Ryan Blaney Nips Ryan Newman for Talladega Win

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TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – Ryan Blaney beat Ryan Ne3wman in a photo finish that saw only about one foot was the difference in the winner and second place.  It was a race that had wrecks, wrecks, and more wrecks, many from playoff teams.  The race, suspended after just one stage on Sunday due to rain, came down to a two-lap shootout for the win after a red flag was thrown on lap 181 of 188 following a big accident for the leading pack of cars.  It was a battle of Ford Mustangs from different teams.

“It was an amazing effort the last two days to be honest with you,” Blaney said. We spun out early yesterday and missed some big ones today. We were able to weave our way through. I can’t thank Aric Almirola enough for helping me out there at the end. That big push that Newman and the 11 got I knew I wasn’t going to be able to block it. They were coming so fast and they wanted to split me. I wanted to stay to the bottom and kind of pulled the 11 off the 6 and then had a big enough run to get to the six. We kind of hit above the line and that pushed me below the line. That is a big judgement call. You never know. I definitely wasn’t going to go below the line before we made contact. I can’t say enough about this Dent Wizard team. It has been super fun the last couple of days. We are moving on! This is super cool.”

Newman, a man of few words, took it all in stride.

“We just came up that little bit short,” Newman said. “I don’t know what else to say.”

Kurt Busch hit brother Kyle, which triggered a chain-reaction that flipped Brendan Gaughan in the Beard Motorsports Chevorlet and ended the afternoons of frontrunners Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Matt DiBenedetto and Kevin Harvick.  Busch didn’t seem to know what happened.

“I don’t know. Everybody starts getting more aggressive towards the end and some guys just started pushing and I got pushed,” Busch said.  I don’t know if he was getting pushed from behind him or what, but just got turned sideways the wrong way on the straightaway and that was it.”

After the debris was cleared, Blaney led the restart, until Ryan Newman came charging past on the final tour of the 2.66-mile circuit, curtesy of a push from Denny Hamlin.

Blaney managed to edge his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang back into the lead later in the lap. Blaney held the lead and powered to the finish, beating Newman by 0.007 seconds. Blaney, who became the second Cup driver to book his place in the 'round of 8' after last week's Dover race winner Kyle Larson.

The second stage of the race followed the script laid out in the first on Sunday, with manufacturers grouping together around the superspeedway to try to help their drivers in the draft. In the second 55 stage, running was consistent with the likes of Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott and Keselowski taking turns out front, until a lap 106 crash brought things to a premature end. Clint Bowyer took his first stage win of the year as a result, as the field reset ahead of the final 78-lap stage, ahead of Logano and Keselowski.

Reigning Cup champion Joey Logano's Penske Mustang made contact with Alex Bowman's Hendrick Motorsports' Chevrolet, causing big damage to Bowman's car and ending his strong run. Larson was also collected in the crash, the #42 destroyed by the impact, with Johnson's race also ending.

‘(The hit) scared the crap out of me because it came out of nowhere.  I was riding around and everything was good in second place and, ‘Boom,’” Logano said   “The next thing I know I’m sideways and up in the air.  My team did an amazing job today because when we got done with the crash the hood was up and I couldn’t see.  The thing was barely rolling with four flat tires and everything else, and they got it to where it would run and then got through another crash to get the lucky dog and finished 11th on the day.  Two second places in the stages and an 11th-place finish with a crashed race car isn’t ideal, but it’s way better than it could have been, so I’m proud of that.”

In the final stage, the race remained a drafting fest, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Bowyer, Logano and stage one winner William Byron all took turns leading, until lap 162 when the second big crash occurred.

Leader Byron was hit by Kurt Busch, who then speared into Logano. The champion was lucky not to flip, but his Ford suffered severe damage to the left-rear fender and Penske had to make running repairs to get him to the end.

After a seven-lap caution period, Stenhouse was in the front until the lap 181 red flag incident that suspended running for around 20 minutes while the circuit was cleared. Denny Hamlin, who had started the race at the back following an engine failure in practice, made up 33 places within four laps in Sunday's running and continued the strong showing on Monday as he took a third-place finish in the #11 Joe Gibbs Toyota Camry.

Hamlin nabbed third by just 0.001s from Stewart-Haas Racing's Aric Almirola as only 16 drivers finished the race.

Now, it’s on to Kansas Speedway next week.  After that comes Martinsville.  That’s three different tracks in a row counting Talladega.

