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Motorsport

27 different drivers led the Talladega Cup race, nearly toppling NASCAR record

If just two more drivers had spent a single lap out in front of the field, Sunday's 500-mile NASCAR Cup race at Talladega would have matched the record for different race leaders in a single race. This is the first time since the era of the tandem draft NASCAR has seen these kinds of numbers.

The 2010 Aaron's 499 at Talladega holds the record with 29 different race leaders, followed by the 2008 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega at 28, and this past weekend's Yellawood 500 at Talladega now sits third overall with 27. 

77 lead changes on Sunday also places it fourth all-time on that list, which is the most for any race so far during the Next Gen era. The previous record for this car was 72, which came in the spring race at Talladega last year.

Sunday's 193-lap race (five laps beyond the scheduled distance due to overtime) included 40 starters, and of the drivers who actually completed every lap, only six of them failed to take a turn out front. The highest finishing drivers from that group of non-leaders were Cole Custer in fifth, Carson Hocevar in sixth, and Christopher Bell in eighth. 

Joey Logano led the most laps at 35, followed by Josh Berry at 27, and Kyle Busch at 26. None of those drivers managed to finish inside the top 15, but race winner Chase Briscoe led 16 laps en route to capturing the checkered flag.

Pole-sitter Michael McDowell led just five laps in total.

Below is a full list of lap leaders from Sunday's action-packed NASCAR Cup race, and additional details on the 13 drivers who failed to join the lap leaders club on Sunday.

Complete list of lap leaders for 2025 Yellawood 500 at Talladega

Driver Finishing Position Laps Led
Joey Logano 16th 35
Josh Berry 33rd 27
Kyle Busch 19th 26
Chase Briscoe 1st 16
Todd Gilliland 2nd 11
John Hunter Nemechek 14th 11
Brad Keselowski 10th 7
Kyle Larson 26th 6
Bubba Wallace 4th 5
Michael McDowell 17th 5
Cody Ware 31st 5
Ty Gibbs 3rd 4
William Byron 25th 4
Chris Buescher 30th 4
Tyler Reddick 7th 3
Ross Chastain 13th 3
Ryan Blaney 23rd 3
Denny Hamlin 24th 3
Zane Smith 9th 2
Daniel Suarez  12th 2
Ty Dillon 20th 2
Anthony Alfredo 21st 2
Austin Cindric 34th 2
Noah Gragson 36th 2
Ryan Preece 15th 1
Riley Herbst 32nd 1
AJ Allmendinger 34th 1

Drivers who failed to led a single lap and finishing position: Custer (5th), Hocevar (6th), Bell (8th), Shane van Gisbergen (11th), Casey Mears (18th), Austin Hill (22nd), Austin Dillon (27th), BJ McLeod (28th), Alex Bowman (29th), Erik Jones (35th), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (38th), Justin Haley (39th), Chase Elliott (40th).

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