100K cams 2015 NSCS - TALLADEGA GEICO 500

Get ready for the latest installment of 100K Cameras, this time from the 2015. Taladega Superspeedway Tune in to FS1 Saturday, May 3rd at 6:30pm EST.

Brad Keselowski holds on to win wreck-filled Geico 500 at Talladega

In a day of numerous multi-car wrecks and other strange happenings, Brad Keselowski stayed out of trouble to win Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Keselowski won on the final lap under caution, as yet another wreck occurred behind him just before he reached the start-finish line, bringing out the yellow flag.

It was Keselowski’s fourth career Sprint Cup victory at the 2.66-mile tri-oval. He led 46 of the 188 laps, including the final 17, taking over the lead for good from teammate Joey Logano on Lap 172.

“I never thought I’d ever win here four times,” Keselowski told Fox Sports. “I’m super-pumped. This is awesome.”

It was also Keselowski’s 19th career Sprint Cup victory and his second of the season, having won previously this year at Las Vegas. The win ties Keselowski with the career-win total of the late Davey Allison, who like Keselowski, earned his first Sprint Cup win at Talladega in 1987.

“This Fusion was hauling and one of the tickets to staying out of wrecks at Talladega is if you can stay up front, you have a great shot at not getting wrecked,” Keselowski told Fox Sports. “To be back in Victory Lane and have two wins this year, we’re looking for more and are really growing as a team. This feels really good, really good.”

Kyle Busch was second, followed by Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray, pole-sitter Chase Elliott, Tony Stewart (Ty Dillon became relief driver for the final two-thirds of the race), Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Trevor Bayne.

There were 10 cautions for 41 laps, and a massive 37 lead changes among 17 drivers.

MORE: Results and stats for the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway

MORE: Kevin Harvick regains points lead despite last-lap crash at Talladega

HOW KESELOWSKI WON: It was a matter of survival of the fittest, as the No. 2 stayed out of trouble almost the entire race, stayed in or near the top-10 and grabbed the lead for good with 17 laps remaining (Lap 172).

WHO ELSE HAD A GOOD RACE: Kyle Busch ran a strong race, but was unhappy at some of the carnage throughout the event. “Second’s not bad. I think the quota of three cars on their lids is a little high, but that’s racing,” Busch told Fox Sports … Third-place finisher Austin Dillon: “To come home with a finish like this and so much work put into this car, it was a wrecked but we finished third, I’m so proud of these guys.” … Chase Elliott started as pole-sitter and finished fifth. “We tried there at the end but just didn’t have enough momentum to get to those guys.” … Fourth-place finisher Jamie McMurray: “When you get to the end of these things, it’s every man for himself.”

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s hope for a seventh win at Talladega went away after wrecking on Lap 50. He got his repaired car back on track on Lap 99, only to be involved in another wreck on Lap 110 when something broke in Carl Edwards‘ car, sending him into Earnhardt and the wall. Earnhardt had nowhere to go and finished last in the 40-car field … Chris Buescher (37th) went for the wildest ride of his rookie Sprint Cup career when he was in a wreck on Lap 96, flipping three times before coming to a rest on his wheels … After his best season finish last week at Richmond, Kasey Kahne was involved in two wrecks Sunday and finished 39th … Yet another multi-car wreck occurred on Lap 160 when Danica Patrick (finished 25th) appeared to be pushed from behind, hit the inside retaining wall head-on, while Matt Kenseth (23rd) flipped over before landing on his wheels.

NOTABLE: Tony Stewart started the race and remained behind the wheel until Lap 53, when he exited his No. 14 Chevrolet and was replaced by Ty Dillon. The move had been planned going into the race … Michael Waltrip made his 60th career start at Talladega and, including today, has now led at least one lap for 34 of those races … Denny Hamlin had a costly pit stop on Lap 53. First, he overshot his pit, backed up, then after receiving service was leaving his pit stall and Greg Biffle was coming into his stall in front of Hamlin’s when both cars made contact. Hamlin’s car appeared okay, while Biffle had minor damage to his left rear. Hamlin then received a pit road penalty for having too many crew members over the wall. Hamlin again had issues on Lap 129, when he spun out coming into his stall and made contact with Landon Cassill.

QUOTE OF THE DAY, No. 1: “It come off, I didn’t have it on there. We were under caution so I just grabbed the shaft and steered the car that way. I ripped the skin off my hand but I wasn’t going to let it hit the wall. It was just a freak deal.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose steering wheel came off before he was able to reattach it shortly before his wreck with Carl Edwards.

