What a day.... (results and updated Chase standings)

Dale Jr had the awesome day (almost). But, it wasn't his fault. Honestly, there was nowhere for him to do, so he took the hit, told the crew he was sorry and called it a day. (I think I would have too, considering there were only 14 laps left) There's next year. Junior finished 28th and has dropped to 10th in the chase standings. Like I said last week, Dale Jr is a fighter, was-is-and always will be. He'll get back up there, and heading home to Charlotte, I know he'll fight even harder. When Junebug sets his sights and/or mind on something, all Jr Nation knows he'll fight his hardest for it.

Congrats to Dale Jr's good buddy Tony Stewart on his win at Talladega. I know that although Jr would have wanted to win this race, he's happy for Tony.

As I said above, next week, the guys head home (for most of them) to Charlotte.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Jimmie Johnson	5718	Leader
2	--	Carl Edwards	5646	-72
3	--	Greg Biffle	5641	-77
4	--	Jeff Burton	5619	-99
5	+2	Clint Bowyer	5566	-152
6	-1	Kevin Harvick	5547	-171
7	+4	Tony Stewart	5515	-203
8	-2	Jeff Gordon	5486	-232
9	--	Matt Kenseth	5473	-245
10	-2	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	5469	-249
11	+1	Kyle Busch	5387	-331
12	-2	Denny Hamlin	5383	-335