Talladega. Every driver dreads that name. Every driver dreads having to go into the Fall race with the Chase on the line. Twelve will enter, eight shall leave. So when you have a chance to guarantee yourself a spot in the next round, you go for it. Such is the situation going into Kansas.

Brad Keslowski started on the pole, but didn’t stay there long. He was quickly caught by Matt Kenseth. Kenseth came into Kansas needing a win to advance to the next round of the Chase, so he gave his all in this race, leading well over a hundred laps. However, what matters is who leads the last lap.

While Kenseth led, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Joey Logano gave chase. Logano won last weekend, so his only goal at Kansas was to make sure no other Chase drivers advance. Harvick was one of the said drivers trying to advance. And Jimmie is already out of the Chase, so he has nothing to lose.

These four drivers were the clear leaders of the field all day, but as time passed, circumstances removed two of them from the front. Harvick was making one of his final pit stops, and his gas man accidentally dropped the gas can out of the pit box. This resulted in Harvick being penalized. He finished sixteenth.

As time passed, several good drivers were put a lap down. So late in the race, Jimmie Johnson stayed on the race track instead of going to pit road. Nascar rules state that if all leaders come to pit road, drivers a lap down are allowed to take a ‘wave around’, regaining one of their laps. Johnson’s choice not to pit stopped drivers from doing so. But this also left him with tires that were worse for the wear than other drivers’ tires. Thus Johnson fell out of contention.

That left Logano and Kenseth. All day the two of them battled up front, and as the laps wound down, Kenseth held a narrow lead over Logano. However, Joey was clearly faster. But Kenseth had the top spot.

Lap after lap Logano tried every move in the books to try to get around Matt. With five laps remaining, Joey got a big run on Kenseth coming down the front stretch. He pulled up, and Kenseth threw a block. But, as they entered turn 1, Joey went low, and tapped Kenseth into a slow spin. That is pretty much the end of Kenseth’s Chase hopes. While Kenseth can still technically advance into the next round of the Chase, it seems highly unlikely.

Logano pulled away on the ensuing restart, and he won his fifth race of the year with ease. However, many people, Kenseth chief among them, considered Joey’s late race move a dirty one. Matt went so far that he said “I was one of Joey’s biggest fans. I’m not anymore.” And in truth, the move was an unnecessarily aggressive one. Very unnecessary. This may be a win that Logano looks back at with bittersweet thoughts.