Reflecting the topsy-turvy nature of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings experienced a bit of a shakeup this week.
NASCAR At Talladega 2012: Point Standings After The Aaron’s 499
Thanks to a fifth-place finish, Greg Biffle was able to maintain his lead atop the standings for the eighth consecutive week. His Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth is now second after his third-place run vaulted him up two spots in the championship order and now trails by Biffle by seven points.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s ninth-place result represented the sixth straight race that he finished in the top 10, but despite this, he slid back one spot in the standings from second to third, just nine markers behind Biffle.
The rest of the top five consists of Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Due to a broken belt on his oil pump, Jimmie Johnson posted his worst finish (35th) since finishing 42nd in the season-opening Daytona 500 and snapped his eight-race streak of finishing 12th or better. As a result, he dropped two positions going from sixth to eighth.
Race-winner Brad Keselowski moved to 11th overall, and his second victory of 2012 went a long way to him solidifying a Chase berth for the second straight year thanks to the wild card rule.
The other wild card belongs to Ryan Newman, who fell from 10th to 13th after motor troubles relegated him to a 36th-place finish.
Here are the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after Talladega (relation to the Chase in parentheses):
- Greg Biffle (+78 points inside the Chase)
- Matt Kenseth -7 (+71)
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -9 (+69)
- Denny Hamlin -27 (+51)
- Kevin Harvick -45 (+33)
- Martin Truex Jr. -46 (+32)
- Tony Stewart -50 (+28)
- Jimmie Johnson -54 (+24)
- Kyle Busch -70 (+8)
- Clint Bowyer -76 (+2)
- Carl Edwards -78 -2 from Chase top 10
- Brad Keselowski -3 (Note: Currently has Wild Card No. 1)
- Ryan Newman -16 (Note: Currently has Wild Card No. 2)
- Paul Menard -25
- Joey Logano -43
- Jamie McMurray -49
- Juan Pablo Montoya -50
- Jeff Burton -53
- Kasey Kahne -56
- AJ Allmendinger -60
- Marcos Ambrose -63
- Aric Almirola -65
- Jeff Gordon -70
- Mark Martin -84
- Kurt Busch -87
- Bobby Labonte -91
- Regan Smith -94
- Casey Mears -115
- David Ragan -130
- David Gilliland -137
- David Reutimann -148
- Travis Kvapil -154
- Dave Blaney -162
- Landon Cassill -167
- David Stremme -221
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