Kyle Larson captures dominant first superspeedway win at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kyle Larson captures his first NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway win at the YellaWood 500 from Talladega in dominant fashion.
This is his 35th career Cup Series victory. This is also the third on the season and in the Chase for the driver of the No. 5 too.
What a finish! Kyle Larson goes from leading at the white flag to 11th on the backstretch off of turn two and back to the lead for the win at the stripe.
After a terrible weekend at Phoenix it looked as though his troubles might continue here at Talladega.
His 20.1 average finish at the superspeedway raised concerns before the Chase and before the race, but Larson and company delivered a dominant day.
Larson qualified inside the top ten from tenth and maintained the top spot in the second pack to end the opening stage in fourth.
Then, he nearly won the second stage as he lost the drag race to the line against Joey Logano for a race-high and Chase-best 16 stage points on the day.
In the final stage, he led more laps (13) in the stage alone than his previous seven races combined (11) at the track.
With his fellow Chase competitors wrecking and generally struggling, the stars aligned in his victory — and with it came the spoils.
Larson leaves Alabama not only as a first time winner on the high-banks, but with a massive points advantage over Denny Hamlin in second.
His 71-point day created a 73-point advantage heading into the penultimate race of the season in Martinsville next weekend. There, if he finds victory lane for a fourth time in the season and the Chase, he can lift the championship trophy one weekend early.
The Top Ten
On the other side of the near photo finish was his teammate William Byron.
Byron, a Chase driver himself, was faithful to his championship leading teammate Larson throughout the final stage and is awarded with a second place for a Hendrick Motorsports 1-2 finish.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. showed up once more with a great performance on a superspeedway. He led nine laps in the closing stage and finished third after his pusher Austin Hill ran out of gas before the tri-oval which failed to deliver a win for the No. 47.
Ross Chastain was leading the field as a lapped-car late in the race and recovered his lap after the field wrecked with five laps remaining.
Chastain went without damaging his car and charged through the shortened field on the overtime restart to place fourth.
Cole Custer kept his car clean as well and was awarded with a top five. His fifth-placed finish is the first top five of the season and only the fifth of his Cup Series career.
Carson Hocevar was the cork in the bottle in the red-flagged wreck with five to go. He was able to make repairs and finish sixth.
Todd Gilliland finished seventh for his third top ten of the season. He restarted first on the final restart, but the lack of Ford support around him was his downfall.
Denny Hamlin was damaged in the stage two wreck. While his nose was damaged, he was able to squeeze out a top ten from eighth.
Finally, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell rounded out the top ten out of only 14 lead lap finishers.
Notable Results
In stage one, the primary storyline was the strategy of RFK Racing. Instead of playing the fuel mileage game like the rest of the pack, the trio of Fords chose otherwise.
Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, and eventual stage winner Chris Buescher broke away from the pack before the first pit stops of the event. Their lead eventually grew to over 45 seconds before their stops.
They were able to execute their strategy to perfection and ended the stage 20 seconds ahead and under no duress from those behind.
Talladega delivered the chaos once again as only four Chase drivers finished inside the top ten and on the lead lap.
Unfortunately for the six drivers who entered the race one race distance below the Chase leader, the day panned out horribly.
Christopher Bell started the misfortune off early. His brakes locked, then hopped on his way to pit road. He was unable to catch himself and wound up spinning into the inside wall with heavy damage which dampened his day tremendously.
He finished 12 laps down in 35th, but the day could have been five positions lower if it wasn’t for the usual carnage.
Two huge wrecks decided the outcome of the day. The first involved many Chase drivers with Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Tyler Reddick all taking DNF’s in the first incident.
Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Preece were all involved too but continued with difference severity levels of damage.
Then, the wild final caution of the day which saw Joey Logano upside-down took more Chasers.
Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric all joined Logano out of the race from there which allowed Larson’s gap to substantially increase.
You can see where they ended up in relation to each other as the full results and Chase standings after the YellaWood 500 from Talladega is below.
Full Results & Chase Standings
Below is the archive of live updates on the eighth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase from Talladega Superspeedway.
WINNER: Kyle Larson
CHECKERED FLAG: Kyle Larson wins after falling to tenth in turn two as he slices and dices with the aid of Ross Chastain to capture his first superspeedway win of his career and importantly has one hand on the title.
