Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wins sixth race at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — As cars wrecked behind him, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to the win in the Geico 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. Earnhardt became the eighth different winner so far in 2015. It was his sixth win at Talladega, but his first in more than 10 years.

Jimmie Johnson finished second to give Hendrick Motorsports a one-two finish. Paul Menard finished third.

Ryan Blaney ran third with two laps to go before Denny Hamlin pulled out of line and temporarily took the spot. Hamlin dropped back to ninth by the end, while Blaney was able to hold on to fourth. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five.

After leading 47 laps, Jeff Gordon was among the drivers caught up in the last-lap wreck. Other drivers involved included Carl Edwards, Casey Mears and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Throughout the closing laps, Earnhardt faced challenges from Edwards, Tony Stewart and Blaney but was able to maintain his position at the point, primarily with Johnson behind him.

After leading laps early, Gordon was back up front at the halfway point of the race and ran in or near the lead until Earnhardt took the top spot with 65 laps to go in the 188-lap race. Gordon dropped outside the top-20 over the course of the remaining laps, while Johnson kept Earnhardt company up front.

Hendrick Motorsports showed itself as the class of the field on Saturday by claiming four of the top-five starting spots of the race. Gordon led the HMS brigade by claiming the pole. He led 33 laps early in the race before the yellow flag waved for a 14-car crash on lap 47.

Johnson, Earnhardt and Stewart also led laps early.

Gordon and his teammates, Earnhardt, Johnson and Kasey Kahne were all mainstays at or near the front throughout the early stages, but Kahne’s car was among those collected in the lap 47 crash.

Other drivers involved included David Ragan, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and all three Roush Fenway a Racing teammates Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne, who set off the chain-reaction wreck when his car broke loose.

After another quick caution for debris, Johnson took over where teammate Gordon left off, maintaining the lead with Earnhardt in tow. Gordon, though, drifted to the back of the top-10.

Finishing sixth through 10th were Ryan Newman, Sam Hornish Jr., Harvick, Hamlin and Josh Wise, respectively.