The NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at Talladega Superspeedway was a wild one, even by Dega standards. In the end it was Brad Keselowski that crossed the finish line to win the GEICO 500.

When the green flag waived to start the race, drivers knew they had to go hard now with the threat of rain in the area. That kept the field in a group racing side-by-side two, three and even four wide at times. The goal was to be out front at the half-way point of the race in case rain did force the shortening of the race.

That sense of urgency made for an exciting race for the fans to watch. No one car really dominated out front. The lead of the race was exchanged 37 times among 17 different drivers. Brad Keselowski claimed most laps led during the race with a total of 46. To elaborate on my point, the next two drivers in laps led were Matt Kenseth who had 39 laps out front with rookie Chase Elliot spending 27 laps leading the field around the track.

With the aggressive driving every lap, not only were there a lot of lead changes, there was also plenty of cars falling victim to mishaps. There was a total of 10 caution periods that left the majority of the cars racing in the GEICO 500 with at least some damage by the end of the race. Some drivers had severe damage like Dale Earnhardt Jr. who caused the first caution period to come out when his car snapped loose and sent him to the garage for repairs. A couple of drivers got more of a thrilling ride than they wanted when their cars actually flipped on the track.

On the final re-start of the race Brad Keselowski was able to jump out to the lead with just a few laps remaining. Brad held on to that lead for the final laps to capture the win as the field wrecked behind him coming to the finish line. Kyle Busch took home the second place finish with Austin Dillon claiming third place. Jamie McMurray ended the race in fourth and Chase Elliot who started on the pole rounded out the top five in the finishing order. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup race results for the GEICO 500 here.

Following the race Sunday (5/1) at Talladega, Kevin Harvick moves up a spot to take over the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings lead. Defending Sprint Cup Champion Kyle Busch moves up two places to second while Carl Edwards falls two spots to third place. Jimmie Johnson slips a spot to fourth with Joey Logano holding steady at number five in the point standings. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings after the GEICO 500 here.

Brad Keselowski becomes the fourth driver to score multiple wins for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season with his win at Talladega, but keeps the total number of drivers with at least a single win at six. That holds the number of drivers that are all but guaranteed a spot in The Chase at six as well. See the Chase Grid as it stands now here.

The drivers and teams head to Kansas Speedway next for the GoBowling 400 under the lights Saturday night, May 7th.

By: Buck Stevens