NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR GEICO 500: Ross Chastain wins in wild finish at Talladega

Updated Apr. 24, 2022 7:24 p.m. ET

Next Gen made its Talladega debut in the GEICO 500 on Sunday, and FOX had you covered from start to finish.

Ross Chastain came out victorious in an absolutely wild finish in the 188-lap race, the 10th event of the 2022 Cup Series season and the fourth and final race this month.

Here are the top moments from Talladega Superspeedway:

Honoring Davey Allison

FOX NASCAR Analyst Clint Bowyer was behind the wheel of Davey Allison's old Thunderbird — the iconic No. 28 — in honor of the 35th anniversary of Davey's first career Cup Series win.

Green!

Thirty-nine drivers took to the track Sunday for one of the most highly anticipated races of the year.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. led the field into Turn 1, but Daniel Suárez and William Byron quickly moved into the top two spots as things got underway.

Follow the leader

A single-file train or roughly 12 cars emerged about 25 laps in, as Suárez continued to lead.

Pit window opened

About halfway through Stage 1, drivers began to pit. Brad Keselowski and Chastain received penalties for speeding on pit road, and Cody Ware came in too quickly and spun out, while Tyler Reddick appeared to make an unscheduled stop to get a look at his engine.

Misfortune strikes No. 8

It was bad news for Reddick, whose timing belt broke on his car, ending his race for the day.

Big crash

Three cars collided in the middle of the lead pack. It appeared Daniel Hemric's engine let go and he found himself crashing into the path of Chase Briscoe, who ended up climbing out of his car, and Chris Buescher.

Hemric, who qualified third, was the second ECR engine to fail in this race after Reddick's issue earlier.

Stage 1: Check!

Stage 1 ended under caution after the three-car accident in Turn 4. Bubba Wallace was ruled the leader at the moment of caution, giving him a stage win in this race for the second year in a row.

Kyle Larson, Bell, Byron, Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top 10 after the opening stage.

Cautions come flying

The green flag was back out at Lap 64, but that didn't last long.

The right rear wheel fell off of BJ McLeod's car, drawing an immediate caution, as he drove back to the pits on three wheels. McLeod was still running after suffering severe suspension damage from his wheel failure.

The accordion effect

Then, Logano, who appeared to get a bad push from Wallace, got turned into the outside wall and shot back into traffic, collecting a handful of cars as drivers tried to get back up to speed.

Logano, Ty Dillon and Harrison Burton were out of the race, joining Hemric, Briscoe, Buescher and Reddick. Suárez was out as well after his team was unable to repair his car within the allotted time permitted.

Seeing green

The green flag was back out at Lap 97 after two cautions less than a lap into two consecutive restarts.

Byron and Truex Jr. led the field, while Cole Custer, whose car sustained front-end damage in the most recent accident, exited to the garage area.

Chevy strong

Four Hendrick Chevys (Byron, Elliott, Larson and Bowman) were in the lead as the stage winded down.

Stage 2: Check!

The lead train of cars consisted of 12 cars with five laps to go in the second stage, but it was Byron who came out on top.

Home stretch

The green flag was out again with 63 laps to go, as Kyle Busch got a big push from Ryan Blaney, which allowed him to get out ahead of Jones before Jones fought back with a push from Kevin Harvick.

Out in front

The entire lead pack went single file with 50 laps to go, as Wallace offered a helping hand to Blaney.

Down to the wire

Then, Wallace regained the lead, while some cars opted to pit.

Pit stop spins

Keselowski got his second pit road speeding penalty of the day, while Bell spun into the inside wall after coming off pit road with Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch. Bell suffered minimal damage, but continued.

Back and forth

There were many lead changes in the final few laps of Sunday's race, as all drivers in the lead pack made their best passes to get out in front.

All or nothing

The lead pack was side-by-side with six laps to go, with Jones in the lead. Pushes got harder and more aggressive as the laps remaining dwindled.

Things started to break up with three laps to go. Denny Hamlin went to pit road with apparent fuel pressure issues, while Jones held down the lead at the white flag.

A wild finish!

In the end, it was Chastain who came out with the win — his second victory of the season.