Truex wins with heavy heart in Kansas elimination race

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Martin Truex Jr. didn't feel a sense of urgency to win Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway because of its playoff implications, not with his spot in the next round safe following a victory at Charlotte.

No, the sense of urgency was much more personal.

Truex learned overnight that one of the Furniture Row Racing team's crew members, Jim Watson, died of a heart attack while in town for the race. So with a heavy heart, Truex climbed into his No. 78 Toyota and overcame two early mistakes to win a wild playoff elimination race.

"We were racing for Jim today," Truex said after emerging from his car. "He was a heck of a guy."

Kurt Busch finished second before a wave of playoff contenders headed by Ryan Blaney, whose car failed post-qualifying inspection and was sent to the back. He quickly worked his way through the field and finished third, easily making it within the cutoff line.

Chase Elliott was fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth to punch their tickets to the next round. Kevin Harvick finished eighth to stay alive heading to Martinsville, while Kyle Busch finished 10th and Jimmie Johnson 11th - both of them also making the cutoff line.

Brad Keselowski was 13th after his win last week at Talladega sent him to the next round.

Kyle Larson blew his engine to spoil his chances of advancing, while a penalty on Matt Kenseth for having too many crew members over the pit wall following a wreck ended his championship hopes.

Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also were eliminated from the playoffs.

"It's a disappointing way to finish our race and probably our season," said Larson, who had a 33-point buffer coming into the race. "I guess it's sinking in as the second pass."

Truex had dominated at Kansas for years before finally breaking through with a victory in the spring. And while he had nothing to lose Sunday, there was still a sense that Truex wanted to win his seventh race this season for his late crew member and the rest of their team.

"Still pretty surreal at this point," crew chief Cole Pearn said. "We were all focused on what we had to do today. That was the best we could do for Jim. He was a true racer in the purest form."

Truex is the first driver in series history with four straight wins on 1 1/2-mile tracks.

"I can't say enough about all these guys," he said. "Just really proud of them, and definitely we were racing with a heavy heart. Jim was a great worker and put a lot of speed in these Toyotas."

Larson was the first of the 12 remaining playoff contenders whose chances were scuttled when he dropped a cylinder early in the race. He tried to limp on, but his engine finally let go.

Still, Larson held a fleeting hope of advancing when Erik Jones triggered a multi-car wreck on a restart with 70 laps to go, collecting McMurray and causing damage to Kenseth. The former champion thought he would be able to continue when he reached pit road, but seven crew members hopped over the wall for repairs - one more than is allowed under NASCAR's damaged vehicle policy.

The penalty for the violation is an immediate parking.

Day done, playoffs over.

"I don't know what the rules are. It seems like we have a lot of stuff that is changed so often I can't keep up with it," Kenseth said. "You're not able to race anymore? I just don't get it."

Larson still had to hope Johnson, who began the day on the bubble, would falter down the stretch. But despite two early spins, the seven-time champion managed to come home 11th to ease into the round of eight by nine points over a driver many pegged as a favorite should he get to Homestead.

"Freak things happen in every sport," Larson said. "I'm not stunned, because it's a long 10-race playoff season. Anything can happen. But we've had a solid playoffs."

WIN OR ELSE
Stenhouse and McMurray, who both needed to win to advance, were involved in wrecks that ended their hopes. Stenhouse cut a tire and hit the wall with 93 laps left, while McMurray was near the front all afternoon before getting involved in the wreck that knocked Kenseth out.

"If we ever got to the lead," McMurray said, "we could have led the race for a while."

PLAYOFF OUTSIDERS

Chris Buescher finished sixth and Dale Earnhardt Jr., racing at the track for the final time, was seventh. Kansas native Clint Bowyer spent much of the day in the top 10 before he was involved in the crash with 70 laps to go.

UP NEXT

The three-race round of eight begins next Sunday at Martinsville. Johnson won last year's race to punch his ticket to the finale at Homestead, where he won his seventh championship.

