by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Christopher Bell picked up the 6th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #20 Mobil 1 Toyota was involved in a multi-car accident after 132 of 188 laps.

The finish, which came in Bell’s 154th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since November 5, 2023 at Phoenix, 10 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 36th for the #20, the 188th for Toyota, and the 666th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 62nd for the #20, the 407th for Toyota, and the 1,372nd from a crash.

After his disappointing exit from last fall’s championship race, Bell returned to Phoenix this past spring to participate in a thorough domination of the event by all four Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. In the end, Bell had the winning hand, leading 50 laps on his way to his first victory of 2024. This kicked off a streak of four straight top-ten finishes. But next came a miserable afternoon in Martinsville, where he finished 35th after multiple spins left him four laps down, and he only managed 17th last week in Texas.

Bell kicked off his Talladega weekend with the 10th-fastest lap in qualifying at 180.007mph (53.198 seconds).

The 38th and final starting spot was determined by controversy. NASCAR prohibited Kyle Larson from qualifying his #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet due to unapproved adjustments to the car’s roof rails while the crew pushed the car to the grid. With only 38 drivers entered for 40 spots, Larson would line up last on the grid, incur a redundant tail-end penalty, and lose his car chief for the weekend. This was on top of penalties Larson suffered last week in Texas, where a loose right-rear wheel not only spoiled a dominant run, but cost him two crew members for the next two races. Replacement crew members came from Corey LaJoie’s #7 entry at Spire Motorsports, who were themselves replaced by Spire’s Truck Series pit crew. By Sunday, Larson would also be handed a pass-through penalty after taking the green flag.

When the race started, Larson was on the outside of 37th-place qualifier B.J. McLeod, back in a Cup Series race for the first time since Atlanta two months ago. Across the stripe, Larson inched ahead of McLeod’s unsponsored black #78 Chevrolet, 3.059 seconds back of the lead to McLeod’s 3.089. As the leaders came down to complete Lap 1, Larson came down pit road for his pass-through and returned to the track 20.241 behind the lead, 18.243 behind new 37th-place runner Josh Berry in the #4 Overstock Ford. Stranded, Larson continued to lose touch with the pack, dropping 25.625 behind 37th place on Lap 3, 31.946 on Lap 5, 40.666 on Lap 9, and 46.066 on Lap 11. The net time by on Lap 12, the leaders put Larson the first car one lap down. The spotter helped him find a spot in line in front of 25th-place Anthony Alfredo in Beard Motorsports’ #62 Dude Wipes Chevrolet.

By Lap 38, as the field slowed to save fuel, Larson found his way up to fifth on the outside line, locked onto the rear bumper of Noah Gragson’s #10 Overstock Ford. Leading the outside line was McLeod, who in the first ten laps charged to the lead, then retook it on Laps 32, 36, and 39. He showed such speed that Martin Truex, Jr. had him draft his #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota. On Lap 40, McLeod was still out front, leading the high lane, when he suddenly lost fuel pressure entering Turn 3. Looking to avoid triggering a pileup, McLeod turned right and plummeted back in the lineup, barely avoiding contact with the outside wall. He made it to pit road for fuel and tires, which dropped him to 37th. Moments later, the leaders began to pit in separate packs. Pitting on Lap 42 was Zane Smith, whose #71 Focused Health Chevrolet was then nabbed for speeding, forcing him to serve a pass-through penalty. Smith served the penalty on Lap 45, but made another stop in the process, handing him a second pass-through. He also happened to be caught speeding during that first pass-through, so he served both penalties on Lap 46.

During Smith’s issues, McLeod took last on Lap 43 as he pulled to the high lane as the leaders caught him to put him a lap down. Larson was still in the lead draft, allowing him to climb past into 37th – that is, until Larson pitted on Lap 44, retaking the spot from McLeod. Smith then took the spot from Larson on Lap 46 as his second pass-through dropped him off the lead lap. Smith was running the apron on the backstretch on Lap 59 as the leaders rushed past, putting him a second lap down. McLeod lost fuel pressure again, and after another stop dropped a second lap down by Lap 62. Now on the same lap as last-place Smith, McLeod radioed to his team that the last time he lost fuel pressure this way, it was an issue with the fuel pump. He soldiered on regardless, radioing his team, “Thanks for the encouragement. . .No matter what, we legit led laps today.”

Over the three laps following the Lap 67 restart, McLeod and Smith traded the last spot before McLeod took it on Lap 70. By now, both were two laps down, and the only cars off the lead lap – Larson got his lap back at the end of Stage 1. Fuel saving again dropped the field’s pace, and McLeod remarked that “it looks so slow in the corners, it’s unreal.” Both McLeod and Smith were among the drivers to pit on Lap 101, and they now showed on the verge of three laps down when Stage 2 ended on Lap 121. At that point, there had yet to be a caution for an on-track incident, and all 38 starters were still running.

When scoring reset to begin Stage 3, Smith got a lap back and was shown one lap down, McLeod now two down in last place. They remained in these final two spots when the third caution fell on Lap 134. Heading down the backstretch, the center line of three-wide traffic began to slow, causing a chain-reaction further back. Around 23rd place, Chase Elliott’s #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet got in the left-rear of Justin Haley’s #51 Parts Plus Ford, turning Haley hard to the left – into the door of Christopher Bell’s #20. The contact sent Bell to the right and head-on into the outside wall, narrowly missing Elliott in the process. Under the ensuing caution, Haley managed to make it to pit road, though he was briefly stranded before making it to his stall. Bell climbed from his car, which was then towed behind the wall, done for the day.

Haley, who led four laps early in the race, climbed to 34th by the finish, the last car under power. Between he and Bell in the Bottom Five were three Toyotas involved in a Lap 155 pileup. After making their pit stops, seven Toyotas followed nose-to-tail into Turn 3. Fourth in line, John Hunter Nemechek’s #42 AdventHealth Toyota bumped Bubba Wallace’s #23 Leidos Toyota into Erik Jones’ #43 Family Dollar Toyota, sending all three careening up the track. Jones clobbered the outside wall nose-first, followed soon by Wallace, while Nemechek careened down the track to collect Denny Hamlin’s #11 FedEx Ultimate Fan Contest Toyota. McLeod, meanwhile, came home 32nd, one lap down, with Smith taking 29th.

Alfredo, Gilliland, and Burton escape with strong finishes

Following his 3rd-place finish in Saturday’s XFINITY Series race, Anthony Alfredo and the Beard Motorsports team earned a career-best 6th-place finish in his #62 Dude Wipes Chevrolet. Alfredo’s previous mark of 10th came in the fall Talladega race in 2021, when he drove the #38 for Front Row Motorsports. Todd Gilliland, the current driver of the #38 gener8tor Ford, finished 8th after teammate Michael McDowell wrecked out of the lead in the final moments. Also impressive was Harrison Burton, who after leading laps at Texas came home 10th in the #21 Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford – his first top-ten finish since Pocono last summer.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #20 in a Cup Series race at Talladega.

*The 132 laps completed mark the seventh-most of any last-place finisher of a Cup race at Talladega.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #20-Christopher Bell / 132 laps / crash

37) #11-Denny Hamlin / 154 laps / crash / led 4 laps

36) #23-Bubba Wallace / 154 laps / crash

35) #43-Erik Jones / 154 laps / crash

34) #51-Justin Haley / 184 laps / running / led 4 laps

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Spire Motorsports (3)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Penske Racing, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (5)

2nd) Ford (4)

3rd) Toyota (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP