Posted on by Reid Spencer

Editor’s note: NASCAR later suspended indefinitely race-winner Spencer Gallagher for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy. Ryan Sieg, not Gallagher, will compete for the Dash 4 Cash prize at Dover.

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Taking advantage of an overtime restart and a fuel shortage that hampered some of the race’s strongest cars, Spencer Gallagher grabbed the lead on the final lap and held on to win Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.

In claiming the first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of his career, Gallagher crossed the finish line .152 seconds ahead of runner-up Brandon Jones. Justin Allgaier recovered to finish third after running out of fuel under the Lap 105 caution that set up the overtime.

The only lap Gallagher has ever led in 49 Xfinity Series starts was the final one at Talladega on Saturday. He’s the ninth different winner in nine races in the series so far this year.

Noah Gragson came home fourth a week after running second in his Xfinity Series debut at Richmond. Elliott Sadler rebounded from a pit road speeding penalty – after he accelerated to avoid John Hunter Nemechek’s spinning car – to claim fifth place and his second straight $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus.

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Xfinity Series race winners in 2018

“The only thing that was going through my mind was ‘I hope to hell this works,'” Gallagher said after surging past Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell into the lead and blocking for all he was worth on the final lap. “Gosh, I’m so happy right now. GMS Racing (owned by Gallagher’s father, Maury Gallagher) brought such an incredible car here. To qualify this thing third and to race like we did all day, I knew we had some speed.

“Man, it didn’t seem real for a while there. For that whole last lap it was kind of a dream. You hear your spotter talking to you in the background, but all you’re really doing is looking in your mirror. It’s always wild, the last lap at Talladega, but we brought it home, baby! Got it done…”

Ryan Sieg, Nemechek, Reddick, Cole Custer and Garrett Smithley completed the top 10. Sadler expanded his series lead to 40 points over second-place Reddick, 47 over third-place Allgaier and 49 over fourth-place Bell, who was shuffled back to 12th at the finish.

RELATED: Sadler takes home Dash 4 Cash prize | Dash 4 Cash Dover qualifiers

Jones second-place finish was a career best, and he got it by hustling in the bottom lane after the final restart, as the race went two laps past its scheduled distance of 113 laps.

“We all backed up pretty big on the bottom lane (after the restart), and I was really trying to work my side drafts there at the end, and I was pretty weak on that all day,” Jones said. “I knew at the very end there I needed to do that as best as I could, and it was starting to pull that top lane back a little bit, so I thought that was working pretty well.

“And then some guys jumped in front of me and caused me to suck up and pull that bottom down. If I could have got to the 23 (Gallagher), I think we could have sucked him back a little bit with the side draft, but we just didn’t have the opportunity to do it there at the end.”

Emblematic of the hazards of restrictor-plate racing was the misfortune of Ryan Truex, who sped on pit road under caution for the end of Stage 1, restarted from the rear of the field and had his No. 11 Chevrolet collected in a seven-car accident on Lap 32.

WATCH: Multi-car wreck collects Truex, Majeski

The melee started when Shane Lee turned the No. 28 Ford of Dylan Lupton to trigger the wreck. That contact also turned the No. 60 Ford of Ty Majeski into the outside wall and into the path of Truex, who T-boned Majeski’s car.

“On that restart (on Lap 32), the outside line got going really well, and we were moving forward, and I think the 3 car (Lee) was behind us and was pushing me a little bit through that high side,” Lupton said.

“And then once we started losing banking on the straightaway, he pushed a little too much and pinched me sideways, and at that point I was just a pinball holding on. It’s a disappointment being out so early, but we get to go racing again next week, and we’ll try to rebound from this.”

Posted on by Staff Report

After learning about the passing of James Hylton and his son, James Hylton Jr., members of the NASCAR community took to social media to send condolences and remember the former premier series driver.


MORE: James Hylton, son die in automobile accident

Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — James Hylton, a two-time winner in NASCAR’s premier series and a competitor known for his longevity, has died. He was 83.

Franklin County (Ga.) Deputy Coroner Clayton Bryant confirmed to NASCAR.com that Hylton and his son, James “Tweety” Hylton Jr., were killed in a traffic accident on Interstate 85. The two were returning from Friday’s ARCA Series event at Talladega Superspeedway, when according to Bryant, their GMC truck and enclosed trailer left the road and made impact with a creek bank in the median.

Bryant said the call came from emergency dispatchers shortly after 6 a.m. Saturday. Bryant, who was among the responders, said that both Hyltons were pronounced dead at the scene. NASCAR officials also confirmed the Hyltons’ passing. The driver, whose name was not provided, survived the crash and was transported to a hospital in Greenville, South Carolina. The Hylton team was also involved in a highway incident last July, the father and son emerging uninjured when their truck and racing hauler crashed after a race at Iowa Speedway.

