NASCAR Barometer: Keselowski’s Talladega Win Ends Toyota Dominance

Brad Keselowski survived a crazy afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway to score a valuable playoff win that will see him through to the next round of championship eliminations. Ford-powered teams started the weekend on the right foot as they were among the fastest in both practice and qualifying. Power was a big advantage that they held throughout the race on Sunday, supplanting the Toyota dominance that fantasy players have come to expect in recent weeks. Keselowski and Penske Racing were among the fastest throughout Sunday afternoon, and Keselowski had luck see him through to the massive victory.

Next week, the playoffs head to Kansas Speedway. It is the final race of the round of 12 and will determine which eight championship contenders move on to the next round of championship eliminations. Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are in elimination territory, but a meager seven points separate Jimmie Johnson from Busch on the cut line. Anything could happen at the 1.5-mile oval this week, and every move will impact this season's championship fight.

UPGRADE

Brad Keselowski – Keselowski leveraged Ford's advantage early in Sunday's race to win the first stage at Talladega in a single-lap duel between him and teammate Joey Logano. Logano entered this stage of the playoffs with the singular focus of accumulating stage points in an effort to advance in the championship. That plan played out well for him on Sunday. He built upon that stage victory to survive numerous crashes to remain in contention and then made the moves that mattered to earn an all-important victory that will see him through to the next round of championship playoffs. Keselowski has one Kansas victory and was the runner up there earlier this season, but at this point he's focused on preparing for the next playoff round.

Denny Hamlin – Fortune was on Hamlin's side at Talladega. A loose wheel on the No. 11 in the second stage forced him into an unscheduled pit stop, but caution came out while the car was on pit road. That caution enabled Hamlin to remain on the lead lap and get his problem fixed without losing significant ground. He then proceeded to avoid the final crashes and was in contention for the victory in the final laps. He didn't make the moves that paid off with a victory, but he walked away with a top-10 result on a day may other playoff contenders stumbled. Hamlin has one Kansas victory but was collected in a crash while running sixth at the track earlier this season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – The weekend started off well for Earnhardt. He won the pole for the first time this season but then suffered two pit road penalties. Those infractions occurred early enough to give him plenty of time to work his way back to the front, however. He also barely avoided all of the afternoon's biggest crashes to remain in the hunt for the win until the very end. Unfortunately, he didn't have the moves that would send him to Victory Lane. It was still a top-10 effort from the fan favorite, though. While he's out of the playoffs, there are still opportunities for Earnhardt to go out on top. He finished in the top five three times in 21 career starts at Kansas but only finished 20th there earlier this year.

Ryan Blaney – Blaney was another Ford driver who was able to leverage the Talladega advantage to win a stage. He held off charges from a number of other divers to claim the stage victory, which set him up well for a run to the finish. Unfortunately, he was caught up in the one of the race's crashes after that. Still, it wasn't a horrible day for the No. 21 team. They can walk away from Talladega knowing that they had the machinery to compete with Toyota, which could be enough to continue to build upon as he gets ready to move to Penske Racing in 2018. In five Kansas starts the young driver has two top-fives and three top-10s, including earlier this year when he started from pole to finish fourth.

DOWNGRADE

Jamie McMurray – Erik Jones punted McMurray out of Sunday's race at Talladega in the first big accident of the afternoon. The Chevrolet teams were making their first green-flag stops and Jones was blinded by the traffic in front and ended up in the rear of McMurray's machine. The contact sent the No. 1 car spinning into the oncoming car of Jeffrey Earnhardt and out of the race, likely ending his playoff aspirations for the season. It's unlikely that McMurray can salvage a championship effort from next week's race at Kansas. In 21 career starts he has yet to score a top-five finish and he has four total top-10s. His last top-10 was in the spring race this season when he finished eighth, however.

Jimmie Johnson – Rear contact in the second stage of Sunday's race put Johnson behind in Sunday's race. The former champion was attempting to move to pit road but was caught from behind by Ty Dillon in a similar fashion to what happened to McMurray before him. He returned to the fray and was able to overcome the damage to run near the front, but was caught in the biggest crash of the race in the final miles. The contact he sustained in that pile up ended his afternoon and put a serious dent in his drive to advance in the playoff hunt. Johnson has won three times at Kansas and has an average finish of 9.6 from 22 career starts and needs a good result next week to continue his title defense.

Clint Bowyer – For the second week in a row, Bowyer finds himself in the downgrade column. He had the potential to be one of the top cars at Talladega, especially considering how Ford seemed to have a rare advantage over the Toyota machines. Bowyer spent much of the afternoon running in the top five, but the instance that caught him out happened when he was in the rear of the field. That often happens at Talladega Superspeedway, but that has been the way much of the season has gone for Bowyer regardless of the venue. He needs to turn in a top result for the team before the curtain falls on his maiden season with Stewart Haas Racing.

Kyle Busch – Busch was one of the many contenders caught up in the big one at Talladega on Sunday. The championship contender needed a decent day at Talladega after struggling at Charlotte but will now head to Kansas needing a good result to keep his championship fight on track. While the bonus points he secured throughout the season are helping him in the standings, he cannot afford another slip up in this round of the playoffs. This week's track had been the nemesis of Busch earlier in his career, but things have come his direction recently. He finished fifth there earlier this season, which extended his run of top-five finishes at the track to five. That streak includes his sole win at the circuit, which came in the spring race last season.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Trevor Bayne – Bayne had a wonderful afternoon going in Talladega, but a late tire puncture threatened to end his shot at glory. The Roush Fenway Racing driver excels on restrictor-plate tracks, and Sunday's effort was no different. He had been running inside the top five frequently on Sunday in what had been a great performance for the team, which was only an extension of his progress so far this season. One of his top-10 finishes this season was actually at Kansas Speedway, too. While Sunday ended in frustration, he has the potential bounce back. He started Kansas in 16th en route to that 10th-place finish in the spring, and likely could build on his success from Talladega.