In the closing laps of Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney often worked together to remain at the front of the field.
However, entering the final lap of the high-speed chess game, Harvick was on the inside line being pushed by William Byron, while Blaney was on the outside being shoved by Riley Herbst. Exiting turn two, Harvick was far enough ahead of the field to where he could block the outside lane as they charged down the backstretch.
However, when Harvick pulled up to block Blaney, there was just enough room for Blaney to shoot to the inside between Harvick’s Ford and Byron’s Chevrolet that was still in the inside lane. Byron then became Blaney’s pusher and Herbst started shoving Harvick.
“I thought I was in a really good spot headed down the back straightaway with everything that was happening because I knew I could get off the trioval with Riley right on my bumper. I was still gonna be OK,” Harvick says.
However, as they exited the trioval, Corey LaJoie caught the corner of Herbst, spinning him to the inside and removing the drafting assistance Harvick needed to push him past Blaney at the finish line.
“We were all alone with two of them below me,” Harvick says. “I tried to put a donut on his door and slow him down just a little bit, but … we came up a little short.”
Blaney’s second victory this season advances him into the playoffs’ Round of 8.
Pit Road Fire and Wall Repair
Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was halted 9 minutes, 57 seconds while track officials repaired the SAFER barrier in the 2.66-mile speedway’s trioval.
The damage occurred on lap 162 of the 188-lap race, when Brad Keselowski’s push of Carson Hocevar in the trioval turned Hocevar’s Chevrolet into the inside line. He then hit Austin Dillon and Ty Gibbs, turning both of their cars and sending them slamming into the outside wall. Also involved in the accident were Chase Briscoe, A.J. Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, and Harrison Burton.
“It was just one of those Talladega pushing and shoving deals,” Keselowski says. “I just gave a really light push to the (No.) 42 (Hocevar) car and it turned around on him.”
Keselowski, who led twice for five laps, had gotten shuffled back and was trying to regain a position at the front of the pack when the wreck occurred.
“I guess anytime you spin somebody out you pushed him too hard, but you just don’t know until you push somebody how good their car is gonna be, compared to everybody else I was pushing.”
Dillon said Hocevar’s Chevrolet “was squirrelly without anybody pushing him.”
“His car didn’t seem set up very well and he was late moving around,” Dillon says. “I had noticed that and got out of the middle to get away from him, so I don’t really understand the No. 6 car (Keselowski) pushing him.”
Earlier in the race, when Gibbs left his pit the team’s gas can went with him. When it came loose and slammed onto pit road, the gas can and the fuel that spilled burst into flames as other cars were finishing their stops. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, and no one was injured.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47) played an unexpected role in the outcome at Talladega.
Stenhouse Runs Out of Gas, Adversely Affects Chastain
When Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Chevrolet ran out of fuel on lap 60 of the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his car slowed drastically.
Kyle Busch was immediately behind him, but Ross Chastain, who was on the inside of them, had no idea what had occurred. He jumped to the outside of the middle lane in an effort to move forward on the final lap of Stage 1. Stenhouse’s fuel starved car caused a Busch-Chastain collision that sent Chastain into the wall. He was then hit by Christopher Bell.
“I just saw someone slow and tagging the fence, and, obviously, with them being that much slower, I should have just stayed in behind him,” Chastain says. “Four-wide wasn’t the right call. I saw a hole and just tried to slide through there. I wish I wouldn’t have.”
Chastain finished last in the 38-car field.
Kyle Busch is selling his truck team, but still plans on racing in the series.
Kyle Busch Will Continue to Compete in Truck Series
Kyle Busch says he will continue to compete in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series as a driver for Spire Motorsports, which purchased his truck operation last week. He also says Kyle Busch Motorsports remains active, but it’s now on his son’s uniform and entries rather than being on a NASCAR operation.
Spire Motorsports is moving into the building that housed Busch’s truck team in Mooresville, North Carolina. Busch also says his employees have a job either with Spire’s Cup or Truck teams if they want it.
With the acquisition of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ truck operation and its recently announced alliance with Trackhouse Racing, Spire is fielding three NASCAR Cup and three Truck teams in 2024.
Results
NASCAR Cup Series Race – YellaWood 500
Talladega Superspeedway
1. (10) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 188.
2. (11) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 188.
3. (8) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 188.
4. (12) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 188.
5. (36) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 188.
6. (7) Austin Cindric, Ford, 188.
7. (30) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 188.
