Tyler Reddick won when leader Michael McDowell crashed after blocking Brad Keselowski as they came to the checkered flag Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, triggering a multi-car incident that saw Corey LaJoie slide across the finish line on his side.
McDowell was leading and blocked Keselowski, running second, when Keselowski moved high. Keselowski then made move down the track. McDowell countered that move but the cars made contact. That turned McDowell into the wall and collected several cars.
MORE: Talladega results
“Brad is so good at this place and he drug back and I drug back as quick as I could and was able to block that first run that he made, but then when I came down for the second one he was just to my bumper,” said McDowell, who finished 31st. “I mean barely, barely got me so it’s unfortunate. I hate it for him, and I hate it for everybody that was behind that. It’s the last lap at Talladega. We’re all going for it.”
Said Keselowski: “I backed up. Noah gave me a great push and I went to make a move on Michael and he covered it, and I went back the other way and got another push from Noah and there was nowhere to go when Michael came back down. I hate that for him.”
Reddick scored his first win of the season and sixth of his career. Keselowski, who entered with a 107-race winless streak, finished second for the second race in a row. Noah Gragson finished a career-best third. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came through the melee to place a season-best fourth. Alex Bowman completed the top five.
Co-owner Michael Jordan celebrated with the team.
“Denny (Hamlin) keeps saying I was bad luck when I come to the track and today, we proved him wrong,” Jordan told Fox Sports after the race. " ... I think Tyler (Reddick) did a good job, unfortunately Bubba (Wallace) couldn’t finish but the whole team did a good job. Look, I’m very happy to be here to see it. Everybody tells me when we win, we have a big celebration, but this is the first time I’ve been here. To my wife and kids and everybody, ‘Yeah, we did it. Sorry I left you home.’”
Anthony Alfredo finished a career-best sixth a day after he placed a career-best third in the Xfinity race at Talladega.
William Byron placed seventh. Todd Gilliland scored a season-best eighth-place finish. Daniel Hemric finished a season-best ninth. Harrison Burton finished a season-best 10th.
LaJoie finished 18th with his car sliding on the driver’s side across the finish line. His car rolled over on to its wheels past the finish line.
Reddick is the eighth consecutive different winner at Talladega.
The 188-lap race featured 72 lead changes among 23 drivers. That’s the most number of lead changes at Talladega since the Next Gen car’s debut in 2022.
The race was slowed by four cautions for 21 laps.
NASCAR announced after the race that Erik Jones returned to the infield care center and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Jones was involved in a crash that brought out the caution on Lap 157. Legacy Motor Club announced early Monday that Jones had been evaluated and released from UAB University Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.
Stage 1 winner: Austin Cindric
Stage 2 winner: Joey Logano
Who had a good race: Noah Gragson finished a career-best third. ... Anthony Alfredo finished a career-best sixth. ... Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (fourth), Todd Gilliland (eighth), Daniel Hemric (ninth) and Harrison Burton (10th) each recorded their best finish of the season.
Who had bad race: Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin were eliminated in a crash among the Toyotas on Lap 155 of the race. Jones finished 35th, Wallace 36th and Hamlin 37th.
Next: The series races April 28 at Dover (2 p.m. ET on FS1)
