2024 GEICO 500 explained

Type:CUST
Description:Race 10 of 36 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:GEICO 500
Details Ref:[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Year:2024
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:155.977mph
Pole Driver:Michael McDowell
Pole Team:Front Row Motorsports
Pole Time:52.609
Most Driver:Michael McDowell
Most Team:Front Row Motorsports
Most Laps:36
Car:45
First Driver:Tyler Reddick
First Team:23XI Racing
Network:Fox
Announcers:Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer,and Kevin Harvick
Radio:MRN
Booth Ann:Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Todd Gordon
Turn Ann:Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch), and Jason Toy (3 & 4)

The 2024 GEICO 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 21, 2024, 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 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Tyler Reddick won the race. Brad Keselowski finished 2nd, and Noah Gragson finished 3rd. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five, and Anthony Alfredo, William Byron, Todd Gilliland, Daniel Hemric, and Harrison Burton rounded out the top ten.

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

DriverTeamManufacturer
1 Chevrolet
2 Ford
3 nowrapChevrolet
4 Josh Berry (R) Ford
5 Chevrolet
6 Ford
7 Chevrolet
8 Chevrolet
9 Chevrolet
10 Ford
11 Toyota
12 Ford
14 Ford
15 Cody WareFord
16 Shane van Gisbergen (i) Chevrolet
17 Ford
19 Toyota
20 Toyota
21 Ford
22 Ford
23 Toyota
24 Chevrolet
31 Chevrolet
34 Ford
38 Ford
41 Ford
42 Toyota
43 Toyota
45 Toyota
47 nowrapChevrolet
48 Chevrolet
51 Ford
54 Toyota
62 Anthony Alfredo (i) Chevrolet
71 Zane Smith (R) Chevrolet
77 Carson Hocevar (R) Chevrolet
78 B. J. McLeod (i) Chevrolet
99 Chevrolet
Official entry list

Qualifying

Michael McDowell scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.609 and a speed of 182.022mph.[8]

Kyle Larson was on the pit-road to put down a qualifying lap but Nascar officials saw something with his car and pulled him to the garage. He was not allowed to qualify as the team made an unapproved adjustment to the roof rails as they pushed the car to the grid.

Qualifying results

PosDriverTeamManufacturer
134 Ford 52.741 52.609
22 Ford 53.020 52.691
338 Ford 53.000 52.789
48 Chevrolet 52.970 52.863
53 Chevrolet 53.086 52.969
619 Toyota 53.048 52.992
722 Ford 53.027 53.044
817 Ford 53.122 53.119
99 Chevrolet 53.168 53.122
1020 Toyota 53.120 53.198
1141 Ford 53.175
1248 Chevrolet 53.183
1324 Chevrolet 53.185
1423 Toyota 53.186
1554 Toyota 53.208
1621 Ford 53.211
1716 Shane van Gisbergen (i) Chevrolet 53.226
1845 Toyota 53.262
1931 Chevrolet 53.298
2042 Toyota 53.306
2112 Ford 53.320
226 Ford 53.322
2311 Toyota 53.407
2462 Anthony Alfredo (i) Chevrolet 53.411
2599 Chevrolet 53.414
2614 Ford 53.455
2751 Ford 53.478
2843 Toyota 53.480
294 Josh Berry (R) Ford 53.487
3071 Zane Smith (R) Chevrolet 53.532
317 Chevrolet 53.543
321 Chevrolet 53.590
3347 Chevrolet 53.686
3415 Ford 53.720
3577 Carson Hocevar (R) Chevrolet 53.767
3610 Ford 53.811
3778 B. J. McLeod (i) Chevrolet 54.290
385 Chevrolet 0.000
Official qualifying results

Race

Race results

Coming to the checkers, Michael McDowell put a bad block on Brad Keselowski in the tri-oval, triggering a massive wreck behind the leaders, with one car flipping and finishing the race on its side. Tyler Reddick would steal the win from Keselowski and take 23XI Racing to victory lane for the first time in 2024, and the 2nd time at Talladega.

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 60

PosDriverTeamManufacturerPoints
1 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 10
2 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 9
3 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 8
4 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 7
5 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 6
6 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 5
7 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4
8 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 3
9 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 2
10 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 60

PosDriverTeamManufacturerPoints
1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 10
2 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 9
3 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 8
4 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7
5 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 6
6 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 5
7 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 4
8 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3
9 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2
10 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 68

PosGridDriverTeamManufacturerLapsPoints
1 18 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 188 47
2 22 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 188 38
3 36 10 Noah Gragson Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 188 34
4 33 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 188 33
5 12 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 188 33
6 24 62 Anthony Alfredo (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 188 0
7 13 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 188 38
8 3 38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 188 29
9 19 31 Daniel Hemric Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 188 28
10 16 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 188 32
11 6 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 188 26
12 26 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 188 25
13 32 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 188 30
14 11 41 Ryan Preece Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 188 25
15 9 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 188 34
16 29 4 Josh Berry (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 188 21
17 35 77 Carson Hocevar (R) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 188 20
18 31 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 188 19
19 7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 188 28
20 21 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 188 24
21 38 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 188 24
22 15 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 188 16
23 2 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 188 33
24 34 15 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 188 13
25 8 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 188 16
26 25 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 188 11
27 4 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 188 16
28 17 16 Shane van Gisbergen (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 188 0
29 30 71 Zane Smith (R) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 188 8
30 5 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 188 14
31 1 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 187 6
32 37 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 187 0
33 20 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 184 4
34 27 51 Justin Haley Rick Ware Racing Ford 184 3
35 28 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 154 2
36 14 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 154 1
37 23 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 154 1
38 10 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 132 5
Official race results

Race statistics

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 24th race at the Talladega Superspeedway. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and 2010 spring Talladega winner Kevin Harvick called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Josh Sims handled pit road for the television side, and 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, & former championship winning crew chief Todd Gordon 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 and Jason Toy called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 4 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Steve Post, Kim Coon, Paul Small and Chris Wilner worked pit road for the radio side for MRN.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1Kyle Larson359
2Martin Truex Jr.344 (–15)
13Chase Elliott337 (–22)
14William Byron335 (–24)
35Tyler Reddick316 (–43)
36Denny Hamlin308 (–51)
7Ryan Blaney302 (–57)
28Ty Gibbs296 (–63)
29Ross Chastain277 (–82)
410Alex Bowman261 (–98)
211Bubba Wallace257 (–102)
12Chase Briscoe256 (–103)
313Christopher Bell255 (–104)
314Brad Keselowski254 (–105)
15Joey Logano245 (–114)
316Chris Buescher245 (–114)
Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings
PosManufacturerPoints
1Chevrolet371
2Toyota362 (–9)
3Ford332 (–39)
. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2024 schedule . Jayski.com. . January 17, 2024.
  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. Web site: NASCAR reveals 2024 Cup schedule as Atlanta, Watkins Glen move to playoffs . Zach . Sturniolo . . October 4, 2023 . October 4, 2023.
  4. Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 15, 2024. April 15, 2024.
  5. Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. April 20, 2024. April 20, 2024.
  6. Web site: GEICO 500 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. April 21, 2024. April 21, 2024.
  7. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. April 21, 2024. April 21, 2024.
  8. Web site: Utter. Jim. McDowell wins Talladega Cup pole as Ford sweeps top three. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 20, 2024. Lincoln, Alabama. April 20, 2024.