8. (23) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 188.
9. (19) Ryan Preece, Ford, 188.
10. (6) Riley Herbst(i), Ford, 188.
11. (28) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 188.
12. (34) Chandler Smith(i), Chevrolet, 188.
13. (17) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 188.
14. (3) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 188.
15. (15) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 188.
16. (4) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 188.
17. (13) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 188.
18. (1) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188.
19. (16) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 188.
20. (24) Chris Buescher (P), Ford, 188.
21. (31) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 188.
22. (18) Michael McDowell, Ford, 188.
23. (35) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 188.
24. (9) Bubba Wallace (P), Toyota, 188.
25. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 188.
26. (25) Kyle Busch (P), Chevrolet, 188.
27. (26) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 188.
28. (33) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 188.
29. (20) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188.
30. (37) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 187.
31. (29) Brennan Poole(i), Ford, 186.
32. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford, Suspension, 175.
33. (5) Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, Accident, 161.
34. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 161.
35. (22) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, Accident, 161.
36. (38) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 161.
37. (27) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, Fuel Pump, 83.
38. (32) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 59.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 160.097 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 7 Mins, 25 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.012 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 19 laps.
Lead Changes: 70 among 24 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Logano 1-5;A. Almirola 6;J. Logano 7-18;W. Byron (P) 19;J. Logano 20-22;R. Preece 23-30;R. Stenhouse Jr. 31-38;T. Dillon 39-40;C. Bell (P) 41-42;A. Cindric 43-48;R. Stenhouse Jr. 49-50;A. Cindric 51;R. Stenhouse Jr. 52-53;A. Cindric 54-55;R. Stenhouse Jr. 56-57;A. Cindric 58-59;R. Blaney (P) 60-61;*. Herbst(i) 62;R. Blaney (P) 63-65;C. Elliott (P) 66-67;R. Blaney (P) 68;C. Elliott (P) 69-72;A. Bowman 73;A. Cindric 74;A. Bowman 75-76;A. Cindric 77-78;E. Jones 79;A. Bowman 80-81;A. Cindric 82;E. Jones 83-85;M. McDowell 86-87;*. Herbst(i) 88;M. McDowell 89;*. Herbst(i) 90-91;M. McDowell 92;*. Herbst(i) 93-94;T. Reddick (P) 95;*. Herbst(i) 96-99;T. Reddick (P) 100;M. McDowell 101;D. Hamlin (P) 102-104;K. Busch (P) 105-106;A. Dillon 107;B. Keselowski (P) 108-110;J. Logano 111-115;W. Byron (P) 116-119;B. Keselowski (P) 120-121;J. Haley 122;J. Logano 123-132;K. Larson (P) 133;J. Logano 134-143;C. Buescher (P) 144-145;J. Logano 146-148;W. Byron (P) 149-153;B. Wallace (P) 154-156;W. Byron (P) 157-158;A. Almirola 159-160;K. Harvick 161-164;C. Buescher (P) 165;A. Almirola 166-168;A. Bowman 169;A. Almirola 170;A. Bowman 171-176;K. Harvick 177-178;A. Bowman 179;C. Elliott (P) 180;K. Harvick 181-182;C. Elliott (P) 183;K. Harvick 184-186;R. Blaney (P) 187-188.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Joey Logano 7 times for 48 laps; Austin Cindric 7 times for 15 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 4 times for 14 laps; Alex Bowman 6 times for 13 laps; William Byron (P) 4 times for 12 laps; Kevin Harvick 4 times for 11 laps; * Riley Herbst(i) 5 times for 10 laps; Ryan Preece 1 time for 8 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 4 times for 8 laps; Chase Elliott (P) 4 times for 8 laps; Aric Almirola 4 times for 7 laps; Michael McDowell 4 times for 5 laps; Brad Keselowski (P) 2 times for 5 laps; Erik Jones 2 times for 4 laps; Denny Hamlin (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Chris Buescher (P) 2 times for 3 laps; Bubba Wallace (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Christopher Bell (P) 1 time for 2 laps; Tyler Reddick (P) 2 times for 2 laps; Ty Dillon 1 time for 2 laps; Kyle Busch (P) 1 time for 2 laps; Kyle Larson (P) 1 time for 1 lap; Austin Dillon 1 time for 1 lap; Justin Haley 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 12,24,5,9,48,2,31,4,22,41
Stage #2 Top Ten: 6,24,22,3,9,99,5,14,77,45
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