The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pole-winner gets first Cup win at Talladega
Pole sitter wins in OT for first Cup series victory in 158 starts.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. passed Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch in the last lap to claim the victory.
TALLADEGA, ALA. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. used a strong Ford engine to blow past Kyle Busch in overtime at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday for his first NASCAR Cup victory.
It was the first victory for Roush Fenway Racing since Carl Edwards at Sonoma in 2014. Stenhouse, who has led a resurgent Roush team, won in his 158th Cup start.
He was greeted in victory lane first by car owner Jack Roush, then girlfriend Danica Patrick, who was in street clothes because she wrecked out of the race earlier.
“We’ve been terrible for a long time, but we’ve been getting better and better every race,” said Stenhouse, who took time to noted he “parked it” in victory lane for his late friend, Bryan Clauson.
“It’s good to have Jack Roush back in victory lane. It’s been a long time since I’ve pulled into a victory lane,” Stenhouse said. “I had to ask Brad Keselowski how to start a race from the pole because it’s been so long.”
Stenhouse praised the power from his Doug Yates-built engine for the speed. Then he used that speed to snatch the race away
with a last-lap pass of Busch.
The first two stages of the race were calm, and it was the final stretch to the checkered flag that got heated.
The race was stopped for nearly 27 minutes because of an accident that saw AJ Allmendinger’s car flipped on its roof with 19 laps remaining.
The damage was just as bad for Chase Elliott, who got turned by Allmendinger into the wall. Elliott was then hit by Joey Logano, and that contact caused Elliott’s car to lift onto Logano’s hood.
Much of the delay in racing was so workers could turn Allmendinger’s car back on to its wheels so Allmendinger could exit.
NASCAR listed 18 cars as sustaining damage in the accident.
When the red flag was lifted, many of those cars darted to pit road for frantic repairs under NASCAR’s new five-minute rule. If a team can’t fix its damage on pit road in five minutes, the car is ruled out of the race.
The race restarted with 15 laps remaining and Busch as the leader. Any shot Dale Earnhardt Jr. had at winning evaporated moments later when he was forced to pit with a loose wheel.
There was a caution called with 10 laps remaining because Landon Cassill couldn’t get his disabled car off the track, and that allowed Earnhardt to get back on the lead lap. He was 23rd with seven laps to go when the race resumed.
But no one had enough to catch leader Busch as the field was setting itself up for a frantic dash to the finish. Then Ryan Newman spun with three laps remaining to send the race into overtime.
Busch was listed as the leader, followed by Stenhouse, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray. Stenhouse got a push from McMurray around Busch and made it stick for the win.
McMurray finished second in a Chevrolet and was followed by Busch in a Toyota, then Aric Almirola, another Ford driver and winner of the Xfinity Series race Saturday.
Keselowski wins first stage: Keselowski won the first stage in what seemed to be a Ford rout. He beat fellow Ford driver Stenhouse to win the segment.
Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Trevor Bayne, Logano, Paul Menard, Patrick, Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones rounded out the top 10.
Stenhouse started from the pole and led 13 laps — the first time he’d led laps all season.
Hamlin wins second stage: Denny Hamlin gave Toyota its first taste of the front of the field as he won the second stage. It was Hamlin’s first stage win of the season.
He was followed by Kevin Harvick, Blaney, Truex, Johnson, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Kahne, Jones and McMurray.
Upcoming races: NASCAR makes a Saturday night stop at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Busch earned the victory last year — his third of the season — during a streak in which Joe Gibbs Racing won eight of the first 13 races of the season. Through 10 races this year, only Truex of sister team Furniture Row Racing has a victory in the Gibbs’ column. Truex won at Las Vegas in March.
The Monster Energy Open is May 20 at Charlotte.