Race Lineup

YellaWood 500

Sunday, October 1st, 2023

Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, AL

  • 17 Chevrolet
  • 15 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Sunday, October 1st, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Ryan Blaney wins YellaWood 500 thriller at Talladega to advance in NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs

Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford crossed the finish line about a foot ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick to claim victory in a thrilling final 10-lap push to the YellaWood 500 checkered flag at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday.

With the crucial Playoff win – Blaney’s third on the famed 2.66-mile high-banks – the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford punched his ticket to the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after being points away from elimination at the Talladega green flag three hours earlier.

Blaney led eight laps on the day but was out front the final two laps to secure the win by a slight .012-second – about the length of a tire – over former series champion, Harvick, who is retiring at the end of the season. It’s the 29-year old Blaney’s second trophy of the season and ninth of his career.

“I don’t really know, pretty wild last restart, let alone last couple laps,’’ said a smiling Blaney, who admitted he wasn’t sure if he won until his spotter confirmed. “Kinda lost momentum, then getting it back, got clear to the bottom to kind get to the front row and drag race it out with Kevin [Harvick]. It’s so cool to win here three times at Talladega.

“I won it by more than I had the last couple years,’’ Blaney conceded with a laugh. “You just don’t know. You have to drag race to the line and hope you get help. William [Byron] gave me a pretty good shove on the bottom.’’

“This is such a special place to win at so I cannot wait to go to Victory Lane,’’ he said.

Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford failed post-race inspection, resulting in a disqualification. As a result, he was moved to last place in the running order. Playoff drivers Byron, who drives the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and Denny Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota finished second and third. Spire Motorsports’ Corey Lajoie was fourth – his third career Top-5 finish – just ahead of a multi-car accident just before the finish line. 

Blaney’s Penske teammate Austin Cindric, Hendrick’s Chase Elliott, Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley, Harvick’s teammate Ryan Preece and Front Row Racing’s Riley Herbst – making only his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series start – rounded out the Top-10.

It was a typical action-packed ‘Dega day with 70 lead changes among 24 drivers. Blaney’s teammate Joey Logano led the most laps (24) but finished 25th.

Seven drivers led double-digit laps, but only one of those – Byron – was a Playoff driver.

Hamlin’s fourth place final effort was especially impressive considering he was issued a pit road penalty mid-race and had to recover from being a lap down. 

“Not how we drew it up, but a dub (W) is a dub (W) and that was a dub (W) in our book,’’ Hamlin said. “As close as it gets to it. Made a statement bringing me a car fast enough for us to win. And obviously when I had to go there, I could, and just made the right moves at the right time and a Top-5 is a long way from where we were with about 15 laps to go.’’

Blaney joins last week’s Texas winner Byron with victories in this three-race Playoff round to earn a position in the next eight-driver round. Hamlin’s rally – after running outside the Top-20 for much of the middle of the race – keeps his position atop the Playoff standings (50 points) among those 12 drivers still Playoff eligible.

JGR’s Christopher Bell, who finished 15th, remains fourth in the championship standings. Roush Fenway Keselowski driver Chris Buescher, who finished 20th at Talladega, is ranked fifth. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson, who finished 16th Sunday, holds a 17-point edge on the eight-driver cut-off line tied with regular season champion Martin Truex Jr., who finished 19th at Talladega.

Brad Keselowski, one of two Playoff drivers to suffer a DNF on Sunday, still holds a slim two-point edge on Tyler Reddick for that eighth and final transfer position going into next week’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL, which will determine which eight drivers advance to the penultimate three-race round to set the Championship Four field.

23XI Racing’s Reddick, who finished 17th, is in ninth place – a mere two-points back. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain who was involved in an early-race accident and suffered his first DNF of the Playoffs dropped below the cutoff line for the first time this round and is now 10th place, nine points back. 

Chastain is tied in points with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, a former Talladega race winner who finished a frustrating 24th on Sunday. His team co-owner, NBA superstar Michael Jordan met up with Wallace on pit road after the race offering a handshake, pat on the back and some encouraging words.

Two-time series champion Kyle Busch still finds himself in a catch-up role, essentially needing a walk-off victory next week at the ROVAL road course through Charlotte Motor Speedway. He finished 26th and now sits 26 points behind eighth place Keselowski.

Keselowski’s position in the standings – thanks in part to his sixth stage win (stage 2) of the season – is remarkable considering his tough luck day at Talladega. He was among the eight cars collected in Talladega’s “Big One” with 25 laps remaining that brought out a nearly 10-minute red flag for clean-up.

