The NASCAR Cup Series visited Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon in the YellaWood 500. Chase Briscoe started the race on the pole, with Austin Hill starting second.
In the first stage, Austin Hill led the opening six laps. On lap 56, Christopher Bell was leading the race when he lost control and spun toward the inside wall and slammed it. The right-front and right-rear corners suffered damage. Bell’s day got worse with a suspension issue that put him out of the race. He finished in 35th place. Chris Buescher took the lead on lap 57. He led 43 laps to win the first stage.
In the second stage, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney were leading when the two became disjointed. Blaney went right toward the SAFER barrier. Blaney’s car lost momentum, and Bubba Wallace got shoved in the outside lane, triggering a 12-car pileup down the backstretch. Some of the drivers who were involved were Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, John Hunter Nemechek, Ross Chastain, and Ty Gibbs. Joey Logano went on to win the second stage.
In the final stage, the “Big One” happened on lap 183 when Joey Logano spun from the outside lane into the outside wall at the exit of the tri-oval. Chase Briscoe clipped him, which started a 15-car wreck. Logano’s car went airborne before landing on its roof and skidding to a complete stop. Riley Herbst, Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, and Shane van Gisbergen were among the drivers involved in the crash. The race went to overtime.
In overtime, Kyle Larson was leading the race on the final lap. Austin Hill was behind him and made a move for the lead. Larson fell back to 11th. Then, like a magician, Larson maneuvered his way past everyone at the tri-oval to win his third race of the season by 0.041 seconds over William Byron. Larson led 23 of 188 laps, and now has a 74-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the championship standings with two races remaining.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, and Cole Custer rounded out the top five. Carson Hocevar, Todd Gilliland, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, and Michael McDowell completed the top ten. Click here to view the full results.
The Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway next Sunday at 2 pm on NBC.