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More AP Auto Racing: http://racing.ap.org

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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race - Hollywood Casino 400

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Sunday, October 22, 2017

               1. (1) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 267.
               2. (15) Kurt Busch, Ford, 267.
               3. (40) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 267.
               4. (14) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 267.
               5. (4) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.
               6. (20) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 267.
               7. (19) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267.
               8. (2) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 267.
               9. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267.
               10. (7) Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 267.
               11. (12) Jimmie Johnson (P), Chevrolet, 267.
               12. (23) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267.
               13. (10) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 267.
               14. (11) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.
               15. (21) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267.
               16. (29) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 267.
               17. (27) David Ragan, Ford, 267.
               18. (16) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 267.
               19. (9) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 267.
               20. (28) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 267.
               21. (17) Joey Logano, Ford, 267.
               22. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 267.
               23. (31) Landon Cassill, Ford, 265.
               24. (35) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 263.
               25. (37) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 263.
               26. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 261.
               27. (34) Corey LaJoie #, Toyota, 261.
               28. (33) * Gray Gaulding #, Toyota, 259.
               29. (24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P), Ford, Accident, 256.
               30. (36) * BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 254.
               31. (32) * Brett Moffitt(i), Toyota, 238.
               32. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 232.
               33. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, Accident, 203.
               34. (8) Jamie McMurray (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 198.
               35. (6) Erik Jones #, Toyota, Accident, 197.
               36. (5) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, Accident, 197.
               37. (3) Matt Kenseth (P), Toyota, Accident, 197.
               38. (22) Danica Patrick, Ford, Accident, 197.
               39. (13) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, Engine, 73.
               40. (39) * Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Handling, 35.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  125.189 mph.
Time of Race:  03 Hrs, 11 Mins, 57 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.284 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  10 for 49 laps.
Lead Changes:  14 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   M. Truex Jr. (P) 1-34; K. Busch (P) 35-47; B. Keselowski (P) 48-50; R. Blaney (P) 51-53; K. Busch (P) 54-81; K. Harvick (P) 82; K. Busch (P) 83-128; J. McMurray (P) 129; B. Keselowski (P) 130-144; K. Busch (P) 145-156; K. Harvick (P) 157; D. Hamlin (P) 158-162; K. Harvick (P) 163-197; K. Busch (P) 198-210; M. Truex Jr. (P) 211-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Busch (P) 5 times for 112 laps; M. Truex Jr. (P) 2 times for 91 laps; K. Harvick (P) 3 times for 37 laps; B. Keselowski (P) 2 times for 18 laps; D. Hamlin (P) 1 time for 5 laps; R. Blaney (P) 1 time for 3 laps; J. McMurray (P) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 18,4,11,21,1,48,24,78,20,77
Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,4,2,20,18,77,1,21,24,48

The Mixlr Six - Edition #1

We’re just over a week away from the first College Football Playoff Rankings of 2017 being unveiled. With that being right around the corner, the College Football folks at the Ultimate Sports Radio Network and Wellington Sports Radio on Mixlr.com have compiled their first Playoff rankings. Just for the heck of it, we'll call it The Mixlr Six. We asked Carter Floyd, Seth Eaves, Pierre Moss and Dan Vasta along with myself to give their rankings one through six to see what the rankings look like when compiled together. So, here they are.

1. Alabama

·        Record: 8-0 (5-0 SEC)

·        Last Game: 45-7 win vs. Tennessee

·        AP Ranking: #1

·        Carter Floyd: #1

·        Pierre Moss: #1

·        Dan Vasta: #2

·        Seth Eaves: #1

·        Matthew Owens: #1

·        Next Game: vs. LSU on November 4^th

2. Georgia

·        Record: 7-0 (4-0 SEC)

·        Last Game: 53-28 win vs. Missouri

·        AP Ranking: #3

·        Carter Floyd: #2

·        Pierre Moss: #3

·        Dan Vasta: #1

·        Seth Eaves: #3

·        Matthew Owens: #2

·        Next Game: vs. Florida this Saturday (3:30pm, CBS)

3. Penn State

·        Record: 7-0 (4-0 Big Ten)

·        Last Game: 42-13 win vs. Michigan

·        AP Ranking: #2

·        Carter Floyd: #3

·        Pierre Moss: #2

·        Dan Vasta: #3

·        Seth Eaves: #2

·        Matthew Owens: #3

·        Next Game: @ Ohio State this Saturday (3:30pm, USRN)

4. TCU

·        Record: 7-0 (4-0 Big 12)

