CUP Series Talladega Superspeedway

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Check out the DraftKings DFS driver scoring results for the 2021 GEICO 500, highlighting points breakdowns, top performers, and fantasy stats from the Talladega Superspeedway race.

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GEICO 500

Sunday, April 25th, 2021

Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, AL

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  • 14 Ford
  • 7 Toyota
  • 19 Chevrolet

  • Talladega Superspeedway
  • GEICO 500
  • Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin
  • Age: 40
  • Team: No. 11 - FedEx Ground Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
  • Crew Chief: Chris Gabehart
  • Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
  • Denny Hamlin won the Pole Award for the GEICO 500 by having the highest total PMQ.
  • PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
  • 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position.
  • 25% of the driver's final race finish position.
  • 25% of the owner's final race position.
  • 35% of the Owner Points position.

  • Sunday, April 25th, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Brad Keselowski snags dramatic overtime victory at Talladega

Despite sustaining damage in an early wreck, and despite leading only one lap in Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski nailed down an opportunistic overtime victory in the 10th event of the NASCAR Cup Series season.

Surging to the front on the final lap, after fellow Ford driver Matt DiBenedetto abandoned the bottom lane and gave Keselowski a clear run to the front, Keselowski claimed his first victory of the season, the 35th of his career and his sixth at Talladega, tying Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second-most all-time at the 2.66-mile track.

As the ninth different winner this season, Keselowski joined Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney on the 2021 victory list.

Keselowski said he thought "Merry Christmas!" to himself when the bottom lane opened up on the final lap.

"The whole race, I had a couple of opportunities to take the lead, but I just kept thinking, ‘Man, just keep your car in one piece till the end.' We've been so close here, and it just didn't seem to want to come together here the last few years, and I've been on kind of a four-year drought here, but it's nice to get number six.

"I would have never dreamed I'd tie Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. here. That's something. Those guys are really legends. I'm just really proud of my team. We had an accident there early, and they recovered and got it fixed up to where I could keep running. My crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, had a lot of confidence.

"I told him (before pitting on Lap 173 of a scheduled 188), ‘I want to come in and put four tires on this thing,' and he said, ‘Yep, go ahead.' And that really helped a bunch at the end."

William Byron ran second, extending his streak of top-10 finishes to eight races. Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell was third, followed by Kevin Harvick and DiBenedetto. Kaz Grala, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Cole Custer completed the top 10.

DiBenedetto held the lead at the white flag in overtime, which took the race three laps beyond its posted distance. But the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford moved up the track - uncovering Keselowski behind him — to block a run by Blaney. Keselowski used a strong push from McDowell to charge to the lead.

"Our day will come," DiBenedetto said ruefully of the lost opportunity. "We'll get there… It's just so circumstantial—our day will come."

Joey Logano had a much shorter day on track than his winning Team Penske teammate. As the lead pack of cars approached the green/checkered flag to end the first 60-lap stage of the race, an aggressive push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. forced Denny Hamlin out of line. In the process, Hamlin hooked the left rear of Logano's car, which got airborne off the bumper of Stenhouse's Chevrolet, turned upside-down, landing on its roof and barrel-rolled before righting itself. Keselowski's car also sustained minor damage in the incident.

When Logano's car bounced on its roof, his head hit the roll bar.

"It's nobody's fault," Logano said after a mandatory visit to the infield care center. "Denny is trying to go and the 47 (Stenhouse) is trying to go. It's a product of this racing. We have to fix it, though… At the same time, I'm appreciative of driving a car that is this safe and what Team Penske has done for the safety of these cars so that I can live to talk about it and go again.

"I got lucky that I didn't get hit while I was in the air."

The end of the second stage also produced fireworks, and once again, Hamlin was at the center of the maelstrom. As the top lane accordioned behind Keselowski, who was running second at the time, Martin Truex Jr. tapped Hamlin from behind, turning the No. 11 Toyota into the wall.

Truex then spun sideways, sustaining damage. Behind him, Byron steered down the track to the avoid the wreck and collected Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott in a chain-reaction collision. Bowman couldn't get his car repaired in the requisite six minutes and fell out of the race in 38th place.

Series points leader Hamlin, who led a race-high 43 laps, finished 32nd, three laps down.

Elliott, the reigning series champion, was able to continue and finished 24th. Harrison Burton came home 20th in his NASCAR Cup Series debut.

  • Drivers Entered: 40
  • Laps Scheduled: 188
  • Laps Actual: 191 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.102 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 26 Minutes 30 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 147.620
  • Cautions: 7 for 34 laps
  • Lead Changes: 35
  • Green Flag Passes: 9,738 (62.0 passes per green flag lap)

