2026 NASCAR YellaWood 500 (Talladega) Race Recap

By Adam Carabine

The Chase continued this weekend, as the NASCAR Cup Series visited Talladega SuperSpeedway for the YellaWood 500.  After a poor showing last weekend in Phoenix, Championship leader Kyle Larson bounced back with his third win of the season.  There were two major wrecks that took some of the Championship contenders out of the race.  An early spin for Christopher Bell had him finishing laps down, and both Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano got caught up in incidents taking them out of the race.

YellaWood 500 Top 5 Finishers:

Top 5 NASCAR Cup Series Chase Standings After Talladega

What Happened in the YellaWood 500?

Just as we were about to throw away Kyle Larson’s Championship hopes after a tough race in Phoenix, he came back with a vengeance and won, putting a near-chokehold on the standings. 

Stage One began with some hardcore fuel savings by all teams.  Where lap times tend to be around the 50-second mark, teams were running around 8 seconds slower in an attempt to save fuel.  Brad Keselowski and his RFK teammates decided they were sick of riding around slowly and took matters into their own hands.  They hit the gas and took off from the main pack.  Before anyone could really react, they had a sizeable lead up front, negating any pit road disadvantages they might have had with having burned more fuel (and therefore would have to put more fuel in the tank during a pit stop, costing more time).  The stage remained caution-free, and the three RFK drivers stayed up front until the end of it, earning the most stage points.

Christopher Bell spun on his own while trying to get on pit road and got some damage, which set him back multiple laps, essentially ending his race (and potentially his Championship hopes).    

Kyle Larson was a strong contender all day, but holding the lead at Talladega isn’t as easy as it is at smaller tracks.  With multiple lead changes all day, Larson was hoping to get to the right position at the end of the race.  On the final lap, he was hung out to dry, and fell all the way back to 8th, but didn’t give up.  He got a great late run, was helped by Austin Hill seemingly running out of gas, and managed to sneak his way to the lead just in time to cross the finish line.

You can check out the full results of the Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts, and Craftsman Truck Series races here.

For a more comprehensive look, stick around to see how it all shook down, lap-by-lap!

2026 YellaWood 500 Lap-by-Lap Recap 

Lap 1:  Green flag.  Chase Briscoe won the pole, and had Austin Hill beside him on the front row.

Lap 4:  Hill is the leader right now, pretty much everyone is just cruising along three-wide.

Lap 7:  Briscoe decided to save fuel, and has fallen back to P20 already.

Lap 30:  Lap times are crazy slow, everyone is saving fuel.  Lap times are around 58 seconds, and the fastest laps are usually around 50s.  The leaders right now are Gray Gaulding (66 car), Daniel Dye (78 car) and Cody Ware.

Lap 31:  Suddenly Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, and Chris Buescher have had enough.  They hit the gas, and they’re trying to break away.

Lap 36:  The RFK teammates are now 17 seconds ahead of the pack.

Lap 39:  The lead is now 25 seconds! This is crazy! The big pack have started pushing to try and recollect them but it might be too late. 

Lap 43:  Now the lead is 32 seconds.  If they keep this up they might start getting a draft tow from the back of the pack!

Lap 50:  Pit stops are going to be starting soon.  The RFK trio are getting some draft help from the back of the pack.  The gap is 43 seconds.

Lap 51:  Some Chevrolets are pitting.  Speeding penalty for Carson Hocevar!  At the end of the lap another round of Chevrolets come to pit road too. 

Lap 52:  RFK pits now, all together.  They do a great job and all leave together too.

Lap 56:  Toyotas pit here, and oh no! Christopher Bell comes in too hot, and spins trying to slow it down!  He hits the inside wall, and has some damage, but gets it righted. No caution.

Lap 57:  Bell is back out on the track, but his car is smoking.  He’s definitely got some more damage.  He might have to pit again.

Lap 59:  The pit cycle has completed now.  The RFK cars now have a 40-second lead over the rest of the pack.  They could try and put a bunch of people a lap down here if they keep pushing.