QUOTE OF THE DAY, No. 2: “It didn’t end up as well as we liked to. Two days in a row, a couple big hits. I can’t wait to get out of this place.” — Joey Logano, who had hard hits at the end of Saturday’s Xfinity race and Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY, No. 3: “I’ve hit the inside wall of a superspeedway like four times now, and that was the worst. … I know I got drilled from behind, turned sideways and it was, ‘Hello, wall.'” — Danica Patrick.

WHAT’S NEXT: GoBowling 400, Saturday, May 7, 7:30 p.m. ET, at Kansas Speedway.

Trevor Bayne basks in the glory of being ‘in the game’ again at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. – As NASCAR officials scurried between cars checking every wheel for five lug nuts, dozens of team members, reporters and driver’s family members waited on the pit wall at Talladega Superspeedway.

The delay took several moments after Sunday’s Geico 500, and it allowed for an unusual scene as the top finishers moved unencumbered between their cars to swap post-race tales of their good fortune over the course of a wild 500 miles on the 2.66-mile oval.

No one seemed to be having a better time than Trevor Bayne.

He debriefed at length about the closing laps with Ryan Blaney. He shared a laugh with Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon. He entered a long conversation with past NASCAR champions Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte, who offered an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

After finishing 10th and leading a career-best 22 laps – seven fewer than he led over 93 starts from 2011-15 – Bayne looked like he belonged Sunday.

More importantly, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner felt as if he did, too.

“We’re in the game,” Bayne said. “We’re not just out here taking up a spot. I feel like we’re in the race. We pushed Kurt to the lead there. It’s just fun to be in the game here.”

PODCAST: Hear Trevor Bayne candidly discussing his career and the 2016 season on the NASCAR on NBC podcast.

His No. 6 Ford was in the game at Talladega until the final restart with three laps to go. Bayne was third and on the inside line, delivering a massive push that briefly shot Kurt Busch into the lead past winner Brad Keselowski.

But as the action moved up the banking, Bayne was left on the bottom without any help. Blaney, his reliable drafting partner all day, had a badly damaged rear bumper that precluded him from riding shotgun.

“I NEED HELP!” Bayne screamed with two to go on the team radio as he nearly slipped from the lead draft. He recovered to salvage 10th with nary a drafting partner – a testament to the strength of his car.

“We probably had the fastest car here,” crew chief Matt Puccia said. “We knew we did on Friday in practice. We just played it safe and were just riding there. Got shuffled out at the end but great effort by this team, they’ve done a great job all year long.
“We came up short, but that’s Talladega. You have to be in the right lane at the right time. Really proud of these guys. They’re working hard week in and week out. We got one coming.”

It’s easy to shoulder the disappointment when everything seems to be trending in the correct direction.

Bayne’s second top 10 in 10 races of 2016 – tying his season-best total in Cup – moved him up two spots to 16th in points. The Roush Fenway Racing driver won’t need a miracle win to make the NASCAR playoffs for the first time at this rate.

But he will head to the July 2 race at Daytona International Speedway with the knowledge that he will bring a proven Ford that was among the only cars to emerge unscathed in a Talladega wreckfest.

“These races are gut wrenching from Lap 1 on, so I felt like that was the most calm race I’ve ever had,” he said. “I don’t have any damage on the Adovcare Ford. We’ll take it.”

Bayne took the lead for the last time on Lap 156 – six laps before the 21-car crash that wiped out much of his competition. He wisely had heeded the advice on his team radio to restrain himself – as difficult as it was for a 25-year-old who is 102 races removed from his last win (which came in only his second start).

“The car was really strong, but this place is all about patience,” Puccia said. “Even though you have a fast car, you can’t do it by yourself. You step out of line and get yourself in trouble real fast. He did a really good job staying patient, staying in line. It just didn’t work out for us

“But people have been talking about us all year long. We’ve had speed everywhere we’ve gone. That’s what we’ve got to carry on. We’ve got to keep progressing and moving the needle. That’s what we’re doing every week, and it’s starting to show. It’s a morale booster seeing how we ran today.”

And no one’s confidence seemed higher than Bayne, who seemed one of the guys inside and outside the car.

“It is so refreshing to come to the race track and have a chance,” he said. “I feel really good about the pieces they are giving me. It is all about the race cars. I’m surely proud of this team.”

Tony Stewart, Ty Dillon switch ends up well for No. 14 team

Yellow rookie stripes hadn’t appeared on a Sprint Cup car driven by Tony Stewart since the 1999 season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

But Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, 17 seasons and 558 starts later, Stewart started his second race of the 2016 with the bright signifier of inexperience on his rear bumper.

