TALLADEGA, ALABAMA – JUNE 22: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Sylvania Ford, talk prior to the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on June 22, 2020 in Talladega, Alabama. A noose was found in the garage stall of NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace at Talladega Superspeedway a week after the organization banned the Confederate flag at its facilities. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Ryan Blaney made a run to the front after a delayed restart in the final two laps to beat out Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the win Monday in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega.
Although that wasn’t what the day will be remembered for, by any means.
After a noose was found in the garage of Bubba Wallace’s team, NASCAR drivers stood together on pit road to show support for the driver at the forefront of the sport, right now.
After a noose was found in his garage stall last night, @NASCAR drivers show their support for @BubbaWallace at Talladega. #IStandWIthBubba pic.twitter.com/uFlxmP27qa
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 22, 2020
It was one of the most powerful scenes NASCAR will have in the first part of this century.
Even though, after the news was reported by NASCAR, some called for the postponement of the race, Wallace and the rest of the field were ready to go.
That’s what they came to Talladega to do, before Sunday’s attempt at a run got rained out.
FOX went to Wallace’s in-car camera during pace laps where the driver of the 43 said, “Lets shut these haters up.”
The biggest story from the afternoon had to deal with the success of pack-style racing NASCAR saw with the package.
The package – which is referencing the aerodynamic design of the cars – has been widely criticized for how these cars run at 1.5-mile tracks. However, the setup for superspeedways proved to be entertaining today.
In the first 25 laps, there were eight lead changes alone.
Stenhouse Jr. was going from 20th to the lead in a matter of five laps. It really was one of the better Talladega races we’ve seen in the past 10 years, and that’s saying a lot.
For the most part, NASCAR avoided a big wreck that took out a portion of the field.
By the end of the day, Blaney and Stenhouse had proved they were the two fastest cars on the track, and it made for an entertaining finish.
A look back at today's finish:
🎥 @NASCARONFOX
pic.twitter.com/A7ZdH2Hwh7— Always Race Day (@AlwaysRaceDay) June 23, 2020
The win was Blaney’s second-straight at Talladega, and more importantly his first win of the 2020 season. With that, he’s all but locked into the Playoff field halfway through the regular season.
Not to mention, for fans of Wallace and other drivers that aren’t currently in a spot to make the playoffs, avoiding a spoiler victory from Stenhouse Jr. helps a lot.
There’s more room for a cutoff when drivers already in the top 16 make it to victory lane.
After the race and Blaney’s on-track interview, Wallace walked to the tri-oval to support the fans that were there for him. He gave a great quote on TV, too.
This is so cool. Bubba Wallace walked all the way up to the tri-oval to show support to some of the limited fans in attendance. #NASCAR
"Sorry Im not wearing my mask. I wanted to show whoever it was… you're not taking away my smile." pic.twitter.com/vahV4Ok7VR
— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) June 22, 2020
Once again, for another day, Bubba Wallace shut the haters up.
| 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid | ||||||
| After 13 of 26 Regular Season Races – Next Race Saturday @ Pocono | ||||||
| Position | Driver | Wins | Points | Cutoff | Playoff Points | |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 3 | x | x | 18 | |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | 2 | x | x | 11 | |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 2 | x | x | 13 | |
| 4 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | x | x | 12 | |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | 1 | x | x | 10 | |
| 6 | Alex Bowman | 1 | x | x | 9 | |
| 7 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | x | x | 7 | |
| 8 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | x | x | 6 | |
| 9 | Kyle Busch | 0 | 378 | +73 | 0 | |
| 10 | Kurt Busch | 0 | 369 | +64 | 0 | |
| 11 | Jimmie Johnson | 0 | 353 | +48 | 1 | |
| 12 | Aric Almirola | 0 | 337 | +32 | 2 | |
| 13 | Clint Bowyer | 0 | 328 | +23 | 0 | |
| 14 | William Byron | 0 | 319 | +14 | 0 | |
| 15 | Matt DiBenedetto | 0 | 312 | +7 | 1 | |
| 16 | Tyler Reddick ® | 0 | 306 | +1 | 0 | |
| Playoff Cutoff | ||||||
| 17 | Erik Jones | 0 | 305 | -1 | 0 | |
| 18 | Austin Dillon | 0 | 282 | -24 | 0 | |
| 19 | Chris Buescher | 0 | 266 | -40 | 0 | |
| 20 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 0 | 263 | -43 | 0 | |
| 21 | Bubba Wallace | 0 | 258 | -48 | 0 | |
| 22 | John H. Nemechek ® | 0 | 238 | -68 | 0 | |
| 23 | Michael McDowell | 0 | 225 | -81 | 0 | |
| 24 | Christopher Bell ® | 0 | 210 | -96 | 0 | |
| 25 | Ryan Nemwan | 0 | 204 | -102 | 0 | |
| 26 | Cole Custer ® | 0 | 199 | -107 | 0 | |
® – NASCAR Rookie of the year contender
x – clinched into the playoffs on points