Jeff Gordon takes checkered flag at Monster Mile

After two weeks battling for the Top 12 spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR drivers headed to Dover Downs International Speedway for the third race of NASCAR’s 10-race postseason.

Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano took the first two checkered flags in the Chase to lock in their spots in the contender round. The Sunday, Sept. 28 AAA 400 was the last race of the Challenger round, trimming the cup contender field from 16 to 12 drivers. This is the first time in NASCAR history an elimination race occurred after the Chase began.

The top seven Chase contenders appeared safe to advance to the next round, but spots 8 through 16 were only separated by 12 points. While Jeff Gordon left no doubt who would win in the closing laps, the 12th and final spot came down to the final laps, with teammates racing each other for valuable points.

Hendrick Motorsports finally flexed its muscles in the Chase. Jeff Gordon took home the checkered flag, the 92nd victory of his legendary career, the fourth this season, and 13 away from the Silver Fox, David Pearson. Notably, there were no wrecks. Debris, flat tires and a couple scrapes with the wall provided the only green flag breaks for drivers.

Despite recent discussions about removal of seats at the facility, the crowd appeared notably larger than in recent years, perhaps in part due to lower ticket prices in some sections and the new postseason format providing Dover with NASCAR’s first elimination race in the Chase.

The first 250 laps appeared to be setting up for Kevin Harvick to run away with the race; he led the first 148 laps and 223 of 248 laps. Harvick was lapping traffic by Lap 15, and by Lap 30, only 30 cars remained on the lead lap. By Lap 47, drivers A.J. Allmendinger and Aric Almirola were a lap down with their hopes of advancing fading away.

Lap 148 saw the race’s first lead change, with Brad Keselowksi passing Harvick as they fought through lap traffic. Harvick also reported he had a problem. Following a caution on Lap 171, Harvick won the battle off pit road and regained the lead, with Jimmie Johnson powering up to third.

As of Lap 212, Kasey Kahne, Allmendinger, Greg Biffle and Almirola were the four drivers eliminated from the Chase, with Kahne falling two laps down. Gordon was happy with his adjustments, and his team told him he was catching Johnson.

By Lap 237, Harvick had a 3.7-second lead and was cruising with only 21 cars remaining on the lead lap. Lap 248 brought green flag pit stops with Keselowski and Gordon coming in. Harvick, Johnson and a host of others would follow.

Harvick had been complaining about the left front shocks feeling broken. On Lap 252, a season-long theme reoccurred with Harvick’s bad luck streak continuing with a left-front tire going down, eventually bringing out the caution for debris and relegating Harvick to 21st on the restart. Harvick’s team repaired the damage and he battled back to finish 13th, one lap down.

Keselowski took over where Harvick left off. Gordon climbed to second by Lap 278 and closed in on the leader as they worked their way through lapped traffic. Gordon took the lead on Lap 306.

By Lap 314, Kurt Busch was on the bubble to advance with a one-point lead over Kahne and a two-point lead over Allmendinger. Gordon pulled to a 1.7-second lead.

Lap 329 saw the leaders hit pit road during the green flag run. After the stops, the top five were Gordon, Keselowski, Larson, Johnson and Lagano. Gordon then pulled out to a 2.5-second lead and was poised for the win.

For the final spots in the contender round, 10 points separated Hamlin, Kahne, Busch, Allmendinger and Biffle on Lap 343. As of Lap 360, Kahne was not in position to advance to the contender round, but on Lap 363, Busch fell once again from the 12th and final spot when he was passed by his teammate Harvick, and later, teammate Tony Stewart.

By Lap 390, Kahne was in the 12th and final spot with two points to spare over Allmendinger. Kahne finished the race in 20th place, and Allmendinger fell just shy of advancing.

At the finish behind Gordon were Keselowski, Johnson, Logano and Matt Kenseth.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup, new format

NASCAR tracks west this week to Kansas for the first race of the contender round of the Chase. The points reset to 3,000 for all 12 remaining title contenders. A win automatically propels drivers to the next round. After the next three races at Kansas, Charlotte and Talladega, the top eight drivers advance to the next round. Races 7 through 9 (Eliminator Round) determine the final four drivers who advance for the 10th and final race with the top-finishing driver (no bonus points for laps lead) at Homestead winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. The points reset after each previous round.

After the race, Johnson noted Talladega is definitely the wild card out of the next three races, and the strategy is to win one of the first two races so drivers can “pull into Talladega and let 'er rip.” Anyone going into Talladega without a win must avoid “the big one” or perhaps wonder what could have been.

Busch sweeps Dover Nationwide Series races

Joey Logano grabbed the pole position in Saturday’s race with Chase Elliot also starting on the front row. Once the green flag waved, Saturday was a tale of two races. Logano dominated the first 100 laps, leading 95 laps, and Kyle Busch dominated the remainder of the race, leading from Lap 100 to Lap 200 for the win and the 2014 Dover Nationwide Series sweep, the second Dover sweep (2010) of his career. The win was his series-leading fifth victory at Dover and 68th career Nationwide Series victory. The best racing of the day was for second between Logano and Chase Elliot, who recovered to finish third after being caught up in an early wreck. The phenomenal rookie, son of legendary driver Bill Elliot and a fan favorite, increased his series points lead to 26 over teammate Regan Smith.