Bubba Wallace Wins Rain Shortened Talladega Race

TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – Darrell “Bubba” Wallace won the rain-shortened NASCAR Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday.  The race was postponed on Sunday due to rain, but the rain persisted on Monday, but the race was called because of more rain and NASCAR monitoring the situation on radar. 

Wallace is only the second African American winner of a Cup race in the sanctioning body’s long history.  The first winner was Wendell Scott in 1965. He won a Grand National Series race at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida, becoming the first black driver to win a race at NASCAR's premier level.

Wallace had driven through a crash and to the front of the field five laps before the second rain stoppage of the race. NASCAR tried to dry the track for nearly 45 minutes, but up against sundown and the rain not showing any signs of ceasing, the race was called off.

Wallace had been waiting atop his pit stand and celebrated wildly with his crew when the race was called. Wallace is in his first season driving for 23X1 Racing, a team owned by both Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

Wallace broke down in tears after he returned to his parked No. 23 Toyota. The car number was picked for co-owner Jordan, who wore 23 in the NBA.

"This is for all the kids out there that want to have an opportunity and whatever they want to achieve, and be the best at what they want to do," Wallace said as he choked back tears. "You're going to go through a lot of bulls---. But you always got to stick true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you.

"Stay strong. Stay humble. Stay hungry. Been plenty of times when I wanted to give up."

The win comes at a unique track for Wallace.  n June 2020 at Talladega, NASCAR discovered a noose in the garage stall assigned to Wallace. The finding came just a week after NASCAR had banned the Confederate flag at its events at Wallace's urging.

The FBI investigated and found that the noose was tied at the end of the garage door pull and had been there for months, meaning Wallace was not a victim of a hate crime. The entire industry rallied around him, though, and stood in solidarity with Wallace at his car at the front of the grid before the race.

The flag ban has been an issue at Talladega, where a convoy of vehicles has paraded up and down Speedway Boulevard outside the main entrance of the speedway in all four races since NASCAR said it would not permit the symbol inside its tracks. The convoy was back this weekend and included one car pulling a trailer that contained a Civil War-era cannon.

No playoff drivers won a race at Talladega this weekend and only Hamlin is already locked into the third round of the playoffs headed into next week's elimination race at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Co-owner Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, celebrated with Wallace following his seventh-place finish.

"It's just way more emotional because I know how difficult it is. These guys have worked so hard over the last 10 months to put this team together," Hamlin said. "We're still in the beginning stages of our team. We're still growing. We've got some great things on the horizon. It's just a great morale booster for everyone."

Brad Keselowski finished second and was followed by Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in a pair of Fords. Busch was fourth in a Chevrolet.

Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and William Byron head to Charlotte in danger of elimination.

The first two stages were classic speedway. Hamlin, who is safely in the next round after his Las Vegas win, drifted to the back of the pack as the field went three-by-three in the early laps.

Larson was able to take the lead with help from Wallace and Truex before a train of Fords prevailed on the inside line.

The field slowed for a competition caution on Lap 25 with Custer leading the way.Harvick won the race off pit road as Elliott narrowly avoided Ware in a close-call exiting the pits.

The race went back green on Lap 30. Kurt Busch pushed Truex out ahead of Harvick, before taking the lead himself. The lead would be swapped back-and-forth with Keselowski and Hamlin taking charge late in the stage.

McDowell fell off the lead lap after losing the draft due to an unscheduled stop for fender damage. He got the free pass at the end of the stage.

The field finally calmed down and went single-file with 15 laps to go in the stage, but that did not last long. Preece would take the lead from Keselowski just three laps prior to a stage-ending crash.

Justin Allgaier lost control after a bad bump from Byron, spinning up into Larson and also collecting Briscoe. Buescher would spin in the chaos as well, but the rest of the field avoided the wreck.

Stage 1 would end under caution with Buescher taking the third stage win of his career. He was followed by Logano, Keselowski, Harvick, Blaney, Reddick, Elliott, Chastain, Kurt Busch and Bowman.  Then came Stage 2, the final run of the race

Once again, Harvick won the race off pit road but was forced to pit a second time due to a tire issue.

After extensive repairs, Larson returned to the race but expressed concern about the right front tire. He believed the tire would let go if he tried to run at full speed, and that is exactly what happened. A few laps after the restart, the caution flag flew again for debris from Larson’s car as he blew the right front tire.

