The NASCAR Cup Series concluded the weekend at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon in the Jack Link’s 500. Tyler Reddick started the race on the pole, and Kyle Larson started second.
Early in the race, Tyler Reddick reported a potential power issue with his car on lap 30. He would head to pit road just before pit road opened, and had to restart in the back for the second stage. During the stage, some teams needed one pit stop, while others took two stops. Ryan Preece would go on to win the first stage over Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Josh Berry, Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland, and Ross Chastain.
On lap 116, 26 cars were involved in a crash when Ross Chastain got Bubba Wallace loose to trigger the accident. Among the drivers involved were Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Connor Zilisch.
On lap 124, Ty Gibbs crashed for the second time when his car cut a right-front tire due to damage from the previous crash. His car veered into the SAFER barrier in front of Michael McDowell, who also suffered damage from the crash. The two cautions were part of a total of six cautions throughout the race for 30 laps. Ross Chastain went on to win the second stage.
In the final stage, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got Hocevar loose, who then hit Erik Jones, causing him to spin before his car stalled for the final caution of the race. On the final lap, Carson Hocevar held off Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman to win his first career Cup Series race by 0.114 seconds. It was the first win for Spire Motorsports since Justin Haley won at Daytona in 2019.
Chase Elliott and Zane Smith rounded out the top five. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson, and Kyle Busch completed the top ten. There were 52 lead changes.
The Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway next Sunday at 3:30 pm on FS1.
