Ricky Stenhouse Jr. triumphed in an intense NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, narrowly defeating Brad Keselowski and William Byron by a mere .006-second in a nail-biting, three-wide finish during the overtime session.
The dramatic conclusion epitomized the fierce competition witnessed throughout the race at NASCAR’s largest track (2.66-mile), providing a high-stakes Playoff race with major implications for the championship contenders.
With five laps remaining, a massive 27-car collision caused a red flag and halted the race for nearly 10 minutes. The incident impacted eight of the 12 Playoff drivers to varying degrees, complicating the battle for the remaining positions in the next Playoff round.
Stenhouse, a 36-year-old Mississippi native not eligible for the Playoffs, captured his fourth career victory — all at superspeedway tracks — and his first win in 65 races. Driving the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Chevrolet, Stenhouse led 19 of the 195 laps, securing the win after a tight battle with six-time Talladega winner Keselowski and this year’s Daytona 500 champion, Byron.
This victory marks the third time in the last five Playoff races that a non-Playoff driver has taken the trophy.
Video: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pulls out dramatic victory
Stenhouse expressed his satisfaction with the outcome, acknowledging the support from his Chevy teammates.
“Felt really good, we had our Chevy teammates behind us, and I was hoping Kyle [Busch] wouldn’t push the six [Keselowski] that hard. I knew the 24 was going to try to get to the line,” said Stenhouse. “It’s been an up-and-down season. We’ve put in a lot of hard work trying to find speed, but we knew this track was one of our best opportunities.”
The decisive crash occurred when Austin Cindric’s leading No. 2 Ford was hit from behind by Keselowski’s No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford on the backstretch, triggering a chain reaction from three rows behind. Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Ford struck Joey Logano’s No. 22 Ford, which then pushed Keselowski into Cindric, causing a massive pile-up that collected 27 cars.
The aftermath saw several Playoff drivers sidelined, including Cindric, who finished 32nd, Logano (33rd), and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe (30th).
“Obviously incredibly frustrated. Just really proud of my team and the full execution of the day. We got that stage win [second stage] and put ourselves at the front of that green flag pit cycle,” Cindric said. “I don’t feel like complaining right now, I’m too pissed off and it won’t do anything. But proud of the team. We’ve brought really fast race cars to every Playoff race, and we’re going to have to bring another one next week.”
Logano echoed similar sentiments, stating that there was little he could do to avoid the accident. “We had the bottom working fairly well. By the time we got off [turn] two, the push from the 21 [Burton] that transferred to the six [Keselowski] and then to the 2 [Cindric] happened at a bad angle, and off he went.”
Other Playoff Drivers’ Finishes
- Chase Elliott: Finished 29th after repairs following the collision.
- Tyler Reddick: Recovered to finish 20th despite involvement in the wreck.
- Alex Bowman: Finished 16th after being involved in two separate accidents.
- Ryan Blaney: Was eliminated mid-race in the day’s first multiple-car accident, finishing 39th.
Top 10 Finishers and Playoff Standings Update
- Kyle Larson: Finished 4th, tying his best Talladega performance.
- Erik Jones: Claimed 5th as a non-Playoff competitor.
- Christopher Bell: Finished 6th, leading the Playoff standings with a 57-point advantage over the cutoff line.
With Byron’s finish, he is the first Playoff driver to secure a spot in the next round. The remaining positions are held by Bell, Larson, Hamlin, Bowman, Blaney, Reddick, and Elliott. Elliott currently holds a 13-point advantage over Logano heading into next week’s Playoff race.
Looking Ahead: The Bank of America ROVAL 400
The final race of this Playoff round, the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, will take place next Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Defending race winner A.J. Allmendinger is expected to be a strong contender.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – YellaWood 500
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama
Sunday, October 6, 2024
- (32) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 195.
- (13) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 195.
- (16) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 195.
- (12) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 195.
- (30) Erik Jones, Toyota, 195.
- (21) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 195.
- (35) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 195.
- (7) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 195.
- (26) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 195.
- (8) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 195.
- (24) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 195.
- (34) Cody Ware, Ford, 195.
- (15) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 195.
- (37) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 195.
- (17) Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 195.
- (23) Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 195.
- (20) Chris Buescher, Ford, 195.
- (28) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 195.
- (4) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 195.
- (14) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 195.
- (39) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 195.
- (38) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 195.
- (3) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 194.
- (33) Anthony Alfredo(i), Chevrolet, 194.
- (22) Noah Gragson, Ford, 194.
- (31) Daniel Suarez (P), Chevrolet, 194.
- (40) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 193.
- (25) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 193.
- (11) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 190.
- (36) Chase Briscoe (P), Ford, 189.
- (29) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 188.
- (2) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, Accident, 183.
- (6) Joey Logano (P), Ford, Accident, 183.
- (9) Harrison Burton, Ford, Accident, 183.
- (18) Ryan Preece, Ford, Accident, 183.
- (19) Josh Berry #, Ford, Accident, 183.
- (1) Michael McDowell, Ford, Accident, 183.
- (10) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, Accident, 183.
- (5) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, Accident, 124.
- (27) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 120.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 150.773 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 26 Mins, 25 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.006 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 24 laps.
Lead Changes: 66 among 24 drivers.
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