The NASCAR Cup Series continued the Round 12 playoffs with race two at Talladega Superspeedway for the YellaWood 500. Denny Hamlin won the pole by a metric qualifying system while last week’s winner Kurt Busch qualified second. There was no “Choose Cone Rule” in this race. Two drivers were starting the race at the back were Timmy Hill (inspection failure) and Cody Ware (driver change).
The ultimate #NASCARPlayoffs wildcard is green at @TalladegaSuperS! Catch the #YellaWood500 on NBC! pic.twitter.com/b3DbzDMgs5 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
The race opened with a bang when on the first lap, the yellow caution flag waved. Christopher Bell’s left rear tire went flat, and while he spun, Tyler Reddick, who had nowhere to go, hit him. Others involved in the crash were Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Ty Dillon.
.@CBellRacing goes around on the first lap and collects @TylerReddick! pic.twitter.com/0Nr34rfbNK — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
The race resumed on the fifth lap with Denny Hamlin still in the lead. Four laps later, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had help from John Hunter Nemechek as Stenhouse spun across the track before hitting the inside wall to bring out the second caution.
A rough break for @StenhouseJr will end his day early at @TalladegaSuperS. pic.twitter.com/3pHMxxCNwG — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
The race would get back underway on lap 13; however, Corey LaJoie’s car stalled, and the caution was back out. Hamlin once again led the field back to the restart on lap 16. Hamlin led the first 16 laps before Joey Logano took the lead. Logano led a couple of laps before Hamlin got it back on lap 19. He continued to lead until the competition caution came out on lap 26. During the caution, the leaders went to pit road. The first seven cars, including Logano, took fuel only while most took two tires or four. Chase Elliott was caught speeding and had to restart at the back.
Logano was on the inside while Aric Almirola was outside for the restart on lap 31. Cars were now going three and four wide, trying to move their way up to the front. Almirola took the lead on the same lap before losing it to Erik Jones. Jones led seven laps before losing the lead to Ryan Blaney. Drivers switched from the high to low lanes, depending on what line was moving. In the closing laps of stage one, Joey Logano was pushed by Alex Bowman. Bowman then got into Almirola as Almirola tried to block him and sent him into the wall to bring out the caution ending stage one that went to Chris Buescher. Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Blaney were also involved in the wreck.
The leaders wreck with only two laps remaining in Stage 1! pic.twitter.com/TtzOjz1Dng — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
During the caution, Harvick and three others stayed out to pit a lap later while Chase Elliott was the first off of pit road followed by Brad Keselowski. Harvick had an uncontrolled tire and had to restart at the back. Elliott was on the inside while Keselowski was outside to start stage two on lap 66. Two laps in, Kyle Busch lost a left front tire to bring out the caution again for the sixth time. It was a good thing each team had seven pairs of tires for the race.
Disaster continues for @KyleBusch as Stage 2 gets underway. pic.twitter.com/m43SW245pi — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
During the caution, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, and fourteen others pitted. Hamlin was caught speeding and had to restart at the back of the field. Chris Buescher was outside, and Keselowski was inside for the restart on lap 74. Erik Jones and Matt DiBenedetto took turns leading a total of seven laps. Scheduled pit stops began on lap 86 with all the Chevrolet drivers pitting together. Just as all of the Toyota drivers were heading to pit road, the caution came out for Ryan Blaney, who cut a right front tire.
Cut right front tire for Ryan @Blaney and the @MenardsRacing / @Pennzoil Ford. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/srElp61GUy — Team Penske (@Team_Penske) October 4, 2020
During the caution, Logano, Bowyer, DiBenedetto, and eight others pitted mostly for fuel. The Hendrick teammates of Elliott and Byron were on the front row for the restart on lap 93. The caution would come out again on lap 109 when Clint Bowyer spun Jimmie Johnson, and caused a major wreck involving a total of thirteen cars, including Kurt Busch, who flipped up in the air. The race had to be red-flagged for ten minutes. During the caution, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, and eleven others pitted for repairs while everyone else stayed out.
