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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Triumphs at Talladega

Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Ricky Stenhouse Jr celebrates the fruits of his labor as the YellaWood 500 winner at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo: Hayden Hutchison | The Podium Finish)

LINCOLN, Ala. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. likely did not realize it would take 65 races to return to Victory Lane.

Talladega Superspeedway, a venue where Stenhouse found past success, offered familiarity and confidence. Winning the spring 2017 race, the 37-year-old was relentless from the onset of Sunday’s YellaWood 500.

Starting 32nd, Stenhouse picked his way to the front, placing second in Stage 1. Despite dropping to 20th in Stage 2, the driver of the No. 47 Kroger Health/Palmolive Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, prepared by JTG Daugherty Racing, was in contention all race long.

While Stenhouse bided his time in Stage 3, Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric, the winners of Stages 1 and 2, made their presence known toward the front. William Byron and Kyle Larson were in the mix with Christopher Bell representing the Toyota banner.

Early race incidents included a backstretch kerfuffle involving Daniel Suárez and BJ McLeod on Lap 12 and a six-car, Lap 122 crash by the stripe that eliminated Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney despite scoring Stage 2 points.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Ricky Stenhouse Jr found himself toward the front of Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo: Hayden Hutchison | The Podium Finish)

With constant three to four-wide action throughout the race interlaced with fuel conservation tactics, it was hard for any driver to assert themselves as the pied piper.

While Stenhouse took the lead on Lap 184, a 23-car pileup on the backstretch derailed potential contenders like Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Harrison Burton, Ryan Preece, Josh Berry, Michael McDowell and Daniel Hemric.

Following an eight minute and 42 second red flag, Stenhouse led the pack with Keselowski to his outside. Byron worked with Stenhouse on the outside lane while Keselowski had hardy pushes from Larson.

Drawing even across on the penultimate lap, it was a frantic race to the stripe on the final trip around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Coming to the line, it was nearly a three-wide finish as Stenhouse bested Keselowski by 0.006 seconds while Byron, Larson and Erik Jones rounded out the top five.

After doing celebratory doughnuts and a burnout on the frontstretch, Stenhouse, whose car looked like it raced at Martinsville Speedway, was elated about his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series win.

“It felt really good. We had our Chevy teammates behind us, and I was hoping Kyle [Larson] wasn’t going to push the 6 that hard,” Stenhouse said. “I knew the 24 was probably going to try and get to the line there.”

Stenhouse treated his latest victory as a homecoming triumph as a native Mississippian while finally snapping his 65-race drought.

“This team has put a lot of hard work in,” he said. “Obviously, we haven’t won since the 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season. It was a lot of hard work this season just trying to find a little bit of speed, but we knew that this track is one of ours to come get. So for all of our Southern Mississippi people, appreciate you all coming. This means a lot, winning here.”

Even with the afterglow of a Talladega triumph, Stenhouse’s mind was on those affected by Hurricane Helene and his family.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s latest Talladega winner looked more like it raced at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Hayden Hutchison | The Podium Finish)

“Got to say we’re thinking about everybody in Western North Carolina,” Stenhouse shared. “Brad Dougherty, his family right where he grew up there in Black Mountain, a lot of people are struggling.

“I wish my wife and son, Stetson, were here. They didn’t come this weekend. I’ll see you all at home, and man, what a day.”

Keselowski, a six-time Talladega race winner, came so close to claiming his second victory of the season. Coming up just 0.006 seconds short to Stenhouse, the native of Rochester Hills, Michigan, was appreciative of his result.

“He [Larson] gave me a good push down the frontstrech, but the 24 was able to really stick with the 47 there and just needed a tiny bit,” Keselowski said. “It’s a good finish for us. We’ve been knocking on the door of these plate tracks. I hate that we didn’t bust through with a win, but I’m happy to be right there in contention.”

Perhaps Byron was the only other driver who felt like a winner after Talladega. Placing third, the Charlotte, North Carolinian clinched his Round of 8 spot and can approach the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte without any worries.

“I didn’t have a chance to get the lead myself on the last lap, so that was the thought process,” Byron said. “I just couldn’t quite get him clear into (turn) three, or he didn’t take it into three. And then, I just kind of had to be diligent to push him the rest of the way.

