NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega: Live updates, highlights, live leaderboard of Geico 500

The NASCAR Cup Series takes on the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday's Geico 500.

Talladega's style of racing presents opportunities for some race teams that have struggled to get good results this season.

The top eight drivers in the starting lineup have not won a race yet this season, led by pole sitter Michael McDowell. This will be an especially important race for McDowell, the former Daytona 500 champion who has made the playoffs two of the last three seasons.

Follow along with our live race updates, with green flag set for after 2 p.m. CT on Sunday.

THE BIG ONE: What is it like being in the big crash at Talladega? We talked to NASCAR Cup drivers

STARTING LINEUP: NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: Starting lineup, TV schedule for Sunday's race

PICKS FOR SUNDAY'S RACE: NASCAR Talladega predictions 2024: Expert picks for Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway

NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega: Live updates, highlights, live leaderboard

LIVE LEADERBOARD: Full field leaderboard of NASCAR Cup Series Geico 500 at Talladega

Unofficial top-10 results

1. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

2. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

3. Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet

5. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

6. Anthony Alfredo, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet

7. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

8. Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

9. Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

10. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Tyler Reddick wins while the rest of the field crashes

Michael McDowell blocks Brad Keselowski once to the outside off of turn 4 on the final lap, then blocks him again on the inside. Keselowski turns McDowell and Reddick passes both.

Maybe nine cars make it through the Big One. Reddick wins.

Lap 182: Michael McDowell in control for now

Michael McDowell has the edge and is leveraging both lanes while trying to keep the lead. It's working for now. No real threat from a third lane yet.

Lap 171: Still two-by-two

31 cars are side-by-side in the lead pack. It's still Michael McDowell and Tyler Reddick leading either line.

Lap 161: Michael McDowell and Tyler Reddick lead field to the green flag

No more fuel mileage strategy necessary. Michael McDowell and Tyler Reddick lead the two lines to the green.

Ryan Blaney again penalized for speeding on pit road on the previous stop, so he loses track position.

Erik Jones says he's sore but is OK in a FOX interview. He was checked and released from the infield care center.

Lap 155: Caution! Recently-pitted Toyotas crash

Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek and Denny Hamlin crash into turn 3. The group of Toyotas were running too aggressively on the bumpers of one another.

Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. drive away undamaged. We'll see how this pit strategy works out now. Given that everyone will be together in one pack, there will be cars that can go 100% throttle.

Hard hit for Jones and Hamlin.

Lap 153: Tyler Reddick leads a group down pit road

A group of eight cars come down pit road to get enough fuel to make it to the end. Their pace can influence the main pack. Again, not sure what the strategy of those who came in before the last caution was supposed to accomplish.

Lap 150: McDowell leads a single-file field

Michael McDowell leads a single-car freight train on the outside lane running about 52-second laps.

Lap 145: Michael McDowell leads but will have to pit again

Michael McDowell leads the field but is among the group that will have to pit again. Back to 53-second laps with 43 laps to go.

For reference, McDowell's pole qualifying lap in single-car runs on Saturday was 52.609 seconds. McDowell's best lap today in the draft is 48.756 seconds.

Lap 137: Fuel saving to the end

The fuel saving measures will continue to the end, it appears. Green flag with 50 to go, and the likelihood of another caution and fuel mileage not mattering is likely. None of this strategy makes much sense, really. 50 laps is a long time to run at a competitive pace.

Lap 132: Caution! Christopher Bell crashes

The outside lane gets stacked up, and Chase Elliott spins Justin Haley who spins Christopher Bell. The No. 20 Toyota hits the outside wall hard.

Elliott gets away with no damage. Bell is done for the day.

Ross Chastain is the leader.

Lap 127: Joey Logano leads field to green

Joey Logano is among a group of cars that stayed out. Everyone will need to stop once more.

Joey Logano wins Stage 2

Joey Logano's gamble in front of the draft pays off as he wins Stage 2 via a push from Austin Cindric.

No cautions yet other than the stage breaks.

Stage 2 results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Austin Cindric

3. Kyle Larson

4. Austin Dillon

5. Ross Chastain

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Chris Buescher

8. Chase Elliott

9. Ryan Preece

10. Ty Gibbs

Lap 113: Chris Buescher dives under Joey Logano for the lead

Joey Logano and Austin Cindric try to intercept the draft at the front of the field after pitting later than the majority, and nearly cause a big wreck.

Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece pass the two Penske Fords, but Logano holds onto third. Most intense move of the race so far.

Lap 112: Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell among drivers penalized for speeding

Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell sped during separate entries into pit road and will have to serve a pass-through penalty.

Lap 104: Corey Lajoie spins coming off of pit road

The Fords pit first, with a group of Chevrolets in the next lap. A group of Chevys ran side-by-side off of pit road, and Corey Lajoie spins running through some water off the beaten path. No caution.

Similar to Denny Hamlin's spin in the entry of pit road in Stage 1.

Lap 100: Chris Buescher leads a group of Fords as the pace quickens

The lap times are back around 50 seconds, with Chris Buescher leading four other Fords at the front.

Chase Briscoe forced the field's hand by coming in about 15 laps ago, but the field picked up the pace after Briscoe ran faster laps without the draft.

Lap 85: Pace is slow

The field runs at about 175 mph and record lap times of about 54 seconds, well off the pace of what the pack can do at 100% effort. Fuel mileage racing is one thing, but there are folks in the stands watching the first 150 laps of this race too.

Kyle Larson is up to 7th, now on the lead lap after the stage caution. John Hunter Nemechek leads Noah Gragson and Corey Lajoie in a single-file three car group at the front of the pack.

