Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
Talladega, Ala. – The races on Talladega SuperSpeedway usually end with lures that result in large blocks and wrecks – or almost wrecks.
None of that happened on Sunday, because drivers stayed in front of a two-by-two formation until the finish line.
It is not as if none of the divers who exceeded the finish line after winner Austin Cindric was not willing to make the movements. They just could never push themselves in position.
Is Ryan Precece (who crossed the line, but eventually disqualified after technical inspection), Kyle Larson (Second) or William Byron (third) slip away a potential victory?
It didn’t seem like that.
Larson, who pushed Cindric in the inside, never pushed Cindrric far enough before Prece (on the outside) where Larson could cut the cut for Byron. Byron Coud does not push Preece far enough for Cindric, where Preece was probably demolished for Cindric with Byron than hoping for a push from behind for the victory.
Preceding – the leader of centimeter on the outside that went into the last round – did the best thing he could get to get the push he needed to beat Cindric with centimeters. But Cindric defeated him with 0.022 seconds.
“If I won, I would drink beer and celebrate with friends,” Preece said before I learned about the disqualifications. “And load, I’m going to jump in my camper and think six hours of driving about what I could have done in the last half round.”
Preece said he will think of all what-IPH on his ride home to North Carolina. But he also said he didn’t know what he did differently.
In the end it was perhaps a blessing for Preece, WOE car was disqualified for his rear spoiler with the help of three skills instead of the maximum two. The fifth place of Joey Logano was also disqualified because he had to miss the bolt on his spoiler brace.
The teams can appeal against the disqualifications.
Cindric’s car passed technology and he is officially the winner. And he won with a car that can handle a push exceptionally well.
“We were really good work to push the boys in front of us,” Larson said about himself and Byron. “And their cars also varied stably, so it made it easy to push them a little.
“I think I wasn’t surprised. I tried there for the last 10 to show him where I could become clear, but I just had only one chance.
Byron also felt that he did everything he could.
“I felt that I had to push him clearly, and I never got it clear enough to make a movement,” said Byron. ‘He was already behind Cindric this de Tri-Ovin [toward the finish line] So my job is just to even push him back and hope that I can finish third.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever really thought at the time [I could] Win. Because if I just go the top of three [wide]Like I did last year, it looks good, but you are just behind. “
Byron led to seven round when the other track got a run and shuffled him back to the fourth.
“When I lost control of the front row, I knew I was a bit sewn,” said Byron. “I felt that that was my chance to win.
“I was really frustrated about that, my decision -making and the timing of the momentum. … Elf I lost that control, I felt that I just had to push him and I had to do it well to get him to the line.”
At least he was at the front in the hope that the subject would happen. Denny Hamlin finished 23rd, after it seemed as if the Toyotas had a solid strategy to first draw among the manufacturers. But Ross Chastain threw a block when the Toyotas came across the main package and got their momentum.
“I didn’t know how far we would actually get to get, but for sure [Chastain] Making a movement that thought we are some of us was not ideal, “said Hamlin.” But he tries to do everything to stop the run.
“It’s just the variance of speed there was crazy. The Toyota group at least tried to give the fans a show.
Austin Cindric’s post-race interview after winning Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway
Just like the leaders, Hamlin said he was stuck without a movement to make the last laps.
“If you are sitting behind the two by two, there is nowhere, so there is nothing to race,” said Hamlin.
The only driver who was not disappointed was Cindric, who earned his first victory of the season.
“Have that [Preece] Car clear and in fact two Hendrick -Pushers, at that time, trying to get guests selfish points and push the line forward to what it can become clear, “Cindric said.” forward together. “
Bob Pockrass Coversar and Indycar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades about motorsport, including more than 30 Daytona 500S, with Stints at ESPN, Sporting News, Nascar Scene Magazine and the (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on twitter @Bobpockrass.
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