Stenhouse Wins the Playoff Race at Talladega

AP Photo

TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. held off Brad Keselowski to win the NASCAR Cup playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. Prior to the win, a large accident erased many of the leaders and led to the win for Stenhouse.  Stenhouse, Jr. isn't in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but that didn't stop him from taking the fight to the championship contenders at the finish of Sunday's Playoff overtime finish  at Talladega Superspeedway.

 Stenhouse was in contention for the victory throughout the race's closing laps, and even endured a sideswipe from Austin Cindric in a massive 28-car pileup earlier. Stenhouse kept steady on the outside lane during the final two-lap stretch using major shoves from William Byron to maintain the race-lead over superspeedway expert Brad Keselowski, who occupied the inside that sent the event into NASCAR Overtime, to capture the checkered flag.

Coming to the checkered flag, the No. 47 Palmolive Chevrolet Camaro edged just ahead of Keselowski, who was eliminated from the post-season after Bristol, to get the start-finish line with the lead, as Byron fanned out three-wide behind him.

The margin between Stenhouse and Keselowski measured at only 0.006 seconds, the third closest finish in the NASCAR Cup Series this season, behind only the Spring event at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the closest finish in NASCAR history at Kansas in May. Three of the eight closest points-paying finishes in series history have happened this year.

Keselowski was credited with second-place, with William Byron in third, only 0.027 seconds behind the race-winner. Kyle Larson and Erik Jones completed the top-five.

“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. “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.”

Stenhouse's first career victory came at Talladega in 2017 and his four career Cup Series victories have come at either the Alabama superspeedway or Daytona International Speedway.

Stenhouse won in a three-wide finish between Brad Keselowski and William Byron, who with his third-place finish became the only driver locked into the third round of the playoffs.

Four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs next Sunday on the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte. Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are all below the cutline.

The win was Stenhouse’s first of the season and first since the 2023 Daytona 500. As a non-playoff driver, he stole the opportunity for someone to get a guaranteed spot in the Round of 8.

The series now heads to the redesigned Charlotte Roval on Oct. 13 for the Round of 12 knockout race.

Unofficial Results: YellaWood 500, October 6, 2024, Talladega Superspeedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
 
1) 32, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. No. 47 Kroger Health/Palmolive Chevrolet, 195, 2, , 5, 19, 5, 49, Running
 2) 13, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 195, , , 2, 2, , 35, Running
 3) 16, William Byron (P), No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, 195, 3, 5, 1, 1, , 48, Running
 4) 12, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 195, 4, 9, 1, 1, , 42, Running
 5) 30, Erik Jones, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota, 195, , , , , , 32, Running
 6) 21, Christopher Bell (P), No. 20 DEWALT Toyota, 195, 5, , , , , 37, Running
 7) 35, Justin Haley, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 195, , , 2, 4, , 30, Running
 8) 7, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, 195, , , 1, 1, , 29, Running
 9) 26, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota, 195, , 7, 2, 3, , 32, Running
10) 8, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx One Rate Toyota, 195, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 24, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 195, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 34, Cody Ware, No. 15 Arby's Ford, 195, , , 1, 1, , 25, Running
13) 15, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 195, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 37, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 195, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 17, Shane Van Gisbergen(i), No. 16 WeatherTech Chevrolet, 195, , 4, 4, 9, , 0, Running
16) 23, Alex Bowman (P), No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 195, , 6, 1, 1, , 26, Running
17) 20, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Nexletol Ford, 195, 1, , 4, 12, 1, 30, Running
18) 28, Corey LaJoie, No. 51 Mighty Fire Breaker Ford, 195, , , 1, 5, , 19, Running
19) 4, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet, 195, , 3, 2, 7, , 26, Running
20) 14, Tyler Reddick (P), No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota, 195, 6, , 2, 2, , 22, Running
21) 39, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet, 195, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 38, BJ McLeod*(i), No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, 195, , , 1, 1, , 0, Running
23) 3, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Commission Ford, 194, , , 1, 2, , 14, Running
24) 33, Anthony Alfredo*(i), No. 62 Fortify Building Solutions Chevrolet, 194, , , , , , 0, Running
25) 22, Noah Gragson, No. 10 Beef A Roo Ford, 194, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 31, Daniel Suarez (P), No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, 194, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 40, JJ Yeley*(i), No. 44 Epoxy Depot Chevrolet, 193, , , , , , 0, Running
28) 25, AJ Allmendinger*(i), No. 13 Strive Chevrolet, 193, , , 5, 9, , 0, Running
29) 11, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet, 190, , 2, 1, 1, , 17, Running
30) 36, Chase Briscoe (P), No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford, 189, 8, , , , , 10, Running
31) 29, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 GearWrench Toyota, 188, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 2, Austin Cindric (P), No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 183, 9, 1, 10, 29, 1, 17, Accident
33) 6, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 183, , , 7, 19, , 4, Accident
34) 9, Harrison Burton, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, 183, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 18, Ryan Preece, No. 41 Wonder Bread Ford, 183, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 19, Josh Berry #, No. 4 SunnyD Ford, 183, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 1, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 183, , , 4, 42, , 1, Accident
38) 10, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, 183, , , 1, 1, , 1, Accident
39) 5, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, 124, 10, 8, 2, 6, , 5, Accident
40) 27, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Busch Light Camo Chevrolet, 120, 7, 10, 6, 17, , 6, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (*) Qualified on time, (#) Rookie, (P)Playoffs

