Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins 2015 Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway

Dale Earnhardt Jr. punched his playoff ticket via a dominant performance by Hendrick-powered teams, winning the Geico 500 Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

The win was Earnhardt’s first of the season and first with new crew chief Greg Ives, who joined the team over the offseason after Steve Letarte left to become an NBC Sports analyst. By winning, Earnhardt is virtually guaranteed a spot in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Overall, Earnhardt earned his sixth Talladega win and first since 2004 and it came in the same week as the birthday of his late father, who won at Talladega a record 10 times. An emotional Earnhardt choked back tears in victory lane.

“It’s just real emotional, I haven’t won here in a long time, it was my Daddy’s birthday a couple of days ago, and I’m just real emotional, man,” Earnhardt said. “Everything is just so good for me right now, my personal life, my racing, the team I’m with, I don’t know why. I don’t feel like I deserve it. I just feel overcome, you know, with a lot of emotion.”

Jimmie Johnson finished second, followed by Paul Menard, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. Completing the top-10 were Sam Hornish Jr., Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Josh Wise.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers and its affiliate teams led 176 of a possible 188 laps. Earnhardt led a race-high 67 laps, with teammates Johnson and Jeff Gordon leading 50 and 47 laps, respectively.

“A lot of Hendrick cars up there,” Johnson said. “I am very proud to be in a Hendrick car.”

Gordon, who is stepping away from full-time competition at the end of the year, was positioned to win his first race of season, but sped entering pit road. After serving his penalty, he restarted in the back and then became tangled in a final lap crash and finished 31st.

“This was an opportunity for us,” Gordon said. “We had an awesome racecar. I definitely feel like we had the best racecar. Junior was good, Jimmie was good, but I felt like we were amazing. That’s frustrating. I think the most frustrating thing is making a mistake.”

Several expected contenders became sidelined in a Lap 47 multi-car accident, the kind that frequently occurs at Talladega where speeds are limited by restrictor-plates, which keeps the fielded bunched together in a pack.

The 15-car pileup occurred when Trevor Bayne lost control and spun off Turn 2. Among those incurring damage were Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano, Hendrick driver Kasey Kahne and Harvick, the defending series champion.