NASCAR returned to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend after a two-week break. Talladega has long been a cornerstone of NASCAR history. Opening in 1969, the massive 2.66-mile tri-oval in Alabama is famed for its steep banking, lightning-fast speeds, and jaw-dropping finishes.
Hosting two NASCAR Cup Series races a year, Talladega is a track where anything can — and often does — happen. The venue has seen legendary battles, massive wrecks, and underdog triumphs, making it one of the calendar’s most unpredictable and thrilling stops.
Today’s 500-mile Cup Series race at Talladega was no exception.
Kiwi Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen qualified 36th for the chaotic 500-mile race. Incredibly, just one second separated 36 cars out of the 39-car field. Zane Smith claimed his first career pole position, edging out Kyle Busch.
Trackhouse Racing teammates Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain lined up 24th and 32nd, respectively, as the team continues to grapple with qualifying speed this season, forcing their drivers to work from mid-pack or the rear.
The green flag dropped, and Michael McDowell wasted no time, surging forward from 14th to the front by Lap 7, overtaking Zane Smith. Van Gisbergen, however, slipped back to 39th early. Kyle Larson, starting 25th, struggled too, dropping back to 35th by Lap 25.
Chase Briscoe captured the lead with six Toyotas—Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst, and Tyler Reddick—stacked up behind him. Briscoe pitted alongside 14 others but stalled on pit road, losing precious track position.
The race’s first caution came when Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney tangled trying to enter pit road, collecting two more cars and sliding off-track.
Kyle Busch was also caught in the chaos, suffering steering damage. Keselowski, Busch, and Blaney were forced to retire from the race, while Alex Bowman sustained minor contact but continued.
Following pit stops and the incident cleanup, van Gisbergen—who had yet to pit—found himself running 9th with 13 laps remaining in Stage 1.
With the pit road closed during the cleanup, drivers began warning about flickering fuel lights. When pit road reopened, Van Gisbergen made his stop, picking up one position to rejoin the field in 24th.
As racing resumed, Chris Buescher took the lead. However, Hamlin gave teammate Christopher Bell a series of bumper taps that loosened Bell’s car, causing him to collide with Buescher.
Bell slammed into the inside wall head-on while Buescher hit the wall sideways. Both drivers’ days ended early due to the heavy damage.
Racing returned to green with five laps to go of the first stage. Hamlin led the pack ahead of Ryan Preece, Herbst, Wallace, and Cole Custer. In a dramatic last-lap four-wide battle, Larson charged through to take his first-ever Stage 1 win at Talladega.
Van Gisbergen ended Stage 1 in 31st, Suarez finished 18th, and Chastain 20th.
However, Larson’s celebration was short-lived, as he was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart Stage 2 at the rear.
Stage 2 launched with renewed intensity. Fourteen laps in, Van Gisbergen had climbed up to 16th, Suarez up to 8th, and Chastain surged into the race lead.
Trackhouse Racing cars were thriving, with the field going three and four wide while saving fuel. Van Gisbergen showed strong pace, moving into 12th, while Larson was on a comeback run, reaching 14th.
Josh Berry joined the front row to battle Chastain and Anthony Alfredo for the lead. Van Gisbergen kept charging and cracked the Top 10, rising to 7th as all three Trackhouse drivers occupied Top 10 spots.
However, with 19 laps left in Stage 2, Van Gisbergen slipped back to 19th after a strong stint. After leading much of the stage, Chastain fell to 7th, and Suarez dropped just outside the Top 10 in 14th
Joey Logano assumed the lead as the field lapped Kyle Busch, who had gone a lap down following a pit stop for a tyre change.
Pit strategies unfolded with 12 laps to go. Van Gisbergen made a mistake, sliding too fast into the pit road and earning a pit lane speeding penalty. Suarez compounded Trackhouse’s woes by missing his pit stall and having to reverse back in. Chase Elliott also incurred a penalty for pit road speeding.
Green-flag pit stops shuffled the order, with only a handful staying out. McDowell stayed out in an attempt to collect the Stage 2 win while most others pitted. Meanwhile, John Hunter Nemechek spun exiting pit road, but the race stayed green.
After serving his drive-through penalty, Van Gisbergen rejoined 33rd—the last car on the lead lap—before going a lap down with two laps left in the stage.
In a fierce final push, Bubba Wallace stole the Stage 2 victory with a staggering 47 lead changes among 19 different drivers during the stage. Larson impressively recovered from his earlier penalty to finish Stage 2 in third.
Heading into the final stage, Briscoe, Herbst, Gibbs, and Hamlin restarted at the front after short-filling their tanks before the stage break.
The final 68 laps got underway, with Briscoe leading ahead of Gibbs and Herbst in a Toyota sweep of the Top 3. Suarez restarted 21st, Chastain 24th, and Van Gisbergen 34th, a lap down and struggling to recover after the drive-through penalty.
Despite their earlier promise, all three Trackhouse drivers fell back in the final stage—Suarez dropped to 30th, Chastain to 31st, and Van Gisbergen to last.
With 36 laps remaining, Ty Gibbs maintained the lead ahead of Hamlin, Herbst, Wallace, and Briscoe. Logano, Todd Gilliland, Smith, Gragson, and Larson completed the Top 10.
Pit stops again jumbled the order, and with 26 laps left, Logano moved to the lead.
The closing laps were pure Talladega chaos. William Byron grabbed the lead with nine laps to go, battling fiercely with Cindric.
Bowman, Larson, Gragson, Preece, and others were all in the mix.
Five laps to go saw Preece take the lead, but Cindric wasn’t done. With two laps left, intense bumper-to-bumper action exploded across the front of the pack.
In a heart-stopping final sprint, Cindric edged Preece in a photo finish to win at Talladega, with Larson third, Byron fourth, and Logano fifth. Gragson, Elliott, Hocevar, Bowman, and Wallace rounded out the Top 10.
Cindric moves up seven places in the driver championship standings to 15th after today’s race win with 218 points.
For Trackhouse Racing, it was a mixed bag: Suarez finished just outside the Top 10 in 11th, Chastain managed 22nd, and Van Gisbergen settled for 31st after showing mid-race promise running in the Top 10 before his costly penalty.
Van Gisbergen now sits 35th in the driver championship standings out of 43 drivers.
NASCAR returns next week to Texas Motor Speedway on Monday 5th May. Van Gisbergen has some experience at the Texas track after he finished 18th in the Xfinity Series last year.
Header Image: Trackhouse Racing
