TALLADEGA, Ala. —
Hamlin finished ahead of Aric Almirola in a Ford from Stewart-Haas Racing and Ty Gibbs, Hamlin’s teammate at JGR. Chase Briscoe of SHR qualified fourth and was followed by Ryan Blaney of Team Penske. JGR drivers Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. were sixth and seventh, while reigning Cup champion Joey Logano of Penske was eighth.
Kyle Larson, the winner last week at Martinsville Speedway, qualified ninth for Hendrick Motorsports and was the only Chevrolet driver to crack the top 10. Chris Buescher in a Ford from Roush Fenway Racing rounded out the top 10.
Ross Chastain, who won this race a year ago, qualified 23rd for Trackhouse Racing. Chase Elliott, the Talladega winner in October who is making his second consecutive start after missing six with a broken leg, qualified 29th.
Talladega ends a stretch of three consecutive short track races and a road course event that all drew criticism for a subpar racing product. The road course race at Circuit of Americas in Texas was a chaotic crashfest, and the short track stops at Richmond, Bristol and Martinsville were lambasted for an inability for drivers to pass in NASCAR’s second-year Next Gen car.
The drivers are asking for more horsepower, for tires that wear off faster and to eliminate shifting. They met with NASCAR on Saturday morning to discuss ideas for the Next Gen. The hope is that Talladega, a 2.66-mile high-speed track prone to spectacular crashes and surprise winners, will change the tone of the conversation permeating the sport.
“Talladega really never doesn’t deliver. It always delivers,” Logano said. “You’re not going to know who is going to win the race going down the backstretch [of the final lap]. That’s why fans love it.”
