The NASCAR Chase Grid has been cut to eight contenders as Joey Logano won the Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspedway Sunday (10/23).

Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick were the only two drivers on the Chase Grid that started the race at “Dega” knowing that had already earned a spot in the next round of The Chase with wins in the first two races in the Round of 12. For the remaining 10 Chase Grid drivers they had to formulate a plan to get the finish they needed to advance without having disaster strike.

Some of those Chase Grid drivers had mistakes that would force them to overcome the potential devastating results for the championship dreams. Others did not fair as well.

Brad Keselowski led the most laps in the Hellman’s 500 with a total of 90 laps in the lead of the race. However, he was one of the drivers that fate would take out of contention for the win when his engine blew. That blown engine also blew out his chance to advance on the Chase Grid.

Martin Truex Jr. has had an amazing season in the Sprint Cup series. But, a blown engine also blew out his hopes of racing for the championship.

One thing that all of the drivers hope to avoid when NASCAR races at Talladega is not being a part of the “Big One” that happens more times than not. That typically huge wreck sends many cars to the pits and behind the wall with damage and ends their day with a terrible finish. The “Big One” never happened this time.

There were six caution periods with two accidents involving only three cars each time as the largest for the afternoon. However, one of those yellow flag periods did happen late enough in the race to send the race into NASCAR’s overtime known as a green-white-checkered finish.

The scheduled length of an 188 lap race ended with Joey Logano scoring the win on lap 192 at Talladega Superspeedway. Brian Scott scored the second place finish with Denny Hamlin coming in third. Kurt Busch grabbed a fourth place finish with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounding out the top five. See the complete race results in the Hellmann’s 500 here.

Following the “Dega” race, the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings have been re-set for the Round of Eight. The win helped put Joey Logano at the top of the point standings (even though the total of points are even for the eight Chase Grid drivers). Jimmie Johnson slips back a spot to second with Kevin Harvick moving up four spots to third place. Matt Kenseth slips back two spots to fourth place while Carl Edwards falls one spot to fifth place. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings here.

With the Round of Eight beginning, the remaining championship contenders will now have three races to either win or score enough points to advance to the Championship Race as one of the four drivers with a chance to win the Sprint Cup Championship. See the 2016 NASCAR Chase Grid as it stands here.

The first opportunity that the eight NASCAR Chase Grid drivers will have to earn an automatic advance to the Final Four will be in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway Sunday afternoon, October 30th.

By: Buck Stevens