Ryan Blaney appears to simply have a knack for successful shut finishes at Talladega Superspeedway. In 2019 he beat Ryan Newman and in 2020 he beat Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., each by 0.007 seconds.
Add one other one to the gathering, as on Sunday, Blaney nipped Kevin Harvick on the line by a margin of 0.012.
Riley Herbst acquired turned sideways by Corey LaJoie behind the leaders, gathering Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and lots of others as the sphere raced to the road. It was the second huge wreck of the afternoon, following this incident within the tri-oval that red-flagged the race late within the going.
The race was a thriller from begin to end, with 70 lead adjustments between 24 drivers. Joey Logano’s 48 laps led have been probably the most of any driver, with nobody else main greater than 15. Harvick, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Herbst and Stenhouse all led in double figures.
For all of the fan complaints concerning superspeedway racing with the Gen 7 automotive, this one noticed three-wide motion all race lengthy and loads of maneuverability, with quite a few drivers slicing by the sphere with relative ease. It is onerous to search out any purpose to be upset with the on-track product on Sunday, except you are in search of one.
The place the playoff image is anxious, title hopefuls Larson and Martin Truex, Jr. survived potential catastrophe at one of many sport’s most unpredictable tracks. Each are actually comfortably above the bubble, with the Charlotte Roval subsequent week set to slim the sphere from 12 to eight.
Ross Chastain, nonetheless, was concerned in an early accident and has fallen to -9 behind the lower line. Brad Keselowski additionally needs to be nervous, with solely a +2 benefit over Tyler Reddick. Reddick can be one of many favorites on the highway course, a monitor sort the place Keselowski has struggled in recent times.
Bubba Wallace and Kyle Busch, who each fought for the win within the first Talladega race in 2023, will even be on the surface trying in subsequent week. In the meantime Blaney, the opposite driver who was concerned in that end, can breathe a sigh of aid as he went from the surface trying in, to being locked into the Spherical of 8.
