.  From that point on, he kept losing positions and by lap 167 he dropped to 17th position.  After pitting under caution on Lap 197, Edwards restarted the race in 26th due to a lug nut getting hung up behind the wheel.

He fell a lap down twice during the race, but was able to take advantage of the lucky dog rule twice.  Thanks to the high number of cautions in the race, Edwards was able to gain positions back and was in the Top 10 with 22 laps to go.  Edwards ultimately finished the race in ninth position, retaining the points lead by eight over Stewart.

Kevin Harvick: Harvick started the race in fifth position and ran in the Top 10 for most of the race.  He took the lead of the race under caution after pitting for just two tires with 102 laps to go.  On Lap 438 Johnson took the lead from Harvick with teammate Gordon following close behind.  Harvick was then bumped to fourth position late in the race when Stewart made a mad dash to the lead.  Harvick finished the race in fourth and gained himself two spots in standings.  He is now third place in points, 21 points behind leader Edwards.

Dale Earnhardt Jr:  Earnhardt put on a show for his fans at Martinsville with his have at it attitude and aggressive racing style.  Unlike many drivers, he kept saying on his team radio how much “fun” he was having during the race.  On Lap 8, he was involved in a pile up involving Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon, revoking him of his Top 10 position, dropping him to 34th place.  He quickly made his way through the pack and finished the race in seventh position.  Although he remains ninth in points, overall he had a good race and put on quite a show for the fans.

The Losers

Brad Keselowski: The most disappointed driver of the day would have to be Brad Keselowski.  After starting in the Top 5, he was a top runner all race long and was heading towards a good points day.  His Top 10 finish, however, disappeared in just one lap. While running in seventh place with two laps to go,  Keselowski was spun by another car and a caution was not thrown, causing him to drop from seventh to 17th position.

This finish has dropped him one spot in standings to fourth position, 27 points behind Edwards.  Keselowski needs to win the race at Texas Motor Speedway next weekend to have any kind of chance at staying in this points battle.  Last year, Keselowski clinched his Nationwide Series championship at Texas Motor Speedway. He typically runs well at intermediate tracks.  I wouldn’t count him out of this championship battle just yet.

Matt Kenseth: After starting in second position, Kenseth ran in the Top 10 for most of the race.  With 36 laps to go, he made contact with Kyle Busch, sending him to the garage for repairs.  When he came back onto the track, he was then wrecked by Brian Vickers, who retaliated against Kenseth for spinning him out with 43 laps to go.  This resulted in a 31st place finish.  Kenseth is now fifth place in standings, 36 points behind Edwards.

Kyle Busch: After leading a race high of 128 laps, Kyle Busch’s strong run evaporated with 37 laps to go.  Kenseth locked his tires up going into the turn, causing him to slam Busch, spinning him out.  He then pitted to fix the damage. While leaving pit road, his left front tire came completely off the car.  Apparently there was a lack of communication with the team on whether they were supposed to put the tire on or off.  Either way, this caused Busch to finish in 27th position.  This finish dropped him one position in standings to seventh, 57 points behind the leader.

Brian Vickers: Out of the 18 cautions that occurred during the race, Vickers was involved in five of them, including three just in the first 100 laps.  I think the only thing Vickers didn’t hit was the pace car.  Needless to say, he did not have many friends at the end of the race.  He finished the race, with what was left of his No. 83 Toyota, in 30th position.  With Red BullRacing leaving the sport at season’s end, Vicker’s future is in doubts.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

1. Carl Edwards, 2. Tony Stewart (-8), 3. Kevin Harvick (-21), 4. Brad Keselowski (-27), 5. Matt Kenseth (-36), 6. Jimmie Johnson (-43), 7. Kyle Busch (-57), 8. Kurt Busch (-58), 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr (-73), 10. Jeff Gordon (-76), 11. Denny Hamlin (-80), 12. Ryan Newman (-89)

Ron Hornaday Jr. ran second to make a small dent in the advantage on series points leader Austin Dillon, who finished third. Johnny Sauter ran fourth, followed by rookie Joey Coulter and Kevin Harvick.

The victory was Hamlin’s first in the series in 12 starts, adding the driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota to the list of drivers, now 23 in number, who have won at least one race in each of NASCAR’s top three series.

“It’s a big deal for me, more than what people probably think,” said Hamlin, who has run one truck race per year in 2009, 2010 and 2011. “When they think we go down to these different series—Nationwide and truck—and we’re just going down there to try to get wins, from my standpoint, it’s very, very tough.