Stewart hasn’t forgotten how to drive a racecar, but he’s probably forgotten more about it than Ty Dillon has learned through his 152 starts in NASCAR’s top three series.

Dillon was the reason the rookie stripes were on Stewart’s car. While Stewart started the GEICO 500, the three-time series champion stepped out of the car during the race’s first caution at Lap 52 to hand it over to Dillon. The last time rookie stripes appeared on the No. 14 was when Austin Dillon substituted for Stewart in two races in 2013, with one coming at Talladega.

After missing the first eight races of the season recovering from a back injury, Sunday’s move at a track known for violent wrecks was the last precautionary measure for Stewart before he returns full-time next week at Kansas Speedway.

“It sucks to be honest,” Stewart told Fox of relinquishing his car to someone else. “I know why we got to do it, but it sucks. It still sucks that you have to do it, but if I hadn’t broke my back at the end of January; we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

While Dillon qualified the car, Stewart started the race from the rear. A speeding penalty on Lap 38 put Stewart in position to be lapped right before the first caution of the race on Lap 51. He received the free pass on that caution and was back on the lead lap. That caution also set up the driver switch on pit road.

“I really appreciate Ty (Dillon),” Stewart said. “He’s been a rock star through this whole thing and especially this weekend. He’s done all the heavy lifting, and I just got in to ride around for 50 laps and turn it over to him. Fortunately we got the Lucky Dog and kept him on the lead lap. The change went pretty smooth – no drama there.”

But there was a little drama. The team was called for too many team members in the pit box during the change, which the team had gotten down to one minute while practicing in the garage.

“It’s a little amped up when you have a bunch of TV cameras and all the fans are watching you, and you’re doing it live on pit road,” Dillon said after finishing sixth. “Just made sure I took my time and was safe in the car. That was the first thing that was important to me. They did a good job of letting me know where the pace car was coming. So it worked out well, and I’m glad I did because we got a good finish for these guys.

Dillon, driving in his 13th Cup race though Stewart would be credited with the result, brought the No. 14 steadily through the field, narrowly avoiding multiple-car wrecks.

The result was the best for the No. 14 since Stewart finished sixth in the spring Bristol race last season.

“For my first (Cup race at Talladega), that was about as crazy as I wanted it to be,” Dillon said. “I had to dodge a couple of close calls, but we brought our Bass Pro Chevy home up front in a good position. To do this for Tony, he’s giving me such an opportunity for my career and Bass Pro Shops for letting me drive this race car. I hope I showed a lot of people what I can do in these things and I’m only going to get better and keep driving hard.”

Dillon’s performance helped move Stewart up two spots in the points to 38th. He must have a win and be 30th in the points to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup. But barring an unfortunate turn, the rest of the season is solely in Stewart’s hands, finally.

“Good news is this is last time we have to do it,” Stewart said.

Chase Elliott earns pole 30 years almost to day father Bill did it at Talladega

Chase Elliott continued his dominance as a top qualifier at restrictor plate racetracks, capturing the pole for Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Elliott, who won the pole for this year’s season-opening Daytona 500, earned his second straight plate track pole position with a speed of 192.661 mph in Saturday’s Sprint Cup qualifying at NASCAR’s longest (2.66 miles) and biggest track.

It also came almost 30 years to the day — May 4, 1986 — that Chase’s father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, sat on the pole for the then-Winston Cup race at Talladega (although the elder Elliott finished 24th in that race).

“That’s a really cool stat, Dad sat on the pole on this day 30 years ago,” Chase Elliott said. “This is definitely a special place for him and it’s cool to get that done today.”

As for the younger Elliott, he reveled in his 192.661 mph qualifying performance.

“As I said in Daytona, this has got nothing to do with me,” Chase Elliott said. “It’s the same car we had at Daytona and brought another fast one here.”

But Elliott also hopes for a much better finish Sunday than he had at Daytona (crashed and finished 38th).

The race last time at Daytona didn’t go so good,” Chase Elliott said. “Hopefully, I take what I learned and cut down on the mistakes I made in the Daytona 500.

“Our first goal is to get to the end of the race, and if we get there, to be smart.”

Ty Dillon qualified second (192.424 mph), followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (192.293), Matt Kenseth (192.181) and six-time champion Jimmie Johnson (192.116).

A total of 41 drivers attempted to qualify, with Josh Wise falling short.