The Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega was another memorable superspeedway race with high-drama, big wrecks, a new winner, and some of the same frustrations we’ve come to expect in these events.
While Carson Hocevar became the 208th different winner in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chris Buescher just missed out on ending RFK’s win drought.
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Here’s a look back at the biggest winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup race at Talladega:
WINNER: Carson Hocevar for earning his first win, but also that epic burnout
Watch: Hocevar emotional after first Cup win: ‘It took me awhile’
It seemed inevitable that Hocevar would become one of the 200+ drivers who have won a NASCAR Cup race. He avoided the massive mid-race crash without a scratch, positioned himself perfectly in the final pit stop, and stayed in control for the final 40 laps of the race while battling back-and-forth with Buescher. He now jumps up to eight in the standings, delivering Spire its first win in almost seven years. And how about that burnout? Just spectacular, if not a little unnerving.
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LOSER: RFK continues to narrowly miss out on checkered flags
Watch: Buescher on runner-up finish: ‘We’re getting closer’
When will RFK Racing return to Victory Lane? They have been ridiculously close throughout the 2025 and 2026 seasons, and Sunday was just the latest example. Buescher and Hocevar shared control of the race for the final 40 laps, but in the end, the No. 17 came one position short of the victory. That is the Roush’s seventh runner-up finish since the team’s last win.
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WINNER: FRM after getting three cars in the top 11
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports
In a race that featured a massive race-halting accident, it’s quite impressive to get all three cars to the checkered flag without any real damage at all. But that’s exactly what Front Row Motorsports did, with Zane Smith fifth and Noah Gragson ninth in what is the best finish for both cars so far this year. Todd Gilliland wasn’t that far behind them either, placing 11th. No other team even managed to get more than two cars into the top 25!
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LOSER: Bubba Wallace and the many victims of the Big One
A clever decision to short-pit put Wallace out front for the second stage of the race, and he remained there until Lap 115 when he crashed from the lead. Unfortunately, that wreck ended up collected at least 25 cars. It ended the day for Wallace, but also Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Cole Custer. Several others suffered significant damage. The DNF drops Wallace down four positions in the standings, and because of the decision to short-pit in Stage 1, he didn’t even get to leave with any stage points after Talladega.
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WINNER: Alex Bowman finally has something to smile about
Watch: Bowman reacts to Hocevar win: The Boulevard ‘might burn down’
It’s been a tough year for Bowman, was sidelined for several weeks due to vertigo. Entering Talladega, he had just one top 20 finish this year, but he managed to finish a strong third, pushing the Hendrick-aligned Spire Chevrolet to the win. It was a positive result that the No. 48 team really needed, and Bowman’s first top five since Richmond in August of last year.
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LOSER: The drivers who wrecked out of the top ten on the final lap
Ryan Preece, RFK Racing, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Ryan Preece, RFK Racing, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
There’s nothing worse than almost making it to the finish of a superspeedway race unscathed, only for it to all come apart in the tri-oval. At that point, Austin Dillon was moments away from a potential top five finish, while Ryan Preece and Shane van Gisbergen were set for top tens. Christopher Bell and Cody Ware also had an outside shot at the top ten as well, but instead, all of these cars ended up crashing into the outside wall. Among them, Bell placed the highest … in 17th. And all five cars sustained major damage as they crashed across the finish line.
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WINNER: Kyle Busch delivers RCR its first top ten of the year
Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing
Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing
In a season like the No. 8 team is having, you have to take the small wins where you can. When a group of cars tangled together in front of him in the final seconds of the race, Busch secured a tenth-place finish. After ten races this year, that now stands as the very first top ten for the entirety of Richard Childress Racing. Busch will also have a new crew chief next weekend, as RCR announced a change atop the pit box on Monday.
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LOSER: The superspeedway package, which still needs some work
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet; Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford
Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet; Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford
To NASCAR’s credit, the plan to hold preseason thunder in 2027 may help to alleviate some of these issues, but it cannot come soon enough. Fuel-saving remains paramount, but the stage adjustments simply changed at what portion of the race that happens. And once half the field crashed, the race became a two-wide gridlock at the front, and the entire field was basically stuck where they were running for the final 40 laps. Buescher, Hocevar, and bowman were the first three cars off pit road during the final stop, and they were also the first three cars to reach the checkered flag.
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WINNER: Chad Finchum leads some laps for the little guys
When the entire field was saving fuel early in Stage 1, the part-time driver of the No. 66 Ford Mustang had a different idea. Finchum drove to the front, leading eight laps for the Carl Long-owned team. It was the first time Finchum had led laps in any of the three national levels of NASCAR. Despite getting collected in the massive mid-race crash, Finchum still went on to finish 28th, which is his best result yet at the Cup level.
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LOSER: Erik Jones has win shot snatched away
Jones was in a great position in the closing laps at Talladega, pushing Buescher out into the lead and certainly had an opportunity to go for the win himself. Unfortunately, that chance vanished with just a few laps to do when he spun out after being door-slammed by Hocevar, who slid sideways following an aggressive bump from behind. Jones went on to finish 23rd.
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