2024 YellaWood 500 explained

The 2024 YellaWood 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 6, 2024, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 195 laps -- extended from 188 laps due to an overtime finish on the 2.66miles asphalt superspeedway, it was the 31st race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, the fifth race of the playoffs, and the second race of the Round of 12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the race, his first since the 2023 Daytona 500. Brad Keselowski finished 2nd, and William Byron finished 3rd. Kyle Larson and Erik Jones rounded out the top five, and Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top ten.

The race is notable for containing the largest "Big One" in modern Cup Series history, with 28 cars being officially recorded as being involved.

Report

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking. The track currently hosts NASCAR's Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Craftsman Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km).

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (P) denotes playoff driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1			Chevrolet
2	Austin Cindric (P)		Ford
3			Chevrolet
4	Josh Berry (R)		Ford
5	Kyle Larson (P)		Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9	Chase Elliott (P)		Chevrolet
10			Ford
11	Denny Hamlin (P)		Toyota
12	Ryan Blaney (P)		Ford
13	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet
14	Chase Briscoe (P)		Ford
15			Ford
16	Shane van Gisbergen (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
19			Toyota
20	Christopher Bell (P)		Toyota
21			Ford
22	Joey Logano (P)		Ford
23			Toyota
24	William Byron (P)		Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
38			Ford
41			Ford
42			Toyota
43			Toyota
44	J. J. Yeley (i)		Chevrolet
45	Tyler Reddick (P)		Toyota
47			Chevrolet
48	Alex Bowman (P)		Chevrolet
51			Ford
54			Toyota
62	Anthony Alfredo (i)		Chevrolet
71	Zane Smith (R)		Chevrolet
77	Carson Hocevar (R)		Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Chevrolet
99	Daniel Suárez (P)		Chevrolet
Official entry list

Qualifying

Michael McDowell scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.310 and a speed of 183.063mph.^[9]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	34			Ford	52.344	52.310
2	2	Austin Cindric (P)		Ford	52.545	52.493
3	38			Ford	52.630	52.541
4	8			Chevrolet	52.707	52.655
5	12	Ryan Blaney (P)		Ford	52.613	52.678
6	22	Joey Logano (P)		Ford	52.647	52.706
7	3			Chevrolet	52.764	52.741
8	11	Denny Hamlin (P)		Toyota	52.766	52.744
9	21			Ford	52.711	52.895
10	31			Chevrolet	52.769	52.912
11	9	Chase Elliott (P)		Chevrolet	52.812	—
12	5	Kyle Larson (P)		Chevrolet	52.821	—
13	6			Ford	52.832	—
14	45	Tyler Reddick (P)		Toyota	52.841	—
15	54			Toyota	52.849	—
16	24	William Byron (P)		Chevrolet	52.904	—
17	16	Shane van Gisbergen (i)		Chevrolet	52.914	—
18	41			Ford	52.916	—
19	4	Josh Berry (R)		Ford	52.932	—
20	17			Ford	52.994	—
21	20	Christopher Bell (P)		Toyota	53.007	—
22	10			Ford	53.011	—
23	48	Alex Bowman (P)		Chevrolet	53.012	—
24	19			Toyota	53.020	—
25	13	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet	53.044	—
26	23			Toyota	53.064	—
27	1			Chevrolet	53.077	—
28	51			Ford	53.220	—
29	42			Toyota	53.223	—
30	43			Toyota	53.259	—
31	99	Daniel Suárez (P)		Chevrolet	53.253	—
32	47			Chevrolet	53.291	—
33	62	Anthony Alfredo (i)		Chevrolet	53.316	—
34	15			Ford	53.324	—
35	7			Chevrolet	53.494	—
36	14	Chase Briscoe (P)		Ford	53.498	—
37	77	Carson Hocevar (R)		Chevrolet	53.699	—
38	78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Chevrolet	53.870	—
39	71	Zane Smith (R)		Chevrolet	53.921	—
40	44	J. J. Yeley (i)		Chevrolet	54.768	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage OneLaps: 60

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	10
2	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	9
3	24	William Byron (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	5	Kyle Larson (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	20	Christopher Bell (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	6
6	45	Tyler Reddick (P)	23XI Racing	Toyota	5
7	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	4
8	14	Chase Briscoe (P)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	2	Austin Cindric (P)	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	12	Ryan Blaney (P)	Team Penske	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 60

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	2	Austin Cindric (P)	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	9	Chase Elliott (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	8
4	16	Shane van Gisbergen (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	0
5	24	William Byron (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	6
6	48	Alex Bowman (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	5
7	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	4
8	12	Ryan Blaney (P)	Team Penske	Ford	3
9	5	Kyle Larson (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage results