“The truck series is more competitive now than what it’s ever been, and it means as lot to myself to win a truck series race, especially running just one a year, usually. … This was just one of those weekends where everything worked out great for us.”

Hamlin passed Hornaday and Dillon moments after a restart on Lap 187, as Dillon slid up the racetrack in Turn 1 but managed to maintain control.

“We gave it to him—I did,” said Dillon, who expanded his points lead to 11 over 10th-place finisher James Buescher. “Just couldn’t make the first turn and ran into Ron. If I could have made it through the first turn, it would have been me (or) Ron in victory lane, I’m pretty sure. We had faster trucks.”

Hornaday said he expected Dillon to slip in the corner and was prepared for it.

“The lap before the (next-to-last) restart, I cleaned my tires off pretty good, and I still shoved my nose pretty good,” said Hornaday, who gained one point on Dillon and now is tied for third in the standings with Sauter, 15 points back. “When I saw Austin not weaving his truck as much as I did on the (last) restart, I knew he was coming up into me.

“I had to make sure his right front tire was at my door, and I could lean on him back a little bit, so we didn’t get up in the marbles. It worked out for both of us, other than Denny Hamlin snuck through the middle of both of us and stole the win—but we’ll take it.”

Dillon passed Harvick for the lead on Lap 141 shortly after a restart that followed the sixth caution of the race, caused by contact between Germain Racing teammates Todd Bodine and Max Papis, who battled until Papis spun off Bodine’s front bumper.

After Papis spun again to bring out the seventh caution, Dillon led the field to the green flag for a restart on Lap 152 and held the top spot until Ryan Sieg’s spin on Lap 172 caused caution No. 8. Moments before the yellow flew, Hornaday passed Harvick for second, setting up a battle between a four-time champion (Hornaday) and a driver seeking his first title (Dillon).

When the field restarted on Lap 179, Dillon and Hornaday held the top two spots, chased by Hamlin and Sauter, both on fresher tires. One caution later, Hamlin powered beneath both Hornaday and Dillon on a Lap 187 restart and pulled away for the win.

Dega Wreaks Havoc on Chasers

On Lap 174, Michaeal Waltrip was pushing Bobby Labonte when Labonte lost control of his race car and spun in the middle of the turn.  Kurt Busch had no where to go and drove straight into the side panel of Labonte.  This destroyed the hood of Busch’s race car and ended his day.  The elder Busch brother finished the race in 36th position, 15 laps down.  This did not help his chances for the championship, knocking him down one spot in standings to eighth place, 52 points behind the leader.

Luckily for Kurt Busch, he isn’t the only Chase driver that struggled at Talladega.  Hendrick Motorsports’ Chasers did not finish as expected on Sunday, coming home with 25th (Dale Earnhardt Jr), 26th (Jimmie Johnson), and 27th (Jeff Gordon) place finishes.  All three drivers rode out the race in the back of the pack and just didn’t seem to have the momentum to race towards the front at the end.

Earnhardt remains in ninth position in standings, 74 points behind the leader.  Thanks to others’ misfortune, Johnson moved up one position to seventh place, but is now 50 points behind the leader.  Jeff Gordon also moved up one position; however, he is now 82 points behind the leader.   I would say this is the end of Hendrick Motorsports’ chances to win the title.  Johnson would be the only driver with a chance, but he would need the drivers ahead of him in the Chase to have substantial bad luck to overtake them.

Kevin Harvick came to Talladega only five points behind leader Carl Edwards.  Leaving Talladega, he is in fifth position, now 26 points behind the leader.  Early on in the race, Harvick had a fast car; he even led the race on six different occasions.  But, he fell victim to a large pile-up on Lap 104 when AJ Allmendinger spun on the front-stretch. Harvick finished the race in 32nd position, nine laps down.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano worked well together early in the race.  On Lap 67, as the duo was attempting to make green flag pit stops, Trevor Bayne cut in front of them, abruptly separating the pair.  This caused Logano to spin his race car and forced Busch to drive down pit road to avoid an accident.  Logano then blew a left-front tire on the backstretch, bringing out the caution. Busch was then sent to the rear of the field for failure to reduce speed while driving down pit road.

