TALLADEGA – April 24, 2022 – ANTHONY HOLBROOK
The NASCAR Cup Series invaded the 2.66 mile Talladega Super Speedway, Sunday, April 24, 2022 for the 53rd Annual GEICO 500. The facility is located on the former Anninston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. Talladaga Superspeedway nicknamed “Dega” and recognized the longest NASCAR oval track on circuit only to be compared to Daytona International Speedway, which measures 2.5 mile diameter.
53rd Annual GEICO 500– Recap:
29-year old Floridian Ross Chastain was trailing third behind Erik Jones and Kyle Larson with only one lap to decide the victor. Kyle Larson would sling shot to the outside, targeting to make a pass for the lead and win. Erik Jones will have no part guarding the intrusion of reining Cup Champ. Ross Chastain dialed his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet parallel below the battling duo of Jones and Larson to cruise to his second NASCAR Cup Series win of his 2022 campaign. Unfortunately, Jones found himself less than one lap away from giving Petty GMS Motorsports and team owner Richard Petty their first win since 2014.
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon checking off a season best finish of second, followed by previous NASCAR Cup Series race winner Kyle Busch. Kyle Larson was able to salvage fourth, for his first top-5 finish in a restrictor plate race in 31 attempts. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron quest for checkers would be interrupted after his final pit stop after dominating 38 of the 188 laps of the event. The 2nd stage winner day suffers a 15th place finish.
The 53rd Annual GEICO 500 ending featuring 41 lead changes among 16 drivers.
Kyle Larson’s Hendrick’s teammate Chase Elliott, a former Talladega winner, finished seventh and extended the championship lead over 11th place finisher, Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney by 21 points.
NASCAR Cup Series Race
53rd Annual GEICO 500
1. (19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 188.
2. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188.
3. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188.
4. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 188.
5. (2) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 188.
6. (16) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 188.
7. (28) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 188.
8. (21) Michael McDowell, Ford, 188.
9. (27) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188.
10. (24) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 188.
11. (22) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 188.
12. (11) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 188.
13. (23) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188.
14. (33) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 188.
15. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, 188.
16. (6) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 188.
17. (9) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 188.
18. (7) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188.
19. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 188.
20. (31) Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, 188.
21. (18) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 188.
22. (1) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 187.
23. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 187.
24. (36) David Ragan, Ford, 186.
25. (38) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 185.
26. (37) BJ McLeod, Ford, 172.
27. (32) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, Accident, 121.
28. (34) Cody Ware, Ford, DVP, 105.
29. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, Engine, 98.
30. (26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 95.
31. (4) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, DVP, 92.
32. (13) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 89.
33. (20) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 89.
34. (25) Harrison Burton #, Ford, Accident, 89.
35. (35) Greg Biffle, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 79.
36. (3) Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 56.
37. (17) Chase Briscoe, Ford, Accident, 56.
38. (30) Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 56.
39. (10) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Engine, 31.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 23,5,20,24,19,9,45,43,48,47
Stage #2 Top Ten: 24,9,5,19,48,18,10,43,1,45
Average Speed of Race Winner: 148.637 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 21 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.105 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps.
The NASCAR Cup Series dashes to Dover, Delaware Sunday, May 1st for the:
DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by ReLaDyne
3 p.m. ET
FS1
MRN
SiriusXM NASCAR Radio 90
Alex Bowman is defending champ at the Monster Mile.
