Background

Talladega Superspeedway, the track where the race was held.

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), 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. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Gander Outdoors 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 also is a 2.5-mile-long (4 km) tri-oval.

First practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 46.734 seconds and a speed of 204.904 mph (329.761 km/h).^[10]

Final practice

Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 47.396 seconds and a speed of 202.042 mph (325.155 km/h).^[11]

Qualifying results

Stage 1

Starting in 6th, Brad Keselowski charged his way from the front and led the first lap taking the lead away from pole sitter Chase Elliott with a push from Clint Bowyer. On lap 5, Austin Dillon took the lead but was soon passed by Kyle Busch on the same lap. On lap 7, Dillon would take the lead. On the next lap, Kyle's brother Kurt Busch took the lead from Dillon. On lap 19, Ryan Blaney took the lead. On lap 34, green flag pitstops began and Blaney gave the lead to Erik Jones. But coming to pit road, Blaney would spin on his way to pit road while he was trying to slow down his car. No caution flew as he was out of harms way and got back rolling again. Jones would give the lead on the next lap to Aric Almirola. The top 7 who did not pit came to pit road on the next lap and Brad Keselowski led the field off of pit road before the first caution flew on lap 37 after they just exited pit road when Spencer Boyd's car stalled in turn 4. Keselowski would lead the field to the restart on lap 41. On the restart, Ryan Newman took the lead from Keselowski with a push by Joey Logano. Keselowski retook the lead on lap 44. On lap 46, Kurt Busch would take the lead. On lap 47, Chase Elliott took the lead. On lap 50, Daniel Hemric took the lead from Elliott. On lap 51, William Byron took the lead from Hemric. On lap 54, with two to go in stage 1, Joey Logano took the lead. Byron would pass Logano for the lead on the last lap of stage 1 and Byron would win stage 1. As soon as stage 1 concluded, rain began to fall. The race would be postponed to the following day, Monday, and the race would restart at 1 pm central.^[13]

Stage 2

After stage 1 concluded, Matt Crafton took over the No. 21 car for Paul Menard after Menard was experiencing back problems. The track would be dried and the race would get back going again on lap 63 with Ryan Blaney as the leader. On lap 70, Clint Bowyer challenged Blaney for the lead but was unable to make it stick. On lap 73, Joey Logano took the lead from his teammate. On lap 78, Chase Elliott took the lead from Logano. On lap 84, Brad Keselowski took the lead from Elliott. On lap 87, Elliott retook the lead. On lap 90, the second round of green flag pitstops began and Elliott gave the lead to Keselowski. On lap 94, Keselowski and others behind him came onto pit road. Aric Almirola came out first and he would lead the next 2 laps before getting passed by Jimmie Johnson on lap 96. On lap 98, Chase Elliott took the lead. Alex Bowman tried to take the lead from Elliott but could not pass him. On lap 102, Joey Logano took the lead. On lap 104, Elliott took the lead back. On lap 107 and 4 laps to go in stage 2, the first of three big ones would occur in turn 3 taking out 11 cars and many chase contenders in the process. On that same lap, Alex Bowman took the lead. Going down the backstretch, Joey Logano had a huge run on Bowman and tried to pass Bowman. Bowman blocked but Logano hit Bowman hard in the rear which sent Bowman sideways on the apron. Bowman overcorrected and spun right up the track right infront of the pack collecting Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, and Jimmie Johnson. Stage 2 concluded under caution and Clint Bowyer was infront when the caution came out and he won stage 2.

