Disaster for Hendrick and victory for Chase Briscoe in Talladega NASCAR Cup thriller

As the field approached the finish line, Byron got spun from inside the top five, losing roughly 20 spots. Briscoe captured the checkered flag as the field fanned out three-wide behind him, with Todd Gilliland taking second place.

Ty Gibbs finished third, Bubba Wallace fourth, and Cole Custer fifth. Carson Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Zane Smith, and Brad Keselowski filled out the remainder of the top ten. 

"Ty Gibbs, incredible teammate there," said Briscoe. "I mean, I honestly would not have won that race without Ty. An amazing team effort. I can't believe I won a superspeedway race. I haven't done it at any level.

"Thank you guys so much. Every time we come to Talladega, this place is sold out. Johnny Morris is here from Bass Pro Shops. It's not hit me. We're going to Phoenix."

Stage 1 

While fuel-saving was a driving factor behind it, the field quickly fanned out three and four-wide with some intense movement throughout the field.

At the end of Lap 43, the first round of green-flag pit stops began. There were no incidents, but Hamlin did have a close call as he tried to get down into the pits.

However, there were several drivers who made mistakes as Chastain, Busch, Briscoe, and McLeod were all caught speeding. Keselowski also slid through his pit box and had to backup. Soon after, Hocevar had to return to pit road with a cut tire.

With just a few laps left in Stage 1, a major crash unfolded at the front of the field. A bad bump from Erik Jones turned Noah Gragson into the door of race leader AJ Allmendinger, ultimately collecting seven cars. Among those eliminated from the race was Round of 8 playoff driver Chase Elliott, who will score just one point and faces a must-win situation at Martinsville.

The opening stage ended in a two-lap dash with two Monster cars battling for the stage win. At the line, Gibbs narrowly bested Reddick, followed by Nemechek, Blaney, and Wallace. The only playoff drivers to score Stage 1 points beyond Blaney was Logano in sixth and Bell in tenth.

Stage 2

There was a close call early in the second stage as Alfredo tried to cut from the top all the way to the bottom, but he was not clear. McDowell, who was battling Alfredo for the race lead, actually took evasive action and drove beneath the double yellow line mid-corner to avoid a collision.

During the next round of green-flag pit stops, Van Gisbergen hit a patch of water leaking out from cracks in the track (after heavy overnight showers) and spun. He was very close to taking out several cars, but disaster was avoided as the car spun into the grass without damage. The car got stuck in the mud, which forced a caution in the middle of pit stops.

There were some more penalties during this cycle as well, including speeding penalties for Suarez and Buescher. Wallace and T. Dillon also got hit with safety violations. Dillon actually struck a tire and angered Wood Brothers Racing crew members, who slapped his car as he drove off.

Briscoe claimed the Stage 2 win, followed by Larson, Hocevar, Byron, and Bell. Blaney in eighth was the only other playoff driver to score stage points in Stage 2.

Stage 3

Berry actually went behind the wall to replace the rear gear oil, returning to the race several laps down. Eventually, he went back behind the wall and his day was over. Logano was worried about a similar issue.

Hocevar lost all of his track position due to a speeding penalty during the stage break.

The race went back green for the final stage on Lap 127 of 188.

With 23 laps to go, the Penske duo of Logano and Blaney were in command when Cody Ware's engine blew. He spun in his own oil, bringing out a caution just before the final round of green-flag pit stops.

Hamlin, who was running inside the top five, lost all of his track position during the caution as the team worked on a throttle issue. A run-in on pit road between Byron and Wallace cost Byron a little bit of time, as the Penske cars remained out front.

The race went back green with 17 laps to go and the racing was intense throughout the pack. The Penske cars were shuffled back through the field, and various different drivers took turns out front.

With two laps to go, Chris Buescher got turned from the race lead and slammed the inside wall, pushing the race into overtime. A small group of drivers took the opportunity to pit for more fuel, including the Penske drivers.

Byron and Larson led both lanes for the restart, but that's when it all came apart with the No. 5 out of fuel and the No. 24 getting spun. As Briscoe won the race, Byron finished 25th and Larson 26th, putting them against each other on the cutline for next weekend's elimination race. 

