Disaster comes in waves of three.
Talladega Superspeedway produced thrilling three and four-wide action all race long. The intensity picked up on lap one and finally caved on lap 195 following an overtime restart. Unfortunately, with a high-intensity race comes some chaos and misfortune.
That bad luck starts with disaster for the playoff drivers as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crossed the line first. He becomes the third non-playoff driver of 2024 to win a race in the postseason, upsetting the championship contenders. The Olive Branch, Mississippi native joins this year’s exclusive spoiler club with Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain. Though the No. 47 Palmolive Chevrolet found victory lane for the first time since the 2023 Daytona 500, it didn’t leave the race unscathed. The green and white chevy caught some side-door damage from the biggest multi-car wreck in NASCAR history.
Here is a look at the door foam which is falling out of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing car in the inspection bay. Stenhouse took a shot to the door in the 28-car melee. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/56aoDzsHtm
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) October 7, 2024
Collecting 28 cars, ‘The Big One” happened with five laps to go. It started as a result of a push gone back from the No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford of Brad Keselowski to the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford of Austin Cindric. Once the 26-year-old got that big push, it spun his car at the front of the field and into the competitors behind him.
Several drivers were shaping up to end the race with a big points payout. However, their hopes of surviving the colossal track would end in disaster. Most unfortunately, for the Team Penske driver who needed a win to lock himself into the ‘Round of 8’. Due to the massive pileup in Turn 3 at Talladega, we have another week where the DVP Rule came into play.
For the second week in a row and for the third time in the playoffs, the confusion as to who can and can’t get towed back to pit road following an incident has plagued these races. Last week, we saw a frustrated Josh Berry and Rodney Childers with a car that just needed a fresh set of tires, not get towed to pit road. This week, we saw a battered and bruised No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet get a tow to pit road to continue the race. So, where is the line?
Join Taylor Kitchen in this episode of Above The Yellow Line to discuss comments from NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer. Plus, tune in to discuss the playoff picture heading into the final race of the ‘Round of 12’.
