NASCAR
Ricky Stenhouse Jr Edges Brad Keselowski in Talladega Photo Finish
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Following a field-clearing melee taking out over half the cars on track, very few contenders were left at Talladega. In overtime, Ricky Stenhouse Jr had command and just eked ahead of Brad Keselowski. 0.006 of a second was all the advantage the JTG Daugherty Racing driver had at the finish line, taking home his fourth career victory. Stenhouse now owns a pair of superspeedway wins at both Daytona and Talladega, with a triumph in each track’s spring and fall race.
From the drop of the green flag, on track intensity was ratcheted up to peak level. Several laps on end of three and even four-wide racing for the lead kept everyone on their toes, and saw many different leaders. Thanks to a last-lap pass in Stage 1, Chris Buescher took this win.
The dramatic but clean racing would come to an abrupt end at the Stage 2 finish. Ryan Blaney got turned from the middle lane and smashed the wall right at the start/finish line. Blaney was none too happy with some decisions by a few drivers behind him. Blaney’s teammate Austin Cindric also took the Stage 2 win.
Stage 3 saw the same high octane, pins-and-needles racing that defined the first half. The close quarters of the pack would rear its ugly head however with four laps left. A badly timed push sent Austin Cindric careening across traffic, and took out many bystanders. In all 23 cars were listed as involved in this version of The Big One.
With very few cars left remaining, Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Brad Keselowski were door-to-door in overtime. Coming down to the line, Stenhouse had just enough of a run to beat the No. 6 by a nose at the checkered flag. The eventual margin of victory was a mere 0.006 of a second, yet another nail biter in 2024 NASCAR.
“We had our Chevy teammates behind us, and I was hoping Kyle [Larson] wasn’t going to push the 6 that hard,” Stenhouse said. “I knew the 24 was probably going to try and get to the line there.”
“But, man, this team has put a lot of hard work in. Obviously we haven’t won since the 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season.”
“It was a lot of hard work this season just trying to find a little bit of speed, but we knew that this track is one of ours to come get. So for all of our Southern Mississippi people, appreciate you all coming. This means a lot, winning here.”
“Got to say we’re thinking about everybody in Western North Carolina. Brad Daugherty, his family right where he grew up there in Black Mountain, a lot of people are struggling.”
“I wish my wife and son, Stetson, were here. They didn’t come this weekend. I’ll see you all at home, and man, what a day.”
“Just proud of this group. The whole Kroger, Palmolive, NOS Energy Drink team. There are so many people, SunnyD. There are so many people that helped this. Campers Inn. Man, there’s just so many great product partners in this Kroger program. Glad to give them another win.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing (Brad Daugherty). I’m looking forward to going to North Carolina and helping the clean-up. We’re working on that you now with Team Rubicon to go out there and help clean-up. Looking forward to that. This win is really, really special.”
Stenhouse is the 18th man to grab a Cup Series victory in the 2024 season. This tally only trails 2001 and 2022 (19) for the most different winners in a season. Five races are left to tie or potentially break this record.
Behind Stenhouse and Keselowski, William Byron made it a three-wide photo finish. Kyle Larson finally gets a decent superspeedway result in fourth, and Erik Jones was fifth. Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin were the top-10. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
The 12 contenders left will be whittled down to eight after the Charlotte Roval next week. The seventh annual Bank of America Roval 400 goes green Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The tricky hybrid layout has a few new tricks in store this year with some new corners. Drama could be high with everything at stake for some drivers.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
