The end of four is near. When the green flag waves, four will be racing for nothing. Four will leave without the chance at a championship. Four, will be left dreaming of next year. Eight will advance. Eight will leave today knowing that they still have a chance to make their childhood dream a reality. But who shall they be?

Jeff Gordon started on the pole for his final Talladega race, and all of his teammates were with him in the top-five. Gordon led for several laps, but was quickly overtaken by his teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Dale came into Dega’ knowing he needed a win to advance, and he planned on doing just that.

Talladega is known to be a track with big wrecks, and lots of them. But sometimes, those wrecks don’t show up. Or at least not for a while. Well, this was one of those races. For 131 laps, the race was under the green flag. It wasn’t until Justin Allgier blew his engine that the long-awaited caution finally flew.

The long green flag run was a disadvantage for several Chase drivers. Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field, and he planned to stay there until late in the race. However, a slow pit stop caused him to lose the draft, and he quickly fell of the lead lap. However, he somehow managed to get himself into the lucky dog position to regain his lap when the caution flag flew.

Denny Hamlin also suffered due to the lack of cautions. The roof hatch on Denny’s car, meant to be an escape route should the car be in a strange position, broke loose. Nascar black flagged Hamlin, and he was forced to come to pit road to repair the hatch. However, the repairs were so brief, that they didn’t work, and he had to return to pit road. This cost Hamlin two laps, and dropped him out of the Chase as of that time. He needed a miracle to advance.

As the race progressed, Dale Jr. was clearly the driver to beat. But do to a pit stop penalty, he was left at the back of the field. This left Brad Keslowski and Joey Logano (who had won the last two races) at the front of the field. Both wanted to win this race, but they wouldn’t remain unchallenged.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., despite his pit road penalty, drove through the field, and straight to the back bumper of Logano, but then, the caution came out, due to Jamie McMurray blowing an engine. Now, Nascar had recently stated that they would allow only one shot at a green-white-checkered finish, instead of three, like they normally do.

Logano and Jr. lined up for the restart, but just as they were about to cross the starting line, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson spun. Fans held their breath, fearing that the race was going to be ended under caution. But Nascar officials ruled that since the cars hadn’t yet crossed the starting line, the restart hadn’t yet took place. So they lined up again.

These were the final two laps of the Contender round. Every Chase driver was going for every single position they could. As the green flag waved, drivers rocketed off. But, Kevin Harvick, who had been having engine problems, got off to a slow start. Trevor Bayne jumped to his outside, and the two of them spun, collecting half the field. After a brief hesitation, Nascar waved the caution flag.

Who had won? No one knew. Who had advanced in the Chase? No one knew. The rule is that whoever was in the lead at the time of the caution won the race. Dale Jr. and Logano appeared to have been dead even when the caution flew, and Earnhardt seemed to have pulled ahead after that. For several minutes, drivers drove around the track. Suddenly, Nascar proclaimed Logano to be the races winner.

This caused an outbreak of angry fans. While Logano did his burnout, fans pelted his car with trash. Due to Nascar’s ruling, this meant Dale Jr. (the fan favorite) was eliminated from the Chase. As post race ceremonies progressed, it seemed that only Logano was happy with the outcome. Even the ever-present Miss Sprint Cup didn’t smile in victory lane.

Due to some rough driving in the past few weeks, Logano has become something of a ‘bad boy’ on the track. Right about now, he has at least one driver that has a score to settle with him, and if you ask me it is likely to happen. After all, if Matt Kenseth, who Logano wrecked out of the Chase, retaliated and smashes Logano into the wall next week, Logano will be eliminated from the Chase. And Kenseth seemed angry enough to do just that.

Anyway, what’s done can not be undone, but what is to be done, I can’t wait to see. Here are the drivers who did and didn’t advance into the third round of the Chase.

Advanced                                              Eliminated

Kevin Harvick                                        Matt Kenseth

Martin Truex Jr.                                      Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Joey Logano                                          Denny Hamlin

Kyle Busch                                             Ryan Newman

Carl Edwards

Jeff Gordon

Brad Keslowski

Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch