Jeff Gordon used an unprecedented chairman's selection to get into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship 48 hours before the opening race.
Now Gordon is trying his hardest to parlay that exemption from NASCAR chairman Brian France into a fifth title.
Everyone expects the big one to happen at Talladega Superspeedway.
For some reason, it never occurred Sunday.
Oh sure, there was a wreck on the final lap, which allowed Jamie McMurray to coast to the victory under caution.
Brad Keselowski snapped a 37-race winless streak Saturday night by chasing down Kasey Kahne in the closing laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Keselowski became the first non-Chase driver to win a Chase race since Kahne at Phoenix in 2011.
Jeff Gordon is feeling rejuvenated as the NASCAR Sprint Cup season winds down.
Gordon carried over a strong performance in Kansas last weekend to Thursday night by winning the pole for the race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Kevin Harvick didn't simply have his hands full with the rest of the Sprint Cup field Sunday. He also was trying to tame a squirrely surface at Kansas Speedway.
He handled both better than anybody else.
Matt Kenseth is proving to be unbeatable at Kansas Speedway.
The winner of the last two Sprint Cup races at the track, Kenseth got into his Nationwide car and drove it to victory Saturday, taking advantage of a controversial late-race wreck that involved Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch to conserve enough fuel for the end.