2019 GEICO 500 explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	GEICO 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]
Year:	2019
Race No:	10
Season No:	36
Location:	Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course Mi:	2.66
Course Km:	4.28
Distance Laps:	188
Distance Mi:	500.08
Distance Km:	804.64
Avg:	161.331mph
Pole Driver:	Austin Dillon
Pole Team:	Richard Childress Racing
Pole Time:	49.734
Most Driver:	Chase Elliott
Most Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Most Laps:	44
Car:	9
First Driver:	Chase Elliott
First Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Network:	Fox
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Ratings:	4.521 million^[9]
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Dale Jarrett
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kurt Becker (3 & 4)

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.

Report

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).

Entry list

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
00	Landon Cassill (i)		Chevrolet
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
6			Ford
8	Daniel Hemric (R)		Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
13			Chevrolet
14			Ford
15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
24			Chevrolet
27			Chevrolet
32			Ford
34			Ford
36	Matt Tifft (R)		Ford
37			Chevrolet
38			Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
47	Ryan Preece (R)		Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51	Cody Ware (R)		Ford
52			Chevrolet
62	Brendan Gaughan (i)		Chevrolet
77	Justin Haley (i)		Chevrolet
81	Jeffrey Earnhardt (i)		Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Toyota
96	Parker Kligerman (i)		Toyota
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 47.249 seconds and a speed of 202.671mph.^[10]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	1				47.249	202.671
2	38				47.253	202.654
3	20				47.253	202.654
Official first practice results

Final practice

Ryan Newman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 46.905 seconds and a speed of 204.157mph.^[11]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	6				46.905	204.157
2	17				46.912	204.127
3	19				46.915	204.114
Official final practice results

Qualifying

Austin Dillon scored the pole for the race with a time of 49.734 and a speed of 192.544mph.^[12]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	3			Chevrolet	49.847	49.734
2	10			Ford	49.791	49.841
3	14			Ford	50.115	49.947
4	2			Ford	50.048	49.965
5	8	Daniel Hemric (R)		Chevrolet	50.083	50.022
6	17			Ford	50.204	50.037
7	12			Ford	50.124	50.080
8	22			Ford	50.220	50.112
9	88			Chevrolet	50.218	50.164
10	42			Chevrolet	50.178	50.193
11	9			Chevrolet	50.246	50.201
12	34			Ford	50.135	50.251
13	13			Chevrolet	50.310	—
14	1			Chevrolet	50.316	—
15	38			Ford	50.344	—
16	41			Ford	50.419	—
17	21			Ford	50.421	—
18	36	Matt Tifft (R)		Ford	50.447	—
19	4			Ford	50.450	—
20	19			Toyota	50.482	—
21	48			Chevrolet	50.519	—
22	18			Toyota	50.593	—
23	11			Toyota	50.596	—
24	6			Ford	50.614	—
25	24			Chevrolet	50.699	—
26	95			Toyota	50.817	—
27	20			Toyota	50.821	—
28	43			Chevrolet	50.870	—
29	62	Tyler Reddick (i)		Chevrolet	51.170	—
30	47	Ryan Preece (R)		Chevrolet	51.269	—
31	37			Chevrolet	51.374	—
32	00	Landon Cassill (i)		Chevrolet	51.382	—
33	81	Jeffrey Earnhardt (i)		Toyota	51.432	—
34	15	Ross Chastain (i)		Chevrolet	51.800	—
35	96	Parker Kligerman (i)		Toyota	52.081	—
36	32			Ford	52.100	—
37	27			Chevrolet	52.184	—
38	77	Justin Haley (i)		Chevrolet	52.197	—
39	52			Chevrolet	52.984	—
40	51	Cody Ware (R)		Ford	53.148	—
Official 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)^[13]

Race

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 55

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	10
2	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	8
4	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	41	Daniel Suárez	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	5
7	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	3
9	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Leavine Family Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 55

