# 2024 YellaWood 500

The 2024 YellaWood 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 6, 2024, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 195 laps—extended from 188 laps due to an overtime finish on the 2.66 mi (4.28 km) asphalt superspeedway, it was the 31st race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, the fifth race of the playoffs, and the second race of the Round of 12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the race, his first since the 2023 Daytona 500. Brad Keselowski finished 2nd, and William Byron finished 3rd. Kyle Larson and Erik Jones rounded out the top five, and Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top ten.
The race is notable for containing the largest "Big One" in modern Cup Series history, with 28 cars being officially recorded as being involved.

## Report
### Background

Talladega Superspeedway, formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking. The track currently hosts NASCAR's Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Craftsman Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km).

#### Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver.
* (P) denotes playoff driver.
* (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | Austin Cindric (P) | Team Penske | Ford |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Josh Berry (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford |
| 7 | Justin Haley | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 10 | Noah Gragson | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford |
| 13 | A. J. Allmendinger (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 15 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
| 16 | Shane van Gisbergen (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford |
| 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Team Penske | Ford |
| 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
| 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 31 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota |
| 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota |
| 44 | J. J. Yeley (i) | NY Racing Team | Chevrolet |
| 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
| 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 51 | Corey LaJoie | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
| 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 62 | Anthony Alfredo (i) | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 71 | Zane Smith (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 77 | Carson Hocevar (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 99 | Daniel Suárez (P) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet |
| Official entry list ||||

## Qualifying

Michael McDowell scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.310 and a speed of 183.063 mph (294.611 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 |
| 1 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 52.344 | 52.310 |
| 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 52.545 | 52.493 |
| 3 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 52.630 | 52.541 |
| 4 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.707 | 52.655 |
| 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 52.613 | 52.678 |
| 6 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 52.647 | 52.706 |
| 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 52.764 | 52.741 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 52.766 | 52.744 |
| 9 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 52.711 | 52.895 |
| 10 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 52.769 | 52.912 |
| 11 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.812 | — |
| 12 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.821 | — |
| 13 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 52.832 | — |
| 14 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 52.841 | — |
| 15 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 52.849 | — |
| 16 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.904 | — |
| 17 | 16 | Shane van Gisbergen (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 52.914 | — |
| 18 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 52.916 | — |
| 19 | 4 | Josh Berry (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 52.932 | — |
| 20 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 52.994 | — |
| 21 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 53.007 | — |
| 22 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 53.011 | — |
| 23 | 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.012 | — |
| 24 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 53.020 | — |
| 25 | 13 | A. J. Allmendinger (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 53.044 | — |
| 26 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 53.064 | — |
| 27 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 53.077 | — |
| 28 | 51 | Corey LaJoie | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 53.220 | — |
| 29 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 53.223 | — |
| 30 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 53.259 | — |
| 31 | 99 | Daniel Suárez (P) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 53.253 | — |
| 32 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 53.291 | — |
| 33 | 62 | Anthony Alfredo (i) | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.316 | — |
| 34 | 15 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 53.324 | — |
| 35 | 7 | Justin Haley | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.494 | — |
| 36 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 53.498 | — |
| 37 | 77 | Carson Hocevar (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.699 | — |
| 38 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.870 | — |
| 39 | 71 | Zane Smith (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 53.921 | — |
| 40 | 44 | J. J. Yeley (i) | NY Racing Team | Chevrolet | 54.768 | — |
| Official qualifying results |||||||

