Ricky Stenhouse Jr wins an intense NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday in the YellaWood 500.
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off the field in overtime to claim the victory. It was a dramatic NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. In a thrilling three-wide finish Stenhouse edged Brad Keselowski and William Byron by a mere 0.006 seconds.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr Wins an Intense NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Race at Talladega
That heart-stopping finish indicates the intensity during the afternoon of the competition. At NASCAR’s biggest track (2.66-mile) the race once again lived up to its reputation with a thrilling Playoff race. And, there are major implications for the championship contenders.
A massive 27-car accident brought out a red flag. With five laps remaining, the race was stopped for nearly ten minutes. The incident affected eight of the 12 Playoff cars in varying degrees. There is only one more race in this round. Only eight drivers will advance to the next round of championship competition.
Stenhouse, the 36-year-old Mississippi native is not Playoff-eligible. But he hoisted his fourth career trophy – all coming at superspeedway tracks – and first in 65 races. His No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Chevrolet led 19 of the 195 laps. After a side-to-battle with six-time Talladega winner Keselowski and this year’s Daytona 500 winner Byron, it was Stenhouse in the lead on the last lap.
This marks the third time in the five Playoff races that a non-Playoff driver has hoisted the race trophy.
“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, who scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega in 2017.
“Man, this team has put a lot of hard work in and obviously, we haven’t won since the Daytona 500 in ’23. It’s been an up and down season, a lot of hard work this season trying to find a little bit of speed but we knew this track is one of ours to come get it.’’
The Big One Takes Out Team Penske Contenders
The finish was set up after the vast incident that took out several front-running cars. All but four Playoff drivers were affected. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric needs a victory to earn an automatic berth in the next Playoff round. Cindric had exchanged the top spot multiple times with Stenhouse in the closing 20 laps.
With five laps remaining, Cindric’s leading No. 2 Ford was hit from behind on the backstretch by Keselowski’s No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford. That encounter triggered an accordion-style accident from three rows behind the leader. Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Ford struck Joey Logano’s No. 22 Ford then pushed Keselowski’s car forward and into Cindric.
The aftermath collected 27 cars. The big one completely sidelined Playoff drivers Cindric credited with a 32nd-place finish, his Penske teammate Logano (33rd), and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe (30th).
“Obviously, incredibly frustrated,’’ Cindric said. “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 and had another shot [to win].
“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 single race of the Playoffs and we’re going to have to bring another one next week and I need to go out and do my job.’’
His Penske teammate Logano, who was similarly frustrated, said there was nothing he could have done to avoid the accident.
“I don’t think we could have done anything much different,’’ the two-time series champion Logano said. “We had the bottom working fairly well and by the time we got off [turn] two, the push from the 21 [Burton] that transferred to the six (Keselowski) that transferred to the 2 [Cindric] just at a bad angle. And off he went.’’
Reigning series champion Ryan Blaney ran among the leaders and scored points in both stages. Like his Team Penske mates, he was eliminated from competition mid-race in the day’s first multiple-car accident, leaving him 39th of the 40 starters.
Additional Playoff Contenders Challenged by the Big One
Other Playoff drivers affected in the accident include perennial Talladega race favorite Chase Elliott, who finished 29th after pitting for repairs following the accident.
Regular season champion Tyler Reddick was also in the accident and rallied to finish 20th. Alex Bowman, who was involved in two accidents on the day, finished 16th.
The YellaWood 500 Results
On the upside, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson finished fourth tying his best-ever Talladega finish. It is only his second top-five at Talladega in 20 races. Non-playoff driver Erik Jones was fifth.
Another Playoff competitor, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was sixth. Following behind were Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Bell’s fellow Playoff driver and JGR teammate Denny Hamlin in tenth.
The NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings
With Byron’s finish, he becomes the first and only Playoff driver to secure a position in the next eight-race round. Bell is next in the standings. He holds a 57-point advantage on the Playoff cutoff line, followed by Larson, Hamlin, Bowman, Blaney, Reddick, and Elliott.
Elliott is 13 points ahead of Logano going to next week’s road course race at the Charlotte ROVAL. It is the final race of this Playoff round which will set the next eight-driver round. Daniel Suarez rallied to a 26th-place finish despite spending most of the race recovering from a pre-race penalty for equipment violations. He is now 20 points behind Elliott for that final transfer position.
Cindric and Briscoe are 29 and 32 points back, respectively. They essentially need a victory at Charlotte.
Up Next
The final race of this Playoff round is next Sunday. The Bank of America ROVAL400 is at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. The race starts at 2 p.m. ET with coverage on NBC, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. A.J. Allmendinger is the defending race winner.