NASCAR at Talladega results: Chase Elliott wins Geico 500 under caution as wrecks plague the final laps

Thomas Schlarp

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NASCAR at Talladega results: Chase Elliott wins Geico 500 under caution as wrecks plague the final laps image

Racing at Talladega is a virtual guarantee for multiple late crashes, and this year's Geico 500 didn't disappoint. Chase Elliott avoided several large wrecks in the final seven laps to win his first race of the Monster Energy Cup Series season and fourth Cup Series victory of his career.

Elliott took the checkers under caution after a violent wreck involving Kyle Larson, William Byron and Jeffrey Earnhardt brought out the yellow flag on the final lap. A final restart had occured with six laps remaining after Chris Buescher started an ugly five-car crash involving Matt DiBenedetto and Justin Haley among others.

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The win ends a stretch of Ford dominance at Talladega. Fords had won seven consecutive races on the superspeedway before Elliott's No. 9 Chevrolet took the checkered flag. He was joined by fellow Chevrolet drivers Alex Bowman and rookie Ryan Preece to round out the top three.

Car manufacturers had instructed drivers to race as teams for this race, which was quite apparent as entire strings of Chevys would pit at the same time.

A total of 38 lead changes highlighted the back-and-forth race. A wreck on lap 10 knocked out Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick and Matt Tifft. Ty Dillon and Elliott won Stage 1 and 2 respectively.

Sporting News provided live lap-by-lap updates and highlights from the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Check out the updates and order of finish below.

NASCAR at Talladega: Geico 500 updates, highlights

All times Eastern

Caution flags: 5

Lead changes: 38

Lap leaders: Chase Elliot (44), Joey Logano (37), Aric Almirola (27), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (16), Martin Truex Jr. (11), Brad Keselowski (10), Ty Dillon (7), Alex Bowman (7), Kyle Busch (4), Ross Chastain (4), Ryan Blaney (4), Erik Jones (4), Brendan Gaughan (3), Kyle Larson (1)

Geico 500: 2019 winner, top 20 order of finish

Finish Driver Team (Car No.) Laps led
1. Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports (9) 44
2. Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports (88) 8
3. Ryan Preece Joe Gibbs Racing (47)
4. Daniel Hemric Richard Childress Racing (8)
5. Joey Logano Team Penske (22) 37
6. Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing (1)
7. Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing (6)
8. Brendan Gaughan Beard Motorsports (62)
9. Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas (10) 27
10. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing (18) 4
11. Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports (32)
12. Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas (41)
13. Brad Keselowski Team Penske (2) 10
14. Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing (3)
15. Ryan Blaney Team Penske (12) 4
16. Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing (21)
17. Ty Dillon Germain Racing (13) 7
18. Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports (77)
19. Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing (20) 4
20. Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing (19) 11

5:35 p.m.:  Kyle Larson wrecks on the final lap. Chase Elliott gets the checker under caution. Alex Bowman and Ryan Preece finish second and third

5:35 p.m.:  Stenhouse goes into the wall but no caution. Wow this is a crazy finish.

5:34 p.m.:  Now Chase Elliott to the front! Four Chevys at the front. Two left.

5:32 p.m.:  Logano and Kyle Busch lead with four laps to go at the green flag.

5:28 p.m.:  Engines have fired again under yellow. All drivers can pit. Six laps left. 25 cars are on the lead lap.

5:27 p.m.:  Looks like of the four cars involved, only Truex will continue racing.

5:21 p.m.:  Here's look at the wreck. Justin Haley was also involved. All driving has stopped.

5:18 p.m.:  Huge wreck and fire with seven laps left. DiBenedetto's car is on fire in the infield. Chris Buescher's car took a huge hit into the wall. Both drivers appear okay. Truex also took some damage to his No. 19 car.

5:14 p.m.:  Will the Ford dominance continue? It's three Fords at the top with 10 to go. Logano, Blaney, Truex Jr.

