2019 GEICO 500

The 2019 GEICO 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 28, 2019, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 188 laps on the 2.66 mile (4.28 km) superspeedway, it was the 10th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Background
Talladega Superspeedway, formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking. The track currently hosts NASCAR's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km).

First practice
Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 47.249 seconds and a speed of 202.671 mph.

Final practice
Ryan Newman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 46.905 seconds and a speed of 204.157 mph.

Qualifying
Austin Dillon scored the pole for the race with a time of 49.734 and a speed of 192.544 mph.

Qualifying results

 * Tyler Reddick practiced and qualified the No. 62 for Brendan Gaughan, who was attending his son’s first communion.
 * Eight cars failed post-qualifying inspection and would be forced to drop to the rear at the start (Nos. 6, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 27, 51)

Start
Brad Keselowski came from 4th starting position to the lead at the end of the 1st lap. Ford Mustangs held the first six spots at the end of Lap 1. The rest of the field strung out three wide behind the leaders.

On lap 11, Darrell Wallace Jr. tapped the rear bumper of Ryan Blaney, and got loose and spun in turn 1. The cars of Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Michael McDowell, and Kevin Harvick all got caught up in the incident.

Pit road opened on lap 14 and everyone came to get fuel, as they should be able to complete the stage without making another stop. Pit road speeding penalties sent Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch to the rear of the field for the restart.

Joey Logano and Daniel Suárez brought the field to green for the restart. Stage One saw 13 lead changes among 10 different drivers. With Ty Dillon taking the green and white checkered flag for the stage win.

Several drivers were close to running out of fuel and opted to slow down and conserve as opposed to racing to the finish and running out on the track.

Martin Truex Jr. was penalized for too many men over the wall during his stop and had to restart at the rear of the field.

Stage 2
Chase Elliott led the race off pit road, he and Alex Bowman paced the rest of the pack to the restart line at the beginning of Stage 2. Bowman led briefly until Keselowski returned to the front with what appeared to be the fastest car on the track.

Pit stops began at mid-Stage. With the Ford strategy, championed by Mark Rushbrook of Ford Performance, proving to be so successful. A total of 11 Chevrolets pitted together. The Mustang drivers followed suit a few laps later. As tire wear is not a big factor, most stops were for fuel only.

Chase Elliott won the stage, with Alex Bowman again finishing 2nd.

Final Stage
Having avoided the “Big One” through the first two stages, the final 78 laps could get intense. The front row remained the same after Stage ending pit stops. With Elliott and Bowman on the point.

With 57 laps to go, NASCAR brought out the caution for debris on the backstretch. This gave the leaders an opportunity to pit for tires and fuel. Michigan’s Erik Jones grabbed the lead off pit road, Ryan Blaney restarted next to Jones. Three and four wide racing jumbled the field behind Jones as drivers shuffled for position looking for teammates to help push.

The cars of Team Penske, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Paul Menard got together and raced off to the lead.

Pit stops began with 34 laps to go as the Chevrolets again pitted in mass. The Fords pitted on the next lap. Keselowski locked up the brakes coming to pit road and spun around facing the wrong way. Remarkably, his pit stall was at the beginning of pit road and he slid into his pit perfectly positioned. Keselowski’s crew serviced the car, he spun it around and exited down pit road. The cool maneuver cost Brad a significant amount of track position.

After pit stops cycled through, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held the lead with Joey Logano in 2nd. With 21 laps to go, Logano was back out front. He effectively blocked the advancing lines behind him as the leaders diced three-wide.

With 15 laps to go, Joey Logano led Aric Almirola, Matt DiBenedetto, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Busch, Down to 10 laps from the finish, Logano still led Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch made up the top 5.

The big one was not that big. With 7 laps to go, Aric Almirola nudged Chris Buescher spinning him down the backstretch. The cars of Matt DiBenedetto, Martin Truex Jr. and Justin Haley were involved in the wreck. NASCAR displayed the red flag to clean up the mess and allow the race to end under the green flag.

Finish
When the race went back under yellow, several of the lead pack pitted for fresh tires. The green waved with 4 laps to go. Alex Bowman pushed Chase Elliott past Joey Logano and into the lead, pushing and shoving began in the closing laps scramble.

Stenhouse spun in the tri-oval as the leaders took the white flag. Several cars tangled going down the backstretch.

NASCAR was forced to display the yellow flag just as the cars began their race to the finish in Turn 3. Chase Elliott the leader at the time of the caution was declared the winner. A wild finish would likely have gotten crazier had the race been able to finish under green. Big shout-outs to rookies Daniel Hemric in 4th and Ryan Preece who finished 3rd, just behind another young gun, Alex Bowman in 2nd.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 55

Stage Two Laps: 55

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 78

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 37 among 15 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 6 for 21
 * Red flags: 1 for 8 minutes and 47 seconds
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 5 minutes and 59 seconds
 * Average speed: 161.331 mph

Television
Fox Sports covered their 19th race at the Talladega Superspeedway. Mike Joy, six-time Talladega winner – and all-time restrictor plate race wins record holder – Jeff Gordon and four-time Talladega winner Darrell Waltrip called the race in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the action on pit road for the television side.

Radio
MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and two-time Talladega winner Dale Jarrett called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Dave Moody called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform inside the backstretch when the field raced down the backstretch. Kurt Becker called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 4 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Winston Kelley, Kim Coon, Steve Post, and Dillon Welch worked pit road for the radio side.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
 * . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.