2023 GEICO 500

The 2023 GEICO 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 23, 2023, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 196 laps – extended from 188 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.66 mile (4.28km) superspeedway, it was the 10th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway, 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. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking. The track currently hosts NASCAR's Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5-mile-long (4.0km).

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points.

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.979 and a speed of 180.751mph (290.891km/h).

Qualifying results

Race

During the overtime lap, Kyle Larson's car was t-boned by Ryan Preece in a collision triggered by Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson. The wreck collapsed Larson's passenger side roll cage, described by race winner Kyle Busch as "brick getting rammed into a stick of butter". Neither Larson nor Preece were injured from the collision, but the carnage reignited safety concerns regarding the Next Gen car. NASCAR took both cars to the R&D Center for further investigation.

Race results

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 60

Stage Two Laps: 60

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 68

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 57 among 21 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 8 for 34
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 33 minutes, and 25 seconds
• Average speed: 146.575 miles per hour (235.890km/h)

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 23rd race at the Talladega Superspeedway. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and 2008 fall Talladega winner Tony Stewart called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Josh Sims handled the pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden & Jeff Striegle called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Dave Moody called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform inside the backstretch when the field raced down the backstretch & Dillon Welch called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 4 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Steve Post, Georgia Henneberry, Chris Wilner and Brienne Pedigo worked pit road for the radio side for MRN.

Standings after the race