·        AP Ranking: #4

·        Carter Floyd: #4

·        Pierre Moss: #4

·        Dan Vasta: #4

·        Seth Eaves: #4

·        Matthew Owens: #4

·        Next Game: @ Iowa State this Saturday (3:30pm, ABC)

5. Notre Dame

·        Record: 6-1 (Independent)

·        AP Ranking: #9

·        Carter Floyd: #6

·        Pierre Moss: N/A

·        Dan Vasta: #5

·        Seth Eaves: N/A

·        Matthew Owens: #5

·        Next Game: vs. North Carolina State this Saturday (3:30pm, NBC)

6. Clemson

·        Record: 6-1 (4-1 ACC)

·        AP Ranking: #7

·        Carter Floyd: #5

·        Pierre Moss: #5

·        Dan Vasta: #6

·        Seth Eaves: #6

·        Matthew Owens: N/A

·        Next Game: vs. Georgia Tech this Saturday (8:00pm, ABC)

Now, how did we come up with these rankings? Well obviously, it’s an imperfect science, but then again, isn’t everything in College Football rankings? We took the five pollsters’ rankings of teams and then averaged them out to see who had the best average ranking. If a tiebreaker was needed, then that was settled by which team had more votes. So how did each of our pollsters rank the teams?

Carter Floyd:

1.   Alabama

2.   Georgia

3.   Penn State

4.   TCU

5.   Clemson

6.   Notre Dame

Pierre Moss:

1.   Alabama

2.   Penn State

3.   Georgia

4.   TCU

5.   Clemson

6.   Ohio State

Dan Vasta:

1.   Georgia

2.   Alabama

3.   Penn State

4.   TCU

5.   Notre Dame

6.   Clemson

Seth Eaves:

1.   Alabama

2.   Penn State

3.   Georgia

4.   TCU

5.   Wisconsin

6.   Clemson

Matthew Owens:

1.   Alabama

2.   Georgia

3.   Penn State

4.   TCU

5.   Notre Dame

6.   Wisconsin

So there’s our first College Football Playoff Rankings of the year. What’s yours?

Christopher Bell races to first NASCAR XFINITY Series win

By JORDAN WOLF
Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Christopher Bell raced to his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday, beating dominant Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones after they made contract with four laps left at Kansas Speedway.

Bell led for just those four laps, hanging in second place behind Jones for much of the race before sliding in front of him shortly before the collision. After watching his teammate control the race for so long, the finish came as a surprise for Bell.

"I didn't think winning was a possibility," Bell said.

Jones led 186 laps of 200 laps, and won both of the first two stages. He failed to finish the race.

Jones had drifted to the top of the track before Bell attempted to slide past him underneath. Bell said after the race that he felt he was clear. Jones disagreed.

"It's not dirt racing, you know," Jones said. "He's not clear. I can't just stop on the top."

While Jones was initially excited for the race to come down to the wire against a teammate, he was very disappointed in how the race finished as he felt they didn't truly get to compete for the win.

"I thought we were going to race for the win and unfortunately it wasn't much of a race," Jones said. "It was more of a wreck."

Despite his frustrations, though, he knows that unfortunate endings like this one happen, and not to dwell on it moving forward.

"That's racing," Jones said. "It's not always going to go your way and you know it definitely didn't go our way today. We just have to come back ... and do it a little bit better."

For two teammates to be in such a tight race for first is a dicey situation in and of itself, but for one to make a move like Bell did shows the true competitive nature of the sport.

"We both want to win, and that's a product of it," Bell said.

Bell hadn't gotten the chance to apologize to Jones before meeting with the media, but said he intended to and that "it sucks that we couldn't race it out, or that he didn't finish the race."

Bell, a regular in the Truck Series, and Jones are not eligible for the series playoffs.

Justin Allgaier entered the race trailing teammate William Byron in the playoff standings, but now sits in first place after finishing fifth.

Byron, now in second place in the standings, finished fourth and now trails Allgaier by two points.

Elliott Sadler finished not far behind in seventh, maintaining his position of third place but now trailing the lead by 11 points.

Pole winner Tyler Reddick finished second, and Ryan Blaney was third.

NEAR-CRASH: The caution flag came out on Lap 76 when Elliot Sadler spun out. Sadler didn't make contact with any other drivers, as Austin Dillon was able to barely navigate past the smoking No. 1 car as it spun toward the infield. He would return to the race.

