By Jared Turner With one race left to determine the field for the Round of 8, Kyle Busch is ranked ninth out of 12 remaining title contenders. So, will he advance? The good news for Busch is that he’s just seven points from the cutoff spot for the next round, despite his involvement in a multi-car pileup last weekend at Talladega. Busch also continues to have one of the fastest cars week in and week out. The bad news for Busch is that he’s on the outside of the transfer group looking in. It also doesn’t help the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR…

By Jared Turner Two of the hardest impacted victims of Talladega’s multiple “Big Ones” on Sunday were playoff drivers Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who were involved in separate accidents that almost certainly will prove equally costly to each driver’s championship hopes. McMurray heads to Kansas ranked last among the 12 remaining playoff drivers, and in all probability will need to win to advance to the Round of 8. Stenhouse, meanwhile, is 11th and seven points ahead of McMurray but likewise will probably need a win to move on. Considering that Talladega represented a much better opportunity than Kansas for both…

By Jared Turner Dale Earnhardt Jr. is beloved at Talladega Superspeedway like nowhere else on the NASCAR schedule. The adulation for the third-generation driver was on full display over the weekend when the track presented him with what will perhaps go down as his favorite retirement gift — a restored version of the original No. 2 Wrangler car that his late, legendary father drove in his rookie season of 1979. Clearly touched by Talladega officials’ kind gesture, Earnhardt took his dad’s old ride for a spin around the 2.66-mile track where on Sunday he raced for the final time. “I really do…