RACE RECAP

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES

GEICO 500

Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Alabama

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Race Winner: Chase Elliott

Age: 23

Team: No. 9 – Mountain Dew/Little Caesar’s Chevrolet

Owner: Hendrick Motorsports

Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson

IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “We just had a plan and executed really well. Obviously it could have gone both ways but fortunately everybody stayed together and stayed the course and had some help on that last lap with the caution. I just appreciate all the support. This is unbelievable. This is special. This is close to home for me. It feels a little bit like a home race.”

– Chase Elliott

• Chase Elliott won the 50^th annual GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday afternoon. It was Elliott’s first victory of 2019 and his fourth career win in 123 MENCS starts, with all four wins coming in his last 25 races.

• Alex Bowman finished second while rookie Ryan Preece came in third. For both drivers, it was their first top-5 this season.

• Kyle Busch (10^th) has now finished inside the top-10 in all ten races this year. Busch is the first driver to score ten consecutive top-10s to start the season since 1990.

• Ross Chastain, a native of Alva on Florida’s west coast, led nine laps, a career-high in the MENCS. Chastain was one of 15 drivers to lead a lap on Sunday, the most in any race this season.

• With the win this weekend, Elliott joins Busch, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. as the only drivers to have clinched a spot in the 2019 MENCS playoffs, which culminates with the Ford EcoBoost 400 championship race on Sunday, November 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

• Tyler Reddick won the 28^th annual MoneyLion 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. For the reigning series champion, it was his first win this season and his fourth victory in 60 career NXS starts.

• Gray Gaulding finished second and Christopher Bell came in third. For Gaulding, it was his best career finish in any of NASCAR’s three national series. For Bell, it was his fifth top-5 and sixth top-10 this season.

• Josh Williams (8^th) and Chris Cockrum (10^th) each recorded their first career top-10 in the NXS.

• With wins to their credit this season, Reddick, Bell, Cole Custer, and Michael Annett are the only drivers to have clinched a spot in the NXS playoffs, which concludes with the Ford EcoBoost 300 championship race on Saturday, November 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

NASCAR GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES

• The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series was off this past weekend and will return to action on Friday, May 3 at Dover International Speedway.

• With his victory in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Austin Hill is the only driver to have secured a spot in the NGOTS playoffs, which concludes with the Ford EcoBoost 200 championship race on Friday, November 15 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.