As it usually does at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 came down to the tri-oval, as Erik Jones and Kyle Larson battling amongst themselves for the win, allowed Ross Chastain to cruise to his second victory of the season.
Chastain – whose organization, Trackhouse Racing, announced a two-year, 17-race sponsorship deal on Sunday with Worldwide Express — led exactly one circuit around the 2.66-mile superspeedway on Sunday, but it was the right one.
Sunday’s victory at Talladega is the second of Chastain’s NASCAR Cup Series career, as well as the second in the history of second-year team Trackhouse Racing, which also fields an entry for Daniel Suarez, who led 28 circuits early in the 188-lap event.
The eighth-generation watermelon farmer performed his traditional post-race celebration on the frontstretch at Talladega, smashing a watermelon into the pavement by the start-finish line.
? = Smashed pic.twitter.com/UxKKUeqUZK
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) April 24, 2022
“Holy cow. I’m always the one going to the top too early and making the mistake,” Chastain told FOX Sports’ Regan Smith post-race. “There at the end, it was like eight to go I was like ‘I’m not going up there again, I did that a couple of times today’ and I was like ‘I’ll just ride the bottom if it works.”
The Alva, Florida-native was the first driver to the start-finish line after 188 laps, as multiple cars made significant contact with the wall behind the Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, including Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, and William Byron.
WHAT A FINISH. RETWEET TO CONGRATULATE @RossChastain ON HIS WIN AT TALLADEGA! pic.twitter.com/Wz4onpm5es
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 24, 2022
For the second consecutive day, the No. 3 finished second at Talladega Superspeedway, this time with Austin Dillon coming up 0.105 seconds short of his first victory of the season. Kyle Busch emerged from the chaos with third, with Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. rounding out the top five.
Erik Jones, who was leading the race at the exit of turn four, ended up finishing in sixth place, with Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, and Kevin Harvick all scoring results inside the top-10.
William Byron, who led a race-high 38 laps on Sunday, was involved in a last-lap scuffle between himself and Bubba Wallace, shuffling the Hendrick Motorsports driver back to 15th in the finishing order. Wallace would finish 17th.
Exiting Talladega, the NASCAR Cup Series will head to Dover Motor Speedway for the 11th event of the season. Chase Elliott continued to hold the series point lead by 21 points over Ryan Blaney. William Byron, Kyle Busch, and Alex Bowman round out the top five in points.
