When it comes to NASCAR trying to decipher the results of a superspeedway race, it can be a bit chaotic when several clumps of cars are wrecking coming to the finish line, and there's a reason why the initial results are considered unofficial.
We saw it at Daytona International Speedway to conclude the season-opening Daytona 500, and that certainly wasn't the first time. Now we've seen it again at Talladega Superspeedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell was initially scored 21st at the checkered flag in Sunday's 188-lap Jack Link's 500 around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval. However, further review revealed that the driver of the No. 20 Toyota was 17th.
NASCAR slightly adjusts Talladega results
As a result, RFK Racing's Ryan Preece was dropped from 17th to 18th, Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon was dropped from 18th to 19th, Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen was dropped from 19th to 20th, and Rick Ware Racing's Cody Ware was dropped from 20th to 21st.
Bizarelly, Fox stated that Dillon won the race in their own post-race unofficial results graphic, although we'll chalk that mistake up to the fact that he runs the No. 3 and race winner Carson Hocevar continues to draw comparisons to Dale Earnhardt.
The Fox graphic also showed 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace in 39th and Team Penske's Joey Logano in 36th. Both were taken out in the same wreck, but NASCAR swapped those two drivers in the official results. However, this decision was inconsequential beyond average finish, as a 36th place finish and a 39th place finish are both only worth one point.
Here are the official Jack Link's 500 results, following the post-race changes.
NASCAR Cup Series results at Talladega
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
2 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
3 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
4 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
5 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
7 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
8 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
9 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
10 | Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
11 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
12 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
13 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
14 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
15 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
16 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
17 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
18 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
19 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
20 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
21 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
22 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
23 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
24 | Daniel Dye, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet |
25 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
26 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
27 | Jesse Love, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
28 | Chad Finchum, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
29 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
30 | Joey Gase, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet |
31 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
32 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
33 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
34 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
35 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
36 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
37 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
38 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
39 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
40 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
The NASCAR Cup Series is not scheduled to visit another superspeedway until the season's 20th race at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) in July. The season's 11th race is the Wurth 400, which is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Texas Motor Speedway starting at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, May 3. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!
Add us as a preferred source on Google