Unofficial Results: 51st Annual 1000Bulbs.com 500, October 13, 2019; Talladega Superspeedway - 2.66 - Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 9, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford, 188, 10, 6, 3, 35, 5, 46, Running
2) 13, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford, 188, , , 1, 3, , 35, Running
3) 40, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 188, , , , , , 34, Running
4) 5, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Racin' for Bacon Ford, 188, , , 2, 3, , 33, Running
5) 22, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 188, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 20, Austin Dillon, No. 3 American Ethanol/RCR 50th Chevrolet, 188, , 4, 1, 1, , 38, Running
7) 33, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 VisoneRV.com Ford, 188, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 1, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 NAPA Night Vision Chevrolet, 188, , , 5, 19, , 29, Running
9) 7, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 188, 4, , 4, 32, , 35, Running
10) 21, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 10, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 188, 2, 2, 5, 16, , 44, Running
12) 34, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Low-T Center Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 0, Running
13) 16, Matt Tifft #, No. 36 Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford, 188, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 25, Landon Cassill(i), No. 00 Graybar/Superior Essex Chevrolet, 188, , , 1, 1, , 0, Running
15) 32, * Parker Kligerman(i), No. 96 TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota, 188, , , , , , 0, Running
16) 14, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Tarkett Ford, 188, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 15, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Busch Light Ford, 188, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 30, Ryan Preece #, No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 26, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Hazelnut Toyota, 188, , 10, 4, 7, , 19, Running
20) 23, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 187, , 7, 1, 1, , 21, Accident
21) 29, Daniel Hemric #, No. 8 Liberty National/RCR 50th Chevrolet, 187, , , 1, 1, , 16, Running
22) 38, * Reed Sorenson, No. 27 Chevrolet, 187, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 8, Clint Bowyer (P), No. 14 Rush/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford, 186, , 1, 2, 13, 1, 24, Running
24) 27, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, 185, , , 1, 1, , 13, Running
25) 6, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 182, 5, 3, 6, 22, , 26, Accident
26) 18, Martin Truex Jr (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 182, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 28, * Brendan Gaughan(i), No. 62 BeardOilDistributing/SthPntHtl&Csn Chev, 181, , , , , , 0, Accident
28) 24, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 181, 9, 9, 3, 16, , 13, Accident
29) 17, David Ragan, No. 38 Envision Ford, 181, , , , , , 8, Accident
30) 31, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 One Bite Toyota, 181, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 35, Blake Jones, No. 77 Tennessee Shine Co. Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 19, Daniel Suarez, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford, 168, 8, 5, , , , 14, Accident
33) 3, William Byron (P), No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 162, 1, 8, 4, 13, 1, 17, Accident
34) 11, Erik Jones, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 162, , , 1, 1, , 3, Accident
35) 37, Austin Theriault, No. 51 JACOB COMPANIES Ford, 162, , , 1, 1, , 2, Accident
36) 36, * Joey Gase(i), No. 66 Fan Memories at Richmond Raceway Toyota, 161, , , , , , 0, Accident
37) 2, Alex Bowman (P), No. 88 Nationwide/Amazon Echo Auto Chevrolet, 106, 3, , , , , 9, Accident
38) 4, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 106, 7, , 1, 2, , 5, Accident
39) 12, Kyle Larson (P), No. 42 McDonald's Chevrolet, 106, 6, , , , , 6, Accident
40) 39, Spencer Boyd(i), No. 52 Medicine Shoppe Chevrolet, 53, , , , , , 0, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) Playoff qualified

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 39 Mins, 35 Secs
Total Race Length: 188 Laps, 500.08 Miles
Average Speed: 136.644 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.007 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 24, 22, 88, 17, 2, 42, 48, 41, 1, 12
Stage 2 Top 10: 14, 22, 2, 3, 41, 12, 37, 24, 1, 18

Race Comments: Ryan Blaney won the 51st annual 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his third career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start of the race the following car dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 11 (engine change).

Caution Flags: 9 for 43 laps
Laps: 38-40 (No. 52 Stopped on Track [00])
57-62 (Stage 1 Conclusion [51])
108-116 (1, 4, 9, 11, 19, 22, 34, 42, 47, 48, 88 Incident in Turn 3 [20])
123-125 (No. 43 and 77 Incident on the Backstretch [17])
133-137 (Debris on the Backstretch [11])
154-157 (No. 14 Spin in Turn 3 [15])
164-169 (No. 1, 20, 21 22, 24, 41, 47, 51 Incident in Turn 3 [None])
173-175 (No. 41 Spin in Turn 4 [47])
183-186 (No. 1, 2, 4, 8, 17,18, 37, 38, 47, 62, 95 Incident on the Backstretch [22]).

Lead Changes: 47 among 19 drivers
B. Keselowski (P) 1-4
K. Busch (P) 5-6
A. Dillon 7
K. Busch 8-18
R. Blaney (P) 19-33
E. Jones 34
A. Almirola 35
B. Keselowski (P) 36-40
R. Newman 41-43
B. Keselowski (P) 44-45
K. Busch 46
C. Elliott (P) 47-49
D. Hemric # 50
W. Byron (P) 51-53
J. Logano (P) 54
W. Byron (P) 55-58
B. Wallace 59
R. Blaney (P) 60-72
J. Logano (P) 73-77
C. Elliott (P) 78-83
B. Keselowski (P) 84-86
C. Elliott (P) 87-89
B. Keselowski (P) 90-93
A. Almirola 94-95
J. Johnson 96-97
C. Elliott (P) 98-101
J. Logano (P) 102-103
C. Elliott (P) 104-106
C. Bowyer (P) 107-111
C. Buescher 112
B. Keselowski (P) 113-116
W. Byron (P) 117
C. Bowyer (P) 118-125
K. Busch (P) 126
J. Logano (P) 127-133
A. Theriault 134
R. Stenhouse Jr 135-142
J. Logano (P) 143
R. Stenhouse Jr 144-150
K. Busch (P) 151-153
L. Cassill(i) 154
W. Byron (P) 155-159
R. Stenhouse Jr 160-175
K. Busch 176-179
R. Stenhouse Jr 180
K. Busch (P) 181
R. Blaney (P) 182-188.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Denny Hamlin, No. 11
Busch Pole Award: Chase Elliott, No. 9 192.707 mph

Fastest Lap: Parker Kligerman, No. 96
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Landon Cassill, No. 00 crew chief Joe Williams, 0.869 seconds

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Matt Tifft, No. 36