5:08 p.m.:  Daniel Suarez — a fellow Ford driver — seems quite content sitting in second behind Logano. 17 laps to go.

5:04 p.m.:  With 24 laps remaining, Stenhouse retakes the lead. A wreck is lurking...

4:58 p.m.:  Only Brad Keselowski could pull this off. Spectacular.

4:56 p.m.:  It's that type of day...Ross Chastain has now taken the lead. 

4:51 p.m.:  Martin Truex Jr. to the lead. He won his first short-track race two weeks ago. Talladega would be his first superspeedway win.

4:43 p.m.:  Logano hops to first. Matt DiBenedetto — who has the fastest lap of the day — is now running third with 48 laps to go.

4:40 p.m.:  Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney are the first two off pit road at the restart.

4:32 p.m.:  Caution with 57 laps for debris.

4:30 p.m.:  Austin Dillon drops from sixth to 25th after something hits his car. Dillon and crew aren't sure what the problem is.

4:27 p.m.:  The five Chevys at the front of the pack are committed to the inside lane. When a Ford tries to pass, they make no effort to block.

4:19 p.m.:  Things are inevitably going to get dicey on this final stage. Kyle Busch avoids catastrophe.

4:10 p.m.:  Elliot wins the race off pit road.

4:05 p.m.:  Chase Elliot wins Stage 2, followed by a pair of Chevys and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron.

4:02 p.m.:  Blaney — who is in sixth — says he's done "babysitting" his Penske teammates today. Definitely frustrated.

3:56 p.m.:  Chevy has the top seven drivers with 11 laps left.

3:52 p.m.:  Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano nearly wreck on pit road, but disaster is avoided. Chase Elliot holds the Stage 2 lead with 15 laps to go.

3:43 p.m.:  A lot of car manufacturer teamwork today. Literally all of team Chevrolet pit at the same time.

3:36 p.m.:  David Ragan has his first lead of the day. So many lead changes as drivers are racing three-wide 20 laps into Stage 2. There have been more lead changes today than there were in the entire 2018 Geico 500.

3:32 p.m.:  And now Keselowski takes first. Ford cars have the top four positions.

3:26 p.m.:  And it doesn't take long for Alex Bowman to jump to the lead. These are the first laps he's led this year.

3:24 p.m.:  Chase Elliot leads the drivers as Stage 2 begins.

3:14 p.m.:  Ty Dillon wins Stage 1, his second of the season.

3:11 p.m.:  Justin Haley — at the age of 20 — is up to eighth in his first career Cup Series race.

3:07 p.m.:  Killer for Almirola. Speeding penaly on pit road with 8 laps left in Stage 1. Truex takes the top spot.

3:00 p.m.:  Keselowski and Truex Jr. touch bumbers as they battle for second. 14 laps left in Stage 1.

2:52 p.m.:  Jimmie Johnson takes some damage as he hits the wall trying to avoid debris.

2:50 p.m.:  The front seven are beginning to pull away 25 laps in. Aric Almirola leads.

2:46 p.m.:  McDowell, Tift and Wallace are all out of the race as well.

2:43 p.m.:  Chase Elliot, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch receive speeding penalties on pit road.

2:41 p.m.:  Kevin Harvick's day is over.

2:37 p.m.:  Kevin Harvick, Hamlin, Bowyer, Michael McDowell, Bubba Wallace and Matt Tifft were all involved.

2:32 p.m.:  Caution flag is out as Blaney and Bubba Wallace Jr. make contact and spin out. Decent sized wreck. Clint Bowyer looks like he may be done.

2:28 p.m.:  Drivers are really experimenting with the quick closing time of their cars. Ryan Blaney takes an early lead.

2:22 p.m.:  Green flag!

2:19 p.m.:  All four Gibbs drivers will start at the rear after failing pre-race inspections

2:09 p.m.:  Engines are fired. Drivers are about to go real fast.

Thomas Schlarp