Aric Almirola Finally Triumphs at Talladega as Stewart Haas Racing Dominates Talladega

TALLADEGA, Al. - Aric Almirola took advantage of his teammate Kurt Busch's misfortune to secure his second career victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. After the race had been dominated by Stewart Haas Racing, much like the weekend before at Dover, Aric Almirola helped seal the deal for the organization that led 155 of 188 laps Sunday. Busch ran out of fuel between turns three and four, Almirola had to hold off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Clint Bowyer to secure the victory.

Bowyer and Stenhouse Jr. finished second and third while Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five. Kurt Busch led the most laps during the race after starting from the pole at 108 laps but was relegated to 14th after running out of fuel on the final lap.

Results from Talladega

1. Aric Almirola
2. Clint Bowyer
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Joey Logano
6. AJ Allmendinger
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Erik Jones
9. Paul Menard
10. Regan Smith
11. Kyle Larson
12. Brendan Gaughan
13. Trevor Bayne
14. Kurt Busch
15. Ty Dillon
16. Daniel Suarez
17. Austin Dillon
18. Joey Gase
19. Darrell Wallace Jr.
20. William Byron
21. Chris Buescher
22. Landon Cassill
23. Martin Truex Jr.
24. Ross Chastain
25. Ryan Newman
26. Kyle Busch
27. Brad Keselowski
28. Kevin Harvick
29. Ryan Blaney
30. Matt DiBenedetto
31. Chase Elliott
32. Corey LaJoie
33. Alex Bowman
34. DJ Kennington
35. Jamie McMurray
36. JJ Yeley
37. Jeffrey Earnhardt
38. Cody Ware
39. David Ragan
40. Michael McDowell

The race was only highlighted by just two big accidents, an unusual thing for a race at Talladega. With the victory, Almirola joins Chase Elliott as locked into the next round. Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, and Alex Bowman all four enter Kansas behind the eight ball with Bowman the sole driver to be in a must-win situation. 

Photo Credit: Christian Koelle/CCK Photography