Harvick, who is retiring at the end of the year, remained winless on the season and was disqualified after the race when his car failed inspection.
Blaney used a crossover move from the outside lane to the inside to nudge ahead of Harvick with two laps remaining. Blaney in his
“I’ve won it by more than I have the last couple years. That one might have been by 4 feet, the others were by 2 but you just don’t know," said Blaney, a three-time winner at Talladega. “You just kind of drag race a line and hope you get help.”
Blaney joined
Blaney boss
“For Harvick, who it was his last race here, working like he did with Ryan, it was amazing to see that,” said Penske. “The Hendrick freight train was coming and we all stayed together, that was the call that
Blaney, winner of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, now has multiple wins in a season for the second time in his career. But he's got a lopsided stat this season in that he has only five top-five finishes, but two wins.
“It was a pretty wild restart, let alone the last couple of laps, losing momentum and getting it back, just getting clear to the bottom to get to the front row and drag race it out with Kevin,” said Blaney. “To win here three times at Talladega is super cool.”
Harvick finished second as his winless streak stretched to 43 races dating back to last season.
The Harvick disqualification dropped him to last in the field. Byron in a Chevrolet for
Hamlin led three laps during the second stage but was flagged for speeding on pit road — a troubling habit of the three-time Daytona 500 winner considered the best driver to never win a Cup championship — and the penalty contributed to him falling a lap off the pace. It was Hamlin's fourth speeding penalty of the season and it took him most of the race to earn his position back on the lead lap and then drove through the field to secure his finish.
“Not how we drew it up, but a dub is a dub and that was a dub in our book — it’s as close as it gets to it," Hamlin said. "A top-five is a long way from where we were with about 15 laps to go.”
The race had 70 lead changes among 24 drivers and was fairly clean.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Even though he crashed and finished 32nd, Keselowski remained two points above the cutline headed to Charlotte's elimination race.
The four drivers in jeopardy of elimination are
Wallace had a lengthy post-race chat with 23XI co-owner
CHASTAIN CRASHES OUT
Chastain, who finished second to
Chastain entered Talladega, the middle race of the round of 12, ranked sixth in the Cup standings and 12 points above the cutline. His last-place finish dropped him below the cutline and forced him into a high-pressure situation next week on The Roval at
Chastain has struggled in his four previous starts on Charlotte's hybrid road course/oval track. His best finish is 22nd.
“Left and right,” he said when asked how he expects next week to go. “I'm living my dream, so whatever our team brings next week, we'll put our best foot forward. As long as I'm getting to drive these rocket ships that Trackhouse brings me, I'm living my dream and we'll keep fighting.”
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