TALLADEGA, Ala. — A 27-car crash that involved eight of NASCAR’s 12 title contenders. A chaotic cleanup that infuriated competitors. And a surprise winner.
Just a regular race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. snapped a 65-race losing streak by winning in overtime at Talladega on Sunday after a late crash collected more than half the field. Stenhouse is not in the playoffs and his victory marked the second consecutive week a driver not competing for the Cup Series title has won.
“It’s so tough to win these races. It’s so tough to miss the wrecks,” Stenhouse said. “These races are just chaos when it comes down to the end.”
The victory was the first for Stenhouse and his JTG Daugherty Racing team since he won the season-opening Daytona 500 to start 2023. He’s the 18th different Cup Series winner this year.
“It felt really good. This team has put a lot of hard work in, obviously we haven’t won since the 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season,” Stenhouse said. “We knew that this track is one of ours to come get.”
Stenhouse’s first career victory came at Talladega in 2017 and his four career Cup Series victories have come at either the Alabama superspeedway or Daytona International Speedway.
Stenhouse won in a three-wide finish between Brad Keselowski and William Byron, who with his third-place finish became the only driver locked into the third round of the playoffs.
Cindric was the leader with five laps remaining in regulation when Logano, two rows back, gave Keselowski a hard shove directly into Cindric. It caused Cindric to spin and 27 of the 40 cars in the field suffered some sort of damage in the melee.
Even Stenhouse had a chunk of sheet metal missing from the driver side door area when he drove his car into victory lane. In the chaos of the cleanup, with teams fuming post-race over how NASCAR navigated the crash scene, some argued that Stenhouse’s door was missing some safety foam and he should have been forced to pit for repairs.
“I bet they did. I didn’t see any missing foam,” said winning crew chief Mike Kelly, who suspects NASCAR will review how it handled the chaotic cleanup in which some cars were towed back to pit road and repairs began for them as others were still stranded on the track. “They were put in a tough situation with that many cars involved in the wreck, and that many [tow trucks]. It’s a tough situation.”
Stenhouse later acknowledged there indeed was foam hanging out of the gaping hole.
The race was red-flagged for nearly nine minutes of cleanup, and 22 cars remained on the lead lap for the two-lap overtime sprint to the finish. Many of those 22 cars were damaged.
Keselowski finished second in a Ford for RFK Racing and was followed by Byron in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Byron is the points leader headed into Charlotte and his cushion is large enough to earn him an automatic spot into the round of eight.
Kyle Larson of Hendrick was fourth and followed by Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club in a Toyota. Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing was sixth in a Toyota and followed by Justin Haley of Spire Motorsports. Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing finished eighth, Bubba Wallace was ninth with 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan in attendance, and Denny Hamlin, the other co-owner of the team, rounded out the top 10.
Only four drivers still active in the playoffs finished inside the top 10.
Late crash salvages Blaney’s day Ryan Blaney, who used his win at Talladega a year ago to spark his run to his first Cup Series title, was involved in a crash racing for points on the final lap of the second stage.
Blaney was pushed too hard from behind by fellow playoff driver Alex Bowman and the shove forced Blaney’s Ford to take a sharp left and then bounce up the track into the wall and Ross Chastain.
Blaney tried to keep his battered car out on track but the engine eventually failed, ending his race. He was second in the playoff standings entering the race and feared his career-high seventh DNF of the season would drop him to the verge of elimination.
“I don’t know if [Bowman] ever lifted and just drilled me from like three car lengths back. The worst possible spot you could do it, so it’s pretty dumb on his part and it figures that he gets away scot-free per usual,” Blaney said.
Because so many drivers wrecked late, Blaney only dropped to sixth in the playoff standings.
Suarez struggles all day Daniel Suarez was already trying to work his way above the elimination zone when his race was derailed as it started.
NASCAR penalized Trackhouse Racing for making a modification to the No. 99 after inspection so Suarez had to serve a pass-thru penalty at the start of the race that dropped him off the lead lap. When the pack came upon him to put him a second lap down on lap 11, Suarez tried to preserve position and ended up running into another car.
It caused him to spin into the grass and the Chevrolet had to pit for repairs. He tried the entire race to get back on the lead lap, couldn’t make it, and then was one of the drivers in the late crash.
He finished 26th, somehow, and gained one spot in the standings to 10th. Suarez is only 20 points below the elimination cutline.
“It was a very difficult day. We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole with the pass-through penalty,” Suarez said. “I just made a mistake. I tried to block when they were coming, but they were just coming too fast. That was on me. We put ourselves in a hole, and unfortunately we weren’t able to recover. And then in the last wreck, obviously that finished killing our chances.”
Up Next
The playoff field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight when four are eliminated next Sunday at The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. AJ Allmendinger won the race a year ago.
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jake Fraley was activated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday.
He had injured his right shoulder while trying to make a diving catch June 23 against the New York Yankees.
An MRI revealed a partially torn labrum that will eventually require surgery. Fraley received a cortisone shot and will try to play through it for the rest of the season.