Ricky Stenhouse Jr Picks Up First Career Win in the Geico 500 at Talladega Speedway

May 9, 2017

Ricky Stenhouse Jr, K&N, NASCAR, Geico 400

Ricky Stenhouse Jr celebrating his win at the Geico 400

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of his career, coming in his 158th race and did so in serious fashion. In the Geico 500 at Talladega Speedway, Stenhouse Jr. passed Jamie McMurray on the final lap, beating McMurray by 0.95 of a second, propelling him to reach the checkered flag for the first time.

"This is for all the guys at the shop--we’ve been terrible for a long time," Stenhouse said. "This year, every race, we’re just getting better and better. We knew Talladega was a good race track for us. It’s been a good one in the past.”

The win was an uphill climb for Stenhouse, as he led for the first 13 laps of the race, and did not lead again until the penultimate lap. Stenhouse received 49 points and 5 playoff points. He currently sits in 12th place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings.

“It feels really good to get that first win here” Stenhouse said. “I remember sitting in the bus watching this race and knowing that this is a racetrack that we've had good success at, we've ran well. You know, so close to home. It feels awesome to get the first win here.”

Jamie McMurray finished in second place, 0.95 seconds away from finishing in first, and getting his first win of the season. McMurray was passed by Stenhouse Jr. on the final lap, after passing Kyle Busch in the process.

“Like there's times when you feel like you're going to have a good run and you don't, and then there's other times that it happens,” McMurray said. "So it was a good overall day for us.”

Kyle Busch finished in third place, who led three times for 48 laps. Busch led for a race high 39 straight laps before being passed.

Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger, NASCAR, K&N

The crash between Chase Elliott and AJ Allmendinger

“Overall we had a great car,” Busch said. “We were up front the beginning part of the race, kind of fell back, like McMurray said, through the middle stage of the race, and then got back up there at the end. We were in the dog seat and the position to win, we just had to hold him off, and we didn't do it.”

A crash on lap 169 wrecked 18 of the 38 cars in the race. Chase Elliott tapped the back of AJ Allmendinger’s car, and flipped onto the hood of Joey Logano’s car. The stoppage took 26 minutes to clean up, Busch restarted in first place.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished in 22nd place in his last spring race of his career.

Kyle Larson continues to be in first place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings with 428 points and 7 playoff points. Martin Truex Jr. is in second place with 374 points and 10 playoff points. Brad Keselowski is in third place with 367 points and 11 playoff points.

The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be at the Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway.

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