Hello everyone, welcome to another quick recap of both the Geico 500 and Richmond for the NASCAR Cup Series! Apologies for not getting these out sooner due to my hectic schedule lately. Let us get right into it!
At Richmond Motor Speedway it was a straightforward race with Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. were on the front row. Truex led some of the first stage of the race and had a top-five finish in fifth leading 107 laps on the day. The day truly belonged to Denny Hamlin who led 207 laps and dominated the day with the best car. However, a late caution when Kevin Harvick blew a front tire meant a late-race restart. Alex Bowman’s car came to him at a perfect time and he beat Hamlin off the restart and led the last 10 laps of the race. Bowman’s stolen win locked him into the playoffs and secured an eighth different winner on the year.
Talladega was another interesting race that would surely have some great racing and an even better finish which did not disappoint. I actually had the privilege to attend the race and a truly amazing time! The race was quiet after an early engine failure from Kyle Larson caused him to retire from the race. Some late-stage racing caused Denny Hamlin to turn into Joey Logano which sent him flipping in a dangerous wreck. Logano was okay and the race went on. In the second stage, some pit road penalties effectively ended Hamlin’s race putting him 2 laps down. Hamlin caused a wreck coming to the stage two finish which hurt Truex Jr’s car and some of the Hendrick cars as well. Bubba Wallace also won the first stage of his career.
The racing at the front was good until Truex Jr. blew a tire with five laps to go. This caused a green-white-checkered finish which almost saw Matt Dibendetto win his first race. In the end, Brad Keselowski made a move and held on to win his first race of the year. His win was his sixth all-time at Talladega tying Dalr Jr. on the list of winners. Two great races and more on the way! I will bring some recap and updates and hope you enjoy the races! All Stats via NASCAR.com.
-CM
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