Cars were 3-4 wide coming into the checkered flag, Ryan Blaney won with a Margin of Victory: 0.007 Seconds over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Aric Almirola slid sideways across the finish line for 3rd place. Starting from 12th place Car 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Sylvania Ford won the 51st Annual GEICO 500, his 4th win in 175 NASCAR Cup Series races. This is his 1st win & 7th Top 10 finish in 2020. This is his 2nd win & 4th Top 10 finish in 12 races at Talladega Superspeedway. Ryan Blaney (2019-2020) becomes the eighth different driver to win consecutive races at Talladega in the NASCAR Cup Series – Pete Hamilton (1970 sweep), Buddy Baker (1975 sweep, 1976), Darrell Waltrip (1982 sweep), Dale Earnhardt (1990, 1993-94, 1999 sweep), Sterling Marlin (1995-96), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2001-2003), Jeff Gordon (2007 sweep). This is Team Penske’s 9th win at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Cup Series (third-most all-time). This is Ford’s 30th win at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Cup Series (second-most all-time).
2nd Place Car 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet, started from 20th place posted his 9th Top 10 finish in 14 races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 3rd Top 10 finish in 2020. 3rd Place Car 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford, started from 15th place posted his 9th Top 10 finish in 21 races at Talladega Superspeedway. 4th Place Car 11 Denny Hamlin Driving for Change Toyota, started from 2nd place followed by 5th place Car 20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Toyota, started from 18th place. 6th Place Car 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford, started from 21st place followed by 7th place Car 88 Alex Bowman Valvoline Chevrole, started from 8th place. 8th Place Car 38 John H. Nemechek Death Wish Coffee Ford, started from 22nd place was the highest finishing rookie. 9th Place Car 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet, started from 7th place & lastly in the Top 10 was Car 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Ford, in 10th place, started from 5th place. Starting from 24th place Car 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet finished in 14th place.
The race had 8 Cautions for 33 Laps: 1st Caution on lap 27 for Competition Caution. 2nd Caution on lap 57 for Weather/Stage 1 Conclusion [Red Flag: 00:57:18]. 3rd Caution on lap 96 for #38 Spin Frontstretch. 4th Caution on lap 116 for Debris Backstretch. 5th Caution on lap 122 for Stage 2 Conclusion. 6th Caution on lap 135 for #9, 2, 3 Crash on the Backstretch. 7th Caution on lap 143 for 15, 51 Crash in Turn 4. 8th Caution on lap 187 for #48, 4 Crash on the Frontstretch.
The race had 56 Lead Changes among 19 drivers; M. Truex Jr 1-4; D. Hamlin 5-7; J. Logano 8-10; D. Hamlin 11-14; J. Logano 15-17; D. Hamlin 18-22; J. Logano 23-26; M. DiBenedetto 27; J. Logano 28-35; K. Busch 36; J. Logano 37-39; W. Byron 40; D. Hamlin 41-42; J. Logano 43; D. Hamlin 44-45; A. Bowman 46; J. Logano 47-49; A. Bowman 50; J. Logano 51; T. Reddick # 52; J. Logano 53-55; T. Reddick # 56-60; R. Newman 61; A. Bowman 62-64; R. Blaney 65; J. Johnson 66; K. Busch 67; R. Blaney 68-69; K. Busch 70-71; R. Blaney 72-73; K. Busch 74; R. Blaney 75-96; B. Poole # 97; R. Blaney 98-105; R. Stenhouse Jr 106; R. Blaney 107-111; R. Stenhouse Jr 112; R. Blaney 113-118; R. Stenhouse Jr 119-121; C. Buescher 122-125; K. Harvick 126; R. Preece 127; C. Elliott 128-130; D. Hamlin 131; R. Blaney 132-142; C. Bell # 143-146; D. Hamlin 147; J. Logano 148-150; W. Byron 151-160; B. Wallace 161; J. Logano 162; R. Preece 163-164; A. Bowman 165-171; T. Reddick # 172-184; R. Blaney 185-189; K. Harvick 190; R. Blaney 191.