Chastain was the first NASCAR Cup Series Playoff driver to suffer a major Talladega woe – caught up in an incident involving Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on Lap 59 racing toward the Lap 60 Stage 1 break. Busch made contact with Stenhouse’s Chevy, which was slowing on track after running out of gas. As Busch swerved to avoid crashing, his No. 8 Chevy caught the corner of Chastain’s No. 1 Chevy. It sent Chastain hard into the wall and then directly to the garage, his first DNF of the Playoffs.

“It’s just the way it goes, nothing personal with it, I don’t take any of this personally here,’’ said Chastain, who finished runner-up in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship. “Could have stayed bottom a few laps earlier probably, just had a couple cars laying in my lap and I went for the gap. Will study it and be better next time.

“Lefts and rights and living my dream,’’ he said of the crucial ROVAL race next weekend, “so whatever our team brings next week we’ll put our best foot forward as long as I’m getting to drive these rocket ships that Trackhouse [Racing] brings me, I’m living my dream and we’ll keep fighting.’’

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 188
  • Margin of Victory: 0.012 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 7 Minutes 25 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 160.097
  • Cautions: 4 for 19 laps
  • Lead Changes: 70
  • Green Flag Passes: 19,946 (118.0 passes per green flag lap)

  • Talladega Superspeedway
  • YellaWood 500
  • Race Winner: Ryan Blaney
  • Age: 29
  • Team : No. 12 - Menards/Pennzoil Ford
  • Owner: Roger Penske
  • Crew Chief: Jonathan Hassler
  • Ryan Blaney won the YellaWood 500, his ninth victory in 301 Cup Series races.
  • This is his second victory and 14th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his third victory and eighth top-10 finish in 19 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Denny Hamlin (third) posted his 16th top-10 finish in 36 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • William Byron (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 12 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Ty Gibbs (35th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • William Byron leads the point standings by 28 points over Denny Hamlin.
The NASCAR Garage 56 car during the Rolex 24
Daytona Beach, Florida - January 29, 2023 : The NASCAR Garage 56 car is seen on display during the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.
James GilbertGetty Images
Race lineup for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway
START VEH # DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 10 Aric Almirola Ford Smithfield Stewart-haas Racing Drew Blickensderfer
2 22 Joey Logano Ford Shell Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
3 14 Chase Briscoe Ford Old Spice Stewart-haas Racing Richard Boswell
4 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet Valvoline / HendrickCars.com Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
5 6 Brad Keselowski Ford Solomon Plumbing Rfk Racing Matt McCall
6 36 Riley Herbst Ford TBA Front Row Motorsports Tony Manzer
7 2 Austin Cindric Ford Discount Tire Team Penske Brian Wilson
8 24 William Byron Chevrolet Axalta Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
9 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota Leidos 23xi Racing Bootie Barker
10 12 Ryan Blaney Ford Menards\Pennzoil Team Penske Jonathan Hassler
11 4 Kevin Harvick Ford Busch Light Camo Stewart-haas Racing Rodney Childers
12 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota Mavis Tires & Brakes Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
13 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota McDonald's 23xi Racing Billy Scott
14 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops Richard Childress Racing Keith Rodden
15 20 Christopher Bell Toyota DEWALT Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
16 19 Martin Truex Jr Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
17 38 Todd Gilliland Ford Georgia Peanuts Front Row Motorsports Ryan Bergenty
18 34 Michael McDowell Ford Love's Travel Stops Front Row Motorsports Travis Peterson
19 41 Ryan Preece Ford Wonder Bread Stewart-haas Racing Chad Johnston
20 48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Blake Harris
21 21 Harrison Burton Ford DEX Imaging Wood Brothers Racing Jeremy Bullins
22 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota Monster Energy Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gayle
23 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet LLumar Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
24 17 Chris Buescher Ford BuildSubmarines.com Rfk Racing Scott Graves
25 8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet X World Wallet Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
26 43 Erik Jones Chevrolet Allegiant Legacy Motor Club Dave Elenz
27 51 JJ Yeley Ford Biohaven/Jacob Co. Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
28 99 Daniel Suarez Chevrolet Tootsies Orchid Lounge Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack
29 15 Brennan Poole Ford Finance Pro Plus Rick Ware Racing Jerry Kelley
30 31 Justin Haley Chevrolet Morris-Shea Bridge Co., Inc. Kaulig Racing Trent Owens
31 16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet Action Industries Kaulig Racing Matt Swiderski
32 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet Worldwide Express Trackhouse Racing Phil Surgen
33 77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet Ferris Commercial Mowers Spire Motorsports Bono Manion
34 13 Chandler Smith Chevrolet Quick Tie Products, Inc. Kaulig Racing Eddie Pardue
35 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet Sara Lee Artesano Bakery Bread Jtg Daugherty Racing Mike Kelley
36 7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet Gainbridge Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
37 78 BJ McLeod Chevrolet Gunk Live Fast Motorsports David Ingram
38 42 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet Sunseeker Resorts Legacy Motor Club Luke Lambert