Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (47) battles Brad Keselowski (6) on the final overtime lap of the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway last Sunday. [Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images]

NASCAR: Stenhouse Jr. Wins Wild Race At Talladega

Ian Sutphin October 9, 2024 Auto Racing, Motor Sports, NASCAR 16 Views

Many critics of restrictor-plate racing in NASCAR claim races at Atlanta, Daytona and Talladega have become completely random. With massive crashes, a closely-packed field and many other factors, they aren’t completely wrong.

However, this style of racing isn’t all luck, as proven by the example of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion has struggled to find success in the top division, gaining a reputation as a reckless driver in the process.

In that time, however, Stenhouse has also gained a reputation as one of the series’ best at superspeedways, with all five of his career wins coming at Daytona and Talladega.

The fifth win came Sunday in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega, Ala., edging Brad Keselowski by 0.006 at the line. It was the third photo finish this season, following a thrilling three-wide dash at Atlanta and the closest finish in Cup Series history at Kansas.

The Big One

Talladega is the most feared track on the NASCAR circuit for a reason. For safety, the engines are restricted to slow the cars down, which bunches the field. As such, the 2.66 mile oval track is prone to create large accidents, commonly known as “The Big One.”

It’s not a question of whether it will come, but who will make it to the other side. Sunday, there were only three cautions for incidents, a low number for the track.

The first came on lap 13, when playoff contender Daniel Suarez attempted to get in line while being lapped. He didn’t suffer much damage from the accident, but only managed a 26th-place finish after being caught in another crash later.

The next crash took place on lap 122 while coming to the finish for Stage 2. Ryan Blaney lost control after a push from Alex Bowman and hit the outside wall hard, collecting last week’s winner Ross Chastain in the process. Both drivers walked away unhurt, but their races were over.

After the restart to begin Stage 3, the race went green for the next 57 laps. It was the calm before the storm.

With five to go in the scheduled distance, Keselowski inadvertently turned Austin Cindric sideways at the front of the field. What ensued was the largest crash in the modern era of the NASCAR Cup Series.

Officially, 27 cars were involved, including eight of the 12 playoff drivers. Seven drivers were unable to continue, while several more finished a lap or more down due to the incident.

Playoff Picture

With Stenhouse winning Sunday and Chastain winning at Kansas the week prior, the first two races in the Round of 12 were each won by non-playoff drivers. However, William Byron is locked into the next round on points after finishing second and third in those races.

That leaves seven spots for the remaining contenders to fight over at the final road course race of the season at the Charlotte Roval. Going in, Chase Elliott will hold a 13-point advantage over Joey Logano for the final transfer position.

Suarez will enter 20 points behind Elliott, while Cindric and Chase Briscoe are 29 and 32 points back, respectively. Both will need a victory to advance to the Round of 8.

After two wild races, championship hopes will come down to one of the most unpredictable tracks on the schedule. The green flag for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is scheduled to wave at 2 p.m. Sunday and will be broadcast on NBC.

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