SLOWED START: Gray Gaulding and Reed Sorenson were pushed to the rear prior to the race for missing driver introductions, and Spencer Boyd, Byron and Tifft were sent to the rear as well for unapproved adjustments. Byron and Tifft are in the playoff hunt, so the ruling put them in an uphill battle early to catch up with their competition.

UP NEXT: Nov. 4 at Texas Motor Speedway. Jones won at the track in April.


–––––

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race - Kansas Lottery 300

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Saturday, October 21, 2017

               1. (4) Christopher Bell(i), Toyota, 200.
               2. (1) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 200.
               3. (3) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 200.
               4. (6) William Byron # (P), Chevrolet, 200.
               5. (13) Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, 200.
               6. (5) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200.
               7. (11) Elliott Sadler (P), Chevrolet, 200.
               8. (8) Matt Tifft # (P), Toyota, 200.
               9. (16) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200.
               10. (15) Ryan Reed (P), Ford, 200.
               11. (12) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 200.
               12. (9) Brennan Poole (P), Chevrolet, 200.
               13. (24) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200.
               14. (20) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 199.
               15. (2) Erik Jones(i), Toyota, 199.
               16. (19) Dylan Lupton, Toyota, 199.
               17. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 199.
               18. (10) Daniel Hemric # (P), Chevrolet, 199.
               19. (7) Cole Custer # (P), Ford, 198.
               20. (23) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 198.
               21. (14) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 197.
               22. (31) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 196.
               23. (18) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 196.
               24. (28) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, 195.
               25. (22) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 195.
               26. (17) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 194.
               27. (32) David Starr, Chevrolet, 194.
               28. (34) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 192.
               29. (36) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 192.
               30. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 192.
               31. (40) Bobby Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 188.
               32. (26) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 188.
               33. (38) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 188.
               34. (33) Josh Berry, Toyota, Engine, 182.
               35. (39) Jennifer Jo Cobb(i), Chevrolet, 139.
               36. (30) Timmy Hill, Dodge, Vibration, 36.
               37. (37) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Suspension, 24.
               38. (27) Reed Sorenson(i), Chevrolet, Handling, 7.
               39. (29) Gray Gaulding(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 3.
               40. (25) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Handling, 2.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  141.158 mph.
Time of Race:  02 Hrs, 07 Mins, 31 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.670 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  4 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes:  8 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   T. Reddick 0; E. Jones(i) 1-51; T. Reddick 52-54; E. Jones(i) 55-81; R. Blaney(i) 82-84; E. Jones(i) 85-93; T. Dillon(i) 94-97; E. Jones(i) 98-196; C. Bell(i) 197-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  E. Jones(i) 4 times for 186 laps; T. Dillon(i) 1 time for 4 laps; C. Bell(i) 1 time for 4 laps; T. Reddick 1 time for 3 laps; R. Blaney(i) 1 time for 3 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,22,42,2,18,1,48,7,21,00
Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,22,7,18,42,9,00,48,21,2

AP Exclusive: Corruption probe prompts reviews of NCAA teams

By EDDIE PELLS
Associated Press 

The spate of arrests, details of under-the-table bribes to teenagers and the expected downfall of one of the sport's best-known coaches has triggered uncomfortable soul-searching among the institutions at the heart of college basketball, including internal reviews by more than two dozen schools of their own prominent programs.

At stake is the future of a business that, over the span of 22 years ending in 2032, will produce $19.6 billion in TV money for the NCAA Tournament, known to the public, simply, as March Madness.

The NCAA distributes those billions to its conferences and universities, and that figure doesn't include the millions splashed around by shoe companies, who play an outsized role in the success of the programs and the careers of some of their top players.

More than two dozen universities with major hoops programs — including Louisville, where Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino is in the process of being fired after 16 seasons — have responded to news of the sport's bribery scandal by conducting internal reviews of their compliance operations.

The Associated Press asked 84 schools, including all the nation's power programs, and six top conferences about their response to the arrests that upended college hoops mere days before practices for the 2017-18 season began around the country.

Of 63 schools that responded, 28 said the probe prompted their own internal reviews. So did the Pac-12 Conference, which formed a task force to dive into the culture and issues of recruiting.

