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Ricky Stenhouse Jr wins dramatic Talladega Cup race in photo finish

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held on in a two-lap dash to the checkered flag for his first Cup win since the 2023 Daytona 500. He is third non-playoff driver to win in the first five races of the playoffs. Stenhouse becomes the 18th different winner this year, collecting his fourth career victory in the Cup Series.

He crossed the line just 0.006s ahead of Brad Keselowski who finished second and 0.027s clear of William Byron who finished third.

"Felt really good," said Stenhouse, who proceeded to climb the fence and jump into the flagstand after his winner's interview. "We had our Chevy teammates behind us. I was hoping Kyle [Larson] wasn't going to push the 6 [Keselowski] that hard. I knew the 24 [Byron] was probably going to try and get to the line there but this team has put a lot of hard work in. Obviously, we haven't won since the [Daytona] 500 in '23. It's been an up-and-down season. A lot of hard work this season just trying to find a little bit of speed. We knew that this track is one of ours to come get."

The driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet also took a moment to mention those affected by the devastating hurricane that caused unprecedented damage to Western North Carolina.

"Got to say we're thinking about everybody in Western North Carolina. Brad Daugherty (JTG co-owner), his family right where he grew up there in Black Mountain, a lot of people are struggling. I wish my wife and son, Stetson, were here. They didn't come this weekend. I'll see you all at home, and man, what I day."

Larson was fourth and Erik Jones finished fifth for his best result of the 2024 season. Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-ten.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr, JTG Daugherty Racing, Kroger Health/Palmolive Chevrolet Camaro (Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images)

It was a fairly clean race until later on. After serving a pass-through penalty for unapproved adjustments before the race, Daniel Suarez spun out and remained trapped off the lead lap for the remainder of the race. 

Chris Buescher ended up winning the opening stage in a clean run to the line. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the finish to Stage 2.

While Austin Cindric approached the line to collect the green-and-white checkered flag, Ryan Blaney got turned in the middle of the pack. He shot across the track and made heavy contact with Ross Chastain, ending both of their days.

20+ cars involved in race-stopping crash

The race featured an impressive amount of four-wide action, but no large crashes into the closing moments. After the final cycle of green-flag stops, Cindric emerged with the race lead. He led the bottom line while Stenhouse led the charge from the outside. With less than five laps to go, a massive wreck immediately halted the race.

Keselowski pushed Cindric on the left-side of his rear bumper after they made their way around a slower car. The shove sent Cindric spinning in the middle of pack, collecting over half the field and eliminating several playoff drivers. NBC initially claimed that 28 cars were involved, making it the biggest Talladega crash in NASCAR Cup Series history. However, the official NASCAR report put the number at 23 total cars.

Stenhouse, despite getting hit in the door during the wreck, kept it straight and inherited the race lead. After the red flag, the event moved into overtime. With a push from Byron, he was able to fend off Byron and snap a winless streak that lasted 65 races.

Heading into the Round of 12 elimination race, Chase Elliott sits on the bubble. He is 13 points ahead of Joey Logano, 20 points ahead of Suarez, 29 points ahead of Cindric, and 32 points ahead of Chase Briscoe.

Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Pits Points
1 R. Stenhouse JrJTG Daugherty Racing 47 Chevrolet 195

3:26'24.803

  8 49
2 B. KeselowskiRFK Racing 6 Ford 195

+0.006

3:26'24.809

0.006 10 35
3 W. ByronHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 195

+0.027

3:26'24.830

0.021 10 48
4 K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 195

+0.080

3:26'24.883

0.053 10 42
5 E. JonesLegacy Motor Club 43 Toyota 195

+0.101

3:26'24.904

0.021 9 32
6 C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 195

+0.166

3:26'24.969

0.065 8 37
7 J. HaleySpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 195

+0.178

3:26'24.981

0.012 8 30
8 A. DillonRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 195

+0.236

3:26'25.039

0.058 10 29
9 B. Wallace23XI Racing 23 Toyota 195

+0.259

3:26'25.062

0.023 11 32
10 D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 195

+0.293

3:26'25.096

0.034 8 27
11 M. Truex JrJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 195

+0.404

3:26'25.207

0.111 11 26
12 C. WareRick Ware Racing 15 Ford 195

+0.425

3:26'25.228

0.021 10 25
13
T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing
54 Toyota 195

+0.428

3:26'25.231

0.003 10 24
14
C. HocevarSpire Motorsports
77 Chevrolet 195

+0.519

3:26'25.322

0.091 11 23
15 S. van GisbergenKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 195

+0.530

3:26'25.333

0.011 10  
16 A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 195

+0.615

3:26'25.418

0.085 11 26
17 C. BuescherRFK Racing 17 Ford 195

+0.736

3:26'25.539

0.121 11 30
18 C. LajoieRick Ware Racing 51 Ford 195

+0.848

3:26'25.651

0.112 12 19
19 K. BuschRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 195

+0.999

3:26'25.802

0.151 9 26
20 T. Reddick23XI Racing 45 Toyota 195

+1.507

3:26'26.310

0.508 11 22
21
Z. SmithSpire Motorsports
71 Chevrolet 195

+3.607

3:26'28.410

2.100 10 16
22 B. McLeodLive Fast Motorsports 78 Chevrolet 195

+4.803

3:26'29.606

1.196 11  
23 T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford 194

+1 Lap

3:26'28.864

1 Lap 15 14
24
A. AlfredoBeard Motorsports
62 Chevrolet 194

+1 Lap

3:26'29.067

0.203 10  
25 N. GragsonStewart-Haas Racing 10 Ford 194

+1 Lap

3:26'35.247

6.180 9 12
26 D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 194

+1 Lap

3:28'03.864

1'28.617 12 11
27 J. YeleyNY Racing Team 44 Chevrolet 193

+2 Laps

3:26'29.867

1 Lap 12  
28 A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing 13 Chevrolet 193

+2 Laps

3:26'43.857

13.990 12  
29 C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 190

+5 Laps

3:26'30.378

3 Laps 11 17
30 C. BriscoeStewart-Haas Racing 14 Ford 189

+6 Laps

3:26'43.372

1 Lap 10 10
31 J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club 42 Toyota 188

+7 Laps

3:27'49.580

1 Lap 10 6
32 A. CindricTeam Penske 2 Ford 183

+12 Laps

2:57'44.528

5 Laps 7 17
33 J. LoganoTeam Penske 22 Ford 183

+12 Laps

2:57'44.727

0.199 9 4
34 H. BurtonWood Brothers Racing 21 Ford 183

+12 Laps

2:57'44.803

0.076 8 3
35 R. PreeceStewart-Haas Racing 41 Ford 183

+12 Laps

2:57'44.937

0.134 8 2
36 J. BerryStewart-Haas Racing 4 Ford 183

+12 Laps

2:57'45.199

0.262 7 1
37 M. McDowellFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford 183

+12 Laps

2:57'45.323

0.124 9 1
38 D. HemricKaulig Racing 31 Chevrolet 183

+12 Laps

2:57'45.937

0.614 8 1
39 R. BlaneyTeam Penske 12 Ford 124

+71 Laps

2:03'21.539

59 Laps 5 5
40 R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 120

+75 Laps

1:54'53.853

4 Laps 6 6
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