Jack Link’s 500 @ Talladega

Welcome to beautiful Talladega, Alabama, the biggest and fastest track on the NASCAR schedule. 

Zane Smith sat on the pole for the first time in his career and led us to the green flag. The starting top-10 was as follows: 

1. Zane Smith – 38
2. Kyle Busch – 8 
3. Joey Logano – 22 
4. Ryan Preece – 60 
5. Austin Dillion – 3 
6. Chris Buescher – 17 
7. Austin Cindric – 2
8. Josh Berry – 21 
9. Ryan Blaney – 12 
10. Ty Gibbs – 54 

This race started out smoothly. Our first caution didn’t come until lap 43, when while trying to pit, Brad Keselowksi (6) and Kyle Busch made contact and spun, collecting Ryan Blaney. While under caution, most of the lead lap cars pitted. Then, on lap 52, after a bad push from Denny Hamlin (11), Christopher Bell (20) spun down the backstretch with the 17, and made hard contact with the inside wall. Blaney, Buescher, Bell and Keselowksi all had their days ended. 

Stage One ends with a top-5 of the following: 

1. Kyle Larson 
2. William Byron (24) 
3. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (47) 
4. Chase Elliott (9) 
5. Bubba Wallace (23) 

Aside from the start of stage cautions, stage two went on without any cautions. Stage Two ended with a top-5 as follows: 

1. Bubba Wallace 
2. Joey Logano 
3. Kyle Larson 
4. Austin Cindric 
5. Carson Hocevar (77) 

On lap 187, with only two left to go, the 5 of Larson attempts to make a push to pass Cindric for the lead, which backfired for Larson. 

Austin Cindric wins! This victory marks a 30+ winless race streak for the 2. 

The Final Top-10: 

1. Austin Cindric
2. Ryan Preece 
3. Kyle Larson 
4. William Byron 
5. Joey Logano 
6. Noah Gragson (4) 
7. Chase Elliott 
8. Casron Hocevar (77) 
9. ALex Bowman (48) 
10. Bubba Wallace

Photo credits to @/NASCAR on NBC on X.