Among the schools reviewing their programs are Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Southern California; each had assistant coaches arrested as part of the sting.

The list also includes Alabama, where a review led to the resignation of basketball administrator Kobie Baker but unearthed no NCAA violations, according to school officials.

A representative from one school, St. Johns, told AP the NCAA directed all Division I programs to examine their programs for potential rules violations after the federal complaints were filed. The NCAA declined to comment when asked about that specific directive.

But last week, the NCAA formed a fact-finding commission to be led by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with results expected in April — right around the time the NCAA Tournament comes to an end.

"My only piece of advice (to young players), don't let the process ruin you because we will. I blame myself," said Tom Izzo of Michigan State, one of the schools conducting a review.

Izzo is convinced players' circles grow too large as they near the big-time and fill up with too many people with different agendas.

But in an illustration of wide-ranging perceptions of the issue, Michigan State's cross-state rival, Michigan, said it isn't conducting an internal review and its coach, John Beilein, said "I don't think the sky is falling in college basketball."

"I think that there's certainly some rogue coaches," Beilein said. "How many? Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I can't believe there's too much of that going out there."

Michigan, 34 other schools and the Big East Conference said they were not specifically responding to the federal probe. But many of the "no" responses came with the caveat that the school's athletic department is always reviewing its compliance.

Four conferences and 21 schools declined to respond to the AP's survey, including one university that declined to respond on the record but acknowledged privately that it was reviewing its program because of the probe.

The vast majority of schools surveyed have shoe deals with Nike, Adidas or Under Armour. A top Adidas marketing executive was among the 10 people arrested, after authorities spent two years untangling schemes, often bankrolled with money from the apparel companies, to steer future NBA players toward particular sports agents and financial advisers. No players were accused of doing anything illegal, but any recruits found taking any improper benefits could lose eligibility to play.

In many corners, the arrests have been portrayed as the government's response to activities that have long been viewed as business-as-usual in big-time hoops — a long-awaited reckoning with problems the NCAA has been unwilling or unable to rein in.

An announcement Friday by the NCAA that a seven-year-long investigation into academic fraud at North Carolina would result in no sanctions for the Tar Heels did nothing to promote confidence in the body tasked with keeping its sports clean.

The AP also asked universities if they had been contacted by federal or state law enforcement. Only the schools involved in the federal complaints acknowledged being contacted.

That doesn't mean more isn't coming. Prosecutors have made clear the probe could widen in scope as the investigation continues.

"I'd say most people agree that this is the tip of the iceberg," said John Tauer, the coach at St. Thomas in Minnesota, which has won two Division III titles this decade. "Over the next six months to a year, a lot more chips are going to fall, and you'd have to think that schools that aren't diligent right now could end up paying dearly."

Tauer, who doubles as a social psychology professor specializing in issues of sports in society, spends a lot of time wrestling with the NCAA rulebook. His task isn't as high-stakes, though, because scholarship money and big-time shoe deals are essentially nonexistent in Division III.

"As an educator and a coach, you're certainly disappointed but not shocked to know this kind of thing goes on," Tauer said. "You hear rumors and stories of things that go on in the underworld of recruiting. You always hope they're not true, but you probably know, deep down..."

Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak told a story of losing a hard recruiting battle, and his initial reaction was "at least we didn't cheat."

He called it his heat-of-the-moment reaction, though he's certainly not blind to the issues confronting his sport. When he arrived at Utah in 2011, his two guiding principles were: "We are never going to cheat," and "We aren't going to recruit any turds."

"I wasn't sure in my lifetime that we were going to see anything of this magnitude where the lid got blown off," Krystkowiak said. "I was hopeful that at some point somebody's going to pay the price. Now when you get the feds and the FBI involved, it takes it to a new level."

Kansas coach Bill Self, whose school is among those conducting an internal review, said he harbors no illusions about what's at stake.

"This is bigger than us just coming up with ideas, this is us coming up with ideas that can withhold all the headwind that's going to be coming toward it," Self said.

___

Nearly four dozen AP sports writers around the United States contributed to this report, including Kareem Copeland, Oskar Garcia, Jimmy Golen, Larry Lage, John Marshall, Eric Olson, Dave Skretta and Noah Trister.

___

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Keselowski races way into 3rd round of NASCAR’s playoffs

By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — To win the championship this year, Team Penske told Brad Keselowski he had to win at Talladega Superspeedway.

