It’s Always Sweeter at Talladega! Stenhouse Jr. Captures First Career MENCS Victory at Talladega

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 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. passed Kyle Busch in overtime to win the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday afternoon, earning his first career Monster Energy Cup Series victory.

Stenhouse Jr. beat Jamie McMurray to the checkered flag by less than one-tenth of a second while Busch settled for third. He became the first driver to win from the pole at Talladega since Jeff Gordon in 2007 and snapped nearly a three-year winless streak for team owner Jack Roush and Roush Fenway Racing.

“It doesn’t get any sweeter than this,” said the second recipient of the Talladega Superspeedway’s iconic Vulcan trophy. “We knew that Talladega was a good racetrack for us, and it feels really good to get that first win here. It’s been a good one for a long time (five top-10s at TSS). It’s a tremendous win for the whole organization and to get Jack back into victory lane – and Talladega is the closest race track to my hometown (Olive Branch, MS).”

Stenhouse, Jr. became the 11th driver to win his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the mammoth 2.66-mile venue. He joined a list that includes Brad Keselowski, Davey Allison and Ken Schrader.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., making his final GEICO 500 start at Talladega, finished 22nd after experiencing a loose wheel with under 20 laps remaining.

“The loose wheel was frustrating,” the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet said. “We had a fast car today, and I thought we had a good shot to win there before it happened. Talladega has been an awesome to us, so it stinks to not end up in victory lane, but we’ll look forward to having another shot in the fall.”

Busch was the class of the field for most of the day, leading the most laps – 48.

“Ricky got a good push and just turned left and went right by me,” Busch said. “I just didn’t have enough momentum to get back to him, Unfortunately circumstances didn’t quite go our way.”

Aric Almirola, winner of Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race came home fourth, while Kasey Kahne finished fifth. Stage One winner Brad Keselowski was seventh, while Stage Two victory Denny Hamlin was 11th.

Kyle Larson battled back from a cut tire just 15 laps into the 188-lap event to finish 12th. He continues to lead the points standings over Martin Truex Jr. (-58). Keselowski (-61) is third, with Chase Elliott (-75) fourth and McMurray (-110) completing the top five.

Racing returns to Talladega Superspeedway for its fall double-header weekend, October 13-15. After a day of practice sessions on Friday, Oct. 13, the weekend gets in full force with the fred’s 250 Powered by Coca-Cola NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event on Saturday, Oct. 14 and will conclude with the Alabama 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, Oct. 15. For tickets or more information visit www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or call 855-517-RACE (7223).

TSS PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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