Busch was able to recover, leading the race on Lap 90 with help of his teammate, Denny Hamlin.  After the pile-up on Lap 104, however, Busch was unable to race his way to the front and finished the race in 33rd position.  Logano on the other hand, was able to push Tony Stewart to the lead of the race on Lap 136, despite the damage to his race car. Logano finished the race in 24th position.  Busch is now sixth in standings, 40 points behind the leader.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

Carl Edwards remains the points leader after finishing in 11th position at Talladega.  Fellow Roush driver Matt Kenseth sits second, 14 points behind Edwards.  Brad Keselowski gained three spots in the standings, moving to third, just 18 points back.  Tony Stewart moved up to fourth position after finishing the race in seventh place and is now 19 points behind Edwards.

Both Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch dropped positions because of their misfortune and are now in fifth and sixth position.  Rivals Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson are now right beside each other in standings, sitting in eighth and ninth position.  Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon round out the top-10 in ninth and tenth positions, respectively.  Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman reside in 11th and 12th place, respectively.

Best Efforts of the Race

The Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne have to be recognized for their effort on Sunday.  Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and the two pushed their way into the top-five within 10 laps.  They had troubles with the two-car tandem on Lap 159, causing Kahne to spin across the nose of Vickers to bring out a caution.  But with 50 laps to go, the pair had already hooked back up and were headed to the front.  Unfortunately they just couldn’t catch the RCR tandem, but still came home with fifth (Vickers) and sixth (Kahne) place finishes.

Dave Blaney’s third place finish at Talladega represented Tommy Baldwin’s Racing’s best finish yet at the Cup level.  Blaney was in the battle at the front in both the Daytona 500 and the spring race at Talladega this year, but couldn’t get the finishes he deserved.  This is a big step for a small organization with a short history in the sport.  Team owner Tommy Baldwin hopes the Talladega finish is a step in the right direction for a more competitive season in 2012.

Landon Cassill and Casey Mears deserve a shout-out for their strong effort at Talladega.  Before the race had even one lap in the books, Mear’s No. 13 GEICO Camry had moved from its 42nd starting position into 26th.  On Lap 3, Mears paired up with Cassill to head to the front.  They spent most of the race in the Top 5 and Top 10 until lap 174 when Mears lost his drafting partner.  Cassill was collected in a turn two crash involving Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch, forcing Mears to find another dancing partner.  Although their finishes of 16th and 17th do not represent their hard effort, the fact that they survived Talladega tells the story by itself!

Kenseth gave fans excitement after a long, mostly single-file race.  Jimmie Johnson’s late-race accident brought out the caution, giving Kenseth a chance to catch Kyle Busch on the restart.  There was a 12-lap dash to the finish and Kenseth was able to pass Busch and take the checkered flag.  This is Kenseth’s third win of the season, moving him up two positions in standings to third position.  He is now only seven points behind leader Carl Edwards.

Kenseth’s primary sponsor, Crown Royal, is exiting the team at the end of the season, leaving Kenseth without a sponsor for the 2012 season.   Kenseth said in post race interviews, “Crown Royal — it’s not too late to come back. We don’t have any sponsors for next year, so this should be a good audition. And Fluidmaster for being on this week — it was a great night for us.”

Busch wasn’t thrilled to finish in second place, after leading 111 laps during the race.  Busch said after the race, “It’s frustrating, but we’ll take it, and if we can finish second here on out, we might win this deal.”  He has now moved up four positions in standings to fourth place, 18 points behind the leader.

Bad Night for Hendrick Chase Contenders

Dale Earnhardt Jr needed a good finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway to give him any kind of chance at the championship.  After pitting too early and altering his pit strategy, he was then forced to come down pit road for a loose tire.  Earnhardt finished the night in 19th position, one lap down, and even that was a small rally, as he was running two laps down late in the race.  Junior remains ninth in standings and has fallen 60 points behind the leader.

Jeff Gordon finished the race in 21st position after being a part of the first accident of the night, involving Kasey Kahne and David Ragan.  Ragan made an attempt to pass Kasey Kahne on the inside and slid up into Kahne, sending Kahne into Gordon.  Gordon dropped from 10th to 11th in standings and is now 66 points behind the leader.

Coming off his win at Kansas Speedway last week, Jimmie Johnson was one of the drivers predicted to do well at CMS.  Johnson was running in seventh and seemed to be moving towards the front in the closing laps when the unexpected happened.  Johnson got loose inside of the No. 39 car of Ryan Newman. The two made slight contact. Johnson looked as if he was going to save until the car veered towards the outside wall, hitting it nose-first.  The front of his race car was unrepairable, and his race was over. He finished 34th.  Johnson dropped five spots in standings, leaving him eighth position, 35 points behind the leader.

Although mathematically this does not eliminate the HMS drivers, it will be very tough for them to recover from this race.

