Larson Steals Talladega in Photo Finish

Kyle Larson rallied from 11th on the final lap to edge teammate William Byron by 0.041 seconds and stretch his Cup Series points lead to 73 with two races left.

By Richthrax · Oct. 25, 2026

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kyle Larson was shuffled from the lead to 11th on the final lap Sunday, then charged back through the draft to beat Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron to the line by 0.041 seconds and win the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The victory in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was Larson's first at Talladega after 23 winless starts there, according to The Associated Press. It came in overtime after a red flag for a 15-car crash with five laps remaining. The race went 189 laps, one beyond its scheduled 188.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who led until Larson surged past in the final feet, finished third. Ross Chastain was fourth and Cole Custer fifth.

Larson, 34, extended his championship lead to 73 points over Denny Hamlin, with races left at Martinsville Speedway on Nov. 1 and Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8. Larson entered the day five points ahead of Christopher Bell, whose afternoon unraveled early.

Top 10

Results were unofficial at the time of reporting. Chevrolet took eight of the top 10 spots, including the top six. Gilliland's seventh place was the best finish for Ford, and Hamlin's eighth was the best for Toyota.

Stages and Bell's slide

Chris Buescher won Stage 1, leading an RFK Racing sweep of the top three ahead of Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski. Larson was fourth. Buescher led a race-high 53 laps, according to results published by Auto Action. Joey Logano won Stage 2 by 0.012 seconds over Larson, with Chase Briscoe third.

Bell, the No. 2 seed entering the race, lost control entering pit road for a green-flag stop around Lap 56 and hit the inside wall, damaging the right front of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. A cut tire forced him back to pit road, and his team was then penalized for too many crew members over the wall, which sent him through pit road again. He was nine laps down in 40th at the end of Stage 1 and finished 35th.

The wrecks

On Lap 132, near the end of Stage 2, a checkup in a three-wide pack on the backstretch led to contact between Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace and a 12-car crash. Also collected were Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suárez, Preece, Hamlin, Chastain, Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek and Gray Gaulding. Blaney and Reddick were unable to continue. Hamlin recovered to finish eighth.

The day's biggest crash came with five laps left. Logano, running fourth in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, lost control and started a 15-car pileup on the frontstretch. His car went airborne and landed on its roof, and the race was red-flagged. Logano climbed out uninjured.

"Just happy to be alive," Logano said, according to the AP.

Others involved included Briscoe, Connor Zilisch, Hocevar, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Suárez, Keselowski and Riley Herbst. Herbst's No. 35 Toyota appeared to lose its brakes and hit the inside wall at nearly full speed, the AP reported. He left the car with help from safety workers. Logano finished 34th.

Twelve of the 16 Chase drivers finished outside the top 10, including Preece (13th), Gibbs (17th), Wallace (22nd), Elliott (36th), Reddick (37th) and Blaney (38th). Official caution and lead-change totals were not included in early reports.

Championship picture

Larson leads with 2,441 points. Hamlin is 73 points behind, Bell 74, Briscoe 79, Logano 100 and Blaney 107.

Because a driver can earn a maximum of 76 points and a minimum of one in a race, the AP noted, Larson could mathematically clinch his third Cup title at Martinsville next Sunday.