Tyler Reddick Wins on the Final Lap at Talladega

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TALLADEGA, AL - RIS - In what was a thrilling race with a thrilling finish, Brad Keselowski and Michael McDowell were nose to tail near the finish line McDowell blocked once and then again.  The result was two mangled Ford Dark Horse Mustangs.  Tyler Reddick was fifth as the field exited the final corner after McDowell got pushed to the lead by Keselowski. The 2012 Cup Series champ seemingly wanted to get McDowell ahead of the field as much as possible so he could make his own move for the win. The first block was sucessful.  The second block was not, leaving the cars of Keselowski and Mc Dowell severly damaged.  Five other cars also received damage.

Keselowski finished second behind Reddick and Noah Gragson finished third. It was Keselowski's secong runner-up finish this year while Gragson had his best finish of 2024.

Teams had different strategies, but fuel saving was one of them.  The easiest way to save fuel is to not run full throttle. And that transpired again on Sunday for much of the race as drivers didn’t push to the limit until they absolutely needed to. Teams were even running half-throttle (or slower) in the final stage. And that presented an opportunity for the Toyota teams. They made a pit stop with less than 40 laps to go in the 188-lap race to top off their fuel tanks. Reddick was in front of that crash and cycled to the front of the field as the rest of the cars pitted under the ensuing caution.

"I missed him and the first block, but he blocked again and I barely hit him," Keselowski said, "I hate it for us and I hate it for Michael"

It’s the sixth career win for Reddick's No. 45 Toyota and his first of the season, and Reddick becomes the seventh different victor on the year.

Anthony Alfredo, William Byron, Todd Gilliland, Daniel Hemric and Harrison Burton unofficially rounded out the top 10. Including McDowell, numerous cars wrecked on the final lap as frontrunners Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain were among those involved.

As usual, it was a day for damaged race cars at the 2.66-mile trioval.  With just over 30 laps to go, multiple Toyota drivers piled up while running on their own as Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin and John Hunter Nemechek got together in Turn 3. Seven of the automaker’s cars pitted laps before, causing a strategy stir in the race to the checkered flag before the incident.

Unofficial Results: GEICO 500, April 21, 2024 - Talladega Superspeedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 18, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota, 188, 9, 6, 5, 13, 5, 47, Running
2) 22, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford, 188, 8, , 2, 2, , 38, Running
3) 36, Noah Gragson, No. 10 Overstock.com Ford, 188, , , 5, 5, , 34, Running
4) 33, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Boost/Thomas'/Philadelphia Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 33, Running
5) 12, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 188, 10, , , , , 33, Running
6) 24, Anthony Alfredo(i)*, No. 62 Dude Wipes Chevrolet, 188, , , 3, 4, , 0, Running
7) 13, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 188, 3, , , , , 38, Running
8) 3, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 gener8tor Ford, 188, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 19, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, 188, , , 3, 8, , 28, Running
10) 16, Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 188, 6, , , , , 32, Running
11) 6, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 188, , , 5, 16, , 26, Running
12) 26, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 188, , , 2, 3, , 25, Running
13) 32, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Outdoors by Luke Bryan Chevrolet, 188, , 5, 3, 6, , 30, Running
14) 11, Ryan Preece, No. 41 United Rentals Ford, 188, , 9, , , , 25, Running
15) 9, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 188, 2, 8, 3, 5, , 34, Running
16) 29, Josh Berry #, No. 4 Overstock.com Ford, 188, , , 1, 3, , 21, Running
17) 35, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, 188, , , 1, 1, , 20, Running
18) 31, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 7, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 188, , 1, 6, 22, 1, 28, Running
20) 21, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Wabash Ford, 188, 4, , 1, 1, , 24, Running
21) 38, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 188, , 3, , , , 24, Running
22) 15, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 188, , 10, 1, 1, , 16, Running
23) 2, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, 188, 1, 2, 4, 16, 1, 33, Running
24) 34, Cody Ware, No. 15 Jacob Construction Ford, 188, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 8, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 188, , 7, 4, 6, , 16, Running
26) 4, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar's Chevrolet, 188, 5, , 3, 5, , 17, Running
27) 25, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 17, Shane Van Gisbergen(i), No. 16 Wendy's Chevrolet, 188, , , 3, 3, , 0, Running
29) 30, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 5, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 188, , 4, , , , 14, Running
31) 1, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 187, , , 7, 36, , 6, Accident
32) 37, BJ McLeod(i)*, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, 187, , , 4, 5, , 0, Running
33) 20, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 AdventHealth Toyota, 184, , , 3, 20, , 4, Running
34) 27, Justin Haley, No. 51 Parts Plus Ford, 184, , , 2, 4, , 3, Running
35) 28, Erik Jones, No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota, 154, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 14, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Leidos Toyota, 154, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 23, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ultimate Fan Contest Toyota, 154, , , 3, 4, , 1, Accident
38) 10, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota, 132, 7, , , , , 5, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 188 Laps, 500.08 Miles
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 13 Mins, 29 Secs.
Average Speed: 155.977 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.208 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 2, 9, 24, 12, 8, 21, 20, 6, 45, 48
Stage 2 Top 10: 22, 2, 5, 3, 1, 45, 17, 9, 41, 54

