2024 YellaWood 500

2024 YellaWood 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Race 31 of 36 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	October 6, 2024 (2024-10-06)
Location	Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	195 laps, 518.7 mi (834.766 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Weather	Sunny with a temperature around 84 °F (29 °C); wind out of the southwest at around 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h).
Average speed	150.773 miles per hour (242.646 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports
Time	52.310
Most laps led
Driver	Austin Cindric	Team Penske
Laps	29
Winner
No. 47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Leigh Diffey, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte (booth) Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jarrett (NBC Peacock Pitbox)
Nielsen Ratings	1.74 (3.127 million)
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Todd Gordon
Turn Announcers	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Chris Wilner (3 & 4)

The 2024 YellaWood 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 6, 2024, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 195 laps -- extended from 188 laps due to an overtime finish on the 2.66 mi (4.28 km) asphalt superspeedway, it was the 31st race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, the fifth race of the playoffs, and the second race of the Round of 12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the race, his first since the 2023 Daytona 500. Brad Keselowski finished 2nd, and William Byron finished 3rd. Kyle Larson and Erik Jones rounded out the top five, and Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top ten.

The race is notable for containing the largest "Big One" in modern Cup Series history, with 28 cars being officially recorded as being involved.

Talladega Superspeedway, formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking. The track currently hosts NASCAR's Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Craftsman Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km).

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (P) denotes playoff driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Michael McDowell scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.310 and a speed of 183.063 mph (294.611 km/h).^[9]

Stage One Laps: 60

Stage Two Laps: 60

Stage Three Laps: 68

• Lead changes: 66 among 24 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 4 for 24 laps
• Red flags: 1 for 8 minutes and 42 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 25 seconds
• Average speed: 150.773 miles per hour (242.646 km/h)
• Margin of victory: 0.006

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Leigh Diffey, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and 1999 NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett called from the NBC Peacock Pit Box on pit road. Dave Burns, Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman, and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane. NBC premiered "NASCAR Nonstop", where every green flag lap was ad free.^[10]

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Todd Gordon called the race for MRN when the field races through the tri-oval. Dave Moody will call the action from turn 1, Mike Bagley called the action for MRN when the field races down the back straightaway, and Chris Wilner called the race from the Sunoco tower just outside of turn 4. Steve Post, Dillon Welch, Brienne Pedigo, and Jason Toy called the action for MRN from pit lane.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 William Byron 3,122 1 2 Christopher Bell 3,105 (–17) 1 3 Kyle Larson 3,100 (–22) 1 4 Denny Hamlin 3,078 (–44) 1 5 Alex Bowman 3,074 (–48) 4 6 Ryan Blaney 3,073 (–49) 2 7 Tyler Reddick 3,062 (–60) 1 8 Chase Elliott 3,061 (–61) 1 9 Joey Logano 3,048 (–74) 10 Daniel Suárez 3,041 (–81) 1 11 Austin Cindric 3,032 (–90) 1 12 Chase Briscoe 3,029 (–93) 13 Ty Gibbs 2,144 (–978) 14 Martin Truex Jr. 2,130 (–992) 15 Brad Keselowski 2,104 (–1,018) 16 Harrison Burton 2,048 (–1,074) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 1,134 1 2 Ford 1,087 (–47) 1 3 Toyota 1,084 (–50) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.