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TALLADEGA, Ala. — It was the thrilling finish fans crave, teammates bouncing off each other coming to the finish line, but even that couldn't mask the unsavory feelings restrictor-plate racing elicits where the 11th-place finisher was nearly as happy as the winner, and a former champion claimed he was the victim of team orders.

Restrictor-plate racing has always been messy — and to some fans artificial. With the current style of racing where two cars partner in a draft, it has raised questions about what is truly racing.

Clint Bowyer had no problem with the two-car draft Sunday, passing teammate Jeff Burton on the final lap to win and give Richard Childress Racing its 100th Cup win, a victory that comes 28 years after Ricky Rudd sent Childress to victory lane for the first time as a car owner.

While Bowyer celebrated, Carl Edwards beamed on pit road. He ran in the back of the pack for much of the race to avoid wrecks and emerged with a 14-point lead on teammate Matt Kenseth heading into this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway.

And Jeff Gordon was troubled by a deal he thought he had with Trevor Bayne to be his drafting partner on the final restart only to have Bayne work with another Ford, leading Gordon to question Bayne's motives.

Is this what NASCAR Sprint Cup racing is about?

On this day it was.

The future? That's another thing.

After the race, Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president of racing operations, wrote on Twitter: "Know we have work to do on Superspeedway (racing) and we'll certainly stay after it."

It was Ryan Newman last year who questioned whether restrictor-plate events should be points races. Some say he has a point.

"If they want to have these races for the fans, just let us come here and do this but don't let it affect our championship because it's not racing," Newman said after he was involved in a multi-car crash late in the April 2010 race at this track.

This type of racing is more about survival. That's what Edwards did by hanging back and what Kevin Harvick didn't do by running toward the front. Harvick, who entered the race second in the points standings, was collected in a six-car crash. He finished 32nd and heads to Martinsville fifth in the season standings, 26 points behind Edwards.

"He was doing what we all talked about doing, running up front," Childress said. "It just happened he got hung up in it. It may have cost us the championship. We may have been able to ride in the back and wait it out, but that wasn't what Kevin wanted to do. That just isn't what we wanted to do."

Nobody wanted to do it but many did, including Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, among others.

"It's just really boring sitting back there," Earnhardt said. "We were around at the end of the race, so I don't disagree with the strategy. But if the racing weren't like it is, we'd feel more comfortable all getting up there racing."

Said Edwards: "Today was all about restraint. You couldn't be in the wrecks. I know the fans maybe don't want to see that first three-quarters of the race, trust me, the last lap makes up for it from my position. It's so insane, I can't describe it. It's crazy."

The backroom deal-making also is intensifying. Gordon said he was set to have Bayne as a drafting partner on the final restart even though Gordon drives a Chevrolet and Bayne a Ford. Earlier this weekend, Tony Stewart said he wouldn't be able to draft with David Gilliland, whom he had in previous restrictor-plate races, because Ford cars were not going to work with any other brand.

Gordon was aware of that and was surprised when he said Bayne agreed to help. When the green flew, though, Bayne got a push from teammate Matt Kenseth and Gordon was abandoned. He lost about 20 spots in the final two laps and finished 27th.

Asked if he was a victim of team or manufacturer orders, Gordon said: "That's what it sounds to me like.

"I think everybody knew coming into the weekend the Fords made it very clear about what they were doing in working with one another and helping one another out and all those things. So I didn't expect him to commit to me on the radio. When he said, "Yeah, I'm pushing you, we're good,' I believed him. But I think they had a different plan."

Bayne, who talked to Gordon after the race, wrote on Twitter: "I would have rather pulled over and finished last than tell (Gordon) I would work with him and then be strong-armed into bailing."

With about four months until the next restrictor-plate race, next year's Daytona 500, NASCAR has a lot of questions to answer.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com