## Race
### The Big One

With just 5 laps remaining in the race, the big one occurred down the backstretch. Austin Cindric was leading when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got side by side with Cindric. Behind Cindric was Brad Keselowski. Keselowski had a run behind Cindric and bumped into Cindric's rear. Keselowski hit him hard enough that caused Cindric to lose control of his car and turn up the track into Stenhouse which sent Cindric spinning infront of the pack. Cars checked up but ran into one another causing a chain reaction crash.
A total of 28 cars were involved in the crash, the largest in modern Cup Series history surpassing the 2003 Aaron's 499 big one at the same track that took out 27 cars. It was also the second-largest in modern NASCAR history behind the 2002 Aaron's 312 in the Busch Series (now called Xfinity Series) at the same track that took out 31 cars. There were cars with no damage while there were others that had severe damage such as crushed front bumpers and broken wheels while parts of the cars who were involved were stuck with flat tires that caused their tires to spin and not move the car. This prompted a red flag that lasted for nearly 9 minutes and a 9 lap caution period. Only 7 drivers ended up DNFing from the wreck.

#### Cars involved in the crash

* 2- Austin Cindric (P)
* 4- Josh Berry
* 8- Kyle Busch
* 9- Chase Elliott (P)
* 10- Noah Gragson
* 13- A. J. Allmendinger
* 14- Chase Briscoe (P)
* 16- Shane van Gisbergen
* 17- Chris Buescher
* 19- Martin Truex Jr.
* 20- Christopher Bell (P)
* 21- Harrison Burton
* 22- Joey Logano (P)
* 23- Bubba Wallace
* 31- Daniel Hemric
* 34- Michael McDowell
* 38- Todd Gilliland
* 41- Ryan Preece
* 42- John Hunter Nemechek
* 43- Erik Jones
* 45- Tyler Reddick (P)
* 47- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (eventual winner)
* 48- Alex Bowman (P)
* 51- Corey LaJoie
* 62- Anthony Alfredo
* 71- Zane Smith
* 77- Carson Hocevar
* 99- Daniel Suárez (P)

### Final lap

The wreck set up NASCAR overtime for a two lap shootout. On the restart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead but Brad Keselowski got side by side with Stenhouse. On the last lap, they both continued to be side by side with Stenhouse getting pushed by William Byron and Keselowski getting pushed by Kyle Larson. In turn 3, Keselowski got infront and looked like he was gonna be able to hold everyone off and win. But out of turn 4, Stenhouse got a big push from Byron and got side by side with Keselowski again. The two remained side by side through the tri-oval and Byron peaked to the outside in an attempt to make it a 3 wide finish but didn't get close enough and both Stenhouse and Keselowski crossed the finish line side by side. Stenhouse won the race by 0.006 seconds. This was Stenhouse's first win since the 2023 Daytona 500. It was the 4th photo finish in the top 3 Series of the year with the previous 3 being the 3 wide photo finish at Atlanta in Cup where Daniel Suárez beat Ryan Blaney by 0.003 seconds and Kyle Busch by 0.007 seconds, the 2nd closest Xfinity Series finish at Texas that saw Sam Mayer beat Ryan Sieg by 0.002 seconds, and the closest Cup Series finish at Kansas that saw Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by 0.001 seconds. To make things interesting, all 4 were a Chevy beating a Ford.

### Race results
#### Stage results

Stage One Laps: 60
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 2 | Austin Cindric (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results ||||||
Stage Two Laps: 60
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 2 | Austin Cindric (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 16 | Shane van Gisbergen (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 5 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results ||||||