Lap 70: SVG to the lead at Talladega

As the pace slows, Shane van Gisbergen is pushed by Anthony Alfredo to the lead.

Lap 67: Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney lead the field to start Stage 2

The same three Fords, now led by Ryan Blaney, lead on the inside line to Stage 2 with Kyle Busch leading the outside line. Expect a slower pace after a few laps to save fuel. Stage end is Lap 120.

Austin Cindric wins Stage 1, and Hendrick Motorsports fails to deliver best-laid plans

Kyle Larson's best-laid plans for the No. 5 and for Hendrick Motorsports go awry in the final mile of Stage 1. Austin Cindric gets by Larson on the outside lane and just edges out Chase Elliott for the Stage 1 win.

HMS doesn't get the playoff point with either Elliott or Byron, and Larson will have to use the free pass instead of staying on the lead lap.

Stage 1 top 10 results:

1. Austin Cindric

2. Chase Elliott

3. William Byron

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Kyle Busch

6. Harrison Burton

7. Christopher Bell

8. Brad Keselowski

9. Alex Bowman

10. Noah Gragson

Lap 55: Hendrick Motorsports vs. Penske to win Stage 1?

Austin Cindric has Harrison Burton (Wood Brothers car, though team has working relationship with Penske) and Ryan Blaney lined up on the outside with Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron lined up on the inside. Larson is not a factor to win the stage because he's on the tail end of the lead lap, but he could block his teammates in if not careful.

Lap 46: Joey Logano among those penalized for speeding on pit road, while Zane Smith makes a mistake worse

Joey Logano is penalized for speeding on pit road. He'll have to serve a pass-through penalty. Zane Smith, already penalized earlier, is penalized again for speeding while serving his penalty. That'll earn another trip down pit road for the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

Lap 44: Denny Hamlin spins coming onto pit road

As the Toyotas come onto pit road, Denny Hamlin spins trying to get down to pit road speed. He may have gotten slightly into John Hunter Nemechek, but everyone looks OK. Race stays green.

One lap prior, Daniel Suarez and Zane Smith popped for speeding coming onto pit road.

Lap 40: BJ McLeod runs out of gas

Leading the third line on the outside, BJ McLeod reports that he lost fuel pressure going into turn 3. He'll go down pit road and lose a lot of time. He's been out front for the last 25 laps or so and has used more fuel than others.

Lap 37: Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney among those taking it easy at the back of the pack

Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are hanging out toward the back of the field. First round of pit stops should be coming momentarily.

Lap 25: Fuel saving again at a superspeedway

The field's lap times have fallen by more than a second as teams save fuel. It doesn't make for a lot of action, though Justin Haley has pushed through and leads the bottom line. The pack is running three wide pretty comfortably, but not a ton of back and forth.

Lap 9: Ross Chastain pushes Daniel Hemric to the lead

Ross Chastain moved up from his 32nd-place starting position to push Daniel Hemric to the lead in about eight laps.

BJ McLeod (who started 37th) leads the outside lane and is in the top 10. It's pack racing, folks.

Lap 6: Toyotas to the front

Bubba Wallace leads a third lane and pushes Martin Truex Jr. for the lead. The pack is pretty tight right now.

Lap 1: Green flag! Two rows stay in line

Side-by-side for the first 15 rows or so through the first lap as the green flag is out. Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric cannot edge ahead of one another.

Cars are fired, sun is out, NASCAR Talladega race will start on time

The Alabama skies are clearing, and the track is dry. The cars have cranked up and are on the speedway for pace laps. The Geico 500 will start soon.

Kyle Larson car chief ejected; Larson will serve pass-through penalty at start

Kyle Larson will serve a pass-through penalty stemming from the roof railing issue from qualifying on Saturday. Larson's car chief has also been ejected.

Larson was due to start 38th anyway.

NASCAR Talladega race forecast is more optimistic

The National Weather Service weather forecast for Sunday at Talladega was looking iffy earlier in the week, but the forecast is much kinder for Sunday afternoon as of Sunday morning.

The NWS calls for a minimal chance for precipitation from Noon CT Sunday through the end of the day. There was rain in the area during the overnight and morning hours, but the Air Titans have already been working on drying the track according to FOX Sports.

Michael McDowell on the pole; full NASCAR Cup Series in Talladega starting lineup

Michael McDowell will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday after winning the pole during Saturday's qualifying session.

The top 10:

• 1. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

• 2. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford

• 3. Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

• 4. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

• 5. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

• 6. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

• 7. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

• 8. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

• 9. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

• 10. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Find the full starting lineup here.

NASCAR race radio coverage: How to listen to NASCAR Cup race at Talladega

The Geico 500 at Talladega will be aired on the radio by the Motor Racing Network. MRN has affiliates all across the country, and their feed can also be streamed on MRN.com and on NASCAR.com as well as the NASCAR app. The race can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

NASCAR Cup Series Talladega race TV schedule, start time

• Green Flag Time:  Approx. 2 p.m. CT on Sunday, April 21

• TV coverage:  FOX (coverage begins at 1 p.m. CT Sunday)

• Radio:  MRN (TBD in Nashville)

• Streaming: FUBO (free trial available); FOX Sports app (subscription required); MRN.com and SiriusXM on Channel 90 for audio (subscription required)

The Geico 500 will be broadcast nationally on FOX. Streaming options for the race include the FOX Sports app and FUBO, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

Recent NASCAR Cup Series winners at Talladega

• 2023 fall race: Ryan Blaney

• 2023 spring race: Kyle Busch

• 2022 fall race: Chase Elliott

• 2022 spring race: Ross Chastain

• 2021 fall race: Bubba Wallace

• 2021 spring race: Brad Keselowski

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega: Live updates, highlights, leaderboard