Stage ThreeLaps: 68

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	32	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	195	49
2	13	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	195	35
3	16	24	William Byron (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	195	48
4	12	5	Kyle Larson (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	195	42
5	30	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	195	32
6	21	20	Christopher Bell (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	195	37
7	35	7	Justin Haley	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	195	30
8	7	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	195	29
9	26	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	195	32
10	8	11	Denny Hamlin (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	195	27
11	24	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	195	26
12	34	15	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	195	25
13	15	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	195	24
14	37	77	Carson Hocevar (R)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	195	23
15	17	16	Shane van Gisbergen (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	195	0
16	23	48	Alex Bowman (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	195	26
17	20	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	195	30
18	28	51	Corey LaJoie	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	195	19
19	4	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	195	26
20	14	45	Tyler Reddick (P)	23XI Racing	Toyota	195	22
21	39	71	Zane Smith (R)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	195	16
22	38	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Live Fast Motorsprots	Chevrolet	195	0
23	3	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	194	14
24	33	62	Anthony Alfredo (i)	Beard Motorsports	Chevrolet	194	0
25	22	10	Noah Gragson	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	194	12
26	31	99	Daniel Suárez (P)	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	194	11
27	40	44	J. J. Yeley (i)	NY Racing Team	Chevrolet	193	0
28	25	13	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	193	0
29	11	9	Chase Elliott (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	190	17
30	36	14	Chase Briscoe (P)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	189	10
31	29	42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	188	6
32	2	2	Austin Cindric (P)	Team Penske	Ford	183	17
33	6	22	Joey Logano (P)	Team Penske	Ford	183	4
34	9	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	183	3
35	18	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	183	2
36	19	4	Josh Berry (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	183	1
37	1	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	183	1
38	10	31	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	183	1
39	5	12	Ryan Blaney (P)	Team Penske	Ford	124	5
40	27	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	120	6
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 66 among 24 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 4 for 24 laps
• Red flags: 1 for 8 minutes and 42 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 25 seconds
• Average speed: 150.773mph
• Margin of victory: 0.006

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Leigh Diffey, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and 1999 NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett called from the NBC Peacock Pit Box on pit road. Dave Burns, Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman, and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane. NBC premiered "NASCAR Nonstop", where every green flag lap was ad free.^[10]

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Todd Gordon called the race for MRN when the field races through the tri-oval. Dave Moody will call the action from turn 1, Mike Bagley called the action for MRN when the field races down the back straightaway, and Chris Wilner called the race from the Sunoco tower just outside of turn 4. Steve Post, Dillon Welch, Brienne Pedigo, and Jason Toy called the action for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	William Byron	3,122
1	2	Christopher Bell	3,105 (–17)
1	3	Kyle Larson	3,100 (–22)
1	4	Denny Hamlin	3,078 (–44)
1	5	Alex Bowman	3,074 (–48)
4	6	Ryan Blaney	3,073 (–49)
2	7	Tyler Reddick	3,062 (–60)
1	8	Chase Elliott	3,061 (–61)
1	9	Joey Logano	3,048 (–74)
	10	Daniel Suárez	3,041 (–81)
1	11	Austin Cindric	3,032 (–90)
1	12	Chase Briscoe	3,029 (–93)
	13	Ty Gibbs	2,144 (–978)
	14	Martin Truex Jr.	2,130 (–992)
	15	Brad Keselowski	2,104 (–1,018)
	16	Harrison Burton	2,048 (–1,074)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	1,134
1	2	Ford	1,087 (–47)
1	3	Toyota	1,084 (–50)

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2024 schedule . Jayski.com. . June 24, 2024.
2. Web site: Talladega SuperSpeedway. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. January 3, 2013. NASCAR.com. August 14, 2022. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428025309/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/talladega-speedway.html. dead.
3. News: NASCAR Cup Series 2024 schedule announcement: New additions, race dates, plus the complete calendar. Taranto, Steven . October 3, 2023 . June 24, 2024 . CBS Broadcasting Inc.
4. News: NASCAR reveals 2024 Cup schedule as Atlanta, Watkins Glen move to playoffs . October 4, 2023 . June 24, 2024 . National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC.
5. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 30, 2024. September 30, 2024.
6. Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 5, 2024. October 5, 2024.
7. Web site: YellaWood 500 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 6, 2024. October 6, 2024.
8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 6, 2024. October 6, 2024.
9. Web site: DeGroot. Nick. Michael McDowell Earn Talladega Cup Pole For Front Row Motorsports. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. October 5, 2024. Lincoln, Alabama. October 5, 2024.
10. Web site: NBC Sports to show every green flag lap of Cup races at Daytona, Talladega, Atlanta . Dustin . Long . August 21, 2024 . September 8, 2024 .