Kyle Larson turned in one of the most dramatic victories of his two-time NASCAR Cup Series championship career going from 11th place to Victory Lane on the final lap of overtime to win Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Larson maneuvered his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet low and passed seven cars in just the final quarter-mile of Talladega’s famed 2.66-mile high banks to claim his first ever win in 59 races on a big drafting-style track.
He celebrated the “statement win” with his three children who climbed into the car for the Victory Lap celebration – daughter Audrey, 8, waving to the crowd out of the passenger side window, his youngest son Cooper, 3, sitting inside too and 11-year old son Owen perched from the roof hatch waving the checkered flag to a thrilled crowd who clearly appreciated one of Larson’s most amazing – and overdue – Victory Laps.
The reigning series champion fell from the lead to 11th place with a lap to go and then negotiated his way forward once again, dropping to the bottom lane and roaring to the win by a photo finish .041-second over his Hendrick teammate William Byron, HYAK Motorsports Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain who crossed the line door-to-door-to-door directly behind.
Haas Factory Team’s Cole Custer and Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar helped Chevrolet to a top-six sweep on the afternoon.
“I don’t know, I got really lucky with kinda how everything worked out there,’’ the 34-year old Californian Larson said with a smile, trying to describe the phenomenal winning move.
“I was so edgy in turns one and two with the 33 [Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill] pushing me, he was helping me.’’
Now with only two races remaining Larson has exponentially expanded his championship lead over his closest challengers: three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates. He now holds a 73-point advantage on regular season champ Denny Hamlin, is 74 points up on JGR’s Christopher Bell and 77 points up on JGR’s Chase Briscoe.
“Really gotta thank all my Chevy GM partners for working with me all day,’’ Larson continued. “I really felt it and definitely the best speedway race I’ve ever had because of it, so thanks to all them.
“I was pissed at myself off of [turn] two, my hands off the wheel, just mad. And then all of a sudden everything just opened up and I was able to keep my momentum up,’’ he said of the last lap. “Unbelievable way to get my first superspeedway win.’’
The ending was an exclamation point for a race that had all the typical Talladega trademarks – a photo finish, close-quarter sparring all afternoon, a 13-minute red flag and a pair of massive multi-car accidents that have greatly impacted the NASCAR Chase with only a pair of races left to settle the 2026 championship.
“I felt like the energy got broken up off [turn] two and I was like, ‘man, I’ve got a shot here,’” two-time Daytona 500 winner Byron said of the last lap dramatics. “Once I got clear going into [turn] three it was a good job keeping the momentum going. … Man, second sucks but it’s good that Kyle won. We worked really well together all day and if I couldn’t win, I wanted him to win.’’
“Just proud of the fight.’’
It was just that. All day throughout the field.
The 98-lap opening stage of the 189-lap race set the stage for the drama. The three Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford Mustangs seemed to stun the competition – lining up bumper-to-bumper-bumper they roared off to a lead of more than 30-seconds on the entire fuel-saving field en route to RFK’s Chris Buescher’s easy Stage 1 win. He led a race high 53 laps on the day, but was collected in the late race accident.
The second massive crash – with only five laps remaining – brought out the red flag and eliminated many strong cars. As with an earlier multi-car accident, it happened toward the front of the field. This one – involving 15 cars – appeared to be triggered by spring Talladega winner Hocevar who hit the rear bumper of three-time series champion Joey Logano in tight-quarter drafting.
Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford led 23 laps on the day and was battling for the top position when Hocevar’s Chevy made contact. It spun Logano’s car into traffic behind and flipped it upside down. It slid down the track and came to rest that way in the tri-oval. After safety crews flipped the car back on its tires, Logano climbed out on his own.
“Just got a little push in the wrong spot there,’’ Logano said. “It was a very much a Talladega Nights moment like, ‘Oh, no. I’m upside down. This is not good moment.’
“But I can’t thank the safety crew enough. They did an amazing job flipping that thing over. The car did a great job. The last time I flipped it was crushed on my head. This time, I don’t think anything really caved or crushed at all. I appreciate what NASCAR has done. Thank you and the safety team for getting me out of there.’’
An earlier multi-car incident on the backstretch – involving 12 cars – eliminated another Penske championship contender, 2023 series champion Ryan Blaney among others. The two Penske drivers are mathematically still in the title hunt but they lost significant ground after looking so strong.
Logano is now fifth in the standings, 100 points off Larson’s total and Blaney is sixth, 107 points back. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, is the only other driver still technically in the title chase, but he trails Larson by 126 points.
Bell, who went into the race ranked second, only five points behind Larson, spun and hit the wall coming to pit road on the opening pit stop of the race – his No. 20 JGR Toyota suffering significant damage and finishing 35th in the 40-car field. Briscoe, whose Toyota Camry started from pole position, was eliminated in the late race accident and finished 33rd.
Hendrick Motorsports executive, NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon said after the race that although things certainly look in the team’s favor toward Larson’s title, “There’s no points lead big enough at this point.
The NASCAR Cup Series leaves the biggest track on the schedule and returns to action next Sunday at one of the smallest, the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Byron is the defending race winner. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott won there this Spring.
— NASCAR News Wire —
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Infraction Report.
For complete race information, check out the Talladega race page.