So he did.

Again.

Keselowski earned an automatic berth into the third round of the playoffs with a victory Sunday at Talladega, where he considered himself lucky to finish after a sloppy day for NASCAR.

“I survived,” Keselowski said. “I feel like only eight cars finished the race. It was one of those crazy days ... a lot of attrition.”

There were just 14 cars running at the conclusion, and only four were playoff drivers. The race was red-flagged three times for nearly 35 minutes.

By avoiding the carnage, Keselowski won for the fifth time at Talladega and gave Ford a season sweep of the four restrictor-plate races.

Most important, though, is that he knows he’s still in the hunt for his second Cup title. The victory vaulted him from 10th to second in the playoff standings.

“You’d love to be able to pat yourself on the back and say it’s all skill, but there is some luck that’s involved in this,” Keselowski said. “When you come here, probably three out of every four races you’re going to get caught up in a wreck. But the races where you have the good fortune, where you don’t get caught up in a wreck or you don’t have something break or any of those things, you have to take those races, run up front and win them.

“That’s what we’ve been able to do.”

Talladega was the perfect place for Keselowski to take the stress off before next week’s elimination race at Kansas. Crew chief Paul Wolfe told Keselowski he was going to need to win Sunday because the Fords haven’t run as well as the other playoff contenders on intermediate tracks, so this was his shot.

Wolfe didn’t doubt the driver could deliver. When the elimination format was rolled out in 2014, Keselowski had to win Talladega to advance. The race this year was moved to the middle event of the second round, so eliminations weren’t at stake, but Keselowski needed a big day.

“As we tried to understand what we need to do in each round and look at our strengths and weaknesses ... I looked at Talladega and this round as an opportunity,” Wolfe said. “This was going to be our path to make it to Homestead, and that was going to be winning Talladega.

“When he gets in these situations, you’re going to get the most out of him. You’ve got to have a little bit of help, lucky breaks, whatever you want to call them, along the way, but I knew if we had that, our cars have been fast enough, and he’s talented enough at these tracks that I knew we could get it done.”

Keselowski was the leader when the race resumed with three laps remaining, but was passed by Ryan Newman, who stayed out front until the final lap. Then Keselowski made his move around Newman on the high side of the track to take the lead, and a crossover move held off both Newman and Penske teammate Joey Logano.

Keselowski then collected the American flag for the victory lap on his 24th career Cup win, which came in his 300th start. His first career Cup win was at Talladega in 2009.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished seventh in his final race at Talladega, where he and his late father combined to win 16 Cup races. Alabama declared Sunday “Dale Earnhardt Jr. Day.”

“This has been a hell of a weekend for me, and I’m glad to be able to finish and finish well. That means a lot to me,” Earnhardt said. “I know a lot of folks came and traveled here to see us run, so I know they’re disappointed we didn’t win, but I’m glad they got to see us run the whole event, and hopefully they enjoyed it.”

Newman finished second in a Chevrolet and was followed by Trevor Bayne, Logano and Aric Almirola — all non-playoff drivers.

“Brad and I work really well together on these speedways,” Logano said. “I was able to push him up to the lead and I thought, ‘Alright, now I got you to the lead. It’s my turn to get up there and try to win this thing.’ Our never-quit-attitude got us a top-five out of a day that looked like we may not even finish. I’m proud of that.”

Denny Hamlin finished sixth, the best of the Toyota drivers. But the manufacturer’s playoff streak came to an end after Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch gave Toyota wins in the first four playoff races.

Of the top 10 finishers, only Keselowski and Hamlin were playoff drivers.

The rest of the 12-driver playoff field had a rough afternoon.

McMURRAY’s BAD DAY

Jamie McMurray’s championship chances took a huge hit when he misfired on his attempt to pit early in the race. He was too high on the track when he tried to dart low to make the entrance to pit road, and forcing the issue in traffic caused him to wreck.

He entered the day in the transfer position for the playoffs, but he finished 37th on Sunday and is now last in the 12-driver field.

“There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s part of Talladega,” he said. “We know you can come out of here with a lot of points and be a winner or you can be in the position we are right now. We’ll go to Kansas and do our best. I’m sure I won’t be the only playoff driver disappointed today.”

