NASCAR at Talladega 2015: Geico 500 Winner & Results

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Geico 500, his first victory at Talladega Superspeedway in 20 races. (Getty)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Geico 500, his first victory at Talladega Superspeedway in 20 races. (Getty)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway.

Talladega fan-favorite Earnhardt, who started from the 4th position, won Sunday’s Geico 500 to snap a 20-race win drought at the Alabama track and get his first checkered flag of the Sprint Cup season.

It was Junior’s first victory at ‘Dega since October 2004 and his 6th overall at the track.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson took second.

The No. 88 car led 67 of the 188 laps in the restrictor plate race, while Johnson was out front for 50.

Paul Menard, rookie Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 5.

Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon finished 31st. He led for 47 laps.

The late Dale Earnhardt Sr., who would have been 64 on April 29, had 10 career victories at Talladega.

Sixteen cars were involved in a wreck on Lap 47 when Trevor Bayne lost control through a turn. Paul Menard and Kurt Busch also lost control and Busch’s No. 41 seemed to hindered the aerodynamics of Bayne’s race car, sending it around.

Also involved were Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, David Ragan, Danica Patrick and Kasey Kahne.

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Keep reading for the complete race results:


Geico 500 Final Results

Lap length: 2.66 miles
(Start position in parentheses)

1. (4) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 188 laps, 134.7 rating, 48 points.
2. (5) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 188, 118.5, 43.
3. (7) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 188, 97.9, 41.
4. (3) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 188, 103, 0.
5. (36) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 188, 99.1, 39.
6. (12) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 188, 83.1, 38.
7. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 188, 58.7, 37.
8. (24) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 188, 102.6, 37.
9. (17) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188, 110.9, 36.
10. (34) Josh Wise, Ford, 188, 62, 35.
11. (27) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 188, 86.1, 33.
12. (19) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 188, 87.8, 33.
13. (41) Cole Whitt, Ford, 188, 68.4, 32.
14. (42) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 188, 57.8, 0.
15. (28) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188, 81.6, 29.
16. (37) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188, 63.6, 28.
17. (31) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 188, 55.8, 27.
18. (43) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 188, 55.5, 26.
19. (6) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 188, 92.6, 26.
20. (39) David Gilliland, Ford, 188, 72.9, 25.
21. (25) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 188, 67.1, 23.
22. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 188, 86.4, 22.
23. (35) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 188, 57.5, 22.
24. (38) Chris Buescher, Ford, 188, 56, 0.
25. (8) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 188, 74, 19.
26. (29) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 188, 46.9, 19.
27. (32) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 188, 48, 18.
28. (11) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 188, 63.4, 17.
29. (40) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 188, 50.8, 15.
30. (10) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 188, 61.7, 14.
31. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 188, 82.5, 14.
32. (22) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 188, 68.5, 12.
33. (21) Joey Logano, Ford, 186, 44.3, 11.
34. (2) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 158, 78.1, 11.
35. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, engine, 157, 77.5, 9.
36. (23) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 151, 33.6, 8.
37. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 147, 35.7, 7.
38. (9) David Ragan, Toyota, 123, 51.7, 6.
39. (30) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, accident, 91, 51.9, 0.
40. (33) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, accident, 90, 39.8, 0.
41. (26) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 46, 64.9, 3.
42. (13) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, accident, 46, 50.3, 2.
43. (16) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, engine, 18, 27.3, 0.

Race Stats

Winner’s Average Speed of Winner: 159.487 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 8 minutes, 8 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.158 seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 23 laps.

Lead Changes: 27 among 15 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J.Gordon 1-3; K.Kahne 4-6; T.Stewart 7-11; D.Earnhardt Jr. 12-15; J.Gordon 16-19; K.Harvick 20; J.Allgaier 21; B.Labonte 22; J.Gordon 23-48; K.Busch 49; J.Johnson 50-91; D.Gilliland 92; J.Wise 93; J.Gordon 94-95; J.Johnson 96-103; D.Earnhardt Jr. 104; D.Hamlin 105-106; D.Earnhardt Jr. 107-110; J.Gordon 111-115; C.Mears 116; J.Gordon 117-123; D.Earnhardt Jr. 124-147; T.Stewart 148; D.Earnhardt Jr. 149-155; D.Hamlin 156-158; R.Stenhouse Jr. 159; C.Whitt 160-161; D.Earnhardt Jr. 162-188.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): D.Earnhardt Jr., 6 times for 67 laps; J.Johnson, 2 times for 50 laps; J.Gordon, 6 times for 47 laps; T.Stewart, 2 times for 6 laps; D.Hamlin, 2 times for 5 laps; K.Kahne, 1 time for 3 laps; C.Whitt, 1 time for 2 laps; K.Harvick, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Wise, 1 time for 1 lap; K.Busch, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Gilliland, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Allgaier, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Stenhouse Jr., 1 time for 1 lap; B.Labonte, 1 time for 1 lap; C.Mears, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: K.Harvick, 2; J.Johnson, 2; Ku.Busch, 1; D.Earnhardt Jr., 1; D.Hamlin, 1; M.Kenseth, 1; B.Keselowski, 1; J.Logano, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 394; 2. M.Truex Jr., 354; 3. J.Johnson, 342; 4. J.Logano, 335; 5. D.Earnhardt Jr., 319; 6. B.Keselowski, 305; 7. J.McMurray, 297; 8. M.Kenseth, 292; 9. K.Kahne, 286; 10. D.Hamlin, 281; 11. P.Menard, 280; 12. A.Almirola, 279; 13. J.Gordon, 277; 14. R.Newman, 271; 15. Ku.Busch, 255; 16. D.Patrick, 253.