Sunday, October 3rd, 2021
Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, AL
An opportune caution and a sudden rain shower helped make Bubba Wallace the second African-American driver ever to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Wallace held the lead in Monday's rain-delayed YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway when Ryan Preece turned into the outside wall off the bumper of Chris Buescher's Ford to cause the fifth caution of the event.
As the cars circled under the yellow, rain drenched the 2.66-mile race track. NASCAR brought the cars to pit road on Lap 118 of a scheduled 188. After another shower thwarted track-drying attempts, NASCAR called the race and declared Wallace the winner.
Wallace is the first black driver to win a race in NASCAR's premier series since Wendell Scott took the checkered flag at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 1, 1963.
It was the first victory for 23XI Racing, a team that debuted this year with driver Denny Hamlin and Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan as co-owners. Drivers outside the respective Playoffs won all three Talladega races in NASCAR's top three divisions this week. All were first-time winners.
Wallace's victory came at the same track where the sport came together to support him after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and after a noose—later found not to be directed at Wallace—was discovered in his garage stall.
"Man, I'm just so proud of everyone at 23XI," Wallace said. "New team coming in and getting a win late in the season. I know a lot of history was made today, I believe, which is really cool, but it's about our guys, about our team, about what was done.
"I appreciate Michael Jordan, I appreciate Denny for believing in me and giving me the opportunity… It's pretty fitting that it comes here at Talladega."
Wallace was choked up when asked about the historic significance of his achievement.
"I never think about those things, and when you say it like that, it obviously brings a lot of emotions, a lot of joy to my family, fans, friends… You've got to stay true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you and stay strong, stay humble, stay hungry.
"There've been plenty of times when I wanted to give up. You surround yourself with the right people, and moments like this that you appreciate."
Team Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano improved their chances of transferring into the Round of 8 in the Playoff with second- and third-place finishes. Kurt Busch was fourth, followed by Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.
The wreck that ultimately made a winner of Wallace severely damaged the Playoff hopes of William Byron, whose Chevrolet was collected by the spinning car of Preece. Byron was relegated to 36th in the finishing order and likely will need a victory in Sunday's Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte to advance to the Round of 8.
"He (Preece) was just coming down the track, and I was kind of trying to run a third lane," Byron said of the wreck. "Just part of Talladega. We'll go to the Roval, try to win that one and advance that way."
Byron was the last of three Hendrick Motorsports drivers to get swept up in an accident. Kyle Larson was the first. By the time the first sudden rain shower of the day darkened the asphalt in Turns 1 and 2 and forced a stoppage on Lap 74, Larson's fortunes already had taken a turn for the worse.
A strong push from Byron's Chevrolet turned Justin Allgaier's Camaro sideways as the cars thundered through the tri-oval on Lap 56. Allgaier shot up the track into Larson's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, severely damaging the front suspension and the sheet metal on the driver's side of the car.
Larson was able to make minimum speed after a restart on Lap 65. The caution for the five-car wreck that crippled Larson's car also encompassed the end of Stage 1, won by non-Playoff driver Chris Buescher.
On Lap 67, Larson shredded his right front tire, which was cocked at an angle toward the outside wall when he resumed racing. He lost three laps on pit road and fell to 39th in the running order as his crew made frantic repairs.
Attrition elevated Larson to 37th at the finish, but he lost the security he had as a six-time winner in the series this year. The regular-season champion leaves Talladega second in the standings but just 22 points above the current cutoff for the Round of 8.
A multicar chain-reaction wreck after the resumption of the action brought an early end to Alex Bowman's afternoon. On Lap 98, Chase Elliott pushed the Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the rear bumper of Bowman's Chevy, turning the No. 48 Camaro into the outside wall and out of the race.
"The 9 (Elliott) just shoved me one last time there, and it got the 48 loose," Stenhouse radioed to his team.
Bowman was fighting for the race lead when he was turned by the contact from Stenhouse's car.
"Yeah, just dumped over on the left rear and turned us around really bad," Bowman said. "Bummer for the Ally 48 team. We had a fast car; we were leading there. That's just superspeedway racing and the box that we're put in by these racetracks. You'll have that. Bummed to have torn up race car, but we'll move on and try to go win the Roval."
Kyle Busch was another victim of the Lap 98 wreck, but the two-time Cup champion remains nine points above the current cut line—tied with defending champion Chase Elliott—heading to the Round of 12 elimination race on Sunday at the Charlotte Roval.
