The 2020 GEICO 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 22, 2020, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 191 laps—extended from 188 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.66 mile (4.28 km) superspeedway, it was the 13th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The race was originally scheduled to be held on April 26, but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In turn, the race was postponed from June 21 due to inclement weather.
Report
Background
Talladega Superspeedway, formerly known as Alabama International Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking. The track currently hosts NASCAR's Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km).
The GEICO 500 was the first NASCAR event since The Real Heroes 400 in May to admit a limited number of public spectators. Races had been held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the previous week's Dixie Vodka 400 was the first to admit spectators in grandstands — limited to an invited audience of local members of the U.S. military. Attendance was capped at 5,000 in grandstands and towers, with social distancing and mandatory masking enforced. A limited number of campsites above the Alabama Gang Superstretch were also opened. Tickets were being re-issued on a first come first served basis to local residents who had originally purchased tickets to the race before these changes. Only the Cup race allowed spectators; support races did not open grandstands, but Alabama Gang Superstretch campsites were open for those races.
Impact of the FIA's End Racism campaign and noose incident This was the first race open to spectators after NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate battle flag following a pair of incidents—a complaint by Bubba Wallace and the FIA's "End Racism" campaign by Sir Lewis Hamilton, since NASCAR is a founding member of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, the national governing body of motorsport designated by the FIA. On the day of the race, vendors outside of the track sold memorabilia carrying the flag, and a plane towing a banner with the flag and "Defund NASCAR" circled the track; NASCAR officials and Governor of Alabama Kay Ivey condemned the flyover, for which Sons of Confederate Veterans later claimed responsibility.
NASCAR reported that a noose had been found inside Wallace's stall, and stated that it would investigate it as a hate crime with the FBI. NASCAR president Steve Phelps threatened that anyone found responsible "will be banned from this sport for life. I don't care who they are, they will not be here." The United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division also joined the investigation. As a sign of solidarity, other drivers and crew members pushed Wallace's car down pit road prior to the start of the race (which had been rescheduled to June 22 due to rain), while "#IStandWithBubba" was painted on the infield grass.
On June 23, the FBI concluded that no hate crime targeting Wallace had occurred at the track, stating that the "noose" was a pulldown rope for a door, and had been present at the track since 2019. On June 25, NASCAR released a photo of the rope, and announced that it had investigated the stalls of all other NASCAR facilities — concluding that the pulldown rope in that stall was the only one that had been tied in such a manner.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Gray Gaulding (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Matt Kenseth Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Joey Gase (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 53 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 62 Brendan Gaughan Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 77 B. J. McLeod (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 Garrett Smithley (i) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing ToyotaOfficial entry list
NOTE: Garrett Smithley was added as a late addition after owner B. J. McLeod was inserted into the Spire Motorsports car following NASCAR rejecting the team's original plan of having James Davison in the car because he lacked NASCAR superspeedway experience in a situation where practice and qualifying were omitted. Although the Australian has high-speed oval experience in other ACCUS-sanctioned events, NASCAR rejected Davison because he lacked drafting experience in similar cars in regards to the adverse conditions rules in effect after the pandemic.
Qualifying Martin Truex Jr. was awarded the pole for the race as determined by a random draw.
Starting Lineup Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 5 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 7 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 8 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 10 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 42 Matt Kenseth Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 14 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 16 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 17 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 18 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 21 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 22 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 23 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 24 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 25 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 26 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 27 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 28 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29 27 Gray Gaulding (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 30 77 B. J. McLeod (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 31 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 32 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 33 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 34 53 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 35 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 36 51 Joey Gase (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 37 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 38 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 39 62 Brendan Gaughan Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 40 78 Garrett Smithley (i) B. J. McLeod Motorsports ChevroletOfficial starting lineup
Race
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 102 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 84 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 66 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 57 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 48 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 210 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 102 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 93 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 75 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 66 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 57 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 48 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 39 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 210 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage two results
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 68
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 12 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 191 542 20 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 191 453 15 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 191 344 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 191 335 18 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 191 326 21 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 191 337 8 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 191 398 22 38 John Hunter Nemechek (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 191 299 7 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 191 3110 5 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 191 2711 19 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 191 2812 33 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 191 2513 4 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 191 3114 24 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 191 2715 31 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 191 2216 25 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 191 2117 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 191 3318 26 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 191 1919 6 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 191 2920 16 8 Tyler Reddick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 191 2721 39 62 Brendan Gaughan Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 191 1622 28 41 Cole Custer (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 191 1823 14 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 191 1424 1 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 191 1325 10 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 191 1226 23 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 191 1127 32 00 Quin Houff (R) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 190 1028 27 96 Daniel Suárez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 190 929 35 95 Christopher Bell (R) Leavine Family Racing Toyota 190 1430 29 27 Gray Gaulding (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 190 031 30 77 B. J. McLeod (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 190 032 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 189 1933 38 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 185 034 40 78 Garrett Smithley (i) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet 185 035 27 15 Brennan Poole (R) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 178 236 34 53 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 178 037 36 51 Joey Gase (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 141 038 11 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 135 339 17 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 133 140 13 42 Matt Kenseth Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 127 1Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 56 among 19 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 9 for 31 Red flags: 1 for 57 minutes and 18 seconds