WHITE FLAG: Kyle Larson with a push from Hill takes the lead at the final lap!
2 TO GO: Green Flag! Gilliland leads Larson. The rest of the top ten are Hill, Byron, Stenhouse Jr., Dillon, Hamlin, Preece, McDowell, and Bowman.
3 TO GO: NASCAR Overtime here in Talladega, Alabama. Larson chose the outside of Gilliland with Austin Hill pushing him.
4 TO GO: The red flag has been lifted back to caution. Todd Gilliland leads Kyle Larson as only six cars have no damage on the day.
5 TO GO: RED FLAG!
“Just got a little push in the wrong spot there… It’s very much a Talladega Nights like Oh no I’m upside down this is not good moment” Logano said after being checked and released from the infield care center.
“Can’t take the track safety team enough for their help flipping it over… happy to be alive:” Logano concluded.
5 TO GO: CAUTION! Joey Logano goes over!!! He flips off the nose of Carson Hocevar in the tri-oval!!!
6 TO GO: Can Kyle Larson extend his Chase lead to nearly a race and win his first career superspeedway race? Or can Logano or Stenhouse continue to do well at the track type?
Todd Gilliland to the lead ahead of Larson on the low lane.
7 TO GO: Here comes the third lane! Larson leads it and is back up to tenth with Stenhouse Jr. leading the race in the second, middle, lane.
8 TO GO: The anxiety is rising in the pack. Moves are starting to be made further in the pack with Erik Jones and Kyle Larson.
10 TO GO: Back to two-wide racing. Ross Chastain leads the outside line as he is one lap down and not the leader.
Stenhouse Jr. leads with the bottom line three-wide trying to reform around 20th.
13 TO GO: The low lane has completely disappeared now! Larson falls from the lead to around 17th with Logano leading.
15 TO GO: Three-wide for the lead! Stenhouse leads with Logano surging on the high-side! Larson remains the leader of the low lane.
17 TO GO: Stenhouse continues to beat Larson in the tri-oval as the front holds firm. Joey Logano also continues to try three-wide as he makes it go with Carson Hocevar!
Wallace rejoins now three laps down.
20 TO GO: Stenhouse Jr. edges Larson at the line to take the lead! Still double-file for 13 rows back.
21 TO GO: Bubba Wallace has an unscheduled pit from the lead pack. Larson leads.
23 TO GO: The outside lane has surged! Stenhouse Jr. is almost even with Larson for the lead.
25 TO GO: The pack continues to hold their positions. Larson leads the race and the inside line by five cars back to Stenhouse Jr. on the outside from sixth.
Chase Briscoe is trying to get a third lane to work but there has been no commitment from anyone back in the pack just yet.
28 TO GO: The nose damage on Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota hinders the outside lane when he leads it. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. steps out in front of him to lead the lane from sixth.
Larson leads.
30 TO GO: Larson remains in the lead with his loyal teammate William Byron pushing. Denny Hamlin leads the outside lane as Carson Hocevar fall through the field as no driver is opting to help the defending spring winner.
33 TO GO: New leader, Kyle Larson to the front on the outside lane!
35 TO GO: Austin Hill is making moves. He is going four-wide as the bottom lane with Erik Jones pulls ahead.
36 TO GO: Three lanes have formed shortly after the restart. Jones leads on the bottom with Buescher on the high side. Gilliland leads the middle.
39 TO GO: The No. 17 Buescher leads the first green lap in the stage with Gilliland pushing behind him in second.
40 TO GO: Buescher leads Jones back to green for the final stage!
LAP 146: Chris Buescher will lead the field back to green in the final stage. He is joined by Erik Jones, Todd Gilliland, Riley Herbst, Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell, Cole Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Austin Dillon in the top ten.
Spring winner Carson Hocevar earned the free pass.
LAP 145: Connor Zilisch leads the race off pit road but ten drivers stayed out.
Kyle Larson captured the most stage points of the Chase drivers today with 15.
Stage Two Winner: Joey Logano
LAP 143: Logano narrowly edges out Larson for the stage victory! The rest of the top ten are Briscoe, Cindric, Byron, Buescher, Zilsich, van Gisbergen, Jones, and Austin Hill
LAP 141: Logano leads with Keselowski and Austin Dillon pitting to flip the stage just before the pits close.
