Johnson gets lead in Sprint points
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Chaos is a recurrent theme at Talladega Superspeedway.
Huge wrecks are part of the game. A major shake-up in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship seemed possible, even likely, after 500 miles on the big trioval.
Well, the big one didn’t happen.
The standings don’t look all that different, either.
Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth swapped spots at the top — Johnson now leads Kenseth by a scant four points instead of the other way around — but those two are still firmly in control of the Chase with four races left.
Jamie McMurray won Sunday’s race at Talladega. Johnson and Kenseth kept plenty of distance on the competition.
Johnson steered around a last-lap crash and finished 13th. Kenseth dropped to second with a 20th-place showing, but it’s another 22 points — a daunting margin — to Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick tied for third. Jeff Gordon made up only two points and is 34 behind the leader.
McMurray snapped a 108-race winless streak. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second and was unable to make a late push as the race finished under caution.
