A 27-car crash involving eight of NASCAR’s 12 playoff contenders, a chaotic cleanup that frustrated many drivers, and an unexpected winner.
Just another typical race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended a 65-race winless streak by winning in overtime at Talladega on Sunday after a late crash took out more than half the field. Stenhouse is not part of the playoffs, and his win marked the second week in a row that a driver not in the Cup Series title race took the victory.
“It’s so tough to win these races. It’s so tough to miss the wrecks,” Stenhouse said. “These races are just chaos when it comes down to the end.”
This victory was the first for Stenhouse and his JTG Daugherty Racing team since he won the season-opening Daytona 500 in 2023. He is the 18th different winner in the Cup Series this year.
“It felt really good. This team has put a lot of hard work in, obviously we haven’t won since the 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season,” Stenhouse said. “We knew that this track is one of ours to come get.”
Stenhouse’s first career win came at Talladega in 2017, and all four of his Cup Series wins have been at either Talladega or Daytona International Speedway.
Stenhouse won in a three-wide finish against Brad Keselowski and William Byron, who took third place and became the only driver secured in the third round of the playoffs.
Next Sunday, four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs at the hybrid road course/oval in Charlotte. Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, and Chase Briscoe are all below the cutline.
Cindric was leading with five laps left in regulation when Logano, two rows back, pushed Keselowski hard right into Cindric. This caused Cindric to spin, resulting in damage to 27 of the 40 cars in the race.