NASCAR and ARCA released the following statement on the passing of Hylton and his son: “Racing competitively in parts of six decades, James Hylton’s dedication, passion and longevity in motorsports is virtually unmatched. Hylton won the rookie of the year at NASCAR’s highest level, the 1972 race at Talladega Superspeedway and regularly contended for championships during the early years of his career. His racing influence continued into the ARCA series, where he competed as a driver and, most recently, a car owner. We have lost a truly special member of the racing family and a beloved figure among generations of competitors and race fans alike. We extend our deepest condolences to the Hylton family on the tragic loss of James Hylton and his son James Jr.”

RELATED: NASCAR community reacts to Hylton’s passing

Hylton scored his first big-league victory at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in 1970, ending a hard-luck run of 12 runner-up finishes before notching his breakthrough win. His biggest triumph came two years later in the 1972 Talladega 500. He led 106 of the 188 laps at the 2.66-mile Alabama track.

“It has been a long time coming, and I think I got a message across to a few people, at least to my own satisfaction,” Hylton said after his 1972 win.

RELATED: Hylton among Talladega’s surprise winners | Drivers with most runner-ups before a win

Hylton made 602 starts in what is now the Monster Energy Series, a career that spanned from 1964 to 2007. He was the series’ Rookie of the Year in 1966 and finished second three times (1966, ’67, ’71) in the overall standings.

Hylton made his start in NASCAR’s Sportsman ranks, and he parlayed his automotive know-how into mechanic jobs with a pair of NASCAR Hall of Famers. He first worked with driver Rex White and eventually earned a spot on Ned Jarrett’s crew during his championship years in the 1960s.

Hylton branched into the driving side of the garage in 1966, pooling his savings to purchase a 1965 Dodge from legendary car builder Cotton Owens, a fellow South Carolinian. He quickly became the series’ top rookie as an independent driver-owner with 20 top-five finishes in 41 starts that year.

Hylton said he was close to ending his career before he finally broke through to Victory Lane at Richmond in 1970. “This may open some doors for me,” he told reporters after the win. “Last year, if I didn’t make money in a race, I didn’t go to the next one. But now I’m in the running for the championship. It’s been an uphill battle all the way. If I didn’t win a Grand National (race) this year, I would have hung up my helmet.”

Instead, Hylton pressed on to become one of stock-car racing’s most enduring independent drivers. Hylton’s participation in NASCAR was occasional in his later years, and he made headlines with an attempt to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72.

James Hylton celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the 1972 race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Getty Images

“I am doing this for seniors to show that at 70 years old you don’t have to go hunting for an old folks home,” Hylton told the Associated Press before finishing 23rd in his qualifying race. “You can go race for a little bit. A lot of the old drivers want to come out here and hang out in the pits and see if I can do it.”

His racing days continued after that final Daytona attempt. Hylton competed in his final full season of ARCA competition in 2013, wrapping up his career at age 79. “I’m retiring at the end of the day, but my heart is wanting to keep going,” he told the AP before his last race, at Kansas Speedway.

Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson also paid tribute to Hylton at his retirement. Hylton most frequently competed using No. 48, a car number that Johnson has used for the entirety of his Monster Energy Series career.

“Every time I see him out there in that 48, it brings a smile to my face,” Johnson told the AP. “He got that number off to a good start. He’s truly passionate and loves our sport, and it’s nice to see him out there one last time.”

Hylton continued as a team owner in the ARCA Series, with Brad Smith driving James Hylton Motorsports’ No. 48 Ford. The team did not start Friday’s ARCA race at Talladega because of an oil pressure issue.

Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kyle Busch’s streak of success is venturing into treacherous territory. His three-race win string in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series carries this weekend into Talladega Superspeedway, a venue known for its unpredictable nature.

The Alabama high banks have thwarted winning skeins of three or more on three occasions since the track opened for business in 1969. Those snapped streaks belonged to three NASCAR Hall of Famers — Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace — a fact that has Busch’s attention.

“I’ve kind of heard some of the rumblings through the week about some of the guys that have been on streaks of three in a row or four in a row, whatever they’ve been on, they’ve never gone through a plate race to the best of my knowledge,” Busch said Friday at the 2.66-mile track. “It makes for a more challenging time to be able to get that fourth in a row, but also we’ll know how much more rewarding it is when we do get it.”

RELATED: Full schedule for Talladega | At-track photos

Busch, who has won at every track on the Monster Energy Series schedule save for Charlotte Motor Speedway, has prevailed just once at Talladega. That 2008 victory came in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing.