The entire field pitted for fuel during the yellow. However, it then started to rain and the race was red-flagged for almost 20 minutes.

The field again came down pit road for a splash of fuel before the restart. Haley and LaJoie led the way as the race went back green on Lap 76.

Just as the race passed halfway and became official, Bowman spun off the nose of Stenhouse while battling for the race lead.

Bowman slammed the outside wall and collected several drivers. Kyle Busch, Chastain, Reddick, Truex and Preece were among those involved. McLeod, Bilicki, Ware and Davison also got a piece of it as they tried to slow down for the accident.

Once the race went back green, the intensity picked up as rain again threatened the track.

Bubba Wallace moved into the race and had to defend against Team Penske as both Keselowski and Logano.

Suddenly, Preece got turned into the outside wall. He collected both Byron and DiBenedetto, and the caution flag was displayed. During this time, the rains came that ended the race.

Unofficial Results: 53rd Annual YellaWood 500, October 4, 2021, Talladega Superspeedway: 2.66 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 19, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, 117, , 1, 1, 5, 6, 50, Running
2) 7, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 117, 3, 2, 2, 13, , 52, Running
3) 8, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 117, 2, 3, 3, 9, , 51, Running
4) 14, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 117, 9, 4, 2, 9, , 42, Running
5) 12, Christopher Bell (P), No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 117, , 5, 4, 12, , 38, Running
6) 24, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Violet Defense Ford, 117, 1, 6, 1, 7, 1, 46, Running
7) 1, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 117, , 7, 3, 6, , 34, Running
8) 9, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Busch Light #Hunt4Busch Ford, 117, 4, 8, 5, 16, , 39, Running
9) 26, Erik Jones, No. 43 US Air Force: Special Warfare Chevrolet, 117, , 9, , , , 30, Running
10) 30, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford, 117, , 10, 1, 1, , 28, Running
11) 16, Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Chevrolet, 117, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 6, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 117, , , 1, 2, , 25, Running
13) 28, Cole Custer, No. 41 Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford, 117, , , 1, 7, , 24, Running
14) 17, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1Delvac Ford, 117, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 4, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Maytag Ford, 117, 6, , , , , 27, Running
16) 21, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 SunnyD Chevrolet, 117, , , 3, 10, , 21, Running
17) 22, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 117, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 3, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 Adrenaline Shoc Chevrolet, 117, 7, , , , , 23, Running
19) 35, Quin Houff, No. 00 8 Ball Chocolate Whiskey Chevrolet, 117, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 38, * Justin Haley(i), No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 117, , , 1, 4, , 0, Running
21) 25, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford, 117, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 29, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet, 117, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 18, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Good Sam Chevrolet, 117, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 40, * Landon Cassill(i), No. 96 Carnomaly Toyota, 117, , , , , , 0, Running
25) 36, Joey Gase(i), No. 53 Sparks Ford, 117, , , , , , 0, Running
26) 20, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 117, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 2, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 117, , , 2, 4, , 10, Running
28) 31, Cody Ware(i), No. 51 Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 117, , , 1, 4, , 0, Running
29) 37, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 15 Boom Mobile Chevrolet, 117, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 32, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 NASCAR 21 Ignition Ford, 117, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 34, Josh Bilicki, No. 52 Junction Fuels Ford, 117, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 27, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Kroger/Velveeta Chevrolet, 116, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 23, Ross Chastain, No. 42 Clover Chevrolet, 116, 8, , , , , 7, Running
34) 39, * James Davison, No. 66 Rich Mar Racing Ford, 116, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 15, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 115, , , 1, 2, , 2, Accident
36) 10, William Byron (P), No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 115, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 5, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 Cincinnati Chevrolet, 113, , , 1, 3, , 1, Running
38) 11, Alex Bowman (P), No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 97, 10, , 1, 1, , 2, Accident
39) 13, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Realtree Chevrolet, 97, 5, , 1, 2, , 7, Accident
40) 33, Justin Allgaier(i), No. 77 BRANDT Chevrolet, 55, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 23 Mins, 24 Secs.
Total Race Length: 117 Laps, 311.22 Miles
Average Speed: 130.218 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 17, 22, 2, 4, 8, 12, 9, 42, 1, 48
Stage 2 Top 10: 23, 2, 22, 1, 20, 17, 11, 4, 43, 38

Comments: Bubba Wallace won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 00 and 53 (Mulitple Inspection Failures) and 66 (Driver Change).