Harvick is nine points below the cutoff, with Bell 28 points in arrears and Byron and Bowman 44 and 52 points on the outside, respectively.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Tampa, FL | Mar 14, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Smithfield | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Bugarewicz |
2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Auburn Hills, MI | Feb 12, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Discount Tire | Team Penske | Jeremy Bullins |
3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chesterfield, VA | Nov 18, 1980 | 43 | Toyota | FedEx Express | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gabehart |
4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Middleton, CT | May 24, 1990 | 34 | Ford | Shell Pennzoil | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe |
5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Bakersfield, CA | Dec 8, 1975 | 48 | Ford | Busch Light #Hunt4Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Greg Zipadelli |
6 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Las Vegas, NV | Aug 4, 1978 | 46 | Chevrolet | Monster Energy | Chip Ganassi Racing | Matt McCall |
7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Las Vegas, NV | May 2, 1985 | 39 | Toyota | M&M's | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore |
8 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Mayetta, NJ | Jun 29, 1980 | 44 | Toyota | Bass Pro Shops | Joe Gibbs Racing | James Small |
9 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Phoenix, AZ | Dec 21, 1984 | 39 | Ford | Love's Travel Stops | Front Row Motorsports | Drew Blickensderfer |
10 | 6 | Ryan Newman | South Bend, IN | Dec 8, 1977 | 46 | Ford | Kohler Generators | RFK Racing | Scott Graves |
11 | 96 | Landon Cassill | Cedar Rapids, IA | Jul 7, 1989 | 35 | Toyota | Carnomaly | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Jacob Canter |
12 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Breztri | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Alexander |
13 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Olive Branch, MS | Oct 2, 1987 | 37 | Chevrolet | SunnyD | JTG Daugherty Racing | Brian Pattie |
14 | 77 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 38 | Chevrolet | Brandt | Spire Motorsports | Kevin Bellicourt |
15 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Sacremento, CA | Jul 31, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Cincinnati | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels |
16 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Tuscon, AZ | Apr 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Ally | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives |
17 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | High Point, NC | Dec 31, 1993 | 30 | Ford | Menards / Maytag | Team Penske | Todd Gordon |
18 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Kannapolis, NC | Sep 25, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Schluter Systems | Spire Motorsports | Ryan Sparks |
19 | 53 | Joey Gase | Cedar Rapids, IA | Feb 8, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Sparks | Rick Ware Racing | Billy Plourde |
20 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Dawsonville, GA | Nov 28, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | Adrenaline Shoc | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson |
21 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Grass Valley, CA | Jul 27, 1991 | 33 | Ford | Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | Wood Brothers Racing | Jonathan Hassler |
22 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Prosper, TX | Oct 29, 1992 | 31 | Ford | Violet Defense | RFK Racing | Luke Lambert |
23 | 43 | Erik Jones | Byron, MI | May 30, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | US Air Force: Special Warfare | Richard Petty Motorsports | Jerry Baxter |
24 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Wauchula, FL | Nov 17, 1983 | 40 | Ford | NASCAR 21 Ignition | Live Fast Motorsports | Frank Kerr |
25 | 37 | Ryan Preece | Berlin, CT | Oct 25, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Kroger / Velveeta | JTG Daugherty Racing | Trent Owens |
26 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Monterrey, Mexico | Jan 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Good Sam | Trackhouse Racing | Travis Mack |
27 | 51 | Cody Ware | Greensboro, NC | Nov 7, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | Nurtec ODT | Petty Ware Racing | Mike Hillman Sr |
28 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | Clover | Chip Ganassi Racing | Phil Surgen |
29 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Mobile, AL | Oct 8, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | McDonalds | 23XI Racing | Bootie Barker |
30 | 24 | William Byron | Charlotte, NC | Nov 29, 1997 | 26 | Chevrolet | Axalta | Hendrick Motorsports | Rudy Fugle |
31 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 26 | Ford | Autodesk / HaasTooling.com | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett |
32 | 15 | Garrett Smithley | Ligonier, PA | Apr 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Boom Mobile | Rick Ware Racing | Ken Evans |
33 | 52 | Josh Bilicki | Menomonee Falls, WI | Jun 3, 1995 | 29 | Ford | Junction Fuels | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Houghtaling |
34 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | Realtree | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burnett |
35 | 00 | Quin Houff | Weyers Cave, VA | Sep 15, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | 8 Ball Chocolate Whiskey | StarCom Racing | George Church |
36 | 116 | Justin Haley | Winamac, IN | Apr 28, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | LeafFilter Gutter Protection | Kaulig Racing | Matt Swiderski |
37 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Norman, OK | Dec 16, 1994 | 29 | Toyota | Rheem | Joe Gibbs Racing | Adam Stevens |
38 | 66 | James Davison | Melbourne, Australia | Aug 28, 1986 | 38 | Ford | Rich-Mar Florist | Motorsports Business Management | Johnny Roten |
39 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mitchell, IN | Dec 15, 1994 | 29 | Ford | Rush Truck Centers / Mobil Delvac 1 | Stewart-Haas Racing | Johnny Klausmeier |
40 | 38 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 25 | Ford | Georgia Peanuts | Front Row Motorsports | Seth Barbour |