When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its second trip to the high banks of Talladega in November, all the attention will be focused on the Chase and how much of a wild card Talladega will be for those in the top-12 in points. Last year’s race saw Carl Edwards take out half the field and a number of Chase contenders, ruining the chances of a championship for many of those teams in the top-12.

Looking at the number of spots in the standings that were shuffled following Sunday’s Aaron’s 499, those drivers in the Chase at the end of the year definitely have something to worry about.

Nearly every driver currently inside the top-12 in points was involved in an incident on Sunday in one form or another. Going into the day the points leader, Jeff Gordon helped trigger the 14-car crash on Lap 7.

“The car is destroyed,” Gordon said as his crew worked on the No. 24. “That is Talladega. I don't know if we are going to be able to fix that. I know these guys are going to work real hard to try and get it back out there and get some points. Just unfortunate.”

Out of contention and in the garage, Gordon dropped out of the points lead, but by the end of the day was able to remain only five points out of first.

Kurt Busch took over the top-spot in the standings and was somehow able to avoid trouble all day. Receiving minimal damage in the early incident, Busch kept his nose clean for the remainder of the event and played it safe to come home sixth.

Also involved in the Lap7 pile up were Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick. All contenders for the top-12 going into the day each suffered a major setback once the smoke cleared from the wreck. Bowyer dropped two spots to eighth, while Kahne fell four spots and outside the top-12 to fourteenth. Martin lost much of the ground he gained with his win in Phoenix by falling five spots to eighteenth, and Harvick slipped four spots to twentieth.

Jimmie Johnson appeared poised to take command of the points lead leaving Talladega; however a late race incident sent the No. 48 Kobalt Chevrolet into the inside wall and out of contention. Instead of moving up and into the lead, Johnson fell back to third in the standings, sixty-four marks out of first.

On a day when only three drivers in the top-30 in the series standings did not change position, there were a number of guys that gained significant ground on the competition. Greg Biffle used a seventh-place finish – after narrowly missing the wreckage of the No. 99 on the last lap – to jump four spots. The driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion moved into the top-12 in points to occupy the tenth-spot.

Despite finishing the race with a torn up race car sliding hard against the wall, Ryan Newman was also able to move four spot in the standings. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver is currently thirteenth in points, just behind Matt Kenseth in twelfth.

Finally seeing some positive results, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to survive the shuffle and score the runner-up position. After weeks of struggles and media scrutiny, Junior was able to show his strength and as a result moved up four spots to fifteenth.

The biggest mover of the afternoon, however, came in the form of Australian driver Marcos Ambrose. Making his first career start at the Talladega Superspeedway, Ambrose was able to avoid trouble and stay in contention the entire afternoon to come home fourth. The driver of the No. 47 Toyota Camry hopped seven spots in the standings to nineteenth.

“That was a wild finish,” Ambrose said following his top-5 run. “I just hope everyone is alright. It was the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen in my life coming across the finish line looking at a car upside down like that. This is crazy racing, it really is. We can try and legitimize as much as we’d like but it’s insanity on four wheels.”

With so much movement taking place in the points this weekend at Talladega, those in this year’s Chase will need to be especially careful in staying out of trouble when the series returns in November. Now later in the ten-race Chase, teams that do find trouble – like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer and David Reutimann did on Sunday – will have only three races to make up for the points lost. Known as the ‘Wild Card’ of the Chase, this year’s Fall race may have more of an impact on the championship than ever before.

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