This past weekend, NASCAR roared into Talladega Superspeedway for three incredible races. The ARCA Menards Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Cup Series all delivered great races that showcase what Talladega Superspeedway is known for: Tight racing and crazy wrecks!

Saturday saw an incredible race for the ARCA Menards Series, which saw late model NASCAR stock cars compete in a 78 lap shootout around the giant 2.66 mile long track. Even the lower tiered racing series are known for wrecking spectacularly on this big race track, while also putting on a great show for the fans before the O’Reilly series race later that day. This race saw plenty of action, and a few big wrecks with near misses by other cars. The full highlights are available on the NASCAR YouTube channel for those interested. 

Some drivers involved in the big one on lap 115 | Source: NASCAR

Sunday saw the NASCAR Cup Series take to the track for the Jack Links 500, a 188 lap monster of a race. This edition of the race saw a major change to the stage lengths, with the first stage being 98 laps, followed by two 45 lap stages. NASCAR stated this was in an effort to allow for more competitive racing, and to allow for a fuel stop free stage 2 and 3. However, come raceday, things looked very different. Many teams opted to conserve fuel in the opening stage, to allow for more fuel set aside for the two 45 lap stages. Stage one did not see any notable incidents, with Ryan Preece in the #60 Ford capturing the stage win. 

After a quiet first stage, things began to heat up in stage 2. A massive pileup started on the backstretch on lap 115, with Bubba Wallace’s #23 car getting turned by Ross Chastain in the #1 Chevy. Most of the field was bunched together at the time, leading to most of the field getting caught up in the wreck. This took several notable drivers out of the race, including past Cup Series champions like Lyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney. 

Carson Hocevar en route to Victory at Talladega | Source: Sports Illustrated

The only other notable incident from Sunday’s race was a spin on lap 182 by Erik Jones off of turn 4. Carson Hocevar managed to fight off the other drivers to capture his first career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, using this victory to showcase an unseen victory celebration after his burnout. Rounding out the top 5 from the race is Chris Buescher (#17 Ford), Alex Bowman (#48 Chevy), Chase Elliot (#9 Chevy) and Zane Smith (#38 Ford). 

NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the first time this year, taking place on May 3rd. This race can be seen starting at 3:30PM EDT (11:30PM GMT) on FS1 in the United States. Check your local TV listings for the race channel in your area. 

Carson Hocevar's Unique Victory Burnout | Source: NASCAR

If you watched the races this past weekend, what did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!