NASCAR Cup Series: Carson Hocevar earns first career win at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Carson Hocevar proves being the eye of the hurricane has its benefits and wins the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway!
He joins Ty Gibbs as the second driver to win their first Cup Series race this season.
This is Spire Motorsports second win as an organization – their first since Justin Haley’s rain shortened summer Daytona win.
It was only a matter of time before Hocevar found his way to victory lane and its fitting that he gets it done at a place where aggression pays in wins.
Chris Buescher finishes a well-earned second but the push on the outside was not enough to propel him to the win.
Alex Bowman finished third for his first top five finish since his return from vertigo with teammate Chase Elliott right behind him in fourth.
Zane Smith converts his fastest lap point into fifth while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lost his momentum in the tri-oval and dropped from a net-third to finish sixth.
Ross Chastain won stage two and finished seventh. He crucially gained on the Chase cutline after his solid point haul.
Austin Cindric rebounded from a lap down after the big one to finish eighth. Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch crossed the line ninth and tenth after the seas parted in front of them from Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon, and Shane van Gisbergens wreck before the stripe.
Below is an archive of the live updates for the Jack Link’s 500.
Final Stage
1 TO GO: White Flag! Chris Buescher takes the white!
2 TO GO: Hocevar at the line with Buescher ever present on the outside!
3 TO GO: Not a green-white-checkered but dang close to it! Buescher restarts on the outside lane with Ricky Stenhouse Jr behind to push him. Hocevar lines up on the inside with Alex Bowman as his pusher behind.
5 TO GO: Tyler Reddick pits. He has managed to continue on the lead lap after his two incidents today.
3 drivers inside the top ten are fighting for their first career wins. Carson Hocevar sits second, Zane Smith in seventh, and Ryan Preece in eighth.
7 TO GO: CAUTION! Jones is stuck in the tri-oval grass near the pit entrance as Chris Buescher takes the lead.
Denny Hamlin has done it! He finally gets his lap back but will a push from 22nd with under 4 laps remaining be too much to overcome?
8 TO GO: Erik Jones goes spinning off a Carson Hocevar!
10 TO GO: The field maintains their form as they lap Jesse Love. Ford’s 750th Cup Series win hangs in the balance of Chris Buescher currently.
12 TO GO: The field still sits two by two for around ten rows. The inside lane looks a little less organized than the top as Hocevar continues his narrow lead.
14 TO GO: Buescher and Jones are swarmed by Chevy’s. The nearest Ford to Buescher is his teammate Preece in eighth and the nearest Toyota is Bell in 11th. Hocevar continues to lead on the outside.
17 TO GO: Here comes the Hurricane! Carson makes his move around Chris Buescher to the outside and has the Chevrolet of Stenhouse Jr behind to push.
18 TO GO: Carson Hocevar has now taken over the primary pusher role from Jones for Buescher. The Toyota of Jones can’t seem to lead a line as Alex Bowman cannot get a solid push on the bottom.
19 TO GO: Erik Jones and Chris Buescher seem work well together as both dipped to the inside lane.
20 TO GO: The outside lane seems to generate the best run to the start/finish line if they stay two-wide as Chris Buescher leads from the outside.
22 TO GO: Carson Hocevar leads Bowman on the bottom lane as Chris Buescher leads Jones up top as the field stays two by two.
Kyle Busch had an uncontrolled tire penalty and started in the rear but only gave up one spot to Ty Dillon.
23 TO GO: Buescher will lead the field to green with Hocevar, Bowman, Jones, Stenhouse Jr, Elliott, A. Dillon, Preece, Smith, and Cody Ware in the top ten for the restart.
26 TO GO: Chris Buescher had the lead at the time of the caution. He leads Hocevar, Bowman, Jones, and Stenhouse Jr.
27 TO GO: CAUTION! Debris from Tyler Reddick after his contact with the outside wall out of turn two with a flat right-front brings out the third incident caution of the day.
Ty Dillon earns the free pass. Hamlin is now the only car one lap down.
30 TO GO: Status quo for the field. Hocevar still leads as the field looks to click some laps for the moment.
35 TO GO: Hocevar maintains his slight edge over Buescher on the high side as the field stays two by two for eleven rows.
38 TO GO: Carson Hocevar has help from Erik Jones and Chase Elliott on the outside and takes the lead from Buescher.
39 TO GO: Chris Buescher takes the lead after winning the race off pit road. He leads Alex Bowman, Carson Hocevar, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Erik Jones to the restart zone to begin the final stage.
40 TO GO: Denny Hamlin has his lap back after their crafty move to pit early and take the wave-a-round. He has just pitted and is now back a lap down*
STAGE TWO WINNER: ROSS CHASTAIN
LAP 144: Ross Chastain jockeys his car around Christopher Bell to win stage two. Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Preece, Cody Ware, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, and Zane Smith round out the top ten to close out the stage.
