On the final overtime restart at Talladega Superspeedway, Hendrick Motorsports controlled both lanes with William Byron and Kyle Larson. On the final lap, they ended up leading the bottom together, with Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe to their outside.
Suddenly, Larson ran out of fuel and the outside line surged ahead, opening the door for Briscoe to cut under Wallace and snatch the lead away. His teammate Ty Gibbs was now directly behind him, pushing Briscoe ahead.
As the field approached the finish line, Byron got spun from inside the top five, losing roughly 20 spots. Briscoe captured the checkered flag as the field fanned out three-wide behind him, with Todd Gilliland taking second place.
Ty Gibbs finished third, Bubba Wallace fourth, and Cole Custer fifth. Carson Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Zane Smith, and Brad Keselowski filled out the remainder of the top ten.
“Ty Gibbs, incredible teammate there,” said Briscoe. “I mean, I honestly would not have won that race without Ty. An amazing team effort. I can’t believe I won a superspeedway race. I haven’t done it at any level.
“Thank you guys so much. Every time we come to Talladega, this place is sold out. Johnny Morris is here from Bass Pro Shops. It’s not hit me. We’re going to Phoenix.”
Stage 1
While fuel-saving was a driving factor behind it, the field quickly fanned out three and four-wide with some intense movement throughout the field.
At the end of Lap 43, the first round of green-flag pit stops began. There were no incidents, but Hamlin did have a close call as he tried to get down into the pits.
However, there were several drivers who made mistakes as Chastain, Busch, Briscoe, and McLeod were all caught speeding. Keselowski also slid through his pit box and had to backup. Soon after, Hocevar had to return to pit road with a cut tire.
With just a few laps left in Stage 1, a major crash unfolded at the front of the field. A bad bump from Erik Jones turned Noah Gragson into the door of race leader AJ Allmendinger, ultimately collecting seven cars. Among those eliminated from the race was Round of 8 playoff driver Chase Elliott, who will score just one point and faces a must-win situation at Martinsville.
The opening stage ended in a two-lap dash with two Monster cars battling for the stage win. At the line, Gibbs narrowly bested Reddick, followed by Nemechek, Blaney, and Wallace. The only playoff drivers to score Stage 1 points beyond Blaney was Logano in sixth and Bell in tenth.
Stage 2
There was a close call early in the second stage as Alfredo tried to cut from the top all the way to the bottom, but he was not clear. McDowell, who was battling Alfredo for the race lead, actually took evasive action and drove beneath the double yellow line mid-corner to avoid a collision.
During the next round of green-flag pit stops, Van Gisbergen hit a patch of water leaking out from cracks in the track (after heavy overnight showers) and spun. He was very close to taking out several cars, but disaster was avoided as the car spun into the grass without damage. The car got stuck in the mud, which forced a caution in the middle of pit stops.
There were some more penalties during this cycle as well, including speeding penalties for Suarez and Buescher. Wallace and T. Dillon also got hit with safety violations. Dillon actually struck a tire and angered Wood Brothers Racing crew members, who slapped his car as he drove off.
Briscoe claimed the Stage 2 win, followed by Larson, Hocevar, Byron, and Bell. Blaney in eighth was the only other playoff driver to score stage points in Stage 2.
Stage 3
Berry actually went behind the wall to replace the rear gear oil, returning to the race several laps down. Eventually, he went back behind the wall and his day was over. Logano was worried about a similar issue.
Hocevar lost all of his track position due to a speeding penalty during the stage break.
The race went back green for the final stage on Lap 127 of 188.
With 23 laps to go, the Penske duo of Logano and Blaney were in command when Cody Ware’s engine blew. He spun in his own oil, bringing out a caution just before the final round of green-flag pit stops.
Hamlin, who was running inside the top five, lost all of his track position during the caution as the team worked on a throttle issue. A run-in on pit road between Byron and Wallace cost Byron a little bit of time, as the Penske cars remained out front.
The race went back green with 17 laps to go and the racing was intense throughout the pack. The Penske cars were shuffled back through the field, and various different drivers took turns out front.
With two laps to go, Chris Buescher got turned from the race lead and slammed the inside wall, pushing the race into overtime. A small group of drivers took the opportunity to pit for more fuel, including the Penske drivers.
Byron and Larson led both lanes for the restart, but that’s when it all came apart with the No. 5 out of fuel and the No. 24 getting spun. As Briscoe won the race, Byron finished 25th and Larson 26th, putting them against each other on the cutline for next weekend’s elimination race.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