Underdogs of the Race

For more than half the race, rookie Trevor Bayne was driving his No. 21 car like a veteran.  After qualifying in tenth position in his first Cup race at CMS, Bayne stayed in the top-10 the entire night.  While running in seventh position, he ran out of gas with only 97 laps left in the race.  Instead of finishing the race in the Top 10, he finished in 31st, three laps down.  Team co-owner Eddie Wood said after the race that a problem with the new fuel system is what likely kept them from contending for the win.

Marcos Ambrose celebrated his fifth Top 5 of the season with Richard Petty Motorsports after finishing in fifth position in the Bank of America 500.  He ran in the Top 10 the entire race and overcame many cautions to hold his position on the track.  Ambrose said after the race that he has his “mojo” back.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

The current points standings are as follows: 1. Carl Edwards, 2. Kevin Harvick (-5), 3. Matt Kenseth (-7), 4. Kyle Busch (-18), 5. Tony Stewart (-24), 6. Brad Keselowski (-25), 7. Kurt Busch (-27), 8. Jimmie Johnson (-35), 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr (-60), 10. Ryan Newman (-61), 11. Jeff Gordon (-66), 12. Denny Hamlin (-86).

Busch said after the race, “To beat your arch nemesis, that’s just icing on the cake.  It’s pretty sweet.”  He moved up five positions in standings, to fourth position.  Busch is just nine points behind leader Kevin Harvick, currently tied with Tony Stewart.

I think critics overlook Busch as a championship contender because of his recent erratic behavior and rivalry with Jimmie Johnson; however he has finished in the Top-10 in four of the last five races and has been consistent all season long.  If he can control his temper and keep his head in the game, I believe he will be a top contender for the Sprint Cup title.

Rough Day For Chase Contenders

Tony Stewart told media that Dover would be a tough race for his team, and he predicted it correctly.  Stewart started the race in 28th position and finished the race in 25th, two laps down.  If you look at statistics for Stewart at Dover, he has finished 21st or worse in the past three races, so his struggles at the Monster Mile in this race weren’t a shock.  His bad day cost him the points lead, dropping him to third place in standings.

Luck was not on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s side at Dover.  He started the race in 21st position and looked as if he had a competitive racecar.  Shortly after the first caution of the race, Earnhardt realized on the restart that something wasn’t right with the car.  He was forced to pit with a broken sway bar.  This put him back in 41st position, racing three other drivers for the Lucky Dog.  On the competition caution on Lap 40, Earnhardt received the Lucky Dog and rallied back to 15th position by Lap 190.

Unfortunately, his bad luck didn’t stop there.   Dale Jr was forced to pit on Lap 271 for a loose wheel, putting him two laps down.  This relegated Earnhardt to a 24th place finish, two laps down.  He is now 10th place in standings, 34 points behind the leader.  Does this eliminate Junior for the championship?  I wouldn’t count him out just yet.  He has good statistics at many of the races left in the season, and has plenty of time to make it up. But, it certainly doesn’t bode well for him.

Brad Keselowski and his Penske Racing team struggled throughout the race, leaving them with a 20th place finish.  Just after Lap 250, Keselowski came down pit road after running over debris, forcing the team to replace the power steering belt.  Keselowski eventually fell two laps down behind the leaders, leaving him racing for the Lucky Dog position.

With 48 laps to go, Mike Bliss crashed down the backstretch, bringing out the caution.  Keselowski was in the Lucky Dog position, gaining one of his laps back.  Shortly after that, caution came out again with 40 to go, getting him back on the lead lap.  Keselowski doesn’t have good statistics at Dover, with an average finish of 17th position.  I think the No. 2 team can shake this off and will be back at the top of the standings before we know it.

Points Standings Leaving Dover

With Stewart’s misfortune and Harvick’s Top-10 finish, Harvick is now tied with Carl Edwards for the points lead.  Stewart dropped two spots to third position, tied with Kurt Busch.  Johnson, finishing the race in second position, gained five positions in points to fifth place.  After a rough day for Keselowski, he has fallen three positions to sixth place, 14 points behind the leader.  Matt Kenseth is tied with Keselowski in seventh position.  Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon both dropped positions, leaving them in eighth and ninth position, respectively.  Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ryan Newman, and Denny Hamlin round out the Top 12.

There are just seven races left in the season with many opportunities for the point’s standings to be shaken up once again.  We head to Kansas Speedway next weekend for the Hollywood Casino 400.  Tune into ESPN on Sunday to watch the action unfold.