Denny Hamlin pit with three laps remaining for fuel which handed the free pass to Austin Cindric.
LAP 141: Three to go now as a third line appeared for a moment but Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar had no other takers.
LAP 139: Five to go in the stage as Carson Hocevar tried to get a third line going on the outside but had no takers. Bell and Chastain continue their battle for the lead.
LAP 137: The pack still runs two by two as the second stage finally starts to wind down.
LAP 134: Ten to go in the stage as the field. Bell leads the high lane being pushed by Stenhouse while Chastain leads the bottom being pushed by Buescher.
LAP 130: Chastain blocks high and low to lead the race after the restart as the field sits two by two for 11 rows.
LAP 129: Ross Chastain gained the lead before the caution. He restarts in the lead from Bell, Gilliland, Buescher, Ware, Stenhouse Jr, Preece, Elliott, Allmendinger, and Alex Bowman.
LAP 125: This caution was much needed for the teams who need further repairs from the big one. Kyle Busch earns the free pass.
From earlier, Denny Hamlin was upset over his radio about his teammate Christopher Bell staying out under caution which caused no wave-a-rounds to occur.
LAP 123: CAUTION! Ty Gibbs cuts his right front tire off of turn four and slammed into the outside wall for the second incident caution of the event.
Michael McDowell sustained right side damage in the ordeal as well.
LAP 122: The lead pack comes around two-wide and orderly as Ross Chastain gets his nose ahead on the low side for the lead.
LAP 121: Bell will lead Chastain into the restart zone as we are halfway through the second stage.
LAP 118: The red flag has been lifted after a few minutes of cleanup. Only around eight cars made it through the chaos without damage. Christopher Bell leads from Noah Grasgon, Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, Todd Gilliland, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Cody Ware.
26 total cars involved.
RED FLAG: NASCAR has thrown the red flag due to the amount of cleanup from the wreck. Only a few drivers remain without damage after that one. Ryan Preece retains the lead with teammate Chris Buescher in second. Chastain, Bell, Jones, and McDowell also get through with no damage.
LAP 115: Bubba Wallace goes to the lead after Ross Chastain dispatches Joey Logano.
CAUTION! The leader Wallace goes around as the majority of the field is swept up in the big one into turn three!
LAP 110: Joey Logano leads teammate Ryan Blaney as the field fanned out to three wide for the first ten laps of the second stage.
STAGE ONE WINNER: RYAN PREECE
LAP 99: Ryan Preece hangs on and wins the stage! He wins over Keselowski, Logano, Buescher, Blaney, Berry, Reddick, Gragson, Gilliland, and Ross Chastain.
LAP 98: Preece and crew are nervous about making it to the end as Keselowski takes the lead into turn one.
LAP 97: Two to go in the stage as the pits close. RFK Racing has a stranglehold on the lead. Ryan Preece controls the bottom while Brad Keselowski controls the top.
LAP 95: Bubba Wallace concedes his eighth-placed running position and pits. Teammate Riley Herbst obtains another penalty for a blend line violation. His third penalty of the day.
LAP 94: Five to go in the stage. The top ten lead lap cars have broken free from the second group by 21 seconds. The top ten consists of Preece, Buescher, Keselowski, Logano, Berry, Blaney, Gragson, Wallace, Reddick, and Todd Gilliland.
LAP 89: The lead pack has come down to pit for fuel only with ten to go in the first stage. Erik Jones, Christopher Bell, Shane van Gisbergen, Alex Bowman, and William Byron all exit together. Chase Elliott also makes his second stop a few seconds behind them as Ryan Preece resumes his lead.
LAP 87: Of the leaders, the five lead cars have an eight second gap to the next group.
LAP 84: Bell continues to lead with Hamlin and Gibbs just ahead of their teammate to try and lap them. Right now the leaders are lapping too fast to make it to the end of the stage on fuel.
LAP 79: Chase Briscoe remains on the tail end of the lead lap but directly in front of the leader Bell. The first five and Briscoe have broken away from the pack.
LAP 75: Christopher Bell now leads from William Bryon. The top 16 have yet to pit for a second time.
LAP 68: Multiple cars will split the stage in thirds as Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, and John Hunter Nemechek pit.
LAP 67: Ty Gibbs has retaken the lead on the inside. The nearly lapped Hamlin and Briscoe lead the inside lane ahead of the leaders.
LAP 65: Austin Dillon shuffles to the front and takes the lead. Denny Hamlin and now Chad Finchum are leading the inside and outside lane to keep their lead lap status.
LAP 62: Michael McDowell is challenging Ty Gibbs for the race lead on the high lane as he looks to put Hamlin a lap down.
LAP 61: Gibbs has caught up to his nearly lapped teammate Denny Hamlin as the field settles into the green flag run to the end of the first stage.
