Chase Elliott wins at Talladega under caution as Kyle Larson flips
Chase Elliott was ahead on the final lap when a caution came out for a big wreck involving Kyle Larson and won Sunday’s race at Talladega.
Elliott got passed by teammate Alex Bowman entering turn 3, but the caution had already come out — and Elliott might have already let off the gas — because Larson’s car went flipping after making contact with Jeffrey Earnhardt and the inside wall.
Here’s how the wreck happened. Elliott was clearly in front when the caution came out.
It’s the first win for both Elliott and Chevrolet in 2019. It’s also the first win for a team not named Team Penske or Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
Elliott got the lead with a pass for the lead on Joey Logano during the race’s five-lap dash to the finish. A hard crash involving Chris Buescher and Matt DiBenedetto set up a frenzied 4.5 laps.
Race should have already been under caution
It’s fair to wonder if the race should have even been green at the point of the crash too. Elliott was leading when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went spinning and hit the wall near the start/finish line after the leaders had taken the white flag. NASCAR failed to throw a caution — even though a crash of that magnitude would be a caution 999 times out of 1,000 — because it was the last lap of the race.
Since NASCAR didn’t throw a caution, the stage was set for Larson’s car to flip violently through the air. Thankfully, everyone who was involved in the crash was uninjured.
“Right before I got [to the inside wall] I felt it lift and I just hoping it would set down and then it started tumbling,” Larson said. “That was probably the longest flip I’ve ever had.”
Larson’s flip also likely freaks out NASCAR executives and may make race officials more likely to call a caution on the last lap going forward.
The series has been trying hard in recent years to keep cars from flipping over during crashes and Larson’s car was already airborne before he hit the wall. Sunday’s race was the first with NASCAR’s new rules for Talladega and Daytona. That crash proves that it’s pretty clear NASCAR has some work to do to keep cars on the ground.
After the race, NASCAR informed Bob Pockrass the race finished under caution because of a caution for Stenhouse’s crash.
NASCAR says the caution at the end was thrown for debris from Stenhouse car. Right when they decided to throw it, Larson's car started flipping. #nascar @NASCARONFOX
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 28, 2019
If you think that is preposterous, well, you’re not alone. The official NASCAR box score lists the final caution as one stemming from the crash involving Larson ... and Stenhouse. The location of the crash on the caution report is listed on the backstretch. Stenhouse’s crash came on the frontstretch.
Race results
1. Chase Elliott
2. Alex Bowman
3. Ryan Preece
4. Joey Logano
5. Daniel Hemric
6. Kurt Busch
7. Ryan Newman
8. Brendan Gaughan
9. Aric Almirola
10. Kyle Busch
11. Corey LaJoie
12. Daniel Suarez
13. Brad Keselowski
14. Austin Dillon
15. Ryan Newman
16. Paul Menard
17. Ty Dillon
18. Reed Sorenson
19. Erik Jones
20. Martin Truex Jr.
21. William Byron
22. Jeffrey Earnhardt
23. David Ragan
24. Kyle Larson
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
26. Ross Chastain
27. Parker Kligerman
28. Cody Ware
29. Clint Bowyer
30. Chris Buescher
31. Matt DiBenedetto
32. Justin Haley
33. Jimmie Johnson
34. Landon Cassill
35. Stanton Barrett
36. Denny Hamlin
37. Matt Tifft
38. Kevin Harvick
39. Bubba Wallace
40. Michael McDowell
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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