### Final Stage results

Stage Three Laps: 68
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 32 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | 49 |
| 2 | 13 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 195 | 35 |
| 3 | 16 | 24 | William Byron (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 48 |
| 4 | 12 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 42 |
| 5 | 30 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 195 | 32 |
| 6 | 21 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 195 | 37 |
| 7 | 35 | 7 | Justin Haley | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 30 |
| 8 | 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | 29 |
| 9 | 26 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 195 | 32 |
| 10 | 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 195 | 27 |
| 11 | 24 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 195 | 26 |
| 12 | 34 | 15 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 195 | 25 |
| 13 | 15 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 195 | 24 |
| 14 | 37 | 77 | Carson Hocevar (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 23 |
| 15 | 17 | 16 | Shane van Gisbergen (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | 0 |
| 16 | 23 | 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 26 |
| 17 | 20 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 195 | 30 |
| 18 | 28 | 51 | Corey LaJoie | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 195 | 19 |
| 19 | 4 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | 26 |
| 20 | 14 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 195 | 22 |
| 21 | 39 | 71 | Zane Smith (R) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 16 |
| 22 | 38 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsprots | Chevrolet | 195 | 0 |
| 23 | 3 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 194 | 14 |
| 24 | 33 | 62 | Anthony Alfredo (i) | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 194 | 0 |
| 25 | 22 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 194 | 12 |
| 26 | 31 | 99 | Daniel Suárez (P) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 194 | 11 |
| 27 | 40 | 44 | J. J. Yeley (i) | NY Racing Team | Chevrolet | 193 | 0 |
| 28 | 25 | 13 | A. J. Allmendinger (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 193 | 0 |
| 29 | 11 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 190 | 17 |
| 30 | 36 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 189 | 10 |
| 31 | 29 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 188 | 6 |
| 32 | 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 183 | 17 |
| 33 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 183 | 4 |
| 34 | 9 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 183 | 3 |
| 35 | 18 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 183 | 2 |
| 36 | 19 | 4 | Josh Berry (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 183 | 1 |
| 37 | 1 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 183 | 1 |
| 38 | 10 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 183 | 1 |
| 39 | 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Team Penske | Ford | 124 | 5 |
| 40 | 27 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 120 | 6 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 66 among 24 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 4 for 24 laps
* Red flags: 1 for 8 minutes and 42 seconds
* Time of race: 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 25 seconds
* Average speed: 150.773 miles per hour (242.646 km/h)
* Margin of victory: 0.006

## Media
### Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Leigh Diffey, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and 1999 NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett called from the NBC Peacock Pit Box on pit road. Dave Burns, Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman, and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane. NBC premiered "NASCAR Nonstop", where every green flag lap was ad free.
NBC :
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Leigh Diffey Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte NBC Peacock Pitbox: Jimmie Johnson NBC Peacock Pitbox: Dale Jarrett | Dave Burns Kim Coon Parker Kligerman Marty Snider |

### Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Todd Gordon called the race for MRN when the field races through the tri-oval. Dave Moody will call the action from turn 1, Mike Bagley called the action for MRN when the field races down the back straightaway, and Chris Wilner called the race from the Sunoco tower just outside of turn 4. Steve Post, Dillon Welch, Brienne Pedigo, and Jason Toy called the action for MRN from pit lane.
MRN :
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Todd Gordon | Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Backstretch: Mike Bagley Turns 3 & 4: Chris Wilner | Steve Post Dillon Welch Brienne Pedigo Jason Toy |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | William Byron | 3,122 |
| 1 | 2 | Christopher Bell | 3,105 (–17) |
| 1 | 3 | Kyle Larson | 3,100 (–22) |
| 1 | 4 | Denny Hamlin | 3,078 (–44) |
| 1 | 5 | Alex Bowman | 3,074 (–48) |
| 4 | 6 | Ryan Blaney | 3,073 (–49) |
| 2 | 7 | Tyler Reddick | 3,062 (–60) |
| 1 | 8 | Chase Elliott | 3,061 (–61) |
| 1 | 9 | Joey Logano | 3,048 (–74) |
| | 10 | Daniel Suárez | 3,041 (–81) |
| 1 | 11 | Austin Cindric | 3,032 (–90) |
| 1 | 12 | Chase Briscoe | 3,029 (–93) |
| | 13 | Ty Gibbs | 2,144 (–978) |
| | 14 | Martin Truex Jr. | 2,130 (–992) |
| | 15 | Brad Keselowski | 2,104 (–1,018) |
| | 16 | Harrison Burton | 2,048 (–1,074) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| | Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| | 1 | Chevrolet | 1,134 |
| 1 | 2 | Ford | 1,087 (–47) |
| 1 | 3 | Toyota | 1,084 (–50) |