Company man

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished seventh, also had a close look at the action between Johnson and Keselowski and was duly impressed.

Earnhardt is Johnson’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. It was also Earnhardt who gave Keselowski his first real break in NASCAR when he hired Keselowski to drive a Nationwide Series car for JR Motorsports.

Earnhardt’s loyalties weren’t divided, however, as he watched the action unfold.

“That was pretty crazy,” Earnhardt said. “I was thinking I might have a shot to win if they kept on going like that… but I was glad to see Jimmie take it at the end. What a battle this championship is. 

“Brad is putting up an awesome fight. He hadn’t really run good here. His stats were terrible for this place, and they came in and they did their work. They have been real impressive. But I’m a company man, so I’m glad HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) is on top tonight.”