Now that we’ve had a chance to catch our breath from a wacky and wild weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, there are a lot of things we were able to digest from what we witnessed.
I have to say, it’s always refreshing to see a new face in victory lane. This weekend, we got to see a lot of fresh faces in victory lane, as all three races at Talladega, the ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and NASCAR Cup Series, all featured first-time winners.
The draft has always served as the great equalizer, and as an opportunity for underdogs to find a way to shine, and that was the case for Andy Jankowiak, who claimed his first career ARCA Menards Series win on Saturday.
While Andy J. was the surprise winner of the weekend, the other two first-timers are expected to win many more times as the years roll on.
Here are my five takeaways from the weekend that was at Talladega Superspeedway.
Cleetus Is Capable Of Winning A Superspeedway
Cleetus McFarland, fairly or unfairly, has taken a lot of criticism about whether or not he is ready to compete on superspeedways at the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series level. And while that is still something that will be open for debate, the YouTube personality proved this weekend that he is more than capable of competing on this style of track in the ARCA Menards Series.
Hell, McFarland damn near won the race.
Ultimately, McFarland made contact with Gus Dean on the exit of Turn 4 on the final lap, which allowed Andy Jankowiak to generate a run to the outside, a run that would produce Jankowiak’s first-career ARCA Menards Series victory.
The @reeses Sweet Move of the Race from @TALLADEGA is the incredible three-wide finish when @AndyJankowiak passed Cleetus McFarland and Gus Dean to earn his first ARCA Menards Series victory! pic.twitter.com/buxmms3ZST
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) April 27, 2026
But as McFarland crossed the finish line with a runner-up finish, it became crystal-clear that the driver, who was once seen as a meme by many, had become a legitimate competitor, at least in the ARCA Menards Series ranks.
Jason Kelce Is A Winner In NASCAR
As Jason Kelce, a former NFL Super Bowl-winning Center for the Philadelphia Eagles, continues to perform side quests in his life after his professional football playing career, the 38-year-old found himself at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday and Saturday.
Oh, but he wasn’t simply taking in a race as a fan. No, that’s not his style.
Kelce was a special honorary pit crew member for the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports team in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. To his credit, Kelce didn’t just sit in the pit stall and take selfies of himself while pretending to be a crew member for a day.
Instead, Kelce performed multiple duties throughout the day. At one point, he was the team’s pit sign-waver, and as the race was drawing to a close, Kelce was in charge of handing off the fuel cans to the fueler on the No. 17 team in the pivotal pit stops of the race.
Jason Kelce assists with a pit stop for the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy of Corey Day. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/IztcO7QKV4
— Chris Gollon (@chris_gollon) April 25, 2026
And wouldn’t you know it, Kelce was able to experience a victory, as Corey Day, the driver of the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, took home his first career win.
Corey Day Is A Superstar In The Making
Remember when everyone was all mad at Corey Day, and were questioning why Hendrick Motorsports gave the skilled dirt tracker a full-time ride in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this season? Yeah, those folks are eating some crow, now.
Unquestionably, Day made some on-track mistakes in the opening couple of races of the season, which drew the ire of his competitors and fans alike, but since the shaky start to the season, Day has been laser-focused and has become one of the most consistent drivers in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
The native of Clovis, CA, collected his first-career victory in Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega, and he now has nine top-10 finishes over his last 10 starts. His worst finish during that stretch? A 12th-place result at Kansas Speedway.
The kid is good, and he’s just going to keep getting better as he gains experience in a stock car on paved ovals. Day is, without a doubt, a future superstar in this sport.
More Changes Need To Be Made For Cup Superspeedways
In an effort to calm the fuel savings that had plagued Next Gen events at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR adjusted the stage lengths for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega.
An ultra-long opening Stage made it so that pit stops would not be necessary to complete Stages 2 and 3, and the hope was that any fuel saving would take place during the opening Stage of the race, and drivers would be free to race for the win in the final two Stages.
While yes, that is what sort of happened, I think it must be said that throwing away 98 laps, which is more than half of the distance of Sunday’s race, and just chalking it up to hoping the rest of the race will be better as a result, is not the answer.
Sure, adjusting the Stage lengths was a Band-Aid for Sunday’s race at Talladega, but clearly something major needs to be overhauled at Daytona and Talladega to curtail fuel savings that have made portions of the superspeedway races in the Next Gen era flat-out unwatchable.
Not to mention, you could potentially blame the 98 laps where drivers were tasked with following each other and saving gas for the major 36-car melee that occurred in the early portion of the second Stage of the race, as drivers weren’t conditioned to how their cars would perform in the draft.
With no practice sessions at superspeedways and nobody pushing the issue in the opening Stage, Stage 2 was the first time drivers had a chance to experience whether their cars could take bump drafts or not. And guess what? It was a disaster.
And here is the massive melee that just ensued. Looked like only Preece, Buescher, Chastain, and maybe Bell? got through unscathed. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/vGMMEEre08
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) April 26, 2026
Hocevar’s Victory Celebration Will Not Be Banned
After collecting his first-career NASCAR Cup Series win in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Carson Hocevar delighted the crowd with a unique celebration. Hocevar climbed from the seat of his car, sat on the door of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, and continued driving the car around the track while he waved to the crowd.
Iconic. Carson Hocevar celebrates at Talladega hanging out the window. pic.twitter.com/Na2Qf3EPuE
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 26, 2026
It was cool, but the question of whether the celebration would ever be seen again was brought up following Hocevar’s win, and it was a valid question.
Obviously, at 6’4″, Hocevar’s tall, lanky frame allowed this celebration to even be possible, but there were some sketchy moments during the celebration.
Initially, Hocevar had a hard time getting the steering wheel locked back on, which caused him to nearly collide with the inside wall at the beginning of the celebration. At the end of the celebration, Hocevar drove the No. 77 Chevrolet into the outside wall — on purpose — to perform a burnout for the crowd, while still hanging outside of the car.
While it was an awesome celebration, many expected NASCAR to conclude that it would be a one-and-done celebration for Hocevar, as NASCAR has typically frowned upon potentially dangerous on-track situations like that.
However, in Hocevar’s post-race press conference at Talladega Superspeedway, Hocevar apologized to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s newly named CEO, after admitting that he dropped the clutch in the No. 77 car without the wheel attached.
O’Donnell loudly responded, “I’m good with it!”
“Alright, perfect,” Hocevar said with a large smile on his face.
Hocevar then asked, “Can you reannounce it next week, too, if you don’t mind?”
O’Donnell doubled down in an interview on NASCAR’s Inside The Race following Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega.
“That was probably the coolest celebration I’ve ever seen on-track,” O’Donnell said.
So, it appears that Hocevar’s wild victory celebration will not only not be banned, but it will be encouraged going forward.
