News and notes for the entire 43-car field from the GEICO 500
RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Latest Chase Grid
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt led a race-high 67 laps to earn his sixth career Talladega victory and tie teammate Jeff Gordon for second on the Superspeedway’s all-time wins list. It was an emotional win for Earnhardt, who needs four more wins at the Alabama track to catch his Daddy, the legendary Dale Earnhardt. | Watch: Junior adds to the family legacy
2. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson led 50 laps, but stuck behind his teammate in the closing laps. He improves to third in the points on the strength of his fourth straight top-three finish. | Watch: Johnson discusses finish
3. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard, whose entire pit crew opted to wear full-face helmets during stops, recorded his best finish this season after spending the majority of Sunday’s race running inside the top 15.
4. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. In his third career restrictor-plate outing, Blaney notched his first career top-five result. | More: Blaney proves tough under Talladega pressure
5. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex managed his ninth top-10 result of the season despite dealing with a vibration for a majority of Sunday’s 188-lap event.
6. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish, who was on pit road when the final caution flag was waved, restarted fourth with 25 laps to go and held on to record his best 2015 finish.
7. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Despite an early flare-up while pitting under caution, Newman ticked off 11 places in the final 19 laps to record his first top-10 finish in the spring Talladega event since 2009.
8. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick led one lap en route to his ninth top-10 finish this season. He has paced the field in all but one race this season and needs to lead 47 more laps to reach 1,000 total for the second time in his career.
9. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin led five laps and was running fourth when he attempted to make a run on leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. coming to the checkered flag.
10. Josh Wise, No. 98 Ford, Phil Parsons Racing. Wise mostly flew under the radar on Sunday and led Lap 93 en route to his best career Cup finish.
11. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The two-time Talladega victor picked up 12 spots in the closing 19 laps and narrowly missed his fifth top-10 of the year.
12. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch led a lap during the second caution period and overcame an alternator issue to close 20 positions in the final 19 laps to be the best closer of the race.
13. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt didn’t pit during the sixth caution flag so he led the field to green on the Lap 162 restart, and he held on to snag his best career finish.
14. J.J. Yeley, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley was briefly knocked off the lead lap after being penalized for a fallen window net and subsequently speeding on pit road. He rallied to improve 13 places in the final 19 laps.
15. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola guided his car across the finish line despite receiving contact on the last lap to his left-front fender.
16. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bowman wasn’t terribly impacted after being involved in the Lap 47 crash and held on to record his best Talladega finish.
17. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger’s team resolved a severe vibration mid-race as he attempted the strategy of laying back until the final laps of the race.
18. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto, in his restrictor-plate debut in the Sprint Cup Series, rebounded from the Lap 47 incident to earn his highest 2015 result.
19. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart led six laps on Sunday, but couldn’t get enough help down the stretch when he attempted to break out of the long parade running the top line.
20. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Running 28th, Gilliland attempted to help Tony Stewart run the bottom line and challenge the leaders in the closing laps.
21. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick reported a transmission issue around the Lap 115 caution for debris and spent the final third of the race running in fourth gear due to a broken shifter.
22. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski restarted fifth with 26 laps to go and was eyeing his fourth Talladega victory until he was shuffled back.
23. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier was one of 15 cars impacted by the first big crash of the day on Lap 47, and he lost a support pit member, who handled a fuel can without a helmet or head sock.
24. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher started the race 38th and showed great patience and poise during his restrictor-plate debut in the top series.
25. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. With fewer than 20 laps to go, Kenseth tried to join Jeff Gordon as the duo fell out of the top line and unsuccessfully tried to run the bottom.
26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse was the beneficiary of the free pass on a Lap 56 caution after being knocked off the lead lap as a result of the Lap 47 wreck and caution.
27. Bobby Labonte, No. 32 Ford, Go FAS Racing. Labonte made his second start of the year on Sunday (both have been at restrictor-plate tracks) and led the 22nd lap while the field was under the first caution flag.
28. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears was one of 15 drivers to lead Sunday’s race and paced Lap 116 when the leaders hit pit road during a caution for debris.
29. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett rolled off the grid 40th and ran as high as third during his third Talladega outing.
30. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer, running ninth with 15 laps to go, predicted chaos in the final laps and he was one of several drivers to sustain contact on the last lap.
31. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The pole winner led 47 laps but was mired in traffic during the closing laps after being penalized for speeding on pit road just prior to the Lap 158 caution. | More: Gordon’s day ruined by penalty, late damage
32. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards posted the fastest lap of the race (Lap 46 at 204.801 mph) and was one of the few drivers willing to attempt to run the bottom in the closing laps. He spun on the final lap as the competition sped by. | Watch: Edwards discusses what happened to him late in the race
33. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano had minor damage after the Lap 47 dust-up, but earned the beneficiary of the free pass twice, including when the final caution flag was waved.
34. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne, the outside pole sitter, paced the field briefly before becoming collateral damage in the Lap 47 incident.
35. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon was running 16th when the right-front of his car erupted into flames, likely due to an engine issue, to bring out the sixth and final caution flag of the day. | Watch: Dillon’s car catches fire
36. Michael Waltrip, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. The team owner and former Talladega victor was in the wrong place at the wrong time on Sunday when he ran into a spinning Brian Scott on Lap 19.
37. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush-Fenway Racing. Biffle, involved in the Lap 47 multi-car mashup, spent quite a bit of time in the garage for repairs before returning around Lap 90. | Watch: See the 15-car incident
38. David Ragan, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Ragan’s 300th Cup start was derailed when he was collected in the multi-car incident on Lap 47. Next week, Ragan will take the wheel of Michael Waltrip Racing‘s No. 55 as a permanent substitute for Brian Vickers.
39. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. Cassill started 30th and was running inside the top 15 when he was involved in the 15-car accident on Lap 47.
40. Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Gaughan, making his first Talladega start since 2004, made hard contact with the Turn 2 wall on Lap 91.
41. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne ran as high as third on Sunday before losing the handle on his Ford in traffic and triggering the “Big One” on Lap 47. | Watch: See the 15-car pileup Bayne was involved in
42. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson lined up for the race 13th – his best Talladega start – but was sidelined after being collected in the Lap 47 multi-car crash.
43. Brian Scott, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. Scott spun shortly after his Chevy started smoking and he inadvertently collected Michael Waltrip in the accident.