Matt Kenseth wins at Talladega
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Sean Gardner/Getty Images(TALLADEGA, Ala.) — Matt Kenseth took home the checkered flag in a wild finish in the fourth stop of the chase for the Sprint Cup championship at Talladega on Sunday.
Tony Stewart was leading during the final lap before a 25-car crash halted his chances and Kenseth avoided the wreck and cruised into victory lane.
“It was pretty darn fast,” said Kenseth of his No. 17 Ford on Sunday. “It was really hard to drive on the bottom, we just kept getting looser and looser during the race, but it was really fast.”
The crash dropped Stewart to seventh in the points standings.
“I just screwed up,” said Stewart on the multi-car crash during the final lap. “I turned down across, it was my fault blocking to try and stay where I was at. I take 100 percent of the blame.”
Jeff Gordon finished in second which jumped him to sixth in the standings.
“That was the craziest finish I’ve ever experienced here at Talladega,” said Gordon. “For a change I finally came out on the good side of it.”
Kyle Busch finished in third, followed by David Ragan, and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five.
“I’ve been racing a long time, I’ve never in my life seen something like that,” said Biffle. “I don’t know how I got slowed down and turned to the bottom and came through that thing.”
Jimmie Johnson finished in 17th after he was caught up in the crash, but still sits second in the points standings.
The next stop in the chase will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 13.
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