Joey Logano, the driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil/Autotrader Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 29, 2018, in Talladega, Alabama. Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
NASCAR Cup Series raced at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend in Alabama. This track is the second of two superspeedways the series will race this season. Daytona International Speedway is the other. Talladega is the largest of the two at 2.66-miles around with 33 degrees of banking in the corners.
It is safe to say that the racing in Talladega is some of the wildest racing in the season. Cars race all over the track and the draft lines move and dance around each other as the racers get more aggressive when the race winds down to the end.
Kyle Busch has won three races in a row and was going for his fourth at a track where the odds were against him.
Kevin Harvick started the race on the pole as the Fords of Team Penske and Stewart Haas Racing went on to dominate all afternoon.
In Stage 1, half the field stopped for fuel while the race was under the green flag. Teams stop early for fuel because they predict the stage will consist of no cautions. This allows them to have late-stage track position when the other half of the field comes in to stop for fuel and tires. However, this strategy is most effective when the stage has no cautions.
Alex Bowman took the lead of the race when the first half of the field came in for fuel. He and the other Chevrolet drivers stayed out front until they had to come in for fuel with around ten laps left in the stage. That’s when Brad Keselowski and the other racers that stopped took over for the race lead. Keselowski was able to lead all the way to the end of the stage as he and Joey Logano took first and second place.
The second stage kicked off where the first stage ended as drivers raced with a sense of urgency to get toward the front of the field. Halfway through the stage, Erik Jones moved up the track and got into Jamie McMurray for the first wreck of the day. This wreck also collected Martin Truex Jr, Trevor Bayne, and Kyle Larson. A name that doesn’t seem to lead more often found his way to his first stage win of the year as Paul Menard in the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 car led the field to the green-white-checkered flag to end the second stage.
The last stage at Talladega is usually the longest shootout to end a race and a lot can happen to make drivers take moves that either doesn’t pay off or allows them to drive into victory lane.
One of these drivers was Kurt Busch as he side-drafted off Joey Logano early in stage three and was able to fire himself into the lead. The two draft lines turned into three lines after a few drivers tried to switch up the field. This left Kurt Busch out to dry with nobody to help him keep the lead allowing Logano and the Penske trio to push into the front of the field.
Timmy Hill brought out the yellow flag with 34 laps to go and the leaders got the green light saying that they were good on fuel until the end of the race. However, it is Talladega and nothing is a guarantee.
Another caution came out on lap 23 and this wreck was ‘the big one’ as Jimmie Johnson was loose in the corner of turn three and collected several cars along the way. Notable drivers involved were Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, and Menard. This wreck failed to shuffle up the front of the pack but it did spark a very interesting restart.
Logano, Harvick, Bowman, and Kurt Busch restarted in the first two rows. All four drivers are very strong superspeedway racers and this was the time to go. Unfortunately, Bowman did not get any help on the restart and moved toward the back. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took his position and everyone filed in behind. With two laps left Kurt Busch made a move to the outside and drivers behind him were able to push him into the second-place position. However, nobody could contend much as Logano was able to take the checkered flag for his first win of the season.
Logano was also taking home the first win of the season for the Team Penske, as their three drivers are known for racing well together. Today, they raced toward the front and helped each other stay up front.
This season, at Daytona and Talladega, the Penske team has looked the strongest and still had some of the worst luck. In Daytona, Ryan Blaney led most of the Daytona 500, but wrecked out late in the race, ruining his chance to win that race. Today in Talladega, Blaney wrecked again, but so did Brad Keselowski. Two of the three Penske Fords wrecked out after racing in the top-five or ten for most of the afternoon.
Joey Logano still had some help from another Ford team in Stewart Haas Racing. Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Logano were still able to work together and defend the rest of the field. Penske has a strong team with who they have and those drivers are still so young, so they can only get better. Logano, Keselowski, and Blaney will all be in the playoffs at the end of the season and they each will have a great chance to take home the championship.
Next week the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is heading to the ‘Monster Mile’ at Dover International Speedway. This track gives the drivers a different feel than most tracks with a surface of concrete and tight corners with steep banking. The ‘Monster Mile’ of Dover will give drivers another challenge for competing, so it will be fun to see who will come out on top.