Team Penske’s Joey Logano ended what was a 36-race win drought by winning the 10th race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
A full season has passed since Joey Logano’s victory at Richmond Raceway last season that appeared to send him to the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. However, that win ended up being encumbered, and he ended up failing to qualify for the playoffs with no wins throughout the rest of the season.
His 36-race win drought ended on Sunday in the 2018 GEICO 500 at the four-turn, 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway oval in Lincoln, Alabama, as he held off the rest of the field late in the race after finishing in second place in both stages to take the checkered flag in his #22 Ford for Team Penske.
Logano finished right ahead of Kurt Busch in his #41 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. Behind Busch was third place finisher Chase Elliott, who was the highest finishing driver of a Chevrolet car in his #9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He was the only Chevrolet driver who finished the race in the top seven.
The highest finishing driver of a Toyota driver was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Suarez, who finished in 10th place in his #19 Toyota. He was the only Toyota driver who finished the race in the top 12.
Kyle Busch thought he had a better chance of winning the Powerball jackpot than winning his fourth consecutive Cup Series race with that race being at Talladega. He may not be right, but he wasn’t proven wrong.
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Busch was able to get toward the front of the field in his #18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, but he never led any of the race’s 188 laps. He fell back to finish in 13th place at the end.
The race featured a total of 25 lead changes among 16 different leaders. Aside of Logano, who led 70 laps of the race, the highest total among all drivers in the field, 15 other drivers led at least one lap of the race.
Those 15 drivers included Kurt Busch, polesitter Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin, Darrell Wallace Jr., Kasey Kahne, Matt DiBenedetto, Brendan Gaughan, William Byron, Paul Menard, Brad Keselowski and A.J. Allmendinger.
Keselowski won the first stage of the race in his #2 Ford for Team Penske, while Menard won the second stage of the race in his #21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing, the team that have an alliance with Team Penske.
The race featured a total of four incident-related caution flag periods. The first incident-related caution flag period of the race began on lap 72 for a wreck on the back straightaway involving Jamie McMurray, Trevor Bayne, Aric Almirola, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr.
The second incident-related caution flag period of the race began on lap 129 for debris on the front straightaway. The third incident-related caution flag period of the race began on lap 155 for fluid on the track as a result of an issue with Timmy Hill’s car.
The fourth and final caution flag of the race began on lap 166 for “The Big One”. This accident took place in turn three and turn four and involved Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Darrell Wallace Jr., A.J. Allmendinger, Jimmie Johnson, Brendan Gaughan and Kasey Kahne.
Here are the full race results of the 2018 GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer |
| 1 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford |
| 2 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 5 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 6 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 7 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 8 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 10 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 11 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 12 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 13 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 14 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 15 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet |
| 16 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 17 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet |
| 18 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford |
| 19 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford |
| 20 | D.J. Kennington | #96, Gaunt Brothers Racing, Toyota |
| 21 | Cole Whitt | #72, TriStar Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 22 | Brendan Gaughan | #62, Beard Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 23 | Timothy Peters | #92, RBR Enterprises, Ford |
| 24 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota |
| 25 | Ross Chastain | #15, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 26 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota |
| 27 | Joey Gase | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
| 28 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 29 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 30 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford |
| 31 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 32 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 33 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford |
| 34 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 35 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 36 | Timmy Hill | #51, Rick Ware Racing, Ford |
| 37 | Reed Sorenson | #55, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 38 | Trevor Bayne | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 39 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 40 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
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Be sure to tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 2:00 pm ET next Sunday, May 6th for the 11th race of the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the AAA 400 Drive for Autism. That race is set to take place at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.