TALLADEGA, AL — Joey Logano was sent airborne in a frightening crash late in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, then climbed from his car under his own power after it came to rest roof-down on the track.
The wreck happened with five laps left in the YellaWood 500 and quickly changed the shape of the playoff race. Logano had led 23 laps and won Stage 2, putting himself in position to contend for the win before the accident ended his day. Instead, he finished 34th with a did-not-finish. Afterward, Logano said he was simply “happy to be alive,” calling it a scary moment and praising the safety crew for getting him out safely.
How the Talladega crash unfolded in the closing laps
Todd Gilliland was leading when the field reached the tense final laps, while Kyle Larson pressed forward on the bottom lane. As the high lane stacked up, Carson Hocevar made contact with Logano from behind and sent the No. 22 Ford loose.
Logano hit the wall and then spun into more trouble when Chase Briscoe struck him as the car rotated. The Ford lifted off the ground, flipped, and landed upside down on the racing surface before sliding forward. Crews then flipped the car back over so Logano could exit. The crash drew in several drivers and created the kind of multi-car chaos Talladega is known for when the pack is tightly bunched.
Logano describes the wreck as a frightening Talladega moment
Logano did not hide how serious the accident felt from inside the car. He compared it to a “Talladega Nights” scene and said the first thought was that being upside down was “not good.”
He said the experience was scary because he could not get out while the car was overturned. Logano also said the car held up better than in a previous flip, noting that nothing seemed to cave in or crush him this time. He credited NASCAR’s safety work and the response from the crew on the scene, saying they did an amazing job getting the car back upright.
Playoff stakes shift sharply after the wreck
The crash carried major postseason consequences. Logano entered Talladega 44 points behind Larson and sixth in the standings. After the race, he moved up to fifth, but his deficit to Larson grew to 100 points.
With two playoff races left at Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, Logano now needs a strong points day to stay in the championship hunt. He has won at three short tracks this season, which makes Martinsville look especially important for his chances to remain alive heading into Homestead. The DNF at Talladega removed a prime opportunity to close the gap at a track where playoff swings often happen late and fast.
Larson edges Byron in overtime as the race reaches its finish
While the crash reshaped the race behind him, the leaders kept pushing to the finish. Larson crossed the line four-hundredths of a second ahead of teammate William Byron in an overtime ending that came after the late wreck brought the field to a restart situation.
The finish highlighted how quickly Talladega can swing from a potential victory battle to survival mode. Larson escaped the late chaos and claimed the win in a photo-like margin over Byron, while Logano and several others were left sorting through the aftermath. The closing laps underscored the pressure on every driver when the pack compresses at one of NASCAR’s fastest and most unpredictable superspeedways.
Other drivers were collected in the multi-car incident
Briscoe, who is also chasing a championship, was among the drivers caught in the wreck. Riley Herbst was another major concern after bouncing off the outside wall and then going nose-first into the inside wall.
Herbst had to be helped from his car and later left the track with a wrap on his left wrist. The driver of the No. 35 Toyota for 23XI Racing had already dealt with a concussion earlier in the season at New Hampshire, adding another layer of concern to the late-race accident. The incident served as a reminder of how quickly a single push in traffic can cascade into injuries and destroyed equipment at Talladega.