The 2017 GEICO 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on May 7, 2017, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 191 laps, extended from 188 laps due to overtime, on the superspeedway, it was the 10th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the race, his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win, while Jamie McMurray finished second and Kyle Busch finished third.
Entry list
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Elliott Sadler (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 Joey Gase (i) Premium Motorsports Toyota 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Ford 75 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 96 D. J. Kennington Gaunt Brothers Racing ToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 48.653 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 48.653 196.822 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 48.748 196.439 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 48.905 195.808Official first practice results
Final practice Final practice session for Friday was cancelled due to rain.
Qualifying Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 49.993 and a speed of . Stenhouse said his crew "worked really, really hard on these cars. Like I said earlier, Jimmy Fennig has done a great job on these speedway cars. This is cool. Doug Yates builds awesome horsepower. With his dad, Robert, not doing as well as we would like, it would be cool to dedicate this one to him and all the hard work that the engine shop does. Man, it’s a cool way to start the weekend. I’m ready to get to Sunday."
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 117 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.180 49.993 288 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.294 50.194 32 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 50.338 50.287 420 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.425 50.353 56 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 50.424 50.359 64 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 50.552 50.394 719 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.448 50.397 824 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.348 50.421 927 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.545 50.495 1018 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.483 50.511 1111 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.562 50.541 1222 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 50.546 50.646 1378 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 50.573 — 1477 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 50.583 — 1541 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas RacingFord 50.590 — 1621 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 50.598 — 1714 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas RacingFord 50.657 — 183 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.657 — 195 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.661 — 2031 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.677 — 2142 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50.815 — 2243 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 50.843 — 231 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 50.877 — 2495 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 50.963 — 2534 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 50.968 — 2632 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 50.992 — 2747 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 50.997 — 2813 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 51.095 — 2938 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 51.098 — 3048 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.110 — 3110 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 51.210 — 3275 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 51.441 — 3355 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 51.451 — 3437 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 51.471 — 357 Elliott Sadler (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 51.513 — 3683 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 51.722 — 3723 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 51.995 — 3872 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 52.098 — 3915 Joey Gase (i) Premium Motorsports Toyota 52.227 — 4033 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 52.414 — Did not qualify 4196 D. J. Kennington Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 52.074 — Official qualifying results
Race First stage Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led the field to the green flag at 2:20 p.m. He led the first 14 laps before trash on his grille forced him to give up the lead to remove said trash, handing the lead to Brad Keselowski on lap 15. The first caution of the race flew on lap 17 when Kyle Larson, two laps after he made contact with the wall exiting Turn 2, thanks to an awkward push from teammate Jamie McMurray, suffered a right-front tire cut and slammed the wall in Turn 1. Ryan Newman opted not to pit and assumed the race lead, but pitted the following lap and handed the lead to Clint Bowyer.
The race restarted on lap 21. By lap 25, there were three lines battling for the lead. Kyle Busch rode a push from the top line to take the lead exiting Turn 2 on lap 28. Keselowski edged out Busch at the line to retake the lead on lap 34. Denny Hamlin made an unscheduled stop on lap 48 for a vibration. Teammates Daniel Suárez and Matt Kenseth attempted to pit with 3 to go, but did not make it onto pit road before the leader crossed the start/finish line for 2-to-go, at which point pit road is closed. As a result, they were issued pass-through penalties for "pitting too soon" (pitting when pit road is closed). Keselowski won the first stage as the second caution flew for the end of the stage on lap 55. Ty Dillon opted not to pit and assumed the lead, but pitted the following lap and the lead cycled to Hamlin.
Second stage The race restarted on lap 62. Hamlin received a real challenge for the lead on lap 79 from teammate Busch and lost it to him on lap 81. The third caution flew the following lap when Reed Sorenson suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in the tri-oval. He could not continue and went on to finish 40th.
The race restarted on lap 87. Bowyer edged out Newman at the line to retake the lead on lap 90. Hamlin edged out Bowyer at the line to retake the lead two laps later and drove on to win the second stage as the fourth caution flew for the end of the stage at lap 110. Kenseth opted not to pit and assumed the lead.
Final stage
The race restarted with 72 laps to go. From 70 to go to 65 to go, the lead changed five times: Hamlin (70), Keselowski (69), Hamlin (68), Keselowski (67) and Kevin Harvick (65). Jimmie Johnson took the lead with 59 to go. Harvick edged out Johnson at the line to retake the lead with 55 to go. Joey Logano took the lead exiting Turn 2 with 49 to go. A number of cars hit pit road under green with 45 to go. Logano pitted with 40 to go, handing the lead to Elliott Sadler. Sadler pitted the following lap and the lead cycled to Kyle Busch.
The fifth caution flew with 28 to go when Ryan Blaney was turned on the backstretch, by contact from Stenhouse, and collected the outside wall. Blaney made it back to the pits, but had heavy damage that could not be fixed within the 5-minute "crash clock", relegating him to a 39th-place finish.
The race restarted with 23 to go. With 20 to go, A. J. Allmendinger was giving Chase Elliott a push exiting Turn 2 when he turned Elliott's car up the track, triggering a multi-car wreck (known as "The Big One") and bringing out the sixth caution (which also brought out a 26-minute and 51-second red flag for cleanup). Contact from Logano's car lifted Elliott's car into the air, which then rode the steel barrier of the outside retaining wall before coming back down to the ground. Allmendinger's car was also turned upside down as a result of the 16-car wreck on the backstretch. Elliott said afterwards that Allmendinger apologized. "I don't know that it was really his fault, per se. He had a big run and he kind of got to my bumper and just happened to be in a bad spot coming up off the corner, skewed a little bit to my left rear. And when that happens, it just unloads these cars too much." Allmendinger said afterwards that he "barely tapped (Elliott). And then I tried to get off him but at that point it was too late. It was just one of those things battling for the lead. The plan kind of went. We waited at the back and started moving forward. I hated that happened, but it’s Talladega. I’m not a big fan of it, but if you’re up front and you’ve got a chance to go for it, racing happens I guess, here.”
The race restarted with 15 to go. Busch took back the lead on the restart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was running third, dropped off the pace due to a loose tire. Earnhardt said that the loose wheel "was pretty bad. We were about to wreck. And we were lucky to get to pit road and get it changed. The left rear tire come loose. We didn’t change it on the last stop but the glue build-up on the stud didn’t allow them to get the tire tight and it just kind of worked its way loose. We only had one nut tight when we come down pit road. It was real close to coming off." The seventh caution flew with 10 to go for Landon Cassill, who had broken a drive shaft and was unable to coast off the track.
The race restarted with seven to go. The eighth caution flew with three to go after Bowyer, on the inside of a three-wide battle, made contact with Chris Buescher, who then made contact with Newman. Newman spun toward the inside wall, and though he corrected the spin, he made heavy contact with the inside wall and was unable to continue.
Overtime The race restarted in overtime with two to go. Busch and Stenhouse were side by side coming to the white flag, with Busch edging out Stenhouse, but Stenhouse took the lead exiting Turn 2 and held off McMurray and Busch to drive on to score the victory and his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win ever.
Post-race
Driver comments Stenhouse said in victory lane that the win was "a long time coming. We’ve run really well here at Talladega. This is the closest race track to home. I got a lot of cheers riding around here today and the fans were awesome. We had a lot packed in here at Talladega and it felt old-school. Man, to finally get that win for Jack (Roush) and everyone on our team is really special.”