Reddick wins, van Gisbergen 26th at wild Talladega

There are few more daunting places for Shane van Gisbergen to make his NASCAR Cup Series oval debut at than Talladega, but he impressed even if the result may not show it.

Van Gisbergen showed notable composure in his first taste of the unique draft-style racing against the big boys and finished 26th.

The mostly clean race ended on a wild note with Tyler Reddick stealing the GEICO 500 within metres of the chequered flag.

Michael McDowell had done well to control the field for the final 20 laps, only to perform one block too many and swing in front of Brad Keslowski, which triggered chaos.

Leader McDowell was spun into the fence, causing cars to scatter all over the place as they took the flag with the #7 of Corey LaJoie crossing the line on its side.

But it was Reddick who kept the foot down and flew from fourth to first in the final metres to take the win in the Michael Jordan backed Toyota with the 33rd last-lap pass for the win at Talladega.

The Kiwi started 17th and fluctuated up and down the leaderboard, being as low as 37th, but most notably even led three laps.

A smart move to the high train saw van Gibsergen even lead some laps for the second day in a row at the super speedway which Impressed commentators by “getting track position with no help.”

The Kaulig Racing driver restarted 28th with 28 to go, but raced his way up to the top 15 in the high line during the run to the flag.

A smart move to the front of the third lane appeared to put the Kiwi in a position to even challenge for the win, but his momentum was ruined when Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch chopped in front of him.

As a result van Gisbergen drifted to the back and had to settle for 26th.

SVG started 17th and hugged the inside and held 19th across the early laps until he fell outside the top 30 at the back of the inside train.

A switch to the high line which helped the Kiwi progress to 25th before eventually flying all the way to the front.

A big push from Kyle Busch saw the #16 vault towards the front of the high train and after many pitted, van Gisbergen found himself in the lead.

The #16 led lap 44 before pitting the following lap and rejoining 24th.

Despite a spin for Denny Hamlin on entry to pit road, the first Stage stayed green as Austin Cindic claimed a photo finish from Chase Elliott, while SVG struggled to stay in touch with the train.

The #16 made good ground on pit road and started the second stage 16th and was one of the first to join the third and highest lane.

This proved to be a master stroke as a big push from Austin Dillon saw the #16 fly to the very front of the field and snatch the lead at the end of lap 69.

A close call with Noah Gragson crossing the line at the end of the following lap saw the Kiwi lose some momentum and get swallowed up by the pack.

He sat 30th ahead of the commencement of the final stage and gained three spots in the first handful of laps as Joey Logano and Ross Chastain went side by side for the lead.

First caution finally arrived on lap 132 when Christopher Bell and Justin Haley came together at the end of the back straight.

Kaulig Racing took the opportunity to pit slightly earlier then the rest and it paid off with SVG taking the restart fifth with 50 to go.

He sat as the second car back in the middle lane behind Gragson but as the fight to get track position became more intense and further drivers joined the train, SVG slipped to 16th with cars all around him.

Switched to the high line on lap 146, which helped him return to the top 10 as the leaders were now in single file led by McDowell.

With 35 to go the strategy games started and a train of seven Toyotas all stopped early.

They were racing hard as a single-file pack and looked set to gain significant ground but it did not work out.

John Hunter Nemecheck got into the back of Bubba Wallace, which fired Erik Jones hard into the outside fence.

Hamlin tried to avoid the drama along the bottom, but became collateral damage with Nemecheck rebounding from the wall and into the #11.

Another caution arrived as the rest of the field went to the pits where SVG fell from ninth to 16th.

However, Kaulig Racing decided to service the car for a second time which saw van Gisbergen make the restart 28th with 28 to go.

Ironically the two cars that survived the Toyota wreck led the way with Reddick and Truex Jr fighting hard with McDowell before the Ford prevailed.

SVG utilised both the bottom and middle lane to claw closer towards the top 15 with 20 laps to go.

Nestled in behind Logano up high in the run to the flag as Reddick and McDowell went side by side for the lead.

Made the switch to lead the Hugh lane on lap 183 and a push from Elliott got him even closer to the front.

Busch and Gibbs jumped in front of the Kiwi and that destroyed the momentum of the lane which sent them to the back.

Instead of fighting for the win, the #16 Kaulig Racing driver was well back down in 26th.

At least it allowed van Gisbergen to avoid the massive crash at the finish with his car remaining unscathed as many were wrecked when they took the flag.

Van Gisbergen will return to the NASCAR Cup Series at the famous Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on May 26.

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