Total Race Length: 195 Laps, 518.7 Miles
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 26 Mins, 25 Secs.
Average Speed: 150.773 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.006 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 17, 47, 24, 5, 20, 45, 1, 14, 2, 12
Stage 2 Top 10: 2, 9, 8, 16, 24, 48, 23, 12, 5, 1

Comments: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start the following car(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: Nos. 20, 99 (unapproved adjustments). 

Cautions: 4 for 24 laps;
Laps: 13-16 (No. 78, 99 incident backstretch [None]);
62-66 (Stage 1 Conclusion [99]);
122-127 (No. 12, 1, 22, 16, 11, 51 incident frontstretch / Stage 2 Conclusion [13]);
185-193 (No. 45, 48, 34, 17, 9, 13, 2, 21, 22, 42, 14, 23, 10, 99, 51, 4, 38, 62, 71, 19, 16, 20, 43 incident backstretch [Red Flag 00:08:42] [None]).

Lead Changes: 66 among 24 drivers;
M. McDowell 1-13;
BJ. McLeod(i) 14;
B. Keselowski 15;
M. McDowell 16-38;
J. Haley 39;
R. Chastain 40-41;
A. Bowman (P) 42;
R. Chastain 43-47;
D. Hemric 48;
R. Chastain 49-51;
K. Larson (P) 52;
R. Chastain 53-57;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 58-59;
C. Buescher 60-62;
B. Keselowski 63;
W. Byron (P) 64;
C. Buescher 65-66;
T. Reddick (P) 67;
C. Buescher 68-73;
C. LaJoie 74-78;
M. McDowell 79-82;
R. Blaney (P) 83-87;
S. Van Gisbergen(i) 88-90;
R. Chastain 91;
S. Van Gisbergen(i) 92;
R. Blaney (P) 93;
S. Van Gisbergen(i) 94-95;
R. Chastain 96;
S. Van Gisbergen(i) 97-99;
J. Haley 100-102;
A. Cindric (P) 103-116;
C. Elliott (P) 117;
A. Cindric (P) 118-122;
T. Reddick (P) 123;
K. Busch 124-129;
B. Wallace 130;
K. Busch 131;
B. Wallace 132-133;
C. Buescher 134;
AJ. Allmendinger(i) 135;
C. Ware 136;
J. Logano (P) 137-141;
AJ. Allmendinger(i) 142;
J. Logano (P) 143-145;
AJ. Allmendinger(i) 146-150;
J. Logano (P) 151;
A. Cindric (P) 152;
J. Logano (P) 153-157;
AJ. Allmendinger(i) 158;
J. Logano (P) 159;
A. Cindric (P) 160;
J. Logano (P) 161;
A. Cindric (P) 162;
AJ. Allmendinger(i) 163;
J. Logano (P) 164-166;
A. Cindric (P) 167-168;
A. Dillon 169;
T. Gilliland 170-171;
M. McDowell 172-173;
A. Cindric (P) 174-175;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 176-177;
A. Cindric (P) 178;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 179;
A. Cindric (P) 180;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 181-182;
A. Cindric (P) 183;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 184-195.

Ron Fleshman and John Davison

Ron Fleshman  and John Davison are Editors at ris-news.com

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Volume 2024, Issue 10, Posted 7:47 PM, 10.06.2024