Final stage

Brad Keselowski won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 117. William Byron led lap 117 but could not fully pass Bowyer and Bowyer held on to his lead. On lap 122, the fourth caution flew when Bubba Wallace went up to avoid Landon Cassill but came up right infront of Blake Jones and both Wallace and Jones crashed into the outside wall on the backstretch. The race would restart on lap 126 with Bowyer as the leader. On the restart, Kyle Busch took the lead from Bowyer. On lap 127, Joey Logano took the lead from Busch. On lap 132, the 5th caution flew when Martin Truex Jr's left front tire exploded on the backstretch and put debris on the racetrack. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the race off of pit road after taking fuel only and he led the field to the restart with 51 laps to go. With 46 to go, Joey Logano tried to pass Stenhouse for the lead and led that lap but did not fully pass him. With 38 to go, Kyle Busch passed Stenhouse for the lead. With 36 to go, the 6th caution would fly when Clint Bowyer spun in turns 3 and 4. William Byron won the race off of pit road taking fuel only and he led the field to the restart with 31 laps to go. With 29 to go, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the lead from Byron. With 26 to go, the second big one would occur on the backstretch taking out 9 cars. William Byron got shoved from behind by Kurt Busch and Byron's car spun up and clipped Joey Logano nearly sending Logano upside down and also blowing Logano's hood up. Busch, Byron, and Logano also took out Erik Jones, Matt Crafton, Daniel Suárez, Ryan Preece, Austin Theriault, and Joey Gase. The race would restart with 19 laps to go with Stenhouse leading. With 17 to go, the 8th caution would fly when Daniel Suárez spun in turns 3 and 4. The race would restart with 13 to go. On the restart, Kurt Busch took the lead from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. With 9 to go, Stenhouse took the lead. Busch would retake the lead with 8 to go. On that lap, Busch and Stenhouse were side by side when Kurt's brother Kyle made a 3 wide pass for the lead on the outside and Kyle took the lead. With 7 to go, Kyle got infront of Kurt to form a tandem. Stenhouse had a run and he challenged Kyle for the lead down the backstretch. Meanwhile, Brendan Gaughan had a huge push from Brad Keselowski and it looked like he was going to steal the lead from Stenhouse and Busch. But as soon as Gaughan got side by side with Busch and Stenhouse, Kurt Busch turned his brother Kyle around and Kyle collected Gaughan sending Gaughan spinning in turn 3. Gaughan spun and got hit by both Matt DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch at the right angle that sent his car in the full 360 barrel roll into the air before it landed perfectly on all four wheels. The wreck would trigger the third big one and cause the 9th and final caution of the race collecting 11 cars. The cars involved were Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Daniel Hemric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, David Ragan, Ryan Preece, Brendan Gaughan, and Matt DiBenedetto.^[14] The wreck would cause a short red flag to clean it up. The wreck would also set up a two lap shootout with Ryan Blaney as the new leader. On the restart, Blaney took the lead. On the final lap, Ryan Newman got a big push from Denny Hamlin down the backstretch and took the lead. Newman got a bit sideways in turn 3 but saved it and never lost momentum. Coming to the tri-oval, Newman got a big lead and Blaney caught up and tried to pass Newman. Behind them, Chris Buescher and Parker Kligerman both wrecked in the tri-oval but no caution flew. Blaney got to Newman's inside in the tri-oval and it was a drag race to the finish line. The two door banged each other all the way to the finish line and the finish ended up being too close to call on first glance. But the electronic timing and scoring showed that Ryan Blaney beat Newman to the line and Newman would be in second. Blaney beat Newman by 0.007 seconds, the sixth closest finish in the history of NASCAR. It would be Blaney's third career Cup Series win and his first and only win of 2019 as the win moved him on to the round of 8. Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, and Michael McDowell rounded out the top 5 while Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 10.^[15]

Stage results

Stage One Laps: 55

Stage Two Laps: 55

Final stage results

Stage Three Laps: 78

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 47 among 19 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 9 for 43
• Red flags: 1
• Time of race: 3 hours, 39 minutes and 36 seconds
• Average speed: 136.644 miles per hour (219.907 km/h)

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and six-time Talladega winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. covered the race in the booth for NBC. Steve Letarte called from the NBC Peacock Pit Box on pit road. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

MRN covered the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Rusty Wallace called the race for MRN when the field races thru the tri-oval. Dave Moody called the action from turn 1, Mike Bagley called the action for MRN when the field races down the backstraightaway, and Dan Hubbard called the race from the Sunoco tower just outside of turn 4. Winston Kelley, Kim Coon, Steve Post, and Dillon Welch called the race for MRN from pit road.