LAP 139: Kyle Larson and Joey Logano are even at the line after the restart. Four laps to go in the stage!
LAP 135: The top ten ahead of the restart: Larson, Logano, Cindric, Briscoe, Byron, Buescher, van Gisbergen, Zilisch, Keselowski, and Erik Jones.
LAP 134: Kyle Larson leads as the caution occurred with 11 laps to go in the stage and we will get back green for the final bit.
Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Preece were all involved and able to continue.
LAP 132: CAUTION!! Huge Chase complications in this wreck on the backstretch.
A block gone bad by Ryan Blaney get him and best fiend Bubba Wallace turned as they collect many Chase drivers.
Blaney and Tyler Reddick are done for the day. Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott,
LAP 130: After some dicey four-wide action deep in the pack, they settle back down to three-wide again as Chris Buescher retakes the lead.
LAP 127: Chase Briscoe has had enough. He creates the third line on the outside as the pack condenses.
LAP 125: The field continues to hold its form with Keselowski and Ford Racing continuing to dominate!
LAP 120: Former teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski continue to trade the lead as the pack sits double-file for 14 rows.
LAP 115: Keselowski leads. 13 cars are not on the lead lap. Seven of those are only one lap down with Christopher Bell eight laps down in last.
LAP 110: Jones leads his first lap of the day as Daniel Suarez completed his green flag pit stop after waving-around.
Suarez will directly compete for the free pass with Ross Chastain.
LAP 108: Logano leads on the bottom lane with Erik Jones leading the top lane.
Chase Elliott currently hold the fastest lap of a 47.546 second time.
LAP 105: Joey Logano takes the lead off the restart. The RFK trio are directly behind them on the outside as the messy restart further fans out.
LAP 100: Riley Herbst wins the race off pit road and will lead the field back green in stage two!
The rest of the top ten: Logano, Buescher, Keselowski, Briscoe, Preece, Jones, Blaney, Cindric, van Gisbergen.
Stage One Winner: Chris Buescher
LAP 98: Chris Buescher wins the first stage for his first stage win in 2026! The top ten: Buescher, Preece, Keselowski, Larson, Byron, Herbst, Briscoe, Blaney, Logano, Cindric.
LAP 95: Three laps remaining in the stage. The RFK trio remains 20 seconds ahead as Kyle Larson leads the low line for the fight for fourth in the stage.
Tyler Reddick is reporting low on fuel.
LAP 90: Buescher leads with Allmendinger and Stenhouse Jr. competing for the free pass. The second pack has caught to 22 seconds behind as they ramp up to fight for positions 4-10.
LAP 85: No Change amongst the top three. Behind them the lapped down Ross Chastain leads the next pack on the low line with Kyle Larson in fourth looking to capture valuable stage points in over ten laps from now.
LAP 78: 20 laps to go in the opening stage. Chris Buescher leads with Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, and Riley Herbst in the top ten at the moment.
LAP 75: 32 seconds is the gap out front as Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher have led 23 and 18 of the first 75 laps.
LAP 72: Trouble for Zane Smith! He cuts a right-rear tire and makes it around to his pit box under green.
Buescher leads.
LAP 70: Buescher remains in the lead over his two teammates. Ryan Blaney is fourth, 35 seconds behind with the rest of the lead pack.
LAP 65: Bell’s JGR teammate Ty Gibbs had his own pit road issue as he stalled it during his stop and could fall two laps down before the end of the stage as the No. 20 pits again.
Six drivers were caught speeding under the first cycle.
LAP 61: Christopher Bell’s left-front fender rub has worsened enough to warrant an unscheduled pit stop. The team repairs the damage as he falls three laps down.
LAP 60: If the stage stays green, the three RFK cars should finish 1-2-3 in the stage. They have an immense 41-second gap to fourth.
LAP 58: Bell’s Damage continues to worsen. The fenders are rubbing into the tires as the No. 20 continues on track.
Chris Buescher and the RFK trio have taken the lead.
LAP 56: The Toyota’s pit and its Christopher Bell! He locks the brakes coming to pit road and spins!! He hits the wall and now has damage!!
The current Chase runner-up with a huge mistake. No caution.
