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| Team Penske |
Brad Keselowski has won the “Geico” 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, scoring his 35th win in the NASCAR Cup Series, and his 6th at this track.
Per usual, today’s race at Talladega Superspeedway was action packed, and extremely unpredictable. This race, like many before it, saw small teams get to the front of the pack and at times even lead the race. One instance of this would be Erik Jones in the No. 43, who had a great run all day (after starting the race 22nd). Jones worked his way up to the front and was even able to lead a few laps. Unfortunately, Jones fell back several places, but was making a strong run to the front on the final lap when he got together with Kaz Grala, and spun out. Erik Jones finished 27th. Another driver from a smaller team who had a really decent run was Ryan Preece. Preece, like Jones, was able to lead the field around Talladega, and in his case on two separate occasions. Ryan Preece and the No. 37 car was eventually blocked by the No. 42 car, as Ross Chastain attempted to stay on the lead lap. Preece lost the lead to William Byron, and went on to finish 14th overall.
To go along with these small teams leading (and performing well), many of the large teams had trouble today. One instance of this would be Hendrick Motorsports. Hendrick Motorsports had multiple cars DNF today, that being the No. 48 and the No. 5. In Kyle Larson’s situation, unfortunately on only lap 1 he blew his engine due to a radiator cover that was mistakingly my left on the cars radiator. Another Hendrick Motorsports driver who had an upsetting ending at Talladega was Alex Bowman, in the No. 48 Chevrolet. Bowman was having a decent day until at the end of stage 2 he was involved in a wreck with Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and teammates William Byron, and Chase Elliott. The No. 48 car sustained a significant amount of damage, too much to repair in the allotted time frame. For that reason, Bowman did not complete this race, and was handed a 38th place finish.
Likely one of the most significant incidents that occurred during this race, took place on the final lap of stage 1. On the back stretch, Denny Hamlin had Ricky Stenhouse behind him, with their bumpers locked. When Hamlin decided to go to the lower lane, this contact caused him to get sideways, spinning Joey Logano in front of him. Joey Logano in the No. 22 barrel rolled through the field, landing on top of the No. 23 of Bubba Wallace, before finally managing to stop his mangled car in the grass. This incident was unimaginable, and drew the attention of many race fans.
Overall this race was fairly decent, full of action and excitement. Talladega may have ended poorly for some drivers and teams, but it definitely allowed an opportunity for small teams and drivers to shine!
During this race Matt DiBenedetto won stage 1, Bubba Wallace won stage 2, and of course Brad Keselowski won stage 3.
The following are the complete race results:
1. Brad Keselowski- No. 2
2. William Byron- No. 24
3. Michael McDowell- No. 34
4. Kevin Harvick- No. 4
5. Kaz Grala- No. 16
6. Matt DiBenedetto- No. 21
7. Tyler Reddick- No. 8
8. Austin Dillon- No. 3
9. Ryan Blaney- No. 12
10. Cole Custer- No. 41
11. Chase Briscoe- No. 14
12. Anthony Alfredo- No. 38
13. Ryan Newman- No. 6
14. Ryan Preece- No. 37
15. Aric Almirola- No. 10
16. Ross Chastain- No. 42
17. Christopher Bell- No. 20
18. Kyle Busch- No. 18
19. Bubba Wallace- No. 23
20. Harrison Burton- No. 96
21. Chris Buescher- No. 17
22. Corey LaJoie- No. 7
23. Daniel Suárez- No. 99
24. Chase Elliott- No. 9
25. BJ McLeod- No. 78
26. JJ Yeley- No. 15
27. Erik Jones- No. 43 - DNF
28. Cody Ware- No. 51
29. Timmy Hill- No. 66
30. Justin Haley- No. 77
31. Martin Truex Jr.- No. 19
32. Denny Hamlin- No. 11
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.- No. 47
34. Joey Gase- No. 28
35. Kurt Busch- No. 1
36. Josh Bilicki- No. 52
37. Quin Houff- No. 00 - DNF
38. Alex Bowman- No 48 - DNF
39. Joey Logano- No. 22 - DNF
40. Kyle Larson- No. 5 - DNF
Breaking down the finish: pic.twitter.com/0ggvHCha2C
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 25, 2021
End of Stage 1: Chaospic.twitter.com/7E9vCyqCZD
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 25, 2021
End of Stage 2: Chaospic.twitter.com/bKeOvZakl0
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 25, 2021
Kyle Larson is done for the day at Talladega after an engine issue.
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 25, 2021
Here's what happened: pic.twitter.com/nlZ2QAL1QA
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