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	5
7	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	4
8	8	Daniel Hemric	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	3
9	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	2
10	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 78

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	11	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	57
2	9	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	53
3	30	47	Ryan Preece (R)	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	188	34
4	8	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	188	35
5	5	8	Daniel Hemric (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	35
6	14	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	188	36
7	24	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	188	35
8	29	62	Brendan Gaughan (i)	Beard Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	0
9	2	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	188	28
10	22	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	188	30
11	36	32	Corey LaJoie	Go Fas Racing	Ford	188	26
12	16	41	Daniel Suárez	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	188	31
13	4	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	188	24
14	1	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	37
15	7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	188	29
16	17	21	Paul Menard	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	188	21
17	13	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	188	30
18	37	27	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	19
19	27	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	188	18
20	20	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	188	17
21	25	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	28
22	33	81	Jeffrey Earnhardt (i)	XCI Racing	Toyota	187	0
23	15	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	187	14
24	10	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	187	17
25	6	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	187	15
26	34	15	Ross Chastain (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	0
27	35	96	Parker Kligerman (i)	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	186	0
28	40	51	Cody Ware (R)	Petty Ware Racing	Ford	184	9
29	3	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	182	8
30	31	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	181	7
31	26	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Leavine Family Racing	Toyota	181	7
32	38	77	Justin Haley (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	180	0
33	21	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	178	4
34	32	00	Landon Cassill (i)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	154	0
35	39	52	Stanton Barrett	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	132	2
36	23	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	80	1
37	18	36	Matt Tifft (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	11	1
38	19	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	11	1
39	28	43	Bubba Wallace	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	10	1
40	12	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	10	1
Official race results

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: 161.331mph

Media

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

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kyle Busch	430
	2	Joey Logano	415 (–15)
	3	Denny Hamlin	367 (–63)
	4	Kevin Harvick	350 (–80)
	5	Brad Keselowski	337 (–93)
	6	Martin Truex Jr.	328 (–102)
3	7	Chase Elliott	324 (–106)
1	8	Kurt Busch	323 (–107)
	9	Ryan Blaney	306 (–124)
2	10	Clint Bowyer	288 (–142)
	11	Aric Almirola	288 (–142)
	12	Daniel Suárez	266 (–164)
2	13	Ryan Newman	251 (–179)
	14	Austin Dillon	243 (–187)
6	15	Alex Bowman	239 (–191)
3	16	Jimmie Johnson	238 (–192)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Toyota	370
	2	Ford	359 (–11)
	3	Chevrolet	332 (–38)

• 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.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2019 schedule. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. March 24, 2019. May 5, 2018.
2. Web site: Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. March 24, 2019. January 3, 2013. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428035211/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/talladega-superspeedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 23, 2019. April 23, 2019.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 26, 2019. April 26, 2019.
5. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 26, 2019. April 26, 2019.
6. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 27, 2019. April 27, 2019.
7. Web site: GEICO 500 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 28, 2019. April 28, 2019.
8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 28, 2019. April 28, 2019.
9. Web site: GEICO 500 ratings. https://web.archive.org/web/20190430141734/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/skedball-weekly-sports-tv-ratings-4-22-4-28-2019.html. dead. 30 April 2019. ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. 30 April 2019.
10. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kurt Busch tops first Cup practice at Talladega at over 202 mph. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 26, 2019. Lincoln, Alabama. April 26, 2019.
11. Web site: Utter. Jim. Despite rule changes, Ryan Newman tops 204 mph at Talladega. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 26, 2019. Lincoln, Alabama. April 26, 2019.
12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Austin Dillon tops Almirola to win Cup pole at Talladega. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 27, 2019. Lincoln, Alabama. April 27, 2019.
13. Web site: Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush Fenway cars to the rear at Talladega NASCAR.com. 2019-04-28. Official Site Of NASCAR. en-US. 2019-04-28.