By Roy J. Akers-www.skyviewsports.net
The biggest wildcard race in the NASCAR playoffs where with the right push, just about anyone could win this race. Its not the usual suspects like Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick that have a history of dominating the race. Reddick did win the spring race at Talladega, but guys like Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and others could finish in the top five. Both playoff and non-playoff drivers could win this race. It would not change as a 22 car accident with five laps to go changed the dynamics of the race.
Stage One
Drivers spent the stage three and sometimes four wide. McDowell led 37 laps in the stage and overall, 11 drivers had the lead including last weeks Kansas winner Ross Chastain. The Watermelon Man led four times in the stage for 15 laps. Suarez made a bonehead mistake getting lapped and not going to the top or the bottom rows and chose the middle and lost handling and made contact with BJ McLeod. Kyle Larson improves over 20 positions in the first 60 laps but Chris Buescher takes home the checkered flag. As for the remaining playoff drivers with stage points, William Byron earns 8, Christopher Bell finishes fifth and gets 5, Tyler Reddick finishes sixth and earns four, Chase Briscoe earns 2, Austin Cindric finishes 9th and Ryan Blaney 10th and banks one point.
Stage Two
Chris Buescher leads the early laps of Stage two before giving way to Michael McDowell who holds the lead until the bulk of the Fords pit together on lap 83. The Toyota’s pit as a pack on lap 93. Martin Truex Jr. spins out but there is no caution. Shane Van Van Gisbergen and Ross Chastain trade the lead for several laps. The team pitting continues as Team Penske comes in on 99. As the final ten laps in the stage shape up, two lines are trying to become three. Chase Briscoe with a push from Noah Gregson make a top line but they do not close the gap on the leaders. On the final turn of the Stage, Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney tangle and the No. 1 and the defending Champion Blaney tangle. Blaney is wadded up and Chastain has smoke coming from under the hood. In all, six cars are involved in the incident. Cindric wins the stage. Six remaining playoff drivers earn Stage points with Cindric taking home ten and Larson taking home 2.
Final Stage
With drivers jockeying for the lead, Joey Logano, running mid-pack for most of the race finds his way to the front. Journeyman AJ Allmendinger and David Gilliland, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. , and Cody Ware are running in the top five. But at Talladega, that means not for long. A total of26 lead changes happened in the final stage. The race was wide open enough that 24 of 40 drivers led at least one lap. Stenhouse Jr. led the final 12 laps of the race including overtime. Logano led seven times for 19 laps in the final stage. Yes, it was wild.
The Big One
On lap 183, the Big One happened. About half of the field was parked on the apron of the track. NBC’s Kyle Petty said Austin Cindric got too far in front of Brad Keselowski and several drivers tried to fill the void but got loose. In all, NASCAR said 18 drivers were involved in the wreck. The race was red flagged to clean up the carnage. It was all Chevy and Ford machines up front until this point. Afterward, six Toyota’s finished in the top ten.
Checkered Flag- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was leading the race at the time of the lap 183 wreck. He led the final 12 laps of the race including the final laps after the overtime restart. Stenhouse Jr. has finished only one time in the top five in the last seven Cup races dating back to 2021. Stenhouse Jr. is the third non playoff winner in the five playoff races. Playoff drivers use a victory as an automatic bye into the next round of the playoffs until the final Sunday. Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain have crashed the party thus far.RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER HEALTH / PALMOLIVE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 1st
“It felt really good. We had our Chevy teammates behind us, and I was hoping Kyle (Larson) wasn’t going to push the 6 that hard. I knew the 24 was probably going to try and get to the line there. But, man, 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. It was a lot of hard work this season just trying to find a little bit of speed, but we knew that this track is one of ours to come get. So for all of our Southern Mississippi people, appreciate you all coming. This means a lot, winning here. Got to say we’re thinking about everybody in Western North Carolina. Brad Dougherty, his family right where he grew up there in Black Mountain, a lot of people are struggling.
Pole dancing is good for Michael McDowell
No, who wants to see that from a NASCAR driver? But Not shockingly, Michael McDowell has ruled superspeedway qualifying again with his fifth consecutive Busch Light Pole Award on tracks where the aerodynamic draft dominates. McDowell posted a final-round lap of 183.063 mph, putting his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the first starting position for Sunday’s 500-mile race. Since 2021, McDowell has two top-five finishes at the track and two more in the top 20 competing in 7 races. In Stage One, McDowell leads 37 laps, tops among drivers in the field. He slowly slid through the field with a 12th place finish after the first stage. In all , MM leads four times for 43 laps.
The Big One Video
Ford drivers swept the top three spots, with Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and fellow FRM driver Todd Gilliland completing the qualifying podium. Fords claimed five of the top six spots on the lineup, with Kyle Busch starting fourth in the fastest Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin eighth in the top Toyota.
In the Mix- Brad Keselowski
BK has won six times at this track dating back to 2009 but not since 2001. He nearly won the race on Sunday, but coming up short by .006 of a second to Stenhouse Jr. BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED DOWN THE STRETCH? “He (Larson) gave me a good push down the frontstrech, but the 24 was able to really stick with the 47 there and just needed a tiny bit. It’s a good finish for us. We’ve been knocking on the door of these plate tracks. I hate that we didn’t bust through with a win, but I’m happy to be right there in contention.”
The near big one
Ryan Blaney looked to cement his ticket at Talladega running in the top five for most of the day collecting points in both stages and then doing the same in the final stage. Then he got caught up the final turn multi-car collision. Blaney’s car was wadded up. While it was evident his day was done, he still ran a couple of pace laps between the stages before his Ford expired. He was the defending champion of the 2023 fall race. RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WAS IT JUST A SIMPLE MATTER OF A BAD PUSH AT THE WRONG TIME? “Yeah. I don’t know if he ever lifted and just drilled me from like three car lengths back. The worst possible spot you could do it, so it’s pretty dumb on his part and it figures that he gets away scot free per usual. That’s the end of the day.”
Daniel Suarez penalized for an unapproved parts adjustment
If there is a track to make an unapproved adjustment to your machine between qualifying and the green flag, Talladega is the place to do it. The Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet will have to pay a price for an unapproved adjustment to the machine driven by Daniel Suarez. He started at the rear of the field and must serve a pass-through penalty. With this being a 2.5 mile track, Suarez will lose less than a lap and with drafting but a less than stellar pit stop and a poor decision gets him lapped and then in a wreck with BJ McLeod when Suarez sits in the middle line with a slow car. Suarez finished 26th never making that early lap up. He rose when the wrecks gave him a finish he could not earn on his own.
Roy J. Akers is a multi-media reporter and covers several sports for www.skyviewsports.net