LAP 55: 16 cars have yet to come to pit road which comprise mostly of Toyota’s. Christopher Bell leads Tyler Reddick single-file.
LAP 52: The three RFK cars got within touching distance of the pack as they pit. These Fords had to wait a little while longer for fuel.
LAP 51: Around ten more cars pit with Chase leader Kyle Larson as its leader.
Carson Hocevar caught speeding on pit road.
LAP 50: The first round of pit stops have occurred. Around ten Chevrolets have stopped including Carson Hocevar and Chase Elliott.
LAP 48: The leaders have just ran the fastest lap of the race as they now get the aid of the draft from the pack about 15 seconds ahead.
LAP 45: The gap has grown to 37 seconds! Preece remains in the lead as they race two seconds a lap faster than the pack.
LAP 40: Ryan Preece leads as the trio up front is now 28 seconds ahead of the entire field. Their half-track advantage is creating an interesting chess match.
LAP 36: Now its go-time for the other pack! The 17 second gap from third to fourth was too much. Daniel Suarez now leads the train behind to run them down.
LAP 35: The leading RFK trio has a 14 second lead over anyone else! Gray Gaulding leads the other lane as its single file on back from him.
LAP 31: The pack is broken! The RFK Racing Ford trio has decided to stop fuel saving and step on it.
Brad Keselowski leads Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher.
LAP 30: Gaulding continues out in the lead as the double-filed field spaces out on the backstretch.
LAP 27: The open cars have infiltrated the front! Gray Gaulding leads for the first time in his career with Daniel Dye behind on the high lane.
LAP 25: NASCAR flipped the stage lengths around to combat fuel saving in the final stage. Which means this stage is the longest of the day and has all the fuel saving.
The field continues to save as Ware and Preece continue out front.
LAP 20: Ryan Preece has flipped to the low lane and now leads. Cody Ware continues to lead the high lane.
LAP 18: From his best start of the season from 11th today, Cody Ware leads at Talladega! Can he best his career-best 17th-placed finish today?
LAP 15: The pack continues to sit and fuel save at double file. Keselowski leads on the low side and the race. Then, Ryan Preece continues on the high-side.
Ty Dillon has fallen one lap down.
LAP 12: Only one car has lost the draft and that driver is Ty Dillon. Dillon had to serve a pass-through penalty after the green flag dropped due to his pre-race technical inspection failures.
LAP 10: Ty Gibbs runs inside the top ten as the lone driver making a go at gaining ground three-wide in the corner. Berry and Preece continue to lead their lines.
LAP 8: Two predominant lanes have formed with Ryan Preece on the outside as the leader and Josh Berry on the low side leading his lane.
LAP 5: Three lanes have formed about 13 rows deep with Hill leading the high side and the race. Then, Chris Buescher leads the middle lane and Denny Hamlin leading the low lane.
LAP 1: Polesitter Chase Briscoe does not lead the first lap as Austin Hill takes the high-side lane over Briscoe for the lead.
Race Info/Start
The Cup Series rolls into the final superspeedway event of the season as its eighth race in its Chase and the stakes couldn’t be any higher.
After a abysmal Phoenix weekend, Kyle Larson’s 49-point lead over second place has vanished and now sits at only five. Now, with the Chase leaders worse track type on the docket for today, its anyone’s title lead for the taking.
Three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas look to battle amongst themselves for that honor. Christopher Bell, polesitter and defending fall winner Chase Briscoe, and superspeedway ace Denny Hamlin all have a great chance to exit Alabama closer to the Chase lead from where they entered.
Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Tyler Reddick are down but not out of the fight. The trio sits within the benchmarked one race distance of the Chase lead and could have a big points day if the big one strikes their competition.
Three drivers will fall to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments. They are Cole Custer, Ty Dillon, and former Talladega winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Below is all the information you need to know about today’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega and the starting lineup.
- Broadcast: USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
- Previous Winner: Chase Briscoe
- Distance: 188 laps / 500 miles
- Stages: 98 / 143 / 188
- Average time of race: 3:23:48
- Pit road speed: 55 mph
- Caution car speed: 70 mph
- Fuel Window: 47 laps
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Ryan Kemna View All
Ryan Kemna is a photojournalist for The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2025.
Currently residing in the Minneapolis, MN, area, Kemna brings his passion for motorsports, photography, and a good story to readers.