Stages:
Stage 1 Top 10: 8, 88, 22, 48, 18, 12, 2, 1, 9, 24
Stage 2 Top 10: 47, 12, 18, 2, 95, 22, 43, 41, 17, 24
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 13
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL – 2.66 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 191 Laps – 508.06 Miles
Finish Start Car Driver Team Laps Status
| 1. 12. Car 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Sylvania Ford 191 Running | |
| 2. 20. Car 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 3. 15. Car 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 191 Running | |
| 4. 2. Car 11 Denny Hamlin Driving for Change Toyota 191 Running | |
| 5. 18. Car 20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Toyota 191 Running | |
| 6. 21. Car 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 191 Running | |
| 7. 8. Car 88 Alex Bowman Valvoline Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 8. 22. Car 38 John H. Nemechek # Death Wish Coffee Ford 191 Running | |
| 9. 7. Car 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 10. 5. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Ford 191 Running | |
| 11. 19. Car 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 12. 33. Car 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 13. 4. Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 14. 24. Car 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 15. 31. Car 37 Ryan Preece Kroger Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 16. 25. Car 32 Corey LaJoie WallStBookie.com Ford 191 Running | |
| 17. 9. Car 22 Joey Logano MoneyLion Ford 191 Running | |
| 18. 26. Car 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 191 Running | |
| 19. 6. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Dent Wizard Ford 191 Running | |
| 20. 16. Car 8 Tyler Reddick # Realtree Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 21. 39. Car 62 * Brendan Gaughan Beard Motorsports/South Point Chevrolet 191 Running | |
| 22. 28. Car 41 Cole Custer # Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford 191 Running | |
| 23. 1. Car 19 Martin Truex Jr BassProShops/TrackerATVs&Boats/USO Toyota 191 Running | |
| 24. 14. Car 6 Ryan Newman Castrol Ford 191 191 Running | |
| 25. 10. Car 14 Clint Bowyer Barstool Sports America Ford 190 Running | |
| 26. 23. Car 21 Matt DiBenedetto Quicklane Tire & Auto Center Ford 190 191 Running | |
| 27. 32. Car 00 Quin Houff # Permatex Chevrolet 190 191 Running | |
| 28. 37. Car 96 * Daniel Suarez CommScope Toyota 190 191 Running | |
| 29. 35. Car 95 Christopher Bell # Procore Toyota 190 191 Running | |
| 30. 29. Car 27 Gray Gaulding(i) Panini America Ford 190 191 Running | |
| 31. 30. Car 77 BJ McLeod OilFire Rye Whiskey Chevrolet 190 191 Running | |
| 32. 3. Car 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 189 191 Running | |
| 33. 38. Car 66 * Timmy Hill(i) ROOFCLAIM.COM Toyota 185 Running | |
| 34. 40. Car 78 * Garrett Smithley(i) BakerCampArnoldCapitalManagement Chevrolet 185 Running | |
| 35. 27. Car 15 Brennan Poole # Remember Everyone Deployed Chevrolet 178 Accident | |
| 36. 34. Car 53 JJ Yeley(i) Truckworx Chevrolet 178 Running | |
| 37. 36. Car 51 Joey Gase(i) The Gifted Life Podcast Ford 141 Accident | |
| 38. 11. Car 9 Chase Elliott Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Chevrolet 135 Accident | |
| 39. 17. Car 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet 133 Accident | |
| 40. 13. Car 42 Matt Kenseth McDonald’s Chevrolet 127 Rear Hub |
Race Comments: Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 24, 78 (failed inspection 2 times), No. 51 (failed inspection 3 times), No. 62, 77, 96 (unapproved adjustments). Failed to Qualify: None. Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 27 Mins, 28 Secs. Average Speed: 146.933 MPH. Margin of Victory: 0.007 Seconds. Caution Flags: 8 for 33 laps; Laps Lead Changes: 56 among 19 drivers. American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Denny Hamlin, #11. Sunoco Rookie of the Race: John H. Nemechek, #38.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: June 27, 2020 – Pocono Raceway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR
http://www.nascar.com/
Graphics & Photos Courtesy of NASCAR