“I felt like it all worked out. I’m happy for Ricky and everyone at Chevrolet. They deserve it. Ricky is a really good drafter.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr

For the first time in 65 races, Ricky Stenhouse Jr is a NASCAR Cup Series winner, this time in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo: Hayden Hutchison | The Podium Finish)

For all the challenges and distractions that Stenhouse and his No. 47 team faced in the past year, the two-time NASCAR XFINITY Series champion expressed his gratitude toward his sponsors for their support.

“Just proud of this group. The whole Kroger, Palmolive, NOS Energy Drink. There are so many people. SunnyD. There are so many people that helped this,” Stenhouse said. “You know, Campers Inn. Man, there’s just so many great product partners in this Kroger program. Glad to give them another win.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Results
  1. Chris Buescher
  2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  3. William Byron
  4. Kyle Larson
  5. Christopher Bell
  6. Tyler Reddick
  7. Ross Chastain
  8. Chase Briscoe
  9. Austin Cindric
  10. Ryan Blaney
Stage 2 Top 10 Results
  1. Austin Cindric
  2. Chase Elliott
  3. Kyle Busch
  4. Shane van Gisbergen (i)
  5. William Byron
  6. Alex Bowman
  7. Bubba Wallace
  8. Ryan Blaney
  9. Kyle Larson
  10. Ross Chastain
YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Race Results
Finish Start Car No. Driver Sponsor/Make Status
1 32 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger Health/Palmolive Chevrolet Running
2 13 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford Running
3 16 24 William Byron RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Running
4 12 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Running
5 30 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota Running
6 21 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Toyota Running
7 35 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge Chevrolet Running
8 7 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet Running
9 26 23 Bubba Wallace U.S. Air Force Toyota Running
10 8 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx One Rate Toyota Running
11 24 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota Running
12 34 15 Cody Ware Arby’s Ford Running
13 15 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota Running
14 37 77 Carson Hocevar (R) Delaware Life Chevrolet Running
15 17 16 Shane van Gisbergen (i) WeatherTech Chevrolet Running
16 23 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet Running
17 20 17 Chris Buescher Nexletol Ford Running
18 28 51 Corey LaJoie Mighty Fire Breaker Ford Running
19 4 8 Kyle Busch Lucas Oil Chevrolet Running
20 14 45 Tyler Reddick Nasty Beast Toyota Running
21 39 71 Zane Smith (R) Focused Health Chevrolet Running
22 38 78 BJ McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet Running
23 3 38 Todd Gilliland Georgia Peanuts Commission Ford Running
24 33 62 Anthony Alfredo (i) Fortify Building Solutions Chevrolet Running
25 22 10 Noah Gragson Beef A Roo Ford Running
26 31 99 Daniel Suárez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet Running
27 40 44 JJ Yeley (i) Epoxy Depot Chevrolet Running
28 25 13 AJ Allmendinger (i) Strive Chevrolet Running
29 11 9 Chase Elliott Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Running
30 36 14 Chase Briscoe Rush Truck Centers Ford Running
31 29 42 John Hunter Nemechek GearWrench Toyota Accident
32 2 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford Accident
33 6 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford Accident
34 9 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford Accident
35 18 41 Ryan Preece Wonder Bread Ford Accident
36 19 4 Josh Berry (R) SunnyD Ford Accident
37 1 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford Accident
38 10 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet Accident
39 5 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Pennzoil Ford Accident
40 27 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Camo Chevrolet Accident

Rob Tiongson is a sports writer and editor originally from the Boston area and resides in the Austin, Texas, area. Tiongson has covered motorsports series like NASCAR and INDYCAR since 2008 and NHRA since 2013. Most recently, Tiongson is covering professional basketball, mainly the WNBA, and women's college basketball. While writing and editing for The Podium Finish, Tiongson currently seeks for a long-term sportswriting and sports content creating career. Tiongson enjoys editing and writing articles and features, as well as photography. Moreover, he enjoys time with his family and friends, traveling, cooking, working out and being a fun uncle or "funcle" to his nephew, niece and cat. Tiongson is an alum of Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and St. Bonaventure University's renowned Jandoli School of Communication with a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism.

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