LAP 57: Kyle Larson did not receive enough fuel on his stop. Crew chief Cliff Daniels radioed to his driver that he will be around 11 laps short and to save save save.
LAP 55: Gibbs contines in the lead as the first five have broken free from the majority of the pack. Gibbs leads Nemechek, Busch, Allmendinger, and Chastain.
Chase Briscoe has fallen a lap down after serving his penalty.
LAP 50: Ty Gibbs leads after the cycle completed. A few drivers and crews has issues during the cycle. Penalties for Zane Smith for an uncontrolled tire and speeding for Daniel Dye, Chad Finchum, and Riley Herbst.
LAP 48: Now Tyler Reddick and company comes down to pit as the field has fully cycled through the green flag stops.
LAP 47: The majority of the field have pit. Noah Gragson bumped Austin Cindric as Cindric has missed his pit! Tyler Reddick takes the lead with Daniel Suarez and Riley Herbst as the only cars that have yet to pit.
LAP 45: A group of mostly Chevrolets have came down this time with Ross Chastain leading the brigade. Preece continues to lead as the Fords will run long.
LAP 42: Ryan Preece has cycled to the lead as Denny Hamlin has been caught by the speed police. He will have to serve a pass-through penalty at 55mph after taking two tires and gas.
Chase Briscoe will also have to come down under penalty after he failed to hit his box and wound up hitting his tire carrier. He got nabbed for an equipment violation and will join his teammate down pit lane.
LAP 41: Ty Dillon kicks off the pit cycle as he comes down all by himself. More hands have waived on the backstretch as eight cars pit including most of the top seven cars.
LAP 40: The RFK teammates of Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski now lead the high lane as the fuel window has opened up. Joey Gase has been lapped by the leader Denny Hamlin. He is the only car a lap down so far.
LAP 38: Speeds are starting to ramp up. 34 of the 40 cars have set their personal best laps in the previous few laps as the pack has fully reformed.
LAP 35: William Byron leads the newly formed high lane from 16th while the pit crews start preparing for the ensuing stops.
LAP 33: Every car sits single file now. Hamlin still leads with the first pack of seven. The second pack, around six car lengths away, lead by Ty Dillon has the remainder of the field behind him.
LAP 30: Different teams have fallen in formation with each other near the back. 23XI Racing and Front Row have found their respective teammates. Tyler Reddick has reported an odd pitch from the engine but no issues have been identified.
LAP 28: The field has gone mostly single-file with only four cars on the high line near the back. Hamlin maintains his lead as Carson Hocevar has radioed in a potential issue.
LAP 24: Hamlin still leads. He has now led 11 laps today as we have crossed the halfway point until the start of the lone green flag pit cycle.
LAP 20: Denny Hamlin has shuffled Finchum out of the lead as now the top seven have broken free of the pack.
LAP 18: Eight cars have separated at the front into a single lane on the low side. Chad Finchum continues to lead with Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, and John Hunter Nemechek in the top five.
LAP 15: Here comes Cody Ware! He now leads the high lane but Finchum still leads the race.
LAP 11: Two drivers have led their first laps of the season so far today. Chad Finchum and Austin Dillon have led a lap each with Finchum currently in the lead.
LAP 10: Denny Hamlin has led the majority of the laps so far. He continues in the lead for his sixth lap of the race so far.
LAP 6: The bottom lane has died out a fair amount as Briscoe and Hamlin continue to control the pace at the front. Tyler Reddick has quickly fallen outside the top ten after starting on pole.
LAP 3: The pack runs 3×3 for nearly twelve rows deep as Chase Briscoe leaves teammate Hamlin for the race lead in the middle.
LAP 1: Denny Hamlin comes around to lead the first lap as the third high lane forms with Austin Dillon as their line leader.
RACE START: Fresh off his contract extension announcement, Tyler Reddick leads the field to green!
Race Start
Tyler Reddick grabbed his fourth pole of the season and his second handed to him by the NASCAR performance metric system as rain canceled the qualifying session yesterday morning.
Austin Cindric heads into the event as the defending winner with Chase Briscoe picking up the win here in the fall.
Ryan Blaney will make his 300th career start with Team Penske today as he looks to add a fourth career Cup Series win at the track today.
A full 40 car field will take to the high-banks in what NASCAR hopes will be a more full-throttle event. The first and final stage lengths has been flipped to encourage less fuel saving.
Only the two Kaulig Racing teams failed pre-race technical inspections twice and will be without their car chiefs and pit selection. No cars are reported to start at the rear for the start.
You can see the full Jack Link’s 500 starting lineup here.
- Jack Link’s 500
- Broadcast: FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
- Distance: 188 laps
- Stages: 98 / 143 / 188
- Fuel Window: 45 laps
- Average time of race: 3:25.44
- Pit road speed: 55 mph
- Caution car speed: 70 mph
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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.