TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) 鈥� Carson Hocevar ensured the Talladega Superspeedway fans who witnessed his first win would remember it.
After outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass Sunday, Hocevar celebrated . While sitting on the windowsill of his No. 77 Chevrolet to salute the crowd with fist pumps and waves, the lanky Hocevar managed to keep his left hand on the wheel while driving down the frontstretch.
He steered the car nose-first into the outside wall to perform a burnout before climbing onto the roof.
鈥淗e looked like Shamu hanging out the window,鈥� said Jeff Dickerson, a co-owner of Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports car.
The unique revelry was appropriate for the rising star .
鈥淚鈥檝e had this thought up for a while,鈥� Hoecvar said after becoming the 13th driver to earn his first Cup win at Talladega. 鈥淚鈥檝e messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. I was going to figure out how to do it. It took me a while.
鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful. This is the biggest dream I鈥檝e ever thought of. Thank you, everybody. I couldn鈥檛 have done it any better way.鈥�
Hocevar joined Ty Gibbs ( ), as the second first-time winner this season by winning his 91st start in NASCAR鈥檚 premier series.
The 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet to edge past Buescher鈥檚 No. 17 Ford by 0.114 seconds.
Buescher had been getting drafting help from Erik Jones, who spun after contact from Hocevar while battling for second with seven laps remaining. Jones鈥� No. 43 Toyota stalled to bring out the final yellow and set up a three-lap shootout in which Buescher and Hocevar ran side by side virtually all the way to the checkered flag.
鈥淭hat was a fun race,鈥� Buescher said. 鈥淚 felt really good where we were at coming off Turn 4. Felt like we were in a spot to take this Ford Mustang into victory lane. Man, it was close.”
Bowman finished third (his best finish ), followed by Chase Elliott and Zane Smith.
鈥淭o be blunt, it just feels good to get out of here without crashing,鈥� Bowman said. 鈥淚鈥檓 getting old and don鈥檛 have much of that left in me. Glad to get out of here clean.鈥�
Big wreck
With tight packs at nearly 200 mph, Talladega is known for massive wrecks, and some contact at the front involved 26 of the 40 cars in the field.
Bubba Wallace was leading on Lap 115 when he lost control of his No. 23 Toyota on a push by the No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson were among those eliminated from contention in the crash, along with Wallace, who finished outside the top 30 for the third time in five races.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bummer,鈥� said the 23XI Racing driver, who was making his 300th Cup start. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e got to figure out how to be pushed better, so I take responsibility on that. And we鈥檒l have a good debrief and figure out what we can do to make our Toyotas a little bit better at being pushed and maybe not have that happen.鈥�
Mileage still matters
In an attempt to blunt the fuel conservation strategies that have become prevalent at superspeedways, NASCAR instituted a 98-lap first stage that covered more than half the race distance (which is typically the length of the final stage). The change resulted in an opening segment that ran for 85 minutes under green as drivers cautiously raced well below their maximum speeds to achieve optimum mileage.
They opened the second stage at full throttle, and the big pileup erupted only 10 laps later.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating,鈥� Logano said. 鈥淲hat do you want? Save fuel or crash? Pick one. That鈥檚 what it feels like right now. You鈥檝e got round bumpers on these things. The cars are unstable. And once everyone starts pushing and racing aggressive, it鈥檚 going to happen. So until we fix that stuff, we鈥檙e going to continue seeing it, unfortunately.鈥�
New deal
Points leader Tyler Reddick that he had finalized a multiyear contract extension with 23XI Racing. Team co-owner Denny Hamlin , who has 10 of his 13 career wins (including five this season) since joining 23XI Racing in 2023.
鈥淓xcited to have it all done and be able to continue building on what we鈥檝e done,鈥� Reddick said. 鈥淛ust really glad that myself and 23XI were able to get to a good place and get the deal done. So I鈥檒l be here for hopefully a long time.鈥�
Up next
The NASCAR Cup Series will race May 3 at Texas Motor Speedway, the lone stop this season at the 1.5-mile oval near Fort Worth. , the most recent Cup victory for the three-time series champion.
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