Comments: Tyler Reddick won the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start the following car dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: #5(unapproved adjustments).

Cautions: 4 for 21 laps;
Laps: 62-66 (Stage 1 Conclusion [5]);
122-126 (Stage 2 Conclusion [71]);
134-139 (No. 20, 14, 51, 71, 12 Incident Turn 3 [71]);
157-161 (No. 42, 43, 23, 11 Incident Turn 3 [78]).

Lead Changes: 73 among 23 drivers;
M. McDowell 1;
A. Cindric 2;
M. McDowell 3-4;
A. Cindric 5;
M. Truex Jr. 6;
D. Hemric 7-9;
BJ McLeod(i) 10;
D. Hemric 11-14;
C. Briscoe 15-16;
J. Haley 17-18;
M. Truex Jr. 19-21;
J. Haley 22-23;
M. Truex Jr. 24-31;
BJ McLeod(i) 32-33;
M. Truex Jr. 34-35;
BJ McLeod(i) 36;
M. Truex Jr. 37-38;
BJ McLeod(i) 39;
C. Briscoe 40;
N. Gragson 41;
C. Elliott 42-43;
S. Van Gisbergen(i) 44;
B. Keselowski 45;
C. Elliott 46-47;
A. Cindric 48-51;
C. Elliott 52;
A. Cindric 53-62;
B. Keselowski 63;
K. Busch 64-66;
R. Blaney 67;
K. Busch 68;
S. Van Gisbergen(i) 69;
A. Alfredo(i) 70;
N. Gragson 71;
J. Nemechek 72-78;
N. Gragson 79;
J. Nemechek 80;
A. Alfredo(i) 81;
J. Nemechek 82-93;
D. Hamlin 94;
C. Buescher 95;
N. Gragson 96;
C. Buescher 97;
S. Van Gisbergen(i) 98;
C. Buescher 99-101;
J. Logano 102-105;
D. Hamlin 106;
J. Logano 107-108;
D. Hamlin 109-110;
J. Logano 111-113;
C. Buescher 114;
J. Logano 115-122;
T. Gibbs 123;
J. Logano 124-126;
R. Chastain 127-128;
J. Logano 129-130;
R. Chastain 131;
N. Gragson 132;
R. Chastain 133-135;
A. Alfredo(i) 136-137;
J. Berry # 138-140;
D. Hemric 141;
M. McDowell 142-157;
C. Hocevar # 158;
T. Reddick 159-162;
M. McDowell 163-170;
T. Reddick 171;
M. McDowell 172-174;
T. Reddick 175;
M. McDowell 176-177;
T. Reddick 178;
M. McDowell 179-182;
T. Reddick 183-188.