Lap 62:  Bell pits again to fix some damage.

Lap 63:  Penalty for Christopher Bell – too many men over the wall.  Insult to injury here.

Lap 72:  Zane Smith gets a flat tire and limps it to pit road.  No caution.

Lap 73:  Christopher Bell is back on track, 8 laps down after repairs and penalties.

Lap 80:  The main pack isn’t going to be able to catch the RFK trio, who have picked up a few other stragglers and have a solid draft going.  The gap is 27 seconds to the bigger pack, but with only 19 to go, it’s not going to work.

Lap 89:  After the RFK Top 3, we’ve got Kyle Larson leading the big pack.  We’re now heading into the Caution Zone, 10 laps left in Stage One.

Lap 98:  Chris Buescher wins Stage 1.  Followed by 60, 6, 5, 24, 35, 19, 12, 22, 2.

Lap 104:  Green for Stage Two.  Riley Herbst and Joey Logano.

Lap 121:  Things are still pretty tame here.  The pace is higher because they don’t need to save fuel as much in this shorter stage, but drivers are certainly playing it safe.

Lap 129:   15 to go in the stage.  Logano is the leader, followed by Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson.

Lap 130:  Three-wide through much of the field as they’re jockeying for position to get to the end of the stage.

Lap 132:  CAUTION – BIG ONE – Lots of cars involved:  1, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 23, 42, 45, 54, 60, 66.

Lap 139:  Green flag, with Larson and Logano on the front row.

Lap 143:  Joey Logano wins Stage Two.  Followed by 5, 19, 2, 24, 17, 88, 97, 43, 33.

Lap 149:  The final stage is GREEN.  It’s Chris Buescher and Erik Jones on the front row.

Lap 156:  Kyle Larson is up to the lead after being P21 a few laps ago.

Lap 167:  Bubba Wallace is down pit road, might have had a tire going down?  It’s still pretty cautious at the front, with Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the front of each line, trading the lead back and forth.

Lap 176:  Kyle Larson has fallen way back.  His lane died, and he’s fallen to P17.

Lap 179:  Now it’s Logano and Stenhouse up front.  Ross Chastain is at the front too, but he’s about to go a lap down, so he’s not a pass for position.

Lap 183:  Don’t count Larson out now, he’s found a third lower lane and made his way back up to the front!

Lap 184:  CAUTION – BIG ONE – Joey Logano gets flipped upside down, multiple HUGE collisions.  Riley Herbst takes one of the worst, ricocheting off the inside wall at a really high speed. 

Involved in this wreck:  2, 6, 7, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 35, 43, 47, 48, 77, 88, 97.

Red flag is thrown to clean up as we’re right near the end of the race.

Lap 186:  Back to yellow - it’s going to overtime.

Lap 187:  Green flag – Todd Gilliland and Kyle Larson on the front row.

Lap 189:  It looks good for Larson at first, and then he gets hung out to dry and falls way back.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. looks like he’s about to get the victory, and then Larson gets an insane run.  He passes seven cars in quick succession on his way to the line. 

Larson WINS the YellaWood 500 at Talladega! 

Kyle Larson Wins at YellaWood 500 at Talladega, Extends Championship Lead

This was Kyle Larson’s first career win at Talladega – in fact this is his first win at any drafting track.  This was his third win of the 2026 season, and his 35th career Cup Series victory in his 436th start.

This win puts Larson 73 points ahead of Denny Hamlin in the Championship Standings with just two races remaining in the season.  The win also eliminated nine drivers from contention for the 2026 Cup Series Championship – Cindric, Gibbs, Hocevar, Byron, Elliott, Wallace, Suarez, Preece and Buescher. 

What's Next?  

There are only two races left in the 2026 season, and next weekend we visit Martinsville Speedway for the penultimate outing.  From Talladega, the longest oval on the NASCAR circuit, to the shortest at Martinsville, this will be a majorly different race.  Chase Elliott won at this track earlier in the spring, and William Byron won this race last year.