Brad Keselowski Win Ends Chase Dreams for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson

For Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski—three of NASCAR's biggest stars—the formula was simple: Win at Talladega and move on to the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Lose and say goodbye to any hope of a 2014 championship. 

Simple to understand, that is. There was nothing simple about the execution.

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At the end of 194 laps on Sunday at the Geico 500, the only superstar who delivered was Keselowski, who eked out a victory after a dramatic finish that included two restarts in the last five laps. With four races remaining in the season, the No. 2 team still has a chance to win its second title in three years.

Meanwhile, fan favorites Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. were both sent home empty-handed. They'll both compete next week in Martinsville, but the Chase will move on without them. 

It wasn't for lack of effort, though. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates both drove aggressively and tried to take control of the race—Johnson led 84 laps but got caught up in the pack on the final restarts and finished 24th, while Junior led 31 laps before a crash in the second-to-last restart ended his title hopes for good. He finished 31st and said on Twitter after the race that he just wasn't patient enough to get the win.

So now, much to NASCAR's dismay, Earnhardt Jr.'s hopes for his first championship have been slashed after one of the best seasons of his career, and Johnson's quest for his seventh title is put on hold for at least one more year.

"Today we had a fast car," Johnson said after the race, via Mike Hembree of USA Today. "Today we ran up front. We had awesome pit stops. We had a shot to win. We just didn't get the golden ticket."

Before the race on Sunday, Jordan Bianchi of SBNation did a good job breaking down how bizarre these stakes really were for the top dogs of NASCAR:

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That Keselowski, Earnhardt and Johnson find themselves on the brink of elimination is a scenario few envisioned when the Chase began. Along with high-level consistency, the trio won nearly 40 percent of the races in the regular season. It was expected that at least two, if not all three, would advance to the final race of the year with a shot at the championship.

But an assortment of issues has hindered them in the Chase's second round. All three crashed in the Round 2 opener at Kansas Speedway, and none of them secured the solid result they needed last week at Charlotte.

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Along with Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson, Kyle Busch and another Hendrick Motorsports driver, Kasey Kahne, were also eliminated on Sunday. The finish was especially bitter for Busch, who had finished in the top five in the last two races until a crash and subsequent 40th-place finish on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway dashed his hopes.

But while plenty of NASCAR fans are in mourning this evening, there's one group breathing a sigh of relief.

With his season on the line, Keselowski delivered one of the best performances of his season on the most unpredictable track out there. The fact that it came on the heels of one of the most tumultuous and disappointing races of his career made it that much more surprising.

Last week at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Keselowski let his emotions get the best of him and got into post-race altercations with Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin. Fellow drivers widely criticized him for his actions and attitude, and NASCAR fined him $50,000 this week and put him on probation.

But with the increased media attention surrounding him and winning as his only option, the Penske driver put the drama in the backseat and all of his energy into maneuvering the Talladega track. It certainly paid off. 

"I'm not real proud of last week, but I'm real proud of today," he said on ESPN after the race. "This is the football equivalent of scoring two touchdowns in the last two minutes."

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Keselowski only had the lead for 12 laps all day, but his assertive driving at the end of the race was enough to hold off Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Co. for his sixth win of the season. He now joins Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Hamlin, Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon and his teammate Joey Logano in the second-to-last leg of the Chase.

After the next three races, only four drivers will remain, and the winner will be decided in just one race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The new Chase format has certainly provided fireworks, and there will be more in the final four weeks of the season. It's all about who handles the pressure the best from here on out. 

On Sunday, Keselowski handled it better than two of the greats of the sport. That has to make him one of the favorites for the Sprint Cup Championship going forward.