Quick takeaways from Talladega: 2 of 2016's winningest drivers now absent from the Chase

• Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. are tied for the Sprint Cup Series lead in wins. Each has four victories in 2016. Yet Keselowski and Truex aren’t among the eight drivers advancing to the third round of the Chase after their misfortune at Talladega.

Both Keselowski and Truex had engine failures Sunday. Truex’s came first. Then Keselowski’s happened after he had previously had trash on the grille of his car.

In a NASCAR that likes to tout the importance of winning, their absence from the final rounds of the Chase may seem glaring. Especially since it’s the first time in the three years of the current Chase format that a driver at least tied for the most wins in the series through 32 races has missed out on the Chase’s final two rounds.

But that’s what happens in this Chase format. With three races in a round, one bad finish can ruin your championship if you don’t get a win in the round’s other two races. Truex was 13th and 11th over the last two weeks. Another top-15 would have meant easy advancement. Instead, Truex finished 40th.

Keselowski’s busted Chase is the product of two horrible finishes. He entered Talladega outside the top eight after a spin through the infield grass at Kansas. He finished 38th there and 38th at Talladega.

Truex’s fate may seem especially cruel. He won two of the three races in the first round. But his elimination isn’t unprecedented. Joey Logano — who won Sunday — swept the second round of the Chase in 2015. He was eliminated in the third.

• Remember, Sunday was the final time that Talladega will be the last race in the second round. It’s moving to the No. 2 spot next season and Kansas will be the last race in the second round. Will the move drain drama from the second round? We’re guessing it will in the eyes of many.

But we’re fine with the change and we’re guessing many drivers and teams are as well. It’s not like the final race of a round counts any more than the second race, and watching potentially desperate teams post-Talladega go for the win at Kansas should be dramatic enough for those demanding entertainment at every turn.

• How about Brian Scott? His highest finish of the season was 12th entering Sunday’s race. He finished second.

“We knew that we were going to have to be perfect,” Scott said. “We were going to have to have no mistakes on pit road, gonna have to have a fast Ford, keep good track position all day and try to make friends throughout the race so they would work with us at the end, and our game plan was really just executed really well.”

[Related: Harvick has words and a jab for Kurt Busch]

• Perhaps Joey Logano’s tussle with the jack stuck beneath his car after an early-race pit stop needs to start the process for a new rule regarding cars who take equipment out on to the track?

The jack didn’t become dislodged from the car and Logano had to pit to get it removed. But it was easy to see how the jack could have gotten dislodged from his car and crashed into another car. Maybe any car that removes equipment from the pit box and brings it on track should be forced to remain on the apron until forced to pit to remove the equipment or serve a penalty. That would lessen the chances of the equipment damaging an innocent competitor.

• Thanks for bringing the cowboy hat back in defeat, Austin Dillon.

Dillon didn’t advance to the third round of the Chase because of a tiebreaker with Denny Hamlin.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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