2023 GEICO 500 explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 10 of 36 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	GEICO 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]
Year:	2023
Location:	Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course Mi:	2.66
Course Km:	4.28
Distance Laps:	196
Distance Mi:	521.36
Distance Km:	838.88
Scheduled Laps:	188
Scheduled Mi:	500.08
Scheduled Km:	804.64
Avg:	146.575mph
Pole Driver:	Denny Hamlin
Pole Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Time:	52.979
Most Driver:	Ryan Blaney
Most Team:	Team Penske
Most Laps:	47
Car:	8
First Driver:	Kyle Busch
First Team:	Richard Childress Racing
Network:	Fox
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Tony Stewart
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch), and Dillon Welch (3 & 4)

The 2023 GEICO 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 23, 2023, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 196 laps – extended from 188 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.66 mile (4.28 km) superspeedway, it was the 10th race of the 2023 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 Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsman 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 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km).

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1		nowrap		Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
14			Ford
15	Riley Herbst (i)		Ford
16			Chevrolet
17			Ford
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23			Toyota
24			Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
36			Ford
38	Zane Smith (i)		Ford
41			Ford
42	Noah Gragson (R)		Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
45			Toyota
47	nowrap			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford
54	Ty Gibbs (R)		Toyota
62	Austin Hill (i)		Chevrolet
77			Chevrolet
78			Chevrolet
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.979 and a speed of 180.751mph.^[9]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	11			Toyota	53.308	52.979
2	10			Ford	53.309	53.011
3	54	Ty Gibbs (R)		Toyota	53.292	53.025
4	14			Ford	53.280	53.085
5	12			Ford	53.333	53.124
6	20			Toyota	53.388	53.245
7	19			Toyota	53.315	53.281
8	22			Ford	53.341	53.299
9	5			Chevrolet	53.440	53.302
10	17			Ford	53.417	53.303
11	4			Ford	53.455	—
12	23			Toyota	53.470	—
13	45			Toyota	53.496	—
14	3			Chevrolet	53.497	—
15	2			Ford	53.499	—
16	41			Ford	53.509	—
17	8			Chevrolet	53.548	—
18	24			Chevrolet	53.559	—
19	16			Chevrolet	53.568	—
20	6			Ford	53.611	—
21	34			Ford	53.629	—
22	99			Chevrolet	53.651	—
23	1			Chevrolet	53.671	—
24	43			Chevrolet	53.693	—
25	21			Ford	53.695	—
26	31			Chevrolet	53.745	—
27	48			Chevrolet	53.750	—
28	36			Ford	53.849	—
29	9			Chevrolet	53.874	—
30	42	Noah Gragson (R)		Chevrolet	53.902	—
31	62	Austin Hill (i)		Chevrolet	53.973	—
32	77			Chevrolet	54.033	—
33	47			Chevrolet	54.039	—
34	7			Chevrolet	54.059	—
35	38	Zane Smith (i)		Ford	54.063	—
36	15	Riley Herbst (i)		Ford	54.106	—
37	78			Chevrolet	54.297	—
38	51	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford	54.424	—
Official qualifying results

Race

During the overtime lap, Kyle Larson's car was t-boned by Ryan Preece in a collision triggered by Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson. The wreck collapsed Larson's passenger side roll cage, described by race winner Kyle Busch as "brick getting rammed into a stick of butter".^[10] Neither Larson nor Preece were injured from the collision, but the carnage reignited safety concerns regarding the Next Gen car. NASCAR took both cars to the R&D Center for further investigation.^[11]

Race results

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 60

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	8
4	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	6
6	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	5
7	42	Noah Gragson (R)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	4
8	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	3
9	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	2
10	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 60

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	9
3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	8
4	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	7
5	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	6
6	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	42	Noah Gragson (R)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 68

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	17	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	196	40
2	5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	196	35
3	10	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	196	34
4	4	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	196	33
5	20	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	196	32
6	24	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	196	31
7	18	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	196	37
8	6	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	196	29
9	22	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	196	29
10	28	36	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	196	27
11	38	51	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	196	0
12	29	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	196	44
13	27	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	196	33
14	32	77	Ty Dillon	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	196	23
15	33	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	196	23
16	13	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	196	21
17	1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	196	23
18	37	78	B. J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Chevrolet	196	19
19	26	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	196	18
20	36	15	Riley Herbst (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	196	0
21	11	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	196	24
22	2	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	196	25
23	23	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	196	23
24	31	62	Austin Hill (i)	Beard Motorsports	Chevrolet	196	0
25	34	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	196	13
26	15	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	196	16
27	7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	196	15
28	12	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	195	16
29	19	16	A. J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	195	8
30	8	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	195	10
31	3	54	Ty Gibbs (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	194	6
32	30	42	Noah Gragson (R)	Legacy Motor Club	Chevrolet	189	10
33	9	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	189	10
34	16	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	189	9
35	21	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	189	2
36	25	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	183	7
37	35	38	Zane Smith (i)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	141	0
38	14	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	141	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 57 among 21 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 8 for 34
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 33 minutes, and 25 seconds
• Average speed: 146.575mph

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 23rd race at the Talladega Superspeedway. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and 2008 fall Talladega winner Tony Stewart called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Josh Sims handled the pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden & Jeff Striegle 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 & Dillon Welch called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 4 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Steve Post, Georgia Henneberry, Chris Wilner and Brienne Pedigo worked pit road for the radio side for MRN.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Christopher Bell	331
	2	Ross Chastain	319 (–12)
	3	Kevin Harvick	311 (–20)
	4	Kyle Larson	295 (–36)
3	5	Kyle Busch	290 (–41)
	6	Tyler Reddick	286 (–45)
2	7	Martin Truex Jr.	281 (–50)
2	8	Ryan Blaney	276 (–55)
2	9	Alex Bowman	270 (–61)
1	10	Denny Hamlin	270 (–61)
4	11	Joey Logano	268 (–63)
	12	Brad Keselowski	267 (–64)
	13	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	247 (–84)
1	14	William Byron	245 (–86)
1	15	Chase Briscoe	243 (–88)
	16	Chris Buescher	240 (–91)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Chevrolet	382
	2	Toyota	342 (–40)
	3	Ford	338 (–44)

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023 schedule . Jayski.com. . October 10, 2022.
2. Web site: Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. March 29, 2023. 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. News: NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops . Taranto, Steven . 14 September 2022 . 29 March 2023 . CBS Broadcasting Inc.
4. News: NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series . 14 September 2022 . 29 March 2023 . National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC.
5. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 17, 2023. April 17, 2023.
6. Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. April 22, 2023. April 22, 2023.
7. Web site: GEICO 500 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. April 23, 2023. April 23, 2023.
8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 23, 2023. April 23, 2023.
9. Web site: Utter. Jim. Hamlin beats Almirola to NASCAR Cup pole at Talladega. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 22, 2023. Lincoln, Alabama. April 22, 2023.
10. Web site: Gelston . Dan . Larson: Aftermath of violent Talladega wreck 'unsettling' . ABC News . April 30, 2023 . April 30, 2023.
11. Web site: Crandall . Kelly . Preece to meet with NASCAR to analyze Talladega crash . . April 30, 2023 . April 25, 2023.