Larson Wins Talladega YellaWood 500 in Photo Finish and Extends Title Lead to 73 Points

Kyle Larson won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, beating his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron by 0.041 seconds in a photo finish. It was the first superspeedway win of Larson's Cup Series career, his third win of the season, and his 35th career victory. All three of his wins this year have come in the Chase.

Larson started 10th and collected the most stage points on the day, but he was not leading when the final overtime lap began. Austin Hill passed him on the backstretch on the last lap and Larson dropped back through the pack. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. broke away toward the finish line, and Larson got a push from Ross Chastain that carried him back to the front down the frontstretch. He reached the line just ahead of Byron and Stenhouse.

"I got really lucky with how everything worked out there," Larson told USA Network after the race.

Two big wrecks shaped the day

Talladega delivered the chaos it is known for. A multi-car crash on Lap 131 caught up championship contenders Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin, along with Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Preece. Blaney, Reddick and Elliott were done for the day. Hamlin's crew repaired his car on pit road and he finished eighth.

Christopher Bell hit trouble even earlier, locking up his tires on pit road in the first stage and spinning into the wall. After several stops he finished 35th, several laps down.

The second big crash came on Lap 183 and brought out a red flag with five laps to go. Joey Logano's car flipped upside down and Riley Herbst took two hard hits. Both drivers got out of their cars and were released from the infield care center.

The finish, in order

Byron finished second, Stenhouse third and Chastain fourth. Cole Custer was fifth, followed by Carson Hocevar, Todd Gilliland, Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell.

What it means for the title

Larson now holds 2,441 points and leads Hamlin by 73 points with two races left in the season. Bell sits third on 2,367 points, one point behind Hamlin, with Chase Briscoe fourth on 2,362 and Logano fifth on 2,341. Blaney is sixth, 107 points behind Larson.

The Cup Series goes to Martinsville Speedway on November 1, and the season ends at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 8. With a maximum of 76 points available in a race, Larson's lead is large but not yet safe. One bad day at Martinsville would put the title back in play for the finale.