Groovy Hollow Recap
The biggest wildcard of the NASCAR Playoffs is officially here. Today, the greatest drivers in the world–the veterans of the NASCAR Cup Series–return to Talladega Superspeedway, a track where literally anything can happen. It’s a race where the fear of the unknown is heightened; it’s where underdogs can stand tall and spoil the show, where championship hopes can come to an abrupt and bitter end. Only one driver entered today’s race safe. That man was Denny Hamlin who, last week at Las Vegas, secured his Championship 4 berth by scoring his 60th career victory. The other three spots were virtually up for grabs.
Some drivers were in better situations than others. Kyle Larson entered today’s race 35 points above the cutline. But considering the fact that he is notoriously bad at superspeedway-style racing, his future in the 2025 Playoffs were all but certain. The JGR duo of Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe also entered this race above the cutline at with a 20 and a 15 point points advantage. As long as these three drivers can keep their noses clean and survive today’s race, they may stride into Martinsville with a pretty decent cushion.
The drivers who had some work to do today were William Byron (-15), Chase Elliott (-23), Joey Logano (-24), and Ryan Blaney (-31). I think it’s safe to say that they needed not only good days today, but they needed to score some major stage points and, ideally, a win. Meanwhile, we had a stacked field of 40 cars, all wanting to take advantage of the wildcard nature of ‘Dega to score a statement victory. So, what went down? Let’s talk about it. Here’s everything that happened in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
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Heading into the final stage of the race, there weren’t that many cars in the garage. So, we still had a massive pack racing on track and in contention for the win. A heartbreaking turn of events took Josh Berry, who had led a majority of the race up to this point, out of the race. He suffered a mechanical failure in the gearbox. Meanwhile, his Penske teammate, Joey Logano, was starting to smell gear oil in the cockpit. Logano desperately needed a good finish here if he wanted to advance to the Championship 4. All the while, the pack slowed the pace of the race as they entered fuel conservation mode. This stacked up the pack as the drivers were content to wind the laps down.
The first caution of the final stage was a single-car incident, which saw Cody Ware go around. During caution, Denny Hamlin pitting for mechanical issues and ended up losing two laps in the process. The race restarted with 17 laps to go. Upon the restart, the two Penske cars of Logano and Blaney got separated, hurting their momentum. Todd Gilliland took advantage and hopped down in front of them on the lower line to challenge for the race lead. After taking 12 laps to go, Daniel Suarez on the outside line pushed Kyle Larson to the race lead. Larson hopped down in front of Gilliland, securing the race lead. Shortly thereafter, a third line led by Zane Smith formed and pushed to the lead.
With 10 Laps to go, Smith and Chastain led with a ravenous pack hunting them down from behind. Gilliland and Larson powered back on the outside. At seven laps to go, they were three wide abreast. It was still clearly anyone’s game while the threat of a massive wreck loomed in the background. The drivers started making dangerous moves, juking and jiving, trying to put their team in the best possible position to win. It seemed as though something had to give. After taking two laps to go, Chris Buescher, who was the race leader, got turned by William Byron. This came after he tried to make his car four lanes wide, blocking extremely aggressively. He slid down and plowed hard into the inside SAFER Barrier. The caution came out and we were going into NASCAR Overtime!
During the caution, a handful of drivers, including the Penske duo of Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, pitted as they were low on fuel. The race restarted with Larson on the outside and his teammate William Byron underneath on the bottom. Coming to the white flag, Kyle Busch jumped up and started a third line with Ross Chastain. But they couldn’t build up the momentum. Larson jumped down in front of Byron who then got into him, shuffling him back. Bubba Wallace jumped outside with Briscoe and Gibbs on the bottom. The lines started to break down as William Byron got turned by Hocevar and spun to the infield. Chase Briscoe managed to hold on, scoring his first win on a superspeedway.
With this win, Briscoe joined his teammate Denny Hamlin and clinched a berth to the Championship 4 at Phoenix.
Unlike the NASCAR Xfinity Series race yesterday, the field ran relatively cleanly for a bulk of the 60-lap opening stage. We saw a lot of different leaders out front, with driver of the Wood Brothers No. 21, Josh Berry, leading a majority of the stage, leading the outside lane with the likes of Joey Logano and Austin Cindric behind him. Other drivers who ran out front for a majority of this stage were Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Brad Keselowski. Somehow, they even managed to navigate through green flag pit stops without incident. And that was even with Blaney and Cindric splitting the back by jumping up in front of them while they came at them with a head full of steam.
The first Playoff driver to get caught up in a major incident was Chase Elliott. And it was a simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The incident started when Erik Jones turned Noah Gragson, who was leading the outside line. Chaos then broke loose as Justin Haley, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, and A. J. Allmendinger were all collected. Below, we ride with Chase Elliott and see the incident through his eyes.
The race restarted with Ty Gibbs leading the pack. There were two laps remaining in the stage. On the final lap of the stage, there was a lot of juking for position up front. Ryan Blaney was trying to make a move, but Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick were able to hold him off. In a drag race to the line, Ty Gibbs just barely edged out his Toyota and Monster Energy teammate to win the stage. Only three Playoff drivers finished in the top 10 in this stage. They were Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott retired from the race following his late-stage incident.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
As with the first stage, the second stage was relatively clean. Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, and Kyle Busch led the pack, swapping the lead here and there. Shortly past the halfway point in the stage, we started our cycle of green flag pit stops. The first drivers to pit were the Chevrolets of Anthony Alfredo and Ty Dillon. With it just being the two of them pitting, it meant that they were in danger of falling down a lap once the round of green flag pit stops cycled through.
A group of Fords and a couple of Hendrick Chevys then came while the majority of the pack stayed on track for several more laps. Once the massive pack did decide to pit, Shane van Gisbergen ran over some weepers, causing his tires to lose traction. He spun on his entry to pit road, miraculously not collecting anyone else in the process. He spun into the infield grass and got stuck, triggering another late-stage caution.
The race restarted, coming to three laps remaining in the stage. Briscoe led, Hocevar and Larson challenging for the stage victory. Coming to the finish line, it was ultimately Chase Briscoe who went on to win the stage after Larson got squirrelly following an aggressive push from his teammate, William Byron. This time, five of the eight remaining Playoff drivers earned stage points. Those drivers were Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney. One Playoff driver who did not earn stage points this time was Joey Logano, who pitted under caution after some miscommunication on the radio during the green flag pit stop cycle.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the 500-mile NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the Talladega Superspeedway. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
**Advanced Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
With the wildcard of Talladega officially in the books, we have just 1 race remaining in the Round of 8. The following is the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff picture heading into the penultimate race at Martinsville.
Denny Hamlin clinched his Championship 4 berth by winning last week at Las Vegas. He will once again race for his first championship title. Today, his teammate Chase Briscoe clinched his spot. He will be racing for his first Cup Series title. This gives JGR a minimum of a 50% chance of walking away with the title at Phoenix.
These drivers head into the final race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville with a pretty good cushion. They should feel at ease. The only turn of events that could really upset their chances of racing for a championship is a surprise winner.
The following drivers are pretty much in a must-win situation heading into Martinsville. They need to triumph at the paperclip if they want to keep their title hopes alive.
What did you think of this race? How is your driver’s situation on the cutline heading into Martinsville? How’s your playoff bracket? Let us know! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates. Be sure to tune back in here next weekend at DailyDownforce.com for our weekly coverage!
