Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Wins the YellaWood 500 at Talladega


Credit: Savannah Shirey for Skirts and Scuffs

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series victory on Sunday at Talladega Super Speedway, holding off Brad Keselowski and William Byron for the win during overtime in the YellaWood 500. 

Byron secured a spot in the Round of 8 with his finish on Sunday. 

"[I'm] always, obviously, very confident coming back to a place that we’ve won at before, and a Super Speedway where we always feel pretty confident in our racecars," Stenhouse Jr. said. “I think we did exactly what we needed to do in the first stage -- we put ourselves in position to win that one.


“The 17 had a huge run there at the end. You always try to play these races out in kind of what-if scenarios.”


Kyle Larson and Erik Jones rounded out the top-five finishers. Christopher Bell rebounded and finished sixth after the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was forced to start the race at the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment. Justin Haley finished seventh, while Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 10. 

The "Big One" occurred with four laps remaining and brought out a red flag at the 2.66-mile track. The No. 6 of Brad Keselowski spun Austin Cindric as the two were battling for position at the front of the field, resulting in more than two dozen cars being involved in the huge pile-up. 

Drivers involved included Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Josh Berry, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, and Alex Bowman, among many others. 

Ryan Blaney's winning chances were halted on Lap 122 after the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet of Bowman made contact with the No. 12 Ford, and Blaney's day was done. Shane Van Gisbergen, Hamlin, and a few others were involved. 

Credit: Savannah Shirey for Skirts and Scuffs

"I thought Austin and I worked well together," Blaney said. "I had a feeling the eight would kind of pull out and help Chevy.

"So, we got in the middle, and I didn't think it was terrible. We were probably still around fifth or sixth, and then the 48 just drove straight through me in the tri-oval."

Bowman was penalized under the caution for removing equipment, but recovered quickly and finished 16th. 

Daniel Suarez' playoff chances took another hit at Talladega, after the No. 99 Chevrolet went four-wide at an attempt to not go multiple laps down. He suffered significant damage and finished 26th. 

The NASCAR Cup Series ends the Round of 12 next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where four drivers will be eliminated from championship contention. Logano, Suarez, Cindric, and Briscoe are the four drivers currently below the cut line. 

The Cup Series competes at the Charlotte Roval next Sunday, October 13th. Watch the race at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. 
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Wins the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Wins the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Reviewed by Courtney Horn on Sunday, October 06, 2024 Rating: 5