The speedway’s tendency toward upset winners and unpredictable endings presents the biggest threat to a No. 18 team that’s been remarkably consistent this year. Busch has finished in the top 10 in every race this season except for the Daytona 500 opener, which — like Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM) — will be run with engine horsepower restrictions.

The event will mark the second superspeedway race this year, with a rules package that eliminates ride heights. Though Busch has plenty of experience on his side, he says there are few measures that drivers can take in preparation for Talladega.

“I think that you just have to be ready for anything,” Busch said. “I don’t know that there’s much that you can kind of work on or study toward or try to figure out that I’m exactly going to do this and it’s going to reward me with something, I think it’s just so much of an unknown.”

Busch’s streak has spanned Texas, Bristol and Richmond in an especially fast-paced spring stretch, but his strength has been a season-long effort. Aside from Daytona, Busch has led multiple laps in every event and has been among the top three finishers in the last seven races.

That level of production has given Busch a spring in his step, but the 32-year-old driver says the pendulum of emotions can easily swing the opposite direction.

“Certainly you can be a believer in momentum and you can also be a believer in confidence in yourself and your team and when you’re on a roll sometimes, it feels like you can do no wrong and then some things kind of start going bad or vice versa, you can be on a roll where you feel you can do no right so I’ve certainly been on those as well, too,” Busch said. “You never know when your next win is going to be so you cherish them all. Fortunately for us, we’ve had them the last three weeks in a row.

“It’s been a great start to the season and we’re having some fun and we just want to keep that going. We know this is a place that can derail things so you try not to let that mess up your mindset for the rest of the year or even next week going to Dover and after that.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

TALLADEGA, Ala. – When Austin Dillon drove his No. 3 Richard Children Racing Chevrolet to victory in the season-opening Daytona 500, he broke a string of three Ford wins at the Birthplace of Speed.

At Talladega Superspeedway, site of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Ford drivers have won five straight races. That’s another streak Dillon would like to end.

But he knows he’ll have plenty of competition, in part because teams have made progress with the no-ride-height rules package for restrictor-plate tracks.

RELATED: Starting lineup | Every car in the Talladega field 

“Yeah, I think people have gotten better since Daytona,” Dillon said. “I feel like people have figured out the package probably more than they have since Daytona.”

In Friday’s practice, however, Dillon couldn’t get a solid gauge on the performance of his car because drafting partners were sparse.

“The runs, the packs never got big enough today to really feel the runs,” Dillon said. “I had one run (with) the No. 31 (Ryan Newman) and No. 43 (Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace, Jr.) down the backstretch and it seemed to push me pretty far out in front of the group. So I think there will be some big runs come Sunday.

“I think it will be another one of those races where what do you decide to do? Do you decide to be aggressive and race, or do you make it to the end? Strategy will play a big part of it, but I think there will be quite a few cars that will swap for the lead.

“It seems like there’s a wide variety of fast cars. I saw the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) – they looked pretty good. The No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) looked fast. There are a lot of different guys that seem to have speed. The No. 43 had some speed, too. There will be some guys there come Sunday swapping for it for sure.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Kevin Harvick hadn’t won a pole at a restrictor-plate track since 2005.

 

Kurt Busch had never topped qualifying for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at a superspeedway

 

But those two Stewart-Haas Racing Ford drivers were the class of the field during time trials on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, where Harvick outdueled Busch to secure his first Busch Pole Award of the season.

 

In the decisive second round, Harvick covered the 2.66-mile distance in 49.247 seconds (194.448 mph) to earn his second Talladega pole and the 22nd of his career. Busch was close behind with a 49.340-second lap (194.082 mph) in the money round.

 

The two Fords will start on the front row in Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), ahead of Toyota drivers Martin Truex Jr. (193.525 mph) and Denny Hamlin (192.936 mph), who qualified third and fourth, respectively.

RELATED: Full lineup | Schedule for Talladega | Talladega rules package updated

“We had no clue as to how fast the car would actually run,” said Harvick, who scored his lone victory at Talladega in 2010. “We knew we had a fast car, but we didn’t do any qualifying runs (in practice) or anything like that.”

 

In fact, Harvick’s run in the first round was halted when teammate Aric Almirola’s Ford spun out of control with a tire down, and Harvick ran through the debris from the No. 10 Ford. 

RELATED: See why Almirola will start from the back

“The first indicator was the first time on the race track, and that was even a little bit of a question, because of the fact that we had to change the tires and cool the engine down,” Harvick said. “We didn’t know what the pickup in the car was going to be – or not be.

 

“It’s always a little bit of a surprise.”

