Five things we learned at Talladega

Tony Stewart snapped a 43-race winless streak at Talladega. Getty Images

Five things we learned on a sun-baked afternoon at Talladega on Sunday:

1. Jimmie Johnson was the day's biggest winner.

From the outset of the race, it looked like Johnson was in for a long day. He struggled early with an undiagnosed problem under the hood and fell a lap down. But flashing his championship form, he earned his lap back after a caution flag fell. He then stayed in the rear of the field, which was his strategy, for the next 400 miles or so.

By cruising around in the back of the pack, Johnson, the points leader heading into the race, was hoping to avoid the Big One that always erupts at Talladega. This multi-car wreck is the biggest wildcard in the Chase, because it can take out as much as half the field in the blink of an eye at 'Dega, where restrictor-plates on the cars' carburetors keep speeds down and force the drivers to run in tight, large packs.

With about 20 laps left in the race, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, the two drivers immediately behind Johnson in the standings, made their move up the field, mashing the gas. Johnson trailed behind them in their wake, but a few laps later, Edwards got overzealous and rammed into the back of his Roush Fenway teammate Biffle. That sparked the Big One. And as Edwards and Biffle lost control of their cars, Johnson, who was behind the wreck, thought his day was about to be over. "All I could see was smoke and blurs of cars in front of me," Johnson told me after the race as we walked down pit road. "I honestly have no idea how I made it through, but I did, and what could have been a terrible day for us turned into a great one."

Yes it did. Because while Edwards and Biffle wound up wrecking, Johnson finished ninth to stretch his points lead to 72 over Edwards and 77 over Biffle. Now, with six races left in the season, the title is clearly Johnson's to lose. On Saturday night the circuit stops at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, which is Johnson's best track. He's won there six times and he's a safe bet to record a top-five. "There's still a long ways to go," Johnson said, "but I like where I'm sitting right now much better than where I was before we came to Talladega." As he should.

2. Tony Stewart got lucky to snap his 43-race winless streak

In 19 career starts at Talladega, Stewart had never won. It momentarily appeared that the drought would continue on Sunday, as Regan Smith passed him on the last lap. But Stewart was awarded the victory after NASCAR officials determined that Smith had illegally gone below the yellow line that runs on the inside portion of the track to make his final pass of Stewart.

Here's what happened: Stewart, in the lead and closing in on the checkered flag, saw Smith coming hard at him in his rear-view mirror. Regan dipped to the bottom of the track and reached what appeared to be Stewart's rear-quarter panel when Stewart dropped low to block. This caused Smith to move below the yellow line. Smith then charged past Stewart to reach the finish line first.

After reviewing the videotape of the move, NASCAR officials claimed Smith wasn't forced to go below the line by Stewart. This is highly debatable. But even if you agree with NASCAR's decision, it's still clear that this rule needs to be changed. Because if Smith had been within sight of the flag stand at the finish line, then his last-lap pass would have been allowed, according to the rule book. No one wants to see a race decided by officials in the NASCAR scoring tower, so NASCAR should simplify this confusing rule and allow drivers to go wherever they want on the last lap of a race, excluding pit road. Not only would this take the race out of the hands of officials and put it in those of the drivers, but also it would create more riveting finishes by allowing drivers to find creative ways to go for the checkers.

As it stands, Stewart is now seventh in the standings and 203 points behind Johnson. But don't expect him to make much more noise this season. Four of the last six races, after all, are on 1.5-mile tracks, and Stewart has struggled all season at these venues, where 18 other drivers have scored more points than he has in the last 10 starts on intermediate tracks.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won't win his first Cup championship this season.

Little E led 19 laps on Sunday and had what appeared to be a car that was capable of winning, but instead he got caught up in the late-race Big One and finished 28th. He's 10th in the standings and 249 points behind Johnson. After he was released from the infield care center at 'Dega, Earnhardt and I spent some time chatting in the garage. Yes, he was disappointed with the outcome and he acknowledged that he won't win the title this year, but he's already looking forward to next season, when veteran Mark Martin will become his new teammate at Hendrick Motorsports.

"We're going to learn a lot from Mark and he'll really help us," Earnhardt said. "We're going to rebound and be stronger next season, trust me."

To learn more about why Earnhardt and his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. are so optimistic about Martin's impending arrival at Hendrick, check out my column in the magazine this week.

4. The economy is absolutely killing NASCAR.

The fall race at Talladega has long been one of the hardest tickets to get in NASCAR, because it's one of the marquee events of the season. 'Dega is the biggest track on the circuit and the specter of the Big One has always drawn fans from not just across the Southeast, but the entire country. Yet on Sunday, longtime observers in the media center were saying that there were more empty seats at this race than any in recent memory. Track officials don't release official attendance numbers, but most of us in the media center estimated the crowd to be around 100,000, which is about 50,000 fewer than it was just a few years ago.

A struggling economy -- coupled with high gas prices -- clearly are convincing fans to stay at home. Track officials at Daytona International Speedway recently announced that they'll be closing the backstretch stands for the Cup race next July due to lack of demand, and that may not be the last of these kinds of announcements. Until the economy turns, NASCAR's attendance woes will continue.

5. Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle need to come up big on Saturday night in Charlotte.

Edwards and Biffle have excelled recently on 1.5-mile tracks like Lowe's. Biffle recorded the fastest lap there during a recent test session that featured all of the teams, and Edwards has more top five-runs at 1.5-milers in his last 10 starts (six) than any other driver. They both know that Johnson will be fast on Saturday night, but then again, Johnson has a history of success at each of the remaining six tracks the circuit will visit between now and the end of the season.

So it'll be imperative at Lowe's for these Roush Fenway teammates to always know where Johnson is on the track and to do everything in their power to stay in front of him. If they don't, this Chase could essentially be over well before the season-finale at Homestead.