Ricky Stenhouse Jr wins dramatic Talladega Cup race in photo finish

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held on in a two-lap dash to the checkered flag for his first Cup win since the 2023 Daytona 500. He is third non-playoff driver to win in the first five races of the playoffs. Stenhouse becomes the 18th different winner this year, collecting his fourth career victory in the Cup Series.

He crossed the line just 0.006s ahead of Brad Keselowski who finished second and 0.027s clear of William Byron who finished third.

“Felt really good,” said Stenhouse, who proceeded to climb the fence and jump into the flagstand after his winner’s interview. “We had our Chevy teammates behind us. I was hoping Kyle [Larson] wasn’t going to push the 6 [Keselowski] that hard. I knew the 24 [Byron] was probably going to try and get to the line there but this team has put a lot of hard work in. Obviously, we haven’t won since the [Daytona] 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season. A lot of hard work this season just trying to find a little bit of speed. We knew that this track is one of ours to come get. 

Larson was fourth and Erik Jones finished fifth for his best result of the 2024 season. Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-ten.

It was a fairly clean race until later on. After serving a pass-through penalty for unapproved adjustments before the race, Daniel Suarez spun out and remained trapped off the lead lap for the remainder of the race. 

Chris Buescher ended up winning the opening stage in a clean run to the line. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the finish to Stage 2.

While Austin Cindric approached the line to collect the green-and-white checkered flag, Ryan Blaney got turned in the middle of the pack. He shot across the track and made heavy contact with Ross Chastain, ending both of their days.

The biggest crash in Cup Series history

The race featured an impressive amount of four-wide action, but no large crashes into the closing moments. After the final cycle of green-flag stops, Cindric emerged with the race lead. He led the bottom line while Stenhouse led the charge from the outside. With less than five laps to go, a massive wreck immediately halted the race.

Keselowski pushed Cindric on the left-side of his rear bumper after they made their way around a slower car. The shove sent Cindric spinning in the middle of pack, collecting over half the field and eliminating several playoff drivers. 28 cars were involved in the biggest crash in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Stenhouse, despite getting hit in the door during the wreck, kept it straight and inherited the race lead. After the red flag, the event moved into overtime. With a push from Byron, he was able to fend off Byron and snap a winless streak that lasted 65 races.

Heading into the Round of 12 elimination race, Chase Elliott sits on the bubble. He is 13 points ahead of Joey Logano, 20 points ahead of Suarez, 29 points ahead of Cindric, and 32 points ahead of Chase Briscoe.