By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
The Jack Link’s 500 had everything happen this Sunday with the exception of any actual witnesses of seeing a sasquatch. We saw a Cleetus, lots of boobies on Talladega Boulevard and real racers going real fast. We also saw 67 lead changes comprising 23 drivers and a Ford driver and team come through when it mattered most.
Now for the rest of the story.
Stage One
Zane Smith won the pole on Saturday and leads the field to green for the start of the race. Drivers go four wide and Austin Dillon,and Joey Logano wrestle the lead from Smith. McDowell takes the lead on lap six. Josh Berry and Michael McDowell trade the lead multiple times by lap eight. The battle for the lead intensifies as Josh Berry, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, and Zane Smith go four-wide. Stage One Top 7
By lap 17, there are nine lead changes. By lap 21, Smith grabs the lead but quickly loses it to Josh Berry. Fifteen lead changes by lap 26 put Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe out front. By lap 31, the top nine drivers have now formed a single-file line, indicating a more organized and potentially strategic racing formation at the front of the pack and Briscoe leads the field. Lap 40 brings in the first drivers to pit road as the field continues two-wide. Toyota had machines 1-6 before the pit stop.
A wreck outside Pit Road collects 3 cars. Busch continues, but Busch hits Brad Keselowski, and others are caught in the wreck. Blaney goes to the garage, and number 6 is done. The race restarts on lap 51, and a three-car accident with Hamlin being blamed for turning into Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher. Bell hits the wall and destroys his car and CB has left side damage. Hamlin continues to clock laps with the lead. Buescher is six laps off the pace. The final lap finds Hamlin slipping to 7th and Kyle Larson winning his first Stage win ever at Talladega.
Stage Two Results
The green flag is dropped on lap 66 as three different drivers lead the first lap of Stage Two. William Byron by a nose over Anthony Alfredo and Ross Chastain. Alfredo grabs the lead on lap 69. Over the next x laps, Alfredo, Ross Chastain, trade the lead. Berry and Alex Bowman are close behind. The 27 machines are less than a second out of the lead. Thirty-seven lead changes out of 89 laps.
Halfway through the Stage, Alfredo has led 13 laps with Logano and Preece only 1/500 of a second behind. Alfredo and Chastain trade the lead and Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Logano in pursuit. Alfredo enters the pits on lap 98 solo. No one else pits, and this might be trouble for the #62. It is, after exiting the pits, the entire field laps the Pasta man. Logano has now led for 12 laps until Carson Hocevar overtakes Logano on lap 108. Lap 109 finds the first wave of pit stops and the second wave hits on lap 111. The final wave of pit stops happens on lap 112, and John Hunter Nemechek spins, and several drivers narrowly miss him. Pack racing dominates the front of the field with drivers racing single file and spread out after the lead pack, which comprises half of the field.
Final Stage
Alfredo gets back on the lead lap after his blunder midway through Stage Two. Four Toyota’s take over the top four spots after drivers pit between the stages. Chase Briscoe leads the field to green on lap 126 and drivers are packed together. Gibbs passes Briscoe and Toyota’s own five of the top six spots. With 22 drivers within one second of the lead, the three-wide racing mid pack could propel the big one.
Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, and Riley Herbst are 1-2-3 with 44 laps to go and Toyota’s own the first five spots in the race. Ford owns the second five spots on lap 152. The first cluster of drivers runs single file through the Top Ten. Top Ten- Final <<< Click for Complete Standings
Feeling the last 30 laps ticking off, all but the top five cars are running 2×2. Logano goes around the Toyota’s and takes the lead on lap 161. Hamlin and Herbst run 2-3. The final cluster of pit stops occurs on lap 164 and the remaining field is running two and three-wide. Ty Dillon, Preece, and Berry go around Logano to take over the podium spots. Berry is the race leader on lap 168. The contending cluster of cars pits on lap 171. Logano is out of the pits first for the final sprint. A final group completes the pit stops and its Cindric, Byron, and Larson 1-2-3 on lap 172/188. Byron and Cindric run side by side with 23 machines within a second of the lead. Larson and Bowman are 3-4. Cindric on those final laps. “You’re waiting for it to go wrong, but you’ve got to stay in the zone. There are so many times at the end I was just focused on the feedback Doug Campbell was giving me and what I knew about our car and maybe other cars I observed throughout the field today, so just an absolutely fantastic job by everybody involved.”
With six to go, Cindric leads Preece with Larson, and Byron 3-4. Its two-wide through most of the field. Preece leads Cindric by a foot on lap 185/188. Fantastic and controlled racing at Talladega. The final lap has Preece going by Cindric by a quarter panel. Cindric with the win.
Checkered Flags
Austin Cindric has been close at Superspeedways and after his win at Daytona in 2022, he has his second win at Daytona’s twin track and the fastest track in NASCAR.
Podium Finishes (2-3)
Ryan Preece and Kyle Larson finish two and three. RYAN PREECE, No. 60 Kroger/Celsius Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We did all we could. I felt like we executed Stage Three exactly like we needed to. We came out in the front of our group and worked our way through that traffic. We had the opportunity to get to the top lane and then from there it was just managing those cars behind us and not giving up what we gained. I’m really proud of everybody at RFK for this race car. I’m just really super appreciative from Jack, Brad, the Fenway Group for this opportunity. Honestly, without Kroger and BAM and Celsius and a lot of the other partners today, I’d probably be back in Connecticut. I’m really excited about the rest of this year. It’s a great day, but I wanted to win.”
They Said It…
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing- Finishing Position: 37th — How are you after that hit? Bell: “I think I feel really good. I don’t know, my HANS device, my seat, my belts, everything seemed like it did well. It was a big one, that’s for sure.” What control do you have in these situations? “Nothing. Whenever you’re the car getting pushed, you’re completely at the mercy of the guy behind you. You know, Denny (Hamlin) didn’t do anything wrong. You have to push, you have to push to be successful. It’s a product of the cars we race with this rules package.”
Bad move of the race
Anthony Alfredo pits off sequence and gets lapped by the field as he ha;s no drafting help. Alfredo gets a plate full of noodles without sauce for that move. After leading 19 laps in the race, he never led the race again.
Factoids that may only interest me
Fords led 74% of the Superspeedway laps going into Talladega.
Anthony Alfredo, the driver of the #62 is the first driver to lead as many laps with that car number going back to Frankie Schneider at Old Dominion in April 1958.
21 different drivers led at least one lap among x lead changes in the race.
Cindric’s win is the 200th for the Roush-Yates engine collaboration.
Tale of the Tape
What’s Next?
The Cup series travels to Texas to Texas Motor Speedway for race 11 in the 36-race NASCAR season. Fox will cover the race.
My NASCAR fantasy team is better than your team… Let’s find out.
Well, my team finishes 1st, second, third, fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finishes 14th. 341 Points.
Roy J. Akers is a NASCAR reporter for www.skyviewsports.net