  • Talladega Superspeedway
  • 52nd Annual GEICO 500
  • Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
  • Age: 37
  • Team : No. 2 - MoneyLion Ford
  • Owner: Team Penske
  • Crew Chief: Jeremy Bullins
  • Brad Keselowski won the 52nd Annual GEICO 500, his 35th victory in 423 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2021.
  • This is his sixth victory and 12th top-10 finish in 25 races at Talladega Superspeedway - Keselowski ties NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon for second-most series wins at Talladega all-time with six wins each.
  • William Byron (second) posted his second top-10 finish in seven races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his eighth top-10 finish in 2021.
  • Michael McDowell (third) posted his second top-10 finish in 21 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Chase Briscoe (11th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • This is Team Penske's 10th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • This is the 31st time a Ford has won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Matt DiBenedetto leads the field
Talladega, Alabama - April 25, 2021 : Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the #21 Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, 2021 in Talladega, Alabama.
James GilbertGetty Images
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GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Draftkings results
FINISH & PLACE DIFFERENTIAL POINTS FAST LAP POINTS LAPS LED POINTS TOTAL POINTS
RNK SLRY DRIVER TEAM # MAKE LAPS DR ST FIN FIN PTS PD PTS FST % FST FST PTS LED % LED LED PTS TOT PTS
4 10,500 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 2 Ford 191 117.90 10 1 45 9 5 3.36 2.25 1 0.5 0.25 56.50
10 8,000 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 191 99.40 4 2 42 2 5 3.36 2.25 12 6.3 3.00 49.25
2 7,200 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports 34 Ford 191 104.30 23 3 41 20 5 3.36 2.25 0 0.0 0.00 63.25
3 9,600 Kevin Harvick Stewart Haas Racing 4 Ford 191 94.10 16 4 40 12 4 2.68 1.80 12 6.3 3.00 56.80
5 8,200 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing 21 Ford 191 104.30 13 5 39 8 3 2.01 1.35 28 14.7 7.00 55.35
1 5,800 Kaz Grala Kaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 191 64.30 38 6 38 32 4 2.68 1.80 0 0.0 0.00 71.80
8 6,500 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 191 77.60 20 7 37 13 1 0.67 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 50.45
13 7,700 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 191 88.90 11 8 36 3 9 6.04 4.05 0 0.0 0.00 43.05
15 10,100 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 12 Ford 191 97.70 7 9 35 -2 2 1.34 0.90 11 5.8 2.75 36.65
7 6,800 Cole Custer Stewart Haas Racing 41 Ford 191 89.70 27 10 34 17 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 51.00
9 6,600 Chase Briscoe Stewart Haas Racing 14 Ford 191 78.70 25 11 32 14 9 6.04 4.05 1 0.5 0.25 50.30
6 5,700 Anthony Alfredo Front Row Motorsports 38 Ford 191 61.10 30 12 31 18 5 3.36 2.25 0 0.0 0.00 51.25
12 7,600 Ryan Newman RFK Racing 6 Ford 191 60.10 28 13 30 15 2 1.34 0.90 2 1.1 0.50 46.40
11 6,400 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing 37 Chevrolet 191 93.30 29 14 29 15 5 3.36 2.25 9 4.7 2.25 48.50
18 8,700 Aric Almirola Stewart Haas Racing 10 Ford 191 71.50 14 15 28 -1 5 3.36 2.25 16 8.4 4.00 33.25
17 6,100 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing 42 Chevrolet 191 79.10 18 16 27 2 4 2.68 1.80 12 6.3 3.00 33.80
27 7,400 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 191 92.70 6 17 26 -11 5 3.36 2.25 2 1.1 0.50 17.75
25 9,200 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Toyota 191 93.40 9 18 25 -9 2 1.34 0.90 6 3.1 1.50 18.40
16 7,000 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing 23 Toyota 191 92.90 24 19 24 5 7 4.7 3.15 16 8.4 4.00 36.15
14 7,900 Harrison Burton Gaunt Brothers Racing 96 Toyota 191 58.40 39 20 23 19 2 1.34 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 42.90
23 6,300 Chris Buescher RFK Racing 17 Ford 191 80.30 21 21 21 0 4 2.68 1.80 0 0.0 0.00 22.80
21 5,600 Corey Lajoie Spire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 191 49.10 26 22 20 4 1 0.67 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 24.45
26 6,200 Daniel Suarez Trackhouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 191 51.30 19 23 19 -4 7 4.7 3.15 0 0.0 0.00 18.15
32 10,300 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 191 61.80 8 24 18 -16 5 3.36 2.25 3 1.6 0.75 5.00
22 4,700 BJ McLeod Live Fast Motorsports 78 Ford 191 43.30 31 25 17 6 1 0.67 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 23.45
19 5,400 JJ Yeley Rick Ware Racing 15 Chevrolet 191 46.50 37 26 16 11 1 0.67 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 27.45
29 7,500 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports 43 Chevrolet 190 62.00 22 27 15 -5 10 6.71 4.50 7 3.7 1.75 16.25
24 4,500 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing 51 Chevrolet 190 37.70 33 28 14 5 2 1.34 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 19.90
20 5,000 Timmy Hill Motorsports Business Management 66 Toyota 190 35.70 40 29 13 11 3 2.01 1.35 0 0.0 0.00 25.35
28 5,900 Justin Haley Spire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet 190 37.00 34 30 12 4 1 0.67 0.45 0 0.0 0.00 16.45
37 8,900 Martin Truex Jr Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 189 71.00 3 31 10 -28 6 4.03 2.70 0 0.0 0.00 -15.30
35 10,000 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 188 90.10 1 32 9 -31 4 2.68 1.80 43 22.9 10.75 -9.45
34 8,500 Ricky Stenhouse Jr JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Chevrolet 186 53.90 17 33 8 -16 6 4.03 2.70 0 0.0 0.00 -5.30
30 4,900 Joey Gase Rick Ware Racing 28 Chevrolet 186 30.00 35 34 7 1 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 8.00
36 8,300 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing 1 Chevrolet 185 64.60 15 35 6 -20 8 5.37 3.60 0 0.0 0.00 -10.40
31 5,200 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing 52 Ford 180 27.60 36 36 5 0 2 1.34 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 5.90
33 4,600 Quin Houff StarCom Racing 00 Chevrolet 168 41.60 32 37 4 -5 2 1.34 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 -0.10
39 9,000 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 123 73.00 5 38 3 -33 2 1.34 0.90 0 0.0 0.00 -29.10
40 9,800 Joey Logano Team Penske 22 Ford 59 73.90 2 39 2 -37 0 0 0.00 10 17.0 2.50 -32.50
38 9,400 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 3 23.20 12 40 1 -28 0 0 0.00 0 0.0 0.00 -27.00