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Kyle Larson won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in overtime Sunday, charging back from deep in the pack on the final lap to beat William Byron to the line and stretch his Chase lead to 73 points with two races left, NBC Sports reported.
It is Kyle Larson’s first Cup Series win at Talladega and his third win in the last seven races. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished third, 0.066 seconds back, followed by Ross Chastain and Cole Custer.
How Larson won
Larson took the white flag in the lead but was shuffled back after Austin Hill pushed past him, dropping about 10 spots. A push from Chastain on the final lap sent Larson back to the front, and he passed Byron and Stenhouse at the start-finish line.
Larson said he was angry with himself after losing the lead off Turn 2, and that the run opened up for him off Turn 4, Frontstretch reported.
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Logano flips in late crash
The race went to overtime after a 15-car crash with five laps left. Joey Logano was pushing Chastain when he took a bump from Carson Hocevar, spun into the outside wall and landed on his roof, sliding across the start-finish line. Riley Herbst hit the inside wall hard in the same crash.
Logano climbed out after the safety crew turned his car upright. He, Herbst and the other drivers involved were checked at the infield care center and released, according to Racing America.
“Some vicious hits in this one, so, yeah, just happy to be alive,” Logano said. “I can’t thank the safety crew enough. They did an amazing job flipping that thing over.”
Chase contenders struggle
Christopher Bell, who started the day second in points, spun entering pit road on Lap 56 and hit the inside wall. Damage, a flat tire and a penalty for too many crew members over the wall left him several laps down, and he finished 35th.
A 12-car crash on Lap 132 started when Bubba Wallace bumped Ryan Blaney after Blaney and Logano checked up at the front. It collected five Chase drivers, including Blaney, Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick, who finished 38th, 36th and 37th. Chase Briscoe, who started on the pole, was caught in the late crash and finished 33rd.
Chris Buescher won Stage 1 after he and RFK Racing teammates Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski broke away from a fuel-saving field. Logano won Stage 2.
Top 10
Larson, Byron, Stenhouse, Chastain, Custer, Hocevar, Todd Gilliland, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell.
What’s next
Larson leads Hamlin by 73 points and Bell by 74. The Cup Series races next at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. The season ends November 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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