Starting from 10th place Car 2 Brad Keselowski MoneyLion Ford made a last lap pass to win the 52nd Annual GEICO 500, his 35th win in 423 NASCAR Cup Series races. This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2021. This is his 6th win & 12th Top 10 finish in 25 races at Talladega Superspeedway – Keselowski ties NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon for 2nd-most series wins at Talladega all-time with 6 wins each. This is Team Penske’s 10th NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway. This is the 31st time a Ford has won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. 2nd Place Car 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet, started from 4th place posted his 2nd Top 10 finish in 7 races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 8th Top 10 finish in 2021. 3rd Place Car 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford, started from 23rd place posted his 2nd Top 10 finish in 21 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
4th Place Car 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Dog Brew Ford, started from 16th place followed by 5th place Car 21 Matt DiBenedetto Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford, started from 13th place. 6th Place Car 16 * Kaz Grala Hyperice Chevrolet, started from 38th place followed by 7th place Car 8 Tyler Reddick Roland Chevrolet, started from 20th place. 8th Place Car 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet, started from 11th place followed by 9th place Car 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Sylvania Ford, started from 7th place. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford, in 10th place, started from 27th place. Chase Briscoe (11th) was the highest finishing rookie.
The race had 7 Cautions for 34 Laps: 1st Caution on lap 27 for Competition. 2nd Caution on lap 40 for #28 Spin Turn 4. 3rd Caution on lap 61 for #2, 11, 14, 22, 23, 47 Crash on the Backstretch / Stage 1 Conclusion. This was an extremely scary crash as Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota had contact with Car 22 Joey Logano Autotrader Ford. Joey Logano went airborne, rolling over & then landing right-side up. Car 23 Bubba Wallace DoorDash Toyota was barley able to move out of the way & just caught part of Car 22. 4th Caution on lap 105 for Fluid On Backstretch From #1. 5th Caution on lap 120 for #9, 11, 19, 24, 48 Crash on the Frontstretch / Stage 2 Conclusion. 6th Caution on lap 173 for #00 Crash Turn 2. 7th Caution on lap 186 for Debris Frontstretch.
The race had 35 Lead Changes among 17 drivers; W. Byron 1; J. Logano 2-11; B. Wallace 12-14; K. Harvick 15-18; B. Wallace 19-21; K. Busch 22-26; C. Briscoe # 27; D. Hamlin 28-48; R. Blaney 49-50; M. DiBenedetto 51-54; *. Preece 55-56; M. DiBenedetto 57-62; R. Newman 63; C. Elliott 64-66; D. Hamlin 67-68; M. DiBenedetto 69-71; W. Byron 72; D. Hamlin 73-92; K. Busch 93; *. Preece 94-100; W. Byron 101-110; M. DiBenedetto 111; B. Wallace 112-121; R. Newman 122; R. Blaney 123-131; A. Almirola 132-147; R. Chastain 148-150; K. Harvick 151-152; R. Chastain 153; K. Harvick 154-159; C. Bell 160-161; R. Chastain 162-169; E. Jones 170-176; M. DiBenedetto 177-190; B. Keselowski 191.
Stages:
Stage 1 Top 10: 21, 12, 9, 11, 24, 17, 48, 34, 4, 20
Stage 2 Top 10: 23, 2, 34, 18, 37, 12, 17, 47, 20, 96
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 10
Race Results for the 52nd Annual GEICO 500 – Sunday, April 25, 2021
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL – 2.66 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 191 Laps – 508.06 Miles
Finish Start Car Team Laps Status
| 1. 10. Car 2 Brad Keselowski MoneyLion Ford 191 Running |
| 2. 4. Car 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 3. 23. Car 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 191 Running |
| 4. 16. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Dog Brew Ford 191 Running |
| 5. 13. Car 21 Matt DiBenedetto Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford 191 Running |
| 6. 38. Car 16 * Kaz Grala Hyperice Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 7. 20. Car 8 Tyler Reddick Roland Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 8. 11. Car 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 9. 7. Car 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Sylvania Ford 191 Running |
| 10. 27. Car 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 191 Running |
| 11. 25. Car 14 Chase Briscoe # Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford 191 Running |
| 12. 30. Car 38 Anthony Alfredo # Speedy Cash Ford 191 Running |
| 13. 28. Car 6 Ryan Newman Castrol Ford 191 Running |
| 14. 29. Car 37 * Ryan Preece Kroger/Reese’s Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 15. 14. Car 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 191 Running |
| 16. 18. Car 42 Ross Chastain Caregility Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 17. 6. Car 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Toyota 191 Running |
| 18. 9. Car 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 191 Running |
| 19. 24. Car 23 Bubba Wallace DoorDash Toyota 191 Running |
| 20. 39. Car 96 * Harrison Burton(i) DEX Imaging Toyota 191 Running |
| 21. 21. Car 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 191 Running |
| 22. 26. Car 7 Corey LaJoie Fox Nation Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 23. 19. Car 99 Daniel Suarez CommScope Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 24. 8. Car 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 25. 31. Car 78 BJ McLeod(i) LONG-LEWIS Automotive Group Ford 191 Running |
| 26. 37. Car 15 JJ Yeley(i) Arrowhead Brass Chevrolet 191 Running |
| 27. 22. Car 43 Erik Jones Air Force Chevrolet 190 Accident |
| 28. 33. Car 51 Cody Ware(i) Nurtec ODT Chevrolet 190 Running |
| 29. 40. Car 66 * Timmy Hill(i) Supreme Construction Ford 190 Running |
| 30. 34. Car 77 Justin Haley(i) FOE Chevrolet 190 Running |
| 31. 3. Car 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Toyota 189 Running |
| 32. 1. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 188 Running |
| 33. 17. Car 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 186 Running |
| 34. 35. Car 28 Joey Gase(i) Davey Allison Tribute Ford 186 Running |
| 35. 15. Car 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 185 Running |
| 36. 36. Car 52 Josh Bilicki Jacob Companies Ford 180 Running |
| 37. 32. Car 00 Quin Houff Permatex Chevrolet 168 Accident |
| 38. 5. Car 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 123 DVP |
| 39. 2. Car 22 Joey Logano Autotrader Ford 59 Accident |
| 40. 12. Car 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 3 Engine |
Race Comments: Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: No. 78 (unapproved adjustments), Nos. 11, 19, 20, 23, 96, 51 (multiple inspection failures). Failed to Qualify: None. Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 26 Mins, 30 Secs. Average Speed: 147.62 MPH. Margin of Victory: 0.102 Seconds. Caution Flags: 7 for 34 laps. Lead Changes: 35 among 17 drivers. Busch Pole Award: Denny Hamlin, #11. Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Chase Briscoe, #14.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May 2, 2021 – Kansas Speedway
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