The 2019 1000Bulbs.com 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on October 13–14, 2019 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 188 laps on the 2.66 mile (4.2 km) superspeedway, it was the 31st race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, the fifth race of the Playoffs, and second race of the Round of 12. Ryan Blaney scored his first win of the season and third of his career edging out Ryan Newman by .007 seconds becoming the 6th closest finish in NASCAR history.
Report
Background
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a tri-oval.
Entry list (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points. (R) denotes rookie driver.
Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Austin Theriault Petty Ware Racing Ford 52 Spencer Boyd (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 62 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 66 Joey Gase (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 77 Blake Jones Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 96 Parker Kligerman (i) Gaunt Brothers Racing ToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 46.734 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.734 204.904 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 47.013 203.688 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 47.014 203.684Official first practice results
Final practice Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 47.396 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 47.396 202.042 2 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 47.681 200.835 3 21 Matt Crafton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 47.686 200.813Official final practice results
Qualifying Chase Elliott scored the pole for the race with a time of 49.692 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 19 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.692 288 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.732 324 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.808 448 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.988 510 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 49.992 62 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.007 717 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.053 814 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 50.055 912 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 50.078 1022 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 50.130 1120 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.179 1242 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50.195 136 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.223 1421 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 50.264 154 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 50.315 1636 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 50.316 1738 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 50.341 1819 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.452 1941 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 50.481 203 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.567 2113 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 50.577 2234 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 50.594 2337 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 50.616 241 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50.656 2500 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 50.750 2618 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.776 2743 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 50.863 2862 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 50.873 298 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.881 3047 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 51.011 3195 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 51.176 3296 Parker Kligerman (i) Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 51.956 3332 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 52.002 3415 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 52.324 3577 Blake Jones Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 52.407 3666 Joey Gase (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 53.101 3751 Austin Theriault Petty Ware Racing Ford 53.227 3827 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 53.471 3952 Spencer Boyd (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 54.404 4011 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0.000Official qualifying results
Race Note: Stage 1 was held on Sunday, October 13, but the race was interrupted by rain after 57 laps. Stages 2 and 3 were completed on Monday, October 14.
Stage 1 Starting in 6th, Brad Keselowski charged his way from the front and led the first lap taking the lead away from pole sitter Chase Elliott with a push from Clint Bowyer. On lap 5, Austin Dillon took the lead but was soon passed by Kyle Busch on the same lap. On lap 7, Dillon would take the lead. On the next lap, Kyle's brother Kurt Busch took the lead from Dillon. On lap 19, Ryan Blaney took the lead. On lap 34, green flag pitstops began and Blaney gave the lead to Erik Jones. But coming to pit road, Blaney would spin on his way to pit road while he was trying to slow down his car. No caution flew as he was out of harms way and got back rolling again. Jones would give the lead on the next lap to Aric Almirola. The top 7 who did not pit came to pit road on the next lap and Brad Keselowski led the field off of pit road before the first caution flew on lap 37 after they just exited pit road when Spencer Boyd's car stalled in turn 4. Keselowski would lead the field to the restart on lap 41. On the restart, Ryan Newman took the lead from Keselowski with a push by Joey Logano. Keselowski retook the lead on lap 44. On lap 46, Kurt Busch would take the lead. On lap 47, Chase Elliott took the lead. On lap 50, Daniel Hemric took the lead from Elliott. On lap 51, William Byron took the lead from Hemric. On lap 54, with two to go in stage 1, Joey Logano took the lead. Byron would pass Logano for the lead on the last lap of stage 1 and Byron would win stage 1. As soon as stage 1 concluded, rain began to fall. The race would be postponed to the following day, Monday, and the race would restart at 1 pm central.
Stage 2 After stage 1 concluded, Matt Crafton took over the No. 21 car for Paul Menard after Menard was experiencing back problems. The track would be dried and the race would get back going again on lap 63 with Ryan Blaney as the leader. On lap 70, Clint Bowyer challenged Blaney for the lead but was unable to make it stick. On lap 73, Joey Logano took the lead from his teammate. On lap 78, Chase Elliott took the lead from Logano. On lap 84, Brad Keselowski took the lead from Elliott. On lap 87, Elliott retook the lead. On lap 90, the second round of green flag pitstops began and Elliott gave the lead to Keselowski. On lap 94, Keselowski and others behind him came onto pit road. Aric Almirola came out first and he would lead the next 2 laps before getting passed by Jimmie Johnson on lap 96. On lap 98, Chase Elliott took the lead. Alex Bowman tried to take the lead from Elliott but could not pass him. On lap 102, Joey Logano took the lead. On lap 104, Elliott took the lead back. On lap 107 and 4 laps to go in stage 2, the first of three big ones would occur in turn 3 taking out 11 cars and many chase contenders in the process. On that same lap, Alex Bowman took the lead. Going down the backstretch, Joey Logano had a huge run on Bowman and tried to pass Bowman. Bowman blocked but Logano hit Bowman hard in the rear which sent Bowman sideways on the apron. Bowman overcorrected and spun right up the track right in front of the pack collecting Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, and Jimmie Johnson. Stage 2 concluded under caution and Clint Bowyer was in front when the caution came out and he won stage 2.
Final stage