A massive pileup on the frontstretch puts us under the red flag. pic.twitter.com/DYMvqiGu09 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
The race resumed with seven laps to go in stage two. Martin Truex Jr. went to the lead with the help of Tyler Reddick and led the last four laps to win stage two. During the caution, Martin Truex Jr. was first off pit road taking fuel only. Truex chose the inside lane, and Keselowski the outside to start the final stage on lap 126.
Again, either the top lane or bottom had the momentum to send the lead drivers to the front. Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Chris Buescher all led laps. The eleventh caution would come out on lap 148 when debris from Jimmie Johnson’s repaired car came flying onto the track. During the caution, all the leaders came to pit road. Logano comes out first, followed by Kevin Harvick. Both Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek had uncontrolled tires and had to restart in the back. Logano was outside, and Harvick inside for the restart on lap 153.
For the next 27 laps, Logano, Elliott, and Wallace all took turns leading laps. On lap 183, Logano would get the lead after Ryan Preece and Bubba Wallace made contact sending Wallace into the wall, but no caution came out. Then James Davison’s spin at turn four brought out the caution for the twelfth time and sent the race to overtime.
The No. 37 had a big run and @BubbaWallace couldn't hang on. pic.twitter.com/YBnp7C6hKm — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
During the caution, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Erik Jones, and three others went to pit road. Logano was inside, and DiBenedetto was outside to start overtime on lap 188. Then another wreck happened on the front stretch involving Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and six others after Tyler Reddick spun out Kyle Busch. Logano was penalized for forcing Elliott below the yellow line and would end up restarting at the back. The red flag would be displayed once again. After cleanup was complete, the yellow flag was back out.
.@chaseelliott surges to the front, but the field crashes before they take the white flag! We're under the red flag at @TalladegaSuperS. pic.twitter.com/8leOoTbGWK — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
During the caution, Byron, Keselowski, Bowman, and eight others went to pit road. Elliott was on the outside, and DiBenedetto was outside for the second overtime on lap 193. On the same lap, Ryan Preece spun out Bubba Wallace, which ended up involving Blaney, Keselowski, Kenseth, Austin Dillon, and Alex Bowman to bring out another caution for the thirteenth time.
.@BubbaWallace takes a hard hit into the outside wall after making a bold move to the front of the line. pic.twitter.com/JUIshPs6I6 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
During this caution, Elliott, Harvick, Keselowski, and six others went to pit road. Hamlin was on the outside, and DiBenedetto was inside for the third overtime. In the third overtime, DiBenedetto tried to block Byron, forcing Hamlin below the yellow line. A race to the line would see Hamlin just beat DiBenedetto for the win by .023 seconds to advance to the Round of 8 playoffs. After the race, DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher were penalized for the yellow line rule and finish 21st and 22nd.
WHERE DID HE COME FROM???@dennyhamlin | @TalladegaSuperS pic.twitter.com/hRu8ugOu52 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
.023 seconds. Incredible.@dennyhamlin | @TalladegaSuperS pic.twitter.com/jTxqCj69Uk — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 4, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers were Erik Jones second, Ty Dillon third, William Byron fourth, Chase Elliott fifth, Ryan Newman sixth, Tyler Reddick seventh, John Hunter Nemechek eighth, Brennan Poole ninth, and Ryan Preece tenth. There were 13 cautions for 54 laps and 58 lead changes.
Updated playoff standings are Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch with their wins, move on to the Round of 8 playoffs. Kevin Harvick is third (+68), Chase Elliot fourth (+44), Brad Keselowski fifth (+41), Martin Truex Jr. sixth (+32), Alex Bowman seventh (+22), Joey Logano eighth (+21). Outside looking in are Kyle Busch ninth (-21), Austin Dillon tenth (-21), Clint Bowyer eleventh (-38), and Aric Almirola twelfth (-48).
The Round of 8 playoffs concludes next Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at 2:30 pm on NBC.
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