HE WAS RIGHT

All the accidents Sunday gave the playoff standings a different look. Truex still leads, but the bottom four drivers are Kyle Busch — who has been in back-to-back wrecks — Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and McMurray. On the cut line? Defending series champion Jimmie Johnson.

UP NEXT

The final race in the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs is next Sunday at Kansas Speedway. Four drivers will be cut from the playoff field.

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More AP Auto Racing: http://racing.ap.org/
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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race - Alabama 500

Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega, Alabama

Sunday, October 15, 2017

               1. (6) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 188.
               2. (27) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 188.
               3. (10) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 188.
               4. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 188.
               5. (26) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188.
               6. (15) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 188.
               7. (1) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 188.
               8. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 188.
               9. (39) * Gray Gaulding #, Toyota, 188.
               10. (33) David Ragan, Ford, 188.
               11. (25) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 188.
               12. (20) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 188.
               13. (12) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 188.
               14. (19) Matt Kenseth (P), Toyota, 187.
               15. (14) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, Accident, 184.
               16. (2) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 182.
               17. (28) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, Accident, 182.
               18. (9) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, Accident, 177.
               19. (35) * Brendan Gaughan(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 177.
               20. (22) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, Accident, 176.
               21. (13) Danica Patrick, Ford, Accident, 175.
               22. (24) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 172.
               23. (21) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, Accident, 171.
               24. (8) Jimmie Johnson (P), Chevrolet, Parked, 171.
               25. (4) Kurt Busch, Ford, Accident, 171.
               26. (5) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P), Ford, Accident, 171.
               27. (16) Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, Accident, 171.
               28. (30) Landon Cassill, Ford, Accident, 171.
               29. (18) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 171.
               30. (29) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, Accident, 171.
               31. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, Parked, 171.
               32. (37) Joey Gase(i), Toyota, Accident, 164.
               33. (40) * DJ Kennington, Toyota, Accident, 164.
               34. (38) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, Accident, 155.
               35. (7) Clint Bowyer, Ford, Accident, 155.
               36. (23) Erik Jones #, Toyota, Accident, 26.
               37. (17) Jamie McMurray (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 25.
               38. (34) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Accident, 25.
               39. (36) Mark Thompson(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 25.
               40. (31) * Justin Marks(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 16.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  131.677 mph.
Time of Race:  03 Hrs, 47 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.210 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  11 for 47 laps.
Lead Changes:  30 among 16 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   D. Earnhardt Jr. 0; J. Logano 1-13; D. Earnhardt Jr. 14-20; C. Elliott (P) 21-25; M. Kenseth (P) 26-29; A. Allmendinger 30; J. Logano 31-54; B. Keselowski (P) 55-57; K. Kahne 58-61; M. Kenseth (P) 62-63; D. Hamlin (P) 64-66; M. Kenseth (P) 67; K. Kahne 68; B. Gaughan(i) 69-70; M. DiBenedetto 71-82; R. Stenhouse Jr. (P) 83-88; K. Busch 89-91; R. Blaney (P) 92-111; R. Newman 112; B. Gaughan(i) 113-116; D. Hamlin (P) 117; R. Blaney (P) 118-124; C. Elliott (P) 125-144; K. Busch (P) 145-148; J. Logano 149-170; D. Suarez # 171-176; C. Elliott (P) 177; D. Suarez # 178-182; B. Keselowski (P) 183-185; R. Newman 186-187; B. Keselowski (P) 188;.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  J. Logano 3 times for 59 laps; R. Blaney (P) 2 times for 27 laps; C. Elliott (P) 3 times for 26 laps; M. DiBenedetto 1 time for 12 laps; D. Suarez # 2 times for 11 laps; B. Keselowski (P) 3 times for 7 laps; M. Kenseth (P) 3 times for 7 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr. 1 time for 7 laps; B. Gaughan(i) 2 times for 6 laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. (P) 1 time for 6 laps; K. Kahne 2 times for 5 laps; K. Busch (P) 1 time for 4 laps; D. Hamlin (P) 2 times for 4 laps; R. Newman 2 times for 3 laps; K. Busch 1 time for 3 laps; A. Allmendinger 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,22,21,17,48,14,95,41,6,5
Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,2,14,24,41,3,48,4,18,11