 

Harvick’s pole-winning run in the No. 4 Ford denied Busch a milestone he coveted.

 

“I’ve never been on the pole for a plate race and wanted to check it off,” Busch said. “It was a bucket-list item. I really wanted the pole today.

 

“But two Stewart-Haas Fords on the front row – we’d have loved to have gotten the pole, but we’re outside pole, and I’m proud of our Monster Energy Ford.”

 

Chase Elliott qualified fifth in the fastest Chevrolet (192.754 mph), followed by Erik Jones and defending race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr.. Series leader Kyle Busch, who is seeking a fourth straight victory, failed to advance to the second round and will start 19th.

 

Five-time Talladega winner Brad Keselowski will start 10th, to the outside of Team Penske teammate Joey Logano.

Posted on by Team Release
Go Fas Racing and Zynga, a leading social game developer, are proud to announce that Zynga Poker will be the primary sponsor for the No. 32 Ford and Matt DiBenedetto for seven more races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 2018 season. The partnership will kick off over All-Star Weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 19 with Zynga Poker proudly emblazoned on the No. 32. Other races include Pocono (1), Daytona, Watkins Glen, Bristol, Las Vegas, and the season finale at Homestead.

A Sponsorship That Evolved From Social Media:

The No. 32 team first caught the eye of Zynga in March of this year when Matt reached out to fans with a video asking for networking help to obtain a sponsor for the Cup Series race in Phoenix. The video quickly went viral with support from fans and other NASCAR drivers alike, and the team was able to compete in a fully sponsored race car with Zynga Poker leading the way as the main partner. As Zynga familiarized itself with NASCAR and the team, both realized how great of a fit the partnership was.

“We are inspired by Matt’s fans and excited to join the rally to keep No. 32 in the race,” said Monty Kerr, senior vice president for Zynga Poker. “Over the past 10 years, Zynga Poker players have shown the same passion and enthusiasm so we’re proud to partner with a team that loves their fans as much as we do.”

Mason St. Hilaire, team manager for Go Fas Racing, is also very excited to grow the relationship with Zynga Poker.

“I know we say it a lot, but it really has been a lot of fun working with and getting to know the Zynga Poker team. Being able to put together a partnership just two days prior to the Phoenix race in March and to be able to turn it into what it has become today really speaks volumes for how perfect of a partnership this really is. With Zynga Poker‘s global audience, we’re excited to engage a new generation of poker players and introduce them to NASCAR racing,” said Hilaire.

A Mutually Beneficial Partnership, Starting With All-Star Weekend:

In addition to the car sponsorship, Zynga Poker and DiBenedetto are working together to create an integrated social campaign to support Matt in the race for the All-Star driver Fan Vote. Zynga Poker will host fan contests and giveaways on its social channels and create unique in-app assets to encourage player participation. DiBenedetto nearly won the fan-vote last year after coming in second place, and Go Fas Racing looks forward to working with the folks at Zynga to pull off a win this year.

Voting has already begun and will continue until All-Star race day on May 19th . Fans can cast one vote for Matt each day on the NASCAR website here: https://www.nascar.com/fanvote. Sharing votes on Twitter and Facebook count for double votes, so use the following hashtags to show us your support: #ZyngaXMatt and #AllStarDiBurrito

Posted on by Track Release

TALLADEGA, AL — The unpredictability of stock car racing at Talladega Superspeedway was on full display Friday night, with a sudden flurry of late-race incidents leading to two “overtimes” and an eventual photo-finish General Tire 200 victory by Zane Smith, a NASCAR Next driver.

A last-lap incident brought out the caution flag and caused the first one-lap OT, which was foiled by another crash on the backstretch. 

On the second OT lap, Smith’s No. 41 LaPaz Margarita Mix Toyota and the No. 77 Big Tine Ford of Joe Graf Jr. spent most of the time door-to-door, racing on the edge. Smith crossed the stripe barely ahead of Graf, getting his second victory of the season.

How close was it? ARCA officials said the electronics showed a dead-heat, which meant a return to the old-school method of reviewing the photo of the finish to determine the winner. ARCA called it the closest finish in series history.

“We’re four races in and we’ve got two wins … this year is going to be unreal,” said Smith, from Huntington Beach, California.

The ARCA Racing Series had big news to start the day, with the announcement that it had been acquired by NASCAR. 

“It’s fantastic that we’re going to be working together going off into the future,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman/Executive Vice President Jim France. “Both organizations have a great history, with great championships. We’ve shared a lot of teams and drivers over the years. That will continue in a major way.”

The ARCA Racing Series will continue to operate under its current structure through the 2019 season.

MORE: NASCAR acquires ARCA