NASCAR to Blame, NASCAR to Pay for Mishandling Controversial Finish at Talladega

Usually, controversy is a great thing for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Some of the greatest moments in the sport’s storied history have been built upon it.

But this time, it’s not likely to happen.

In an ending to a race that was exactly the opposite of what a storybook ending would be (in other words, a total cluster), Joey Logano was declared the winner of the CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday.

This wasn’t just any race, though, and Logano wasn’t battling just any driver for victory at the end. This was a Chase elimination race, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., named NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver by fans for 12 years running, was trying to keep his championship hopes alive by completing stock car racing’s version of an improbable—but what might have been an absolutely delightful—Hail Mary completion at the end of overtime.

Instead, it was like NASCAR called the game as the ball was tipped and still in the air on the edge of the end zone.

It left everyone feeling cheated.

Mark Almond/Associated Press

Speaking of cheating, several drivers believed that’s exactly what defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick did to bring about the final caution flag. Harvick had been experiencing problems that in other races likely would have forced him to retire to the Sprint Cup garage. He told his team over the radio more than once that he thought his No. 4 Chevrolet was “blowing up.”

Yet Harvick stayed on the track for not one, but two green-white-checkered restarts. Oh, NASCAR will tell you there was only one. That’s because it changed the rule that allows up to three GWC attempts (NASCAR’s version of overtime) at all other tracks to just one attempt at the two restrictor-plate tracks (Talladega and Daytona).

This was done for safety reasons and was applauded both beforehand by most drivers and, in a touch of class, by Earnhardt after the race, even though he likely got screwed royally by it.

But here’s the rub: After cars started wrecking behind the leaders on the first attempt at 'Dega, NASCAR ruled that it never happened.

So they lined ‘em up again.

And that’s when Harvick indisputably wrecked Trevor Bayne, setting off a multicar wreck that left Chase contender Denny Hamlin’s car on fire, a smoking wreck that matched his suddenly expired chances of a 2015 championship.

That Harvick caused the accident cannot be disputed. What was immediately under question (and still is, at least in most circles), is whether he did it on purpose to keep from losing too many spots on the restart and more than likely taking himself out of the Chase, too.

"That’s a crappy way for Harvick to have to get in the Chase is to wreck somebody—what I believe to be on purpose—maybe it wasn’t,” Bayne said, per Jay Pennell of Fox Sports.“The restart before that he had engine problems and got out of the way. I think he realized if the caution came out he was going to be fine, so I got by and get hooked in the left rear. Harvick is a really good driver. I think he knows the limits of his car and where it’s at, so that’s why I think it was intentional.”

Hamlin was furious, telling reporters "The 4 [of Harvick] could only run about 30 miles per hour. I think he saw people coming and he knew he was so probably going to be 30th, last car on the lead lap, so he caused the wreck."

Harvick, of course, denied he did anything on purpose.

“It wasn’t running really well on the restarts. Then at the end I was trying to get out of the way,” he said. “I don’t know if I clipped the 6 [of Bayne] or if he came across as I was coming up. It was one of those days where everything went well until the very end until the bottom fell out on those lap couple of restarts when it cooled off. [The car] has a broken exhaust pipe or something.”

Rodney Childers, Harvick’s crew chief, said his driver was merely trying to get out of the way, knowing his car was not right. But if that truly was the case, then Harvick should not have been out there in the first place. He was putting himself and the other drivers around and behind him in serious danger.

Why he stayed out is obvious, though. To come in would have ended any chance he had of successfully defending his 2014 title under the current Chase elimination format. And that infuriated the likes of Hamlin, who was eliminated from the Chase and took to Twitter to further express his outrage.

After a review of videotape that took way too long and left everyone wondering exactly what had happened, who might be penalized and which four drivers actually had been eliminated from the Chase, NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton finally addressed the media after the race and said officials had found no evidence of wrongdoing on Harvick’s part.

This came after an earlier delay in which fans and media waited impatiently to hear if Logano actually had won the race or if Earnhardt had inched ahead by the time the final caution flag flew, freezing the field.

Jim Cole/Associated Press

Replays showed that, according to NASCAR’s current convoluted and seemingly ever-changing rules, Logano was, in fact, just inches ahead of Earnhardt when the yellow came out. That meant a third Chase win in a row for Logano and Chase elimination for Earnhardt.

The dual reaction most NASCAR fans experienced when they heard this was: yawn for Logano and outrage for Earnhardt. Neither is good for this Chase going forward.

Many fans showered the 2.66-mile Talladega track with beer cans and other items to show their disapproval with the unsatisfying finish. Others simply left to take a shower, because the finish left everyone feeling in desperate need of one.

It was controversial, for sure.

But this time, it was the kind of controversy that likely will entice television viewers to turn to a different channel over the final four weeks of this strange season.

At least with football, you understand the rules, and attempted Hail Mary passes are allowed to be ruled complete or incomplete before an entire playoff lineup is altered based on arbitrary rulings no one fully understands, eliminating some of the best and most popular contenders in the sport while others are allowed to play on.

This was, in the final analysis, as much mishandled and ridiculous as it was controversial. For that, NASCAR likely will pay the heavy price of having many fans, especially the formidable and enraged throng from Junior Nation, tune out the rest of this Chase.

Unless otherwise noted, all information was obtained firsthand.

Joe Menzer has written six books, including two about NASCAR, and now writes about it and other sports for Bleacher Report as well as assisting in coverage of NASCAR for FoxSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.