NASCAR Alabama 500 recap: Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. shine at Talladega

Brad Keselowski didn’t need a victory Sunday to remain in the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs, not that his crew chief Paul Wolfe was going to tell him otherwise. So Wolfe instructed Keselowski to treat the Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway like a must-win, as a victory would alleviate any pressure of postseason elimination in the second playoff round and secure the Team Penske driver a spot in the semi-finals.

Mission accomplished. Completing an impressive pass of leader Ryan Newman on the white flag lap, Keselowski powered by Newman on the high side entering Turn 3. From there, Keselowski held the top position thanks to a push, then some blocking, by teammate Joey Logano, who isn’t championship-eligible after not qualifying for the playoffs.

Keselowski came into Talladega situated where he could’ve advanced to the eight-driver semi-finals via points — had misfortune not struck at Talladega or in next week’s elimination race at Kansas Speedway. But Penske’s Fords have struggled on intermediate tracks such as Kansas, giving Wolfe anxiety that unless a win materialized Sunday they likely would’ve found themselves on the wrong side of the cut line.

It wasn’t a risk Wolfe wanted to take.

"I've told the guys all along, that this was going to be our path to make it to [the championship race] — winning Talladega,” Wolfe said. And I told Brad that again after the race at Charlotte last week on pit road when we didn't have the results we wanted [finishing 15th].”

And reflecting the borderline desperation they felt, Keselowski and Wolfe each acted aggressively; Keselowski on the track, and Wolfe with his pit strategy.

As he customarily does in restrictor-plate races, Keselowski assumed a position near the front of the field. He won the first stage to earn 10 valuable points, then finished second in Stage 2.

Rarely, though, do wins come easy at Talladega. Sunday was no exception.

Although Keselowski was a contender, working against him was a radio not operating correctly. Often Wolfe couldn’t hear his driver while Keselowski had limited communication with spotter Joey Meier. And if there is a track where a driver needs to hear his spotter 100 percent, it is Talladega.

Convinced the setback was causing Keselowski to be hesitant as the intensity picked up around him, Wolfe felt he had to gamble. Despite Keselowski running strongly, Wolfe had him pit with 31 laps left, even though Keselowski insisted he was fine as is. The crew chief’s foresight proved correct.

After stopping, Keselowski fell to 29th and facing the possibility he couldn’t recoup the lost track position. But you don’t become NASCAR’s best current ace on plate tracks without knowing how to navigate through a clump of cars impeding his path forward.

Aiding Keselowski’s charge were three multi-car accidents over the final 16 laps. Thanks to some deft driving and some lucky breaks, he found himself back in the lead when the green flag waved on a three-lap shootout. The decisive pass of Newman came two laps later and just like that Keselowski locked himself into the next round.

Naturally, of course, this raised the question whether Wolfe would mandate that Keselowski produce a win in the semi-finals to clinch a berth in the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. After all, Keselowski has a penchant for coming up big in key playoff moments.

Yes, Wolfe adamantly said. Because the same principle that applied at Talladega remains applicable with Toyota drivers holding the advantage at Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway. This leaves the semi-final opener at half-mile Martinsville Speedway as their best bet to score a win, which Keselowski won at in the spring. A race now circled on the calendar.

"Martinsville at this moment as it stands I would say is a must‑win for us,” Keselowski said. “We know that going in. We tested there, and we feel like that's the type of track that we have a lot of strength for.”

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t deliver the fervent members of Junior Nation a win, though he certainly gave his fans something to remember in his final race at Talladega. Most importantly, he left the treacherous track with his health intact following a competitive seventh-place effort.

Earnhardt admitted afterward he came into the weekend with trepidation due to his history of concussions, including one suffered in crash at Talladega in 2012 that sidelined him two races. But he showed no reservations making bold passes Sunday, frequently running the middle lane with cars on both sides.

“This was one I was worried about, in the back of my mind I was a little concerned,” Earnhardt said. “You can’t win the race if you race scared. I’ve raced scared here before and you don’t do well when that happens, so you have to block it out and take the risks and hope it’s not your day to get in one of those accidents and it wasn’t.”

On an afternoon filled with a multitude of wrecks, Earnhardt wasn’t immune in escaping the carnage that saw 24 of 40 starters fail to the finish. Three times the No. 88 Chevrolet received minimal damage, limiting its effectiveness.

But Earnhardt was in the mix for the win in the waning laps, running as high as third before sliding to seventh.

"You can't win the race if you race scared," Earnhardt said. "I've raced scared here before.

"You have to block it and just go out there and take the risks and hope that it's just not your day to get in one of those accidents and it wasn't."

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A dominant regular season where he racked up a wealth of playoff points followed by consecutive Round 1 wins strongly suggested Kyle Busch was earmarked to waltz into the semi-finals. At a minimum, the hefty points cushion offered a nice safeguard if something bad happened to him in the quarterfinals.

Not only is that 41-point cushion now evaporated, Busch surprisingly finds himself on the wrong side of the cut line after a woeful start to the second round that includes back-to-back crashes. He finished 27th Sunday, which follows a 29th last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Suddenly, Busch faces a nine-point deficit. A rapid swing in playoff fortunes for a driver who won the Cup Series championship in 2015, nearly did so last year and was expected to put forth a deep title run this go round.

“I hate it for our situation and what we’ve got going on, that’s not what we needed today,” Busch said. “But that’s what we got, so we’ll just move on to next week.”

Although it may be difficult to feel positive, there remains a shining a light of optimism. Busch is by no means guaranteed an unexpected and unceremonious early playoff exit, nor does he need to win at Kansas to assure himself advancement.

Under the new stage format, points are available in abundance. A maximum of 20 points can be had if a driver were to win both the first and second stages, which would help Busch quickly climb out of his hole. And with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Toyotas consistently fast, it isn’t beyond reason to think he could win the race overall — effectively giving him a clean slate to begin the semi-finals.