Hamlin advances in Chase as Logano wins at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. – When an engine failure knocked title favorite Martin Truex Jr. from NASCAR's playoffs, the rest of the top contenders got a little bit of breathing room.

Brad Keselowski suffered the same cruel elimination when his engine failed Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Suddenly competition was wide open to earn the final transfer spots into the Chase's third round, and Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon raced a tense final two laps in overtime to fill the bracket. With each pushing for every last point, Hamlin advanced to the round of eight on a tiebreaker over Dillon.

Joey Logano won at Talladega Superspeedway, and Hamlin edged Kurt Busch by 0.006 seconds for third place and the one point he needed to tie Dillon in the standings.

Dillon was ninth but lost the right to move into the next round based on average finish in the past three races.

Hamlin had told his Joe Gibbs Racing team not to give him points updates, and that lack of knowledge forced him to scramble through the final turn as he was undecided on how aggressive to be.

"I wasn't sure whether I needed to finish third," he said. "I told them I didn't want points updates. But that's almost when I probably should have got one to figure out what I was going to do. [Dillon] is in the middle of the pack. He's fighting and getting positions. He could change two positions in the last hundred yards.

With Truex and Keselowski out of the playoffs before the checkered flag, the suspense came down to final finishing order. Logano was not in a must-win situation, but the victory sure didn't hurt.

Dillon called the outcome "heartbreaking."

"It sure stinks to lose it on a tiebreaker," he said.

Also eliminated Sunday was Chase Elliott. Advancing are: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Logano and Hamlin. Four Toyotas remain in the field, all from Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart-Haas Racing has Kurt Busch and Harvick, while Hendrick Motorsports has Johnson for three Chevrolets in the field. Logano is the only Ford driver.

"Feels good to win on a clutch moment like that with the pressure on," Logano said. "I think we ran like a champ."