Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Joey Logano: Logano finished 11th at Talladega as Penske teammate Brad Keselowski won, joining Logano and six others with a chance to win the Sprint Cup.
“Brad is in with the win,” Logano said, “If NASCAR had a ‘wild card’ qualifier, Brad would have made it solely based on his performance at Charlotte.”
2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished 26th at Talladega and secured his spot in the Eliminator round.
“Amazingly,” Gordon said, “Brad Keselowski didn’t make contact with anyone at Talladega. He drove a heck of a race. He was in a zone, as opposed to a headlock.
“I’m the only Hendrick Motorsports driver in the final eight. It’s up to me to carry the HMS flag. As for the ‘HMS Johnson,’ the ‘HMS Earnhardt,’ and the ‘HMS Kahne’—those ships have sailed.”
3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski beat the odds and won the Geico 500 to qualify for the Eliminator round in the Chase For The Cup. Needing a win, Keselowski held off Ryan Newman for his sixth win of the year.
“The Redd’s Wicked Apple No. 2 car was set up perfectly,” Keselowski said. “There’s only one thing better than a Redd’s Apple, and that’s a bad apple driving it.
“There’s nothing more satisfying than doing burnouts on the track. NASCAR handed me a check after that. I’ve smoked the tires in the garage area, as well. I handed NASCAR the check after that one.”
4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished ninth at Talladega as a frantic finish saw Brad Keselowski take the win and an unlikely spot in the Chase’s Eliminator round.
“It was nice to go to Talladega and not have to win,” Harvick said. “I admire the guts it took for Keselowski to pull out the win. I had the same reaction after the race at Charlotte: ‘the nerve.’”
5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished second to Brad Keselowski and qualified for the Eliminator round on points.
“Just like at Charlotte,” Kenseth said, “I’m ‘after’ Keselowski.”
6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 18th in the Geico 500, good enough to advance him to the third round of the Chase For The Cup.
“What a run by Brad Keselowski,” Hamlin said. “The results were much different than those at Charlotte, but in both cases, he drove like a man possessed.”
7. Ryan Newman: With a fifth at Talladega, Newman punched his ticket as one of the final eight drivers in the Chase.
“I’m sure a lot of drivers were pulling for me to win,” Newman said, “if for no other reason than to keep Brad Keselowski out of the next round. But I just couldn’t keep Brad behind me, which was surprising, because Denny Hamlin advised me that the No. 2 would likely be on my bumper well past the checkered flag.”
8. Carl Edwards: Edwards advanced to the Eliminator round with a safe 21st at Talladega. He is one of eight drivers eligible to win the Sprint Cup championship.
“Kyle Busch is expecting,” Edwards said. “Nobody was expecting Brad Keselowski to win. Either way, a ‘baby’ made headlines.”
9. Jimmie Johnson: Needing a win to advance to the Chase’s next round, Johnson finished 24th at Talladega and fell well short of qualifying for the Chase’s next round.
“Our title hopes were dashed,” Johnson said. “But we gave it all we had. We didn’t run out of talent, we just ran out of eligibility.”
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt struggled from the start and finished 31st in the Geico 500. He finished 13th, well short of qualifying for the Chase’s third round.
“Junior Nation is in a state of ‘E-nial,’” Earnhardt said. “But I expect them to survive. These final four races will be business as usual for Junior Nation—I’ll be racing with no chance whatsoever to win the Sprint Cup championship.”
