Talladega Race Review and Analysis
Sweet home Alabama! The Nascar Cup Series visited Talladega Superspeedway located in Lincoln, Alabama for the Geico 500! Ross Chastain in a wild way takes home the checkered flag! This is Chastain’s 2nd career win and 2nd of the 2022 season. Trackhouse Racing now has two wins on the season and continues to produce at a high level. Chastain joins William Byron as the only drivers to have multiple wins on the season.
(Ross Chastain in Victory Lane)
The way this race ended was staggering. Coming into the trioval, a massive wreck took place sending multiple cars for a ride. With the pay window open and everything on the line at Talladega, Ross Chastain edged out Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson for the win. With momentum building on the bottom lane, both Chastain and Larson surged ahead of race leader Erik Jones. Coming into the trioval Larson went high as the field fanned out coming to the checkered flag. Larson then clipped Kurt Busch, sending him vigorously into the outside wall. Busch then ricocheted back down the track collecting teammate Bubba Wallace as the checkered flag waved. Corey LaJoie also spun coming to the line as a result. Larson took out both 23XI Racing cars coming to the finish.
Today’s stage winners were Bubba Wallace and William Byron. With the first stage of today’s race ending under caution, Wallace cruised to his 3rd career stage win. All of Wallace’s stage wins have come at Talladega. William Byron was the stage 2 winner as he led most of the second stage. This is Byron’s 3rd stage win of the 2022 season.
Earlier in the race, there was a caution for a wreck involving Daniel Hemric, Chase Briscoe, and Chris Buescher. In the middle of the corner, Daniel Hemric checked up causing an accordion effect behind him. Hemric lost his front forward motion sending both Briscoe and Buescher up into the wall. Another major wreck came at lap 90 with the field coming out of a restart. Joey Logano was sent into the outside wall by Bubba Wallace due to the field stacking up. The stack up came from Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., and William Byron. Larson and Byron were trying to connect on the inside line, while Truex Jr. tried to get the outside line organized. Logano spun back into the field collecting Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Harrison Burton, and Daniel Suarez.
(A look at the packed house in Talladega)
Teams that had stellar performances at Talladega today were 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Joe Gibbs Racing. Drivers that had solid performances were Austin Dillon, William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Corey LaJoie, and Kevin Harvick. Coming into today, 23XI Racing needed a good race at Talladega. When coming to tracks like Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta, 23XI Racing is always a standout team. Although coming to the checkered flag both cars were wrecked, today was good for them. Bubba Wallace had his best race of the season since Daytona as he led laps today. The #23 car out of the 23XI stable ran great all day as he led 15 laps and won the opening stage. Teammate Kurt Busch ran in the middle of the pack for most of the day but he qualified 6th on Saturday and was 4th on the final lap. Both 23XI Racing finished in the top 20 with Busch in 16th and Wallace in 17th. Another team that had a big day was Hendrick Motorsports. All four cars ran up front all day and dominated most of stage 2. Two Hendrick Motorsports cars combined for 70 total laps led. All four HMS cars wounded up in the top 15 leaving Talladega. Joe Gibbs Racing was also a team that had a great afternoon. Joe Gibbs Racing worked well together and persevered throughout the day. All four JGR Toyota’s come home in the top 25, even though all four cars saw the front of the pack today. Austin Dillon for Richard Childress Racing again showed up coming to the end. Dillon, an underrated restrictor-plate racer, comes home 2nd, as he was very close to his first win at Talladega.
(A second look at the crowd in Talladega)
William Byron ran great today as he led 38 laps which were the most out of anyone in today’s field. He came home 15th but he was great today. Following Byron was Martin Truex Jr. who is one of the best veteran drivers in Nascar. He doesn’t have a superspeedway win but he comes home 5th. A solid top 5 finish as Truex Jr. stayed out of trouble all day long. Erik Jones and Corey LaJoie were two underrated drivers throughout today. Both racing for two non-powerhouse organizations ran stellar all day. Jones led 25 laps as his #43 ride looked great leading today’s race. LaJoie crossed the line spinning but finished well in 14th. Last but not least, Kevin Harvick finished 10th and ran great for Stewart Haas Racing. Harvick, who is the oldest driver in the Cup Series and not the most popular superspeedway racer, had a great run today.
(A final look at the crowd in Talladega)
In my opinion, today was great. A packed and energetic crowd filled the stands at Talladega all weekend and this afternoon. The racing was tense, and precise which kept everyone on the edge of their seat all day. A superspeedway race brings new faces and teams to the front of the field which is great. To finish the 10th week of the Nascar season, today was great in Talladega. Taking all action into consideration, I’d rate today’s event a 9.5 out of 10. Racing in Dover next weekend should be fun and different for the 11th race this season. On another note, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was impeccable in the broadcast booth today for FOX. Fox Sports has stepped up their game in recent weeks and the addition of Nascar legend and pioneer Dale Earnhardt Jr. was an excellent move. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the best analyst currently in Nascar. NBC will be exciting to watch come this summer when Nascar switches Tv networks.
(Ross Chastain in front of the Talladega crowd)
Leaving behind the high banks of Talladega, we head to the monster mile! Dover Motor Speedway is up next on the Nascar schedule for the 11th race this season. Located in Dover, Delaware, this 1-mile concrete track puts on a show. Practice and qualifying for the Xfinity Series will be Friday afternoon followed by the race the next day. Cup Series practice and qualifying will be Saturday morning. For racing in Dover, tune in Sunday, May 1st for the DuraMAX Drydene 400 only on FS1.
( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)
For next week's race information please view the link down below:
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