The GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday (4/21) was an “in control” race … until the end.
Typically when the NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega, everybody waits for the “Big One” to happen during the race. In fact, often there is more than just one of these multi-car crashes at Dega. However, yesterday it looked as though there could be an exception to the rule.
The only two cautions that took place through the first 133 laps of the 161-lap race was at the end of the first two stages of racing. Austin Cindric was the winner of stage one while Joey Logano was the winner of stage two.
That doesn’t mean there was not action during the race. There were 23 drivers that exchanged the lead 73 times. The first caution came when the Toyota drivers worked together for some pit strategy. They came in for what they hoped would be their final pit stop of the race first. The hope was this would give them and advantage over the rest of the field. However, aggressive drafting by the group resulted in a multi-car crash of Toyotas causing three of the six to leave the race.
It appeared late in the race that Michael McDowell would be the likely winner of the race. He had led the most laps in the race after starting from the pole position. He was in control of the race when the white flag waived. Brad Keselowski pushed Michael out to the lead heading to the tri-oval for the last time. Brad then made a move to pass for the win high. Michael moved up to block. When Brad then moved down for a pass on the low side, Michael again blocked resulting in him spinning and causing the “Big One” to happen at the literal finish line of the race.
Tyler Reddick was in fourth place as the melee began. He was able to slip through without being hit and get to the finish line first. This was Tyler’s first win in the 2024 Cup Series season, first win at Talladega in the Cup Series and his sixth career win in NASCAR’s top division.
Brad Keselowski managed to keep his car under control to claim the runner-up finish. Noah Gragson did the same to finish in third. Corey LaJoie took home a finish of 18th. Why do I point that finish out? Because he scored it sliding across the finish line on the driver’s side door before rolling over after the finish line. See the complete race results of the GEICO 500 here.
Kyle Larson held his place as the leader in the point standings leaving Talladega. Martin Truex Jr. also held steady in second. Chase Elliott moved a spot to take over third-place. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.
Up next for the Cup Series is the Würth 400 at the “Monster Mile” of Dover Motor Speedway Sunday, April 28th.
By: Buck Stevens