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	C. Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing	19		Toyota	193	3:26'29.027		10	50
2	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	34		Ford	193	+0.145 3:26'29.172	0.145	12	39
3	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54		Toyota	193	+0.162 3:26'29.189	0.017	8	49
4	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23		Toyota	193	+0.169 3:26'29.196	0.007	10	39
5	C. Custer Haas Factory Team	41		Ford	193	+0.279 3:26'29.306	0.110	10	32
6	C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	193	+0.284 3:26'29.311	0.005	11	41
7	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45		Toyota	193	+0.335 3:26'29.362	0.051	8	39
8	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20		Toyota	193	+0.354 3:26'29.381	0.019	9	36
9	Z. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38		Ford	193	+0.403 3:26'29.430	0.049	10	32
10	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6		Ford	193	+0.449 3:26'29.476	0.046	10	27
11	S. van Gisbergen TrackHouse Racing	88		Chevrolet	193	+0.479 3:26'29.506	0.030	11	26
12	D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing	99		Chevrolet	193	+0.503 3:26'29.530	0.024	10	25
13	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1		Chevrolet	193	+0.507 3:26'29.534	0.004	10	24
14	J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club	42		Toyota	193	+0.533 3:26'29.560	0.026	9	33
15	R. Preece RFK Racing	60		Ford	193	+0.537 3:26'29.564	0.004	10	22
16	J. Logano Team Penske	22		Ford	193	+0.553 3:26'29.580	0.016	10	26
17	M. McDowell Spire Motorsports	71		Chevrolet	193	+0.573 3:26'29.600	0.020	10	24
18	C. Mears Garage 66	66		Ford	193	+0.622 3:26'29.649	0.049	11
19	K. Busch Richard Childress Racing	8		Chevrolet	193	+0.756 3:26'29.783	0.134	11	18
20	T. Dillon Kaulig Racing	10		Chevrolet	193	+0.794 3:26'29.821	0.038	11	17
21	A. Alfredo Beard Motorsports	62		Chevrolet	193	+0.907 3:26'29.934	0.113	12
22	A. Hill Richard Childress Racing	33		Chevrolet	193	+1.169 3:26'30.196	0.262	11
23	R. Blaney Team Penske	12		Ford	193	+2.532 3:26'31.559	1.363	11	24
24	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11		Toyota	193	+3.170 3:26'32.197	0.638	13	13
25	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24		Chevrolet	193	+3.849 3:26'32.876	0.679	10	19
26	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5		Chevrolet	193	+32.233 3:27'01.260	28.384	15	20
27	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3		Chevrolet	191	+2 Laps 3:26'46.843	2 Laps	15	10
28	B. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports	78		Chevrolet	187	+6 Laps 3:26'37.234	4 Laps	13
29	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48		Chevrolet	187	+6 Laps 3:27'12.698	35.464	13	9
30	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17		Ford	186	+7 Laps 3:14'54.156	1 Lap	9	7	Accident
31	C. Ware Rick Ware Racing	51		Ford	165	+28 Laps 2:50'08.590	21 Laps	8	6	Engine
32	R. Herbst 23XI Racing	35		Toyota	141	+52 Laps 2:29'10.737	24 Laps	10	5	Engine
33	J. Berry Wood Brothers Racing	21		Ford	133	+60 Laps 2:25'44.575	8 Laps	9	4	Drivetrain
34	A. Cindric Team Penske	2		Ford	77	+116 Laps 3:26'32.355	56 Laps	8	3
35	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43		Toyota	55	+138 Laps 2:14'08.684	22 Laps	12	2	Accident
36	N. Gragson Front Row Motorsports	4		Ford	51	+142 Laps 44'01.659	4 Laps	3	1	Accident
37	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16		Chevrolet	51	+142 Laps 44'01.675	0.016	3	1	Accident
38	R. Stenhouse Jr Hyak Motorsports	47		Chevrolet	51	+142 Laps 44'01.947	0.272	3	1	Accident
39	J. Haley Spire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	51	+142 Laps 44'02.041	0.094	3	1	Accident
40	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	51	+142 Laps 44'02.353	0.312	5	1	Accident
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