Cautions: 5 for 27 laps;
Laps: 27-29 (Competition Caution [53]);
57-64 (No. 5, 14, 24 and 77 Incident on the Frontstretch  [34]);
68-77 (Debris in Turn 2 from No. 5 [Red Flag: 18:20] [14]);
99-103 (8, 9, 18, 19, 37, 42, 47, 48 and 78 Incident on the Backstretch [14]);
117-117 (No. 12, 24, 37 and 47 Incident on the Backstretch [None]).

Lead Changes: 35 among 19 drivers;
D. Hamlin (P) 0;
K. Busch (P) 1;
J. Logano (P) 2;
K. Busch (P) 3-5;
K. Harvick (P) 6-11;
M. DiBenedetto 12-13;
K. Harvick (P) 14;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 15-16;
K. Larson (P) 17-19;
C. Custer 20-26;
A. Alfredo # 27;
K. Harvick (P) 28-29;
K. Busch 30-33;
K. Harvick (P) 34-37;
D. Hamlin (P) 38;
B. Keselowski (P) 39-40;
D. Hamlin (P) 41-42;
B. Keselowski (P) 43-53;
C. Buescher 54-60;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 61;
J. Logano (P) 62-64;
T. Reddick 65-66;
J. Logano (P) 67-71;
C. Ware(i) 72-75;
*. Haley(i) 76-79;
C. Bell (P) 80-83;
D. Hamlin (P) 84-86;
C. Bell (P) 87-88;
K. Harvick (P) 89-91;
C. Bell (P) 92-96;
A. Bowman (P) 97;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 98-105;
C. Bell (P) 106;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 107;
K. Busch 108-112;
B. Wallace 113-117.

Unofficial Driver Points:
Rank    Driver  Car      Starts  GL        Points  Ldr       Nxt      Race Wins       Stage Wins      Playoff Pts 

1)         Denny Hamlin (P)        11        31        1          3116    0          0          2          10        30
2)         Kyle Larson (P) 5          31        -1         3097    -19       19        6          15        60
3)         Joey Logano (P)           22        31        4          3096    -20       1          1          5          13
4)         Brad Keselowski (P)    2          31        4          3095    -21       1          1          2          8
5)         Martin Truex Jr. (P)     19        31        -1         3095    -21       0          4          5          29
6)         Ryan Blaney (P)           12        31        -1         3090    -26       5          3          4          24
7)         Chase Elliott (P)           9          31        -1         3084    -32       6          2          3          21
8)         Kyle Busch (P) 18        31        -5         3084    -32       0          2          5          22
9)         Kevin Harvick (P)         4          31        1          3075    -41       9          0          0          2
10)       Christopher Bell (P)     20        31        2          3056    -60       19        1          0          5
11)       William Byron (P)        24        31        -2         3040    -76       16        1          3          14
12)       Alex Bowman (P)        48        31        -1         3032    -84       8          3          0          15
13)       Kurt Busch       1          31        1          2146    -970     886      1          3          8
14)       Tyler Reddick  8          31        -1         2125    -991     21        0          3          3
15)       Aric Almirola   10        31        0          2104    -1012   21        1          0          5
16)       Michael McDowell      34        31        0          2064    -1052   40        1          0          5
17)       Austin Dillon   3          31        0          813      -2303   1251    0          0          0
18)       Matt DiBenedetto       21        31        0          658      -2458   155      0          1          0
19)       Chris Buescher            17        31        1          656      -2460   2          0          2          1
20)       Ross Chastain  42        31        -1         645      -2471   11        0          0          0
21)       Bubba Wallace            23        31        1          633      -2483   12        1          2          6
22)       Ricky Stenhouse Jr.     47        31        -1         615      -2501   18        0          0          0
23)       Chase Briscoe #           14        31        0          575      -2541   40        0          0          0
24)       Erik Jones        43        31        1          544      -2572   31        0          0          0
25)       Daniel Suarez  99        31        -1         536      -2580   8          0          0          0