NASCAR: The 8 drivers who scored career-high finishes at Talladega
By Asher Fair
Eight drivers scored career-high finishes at Talladega Superspeedway in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series round of 12 playoff race.
Sunday’s YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Series round of 12 playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway was a crazy one on many levels.
This race was scheduled for 188 laps around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked oval in Lincoln, Alabama, but it ended up lasting for 200 circuits due to three overtime periods caused by late wrecks.
It ended up featuring 58 lead changes, the most in a race at the track since the race there in October of 2011 featured 72, and 13 caution flag periods, the all-time record in 103 races there. The previous record had been 11, which was set back in April of 2004 and then matched in October of 2017.
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But something else happened that we don’t often see, even in a “wild card” race that the superspeedways are known to produce: more than 20% of the field secured career-high finishes.
Eight of the 39 drivers who competed in the race finished in positions which they had never previously topped. Obviously, the first of those eight drivers was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. You can’t get any better than a win, an Hamlin did that for the second time at Talladega Superspeedway and the 44th time in his Cup Series career.
Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon crossed the finish line in fourth place, which tied his career-high result from last July’s race at Daytona International Speedway, but he was promoted to a career-high third when Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto was penalized and dropped from second to 21st for forcing another car below the double yellow line on the last lap.
Front Row Motorsports rookie John Hunter Nemechek did exactly what he did at Talladega Superspeedway in June: finished in a career-high eighth place. He finished ahead of Premium Motorsports rookie Brennan Poole in a career-high ninth. Poole’s previous career-best result was 15th at Daytona International Speedway in August.
StarCom Racing rookie Quin Houff entered the race with career-high finished of 23rd place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and Daytona International Speedway in August. He bettered that mark by 10 spots with a 13th place finish.
Rick Ware Racing’s Joey Gase secured a career-high 18th place finish at Talladega Superspeedway two years ago, and he bettered that by one position with a 17th place result.
Teammate Cody Ware secured a career-high career-high 28th place finish at Phoenix Raceway in 2018 and tied it at Talladega Superspeedway last April, and he bettered that mark by nine positions with a 19th place result.
Finally, teammate James Davison matched a career-high result that he had already posted three times this season. He finished in 30th place, matching his results from Pocono Raceway in June and both New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway in August.
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The next superspeedway race on the schedule is slated to open up the 2021 season, with that being the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 14.