How the GEICO 500, the 10th race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, played out Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway: WINNER: Chase Elliott scored his first victory of 2019 with an assist from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman in front of raucous and appreciate crowd in Alabama, who rose to their feet to give the Georgia native a huge ovation. "I just appreciate all the support; it's unbelievable," Elliott said after climbing out of his No. 9 Chevrolet. "This is a special one. This is close to home for me, so it feels like a home race." Elliott picked up his fourth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win and broke a string of seven consecutive wins for Ford at Talladega. Chevrolet took home the top three spots as Bowman finished second and rookie Ryan Preece third. "A lot of teamwork done today. It was huge," Elliott said. "We just had a plan and executed really well. Fortunately, everybody stayed together and stayed the course, and we had some help on the last lap with that caution." The win did not come easy with chaos breaking out on the last lap, ending the race under caution. First, Erik Jones spun toward the infield on the penultimate lap, but the race remained green as his No. 20 Toyota was safely out of the way of the incoming pack. But one lap later, chaos broke out when David Ragan's No. 38 Ford made contact with the No. 24 Chevrolet of William Byron near the outside wall, coming off Turn 2. Byron's car spun back toward the track, sending the No. 42 Chevrolet of Kyle Larson and the No. 81 Toyota of Jeffrey Earnhardt sailing across the track into the SAFER barrier along the inside wall. Larson's car got airborne just before it slammed into the wall and then barrel-rolled down the backstretch as NASCAR displayed the caution flag, giving race leader Elliott the win. "Well, initially I just thought I was going to hit the inside wall pretty hard," said Larson after he was checked and released from the infield care center. "And then right before I got to it, I felt it lift and was just hoping it would set down. Then it just started tumbling. That was probably the longest flip I've ever had. I just didn't know if it would ever stop. It was a little bit scary, but thankfully, I'm all right." WATCH:Wild and memorable crashes at Talladega through the years Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also crashed into the outside wall just as the leaders took the white flag. Joey Logano, who won this race one year ago, finished fourth, followed by Daniel Hemric, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, 2018 Talladega playoff race winner Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch and Brendan Gaughan. HARD HIT: As the field came off Turn 2, Almirola's No. 10 Ford made contact with the rear bumper of Chris Buescher's car, pushing the No. 37 Chevrolet sideways, sending him spinning into the outside wall and then up in the air into incoming Matt DiBenedetto, driving the No. 95 Toyota. The rear half of Buescher's car was sheared off along with the front of DiBenedetto's, which caught fire. Martin Truex Jr. and Justin Haley also sustained damage in the crash, which brought out the red flag for cleanup. STAGE 2: The Chevrolet cars hit pit road as a group in the middle of the stage and took advantage of that cohesiveness to score seven of the top eight places at the end of the second segment. Elliott recorded his first stage win of the season and was followed by teammates Bowman and Byron. Ryan Blaney was the top Ford in fourth and pole-sitter Austin Dillon was fifth. Kurt Busch, Larson and Hemric came home sixth, seventh and eighth, with Logano (Ford) and Kyle Busch (Toyota) rounding out the top 10. STAGE 1: Ty Dillon won his second stage of the season and collected his second playoff point as many drivers tried to conserve fuel before running out of gas. Bowman was second, Austin Dillon third, Elliott fourth and Daniel Suarez fifth. Newman, Byron, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch and DiBenedetto rounded out the top 10. FIRST CRASH: Bubba Wallace triggered a multi-car wreck when he locked bumpers with race leader Blaney on lap 11, shot to the left and spun out on the frontstretch heading into Turn 1 before collecting a number of other cars. Wallace, Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick and Matt Tift received the most serious damage and saw their races come to a premature end. Also involved in the incident: Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Stenhouse and Newman. "I don’t know if I crossed (Blaney's) bumper or whatever," Wallace said after exiting the infield care center. "But it got him wiggled down and shoved me even farther down than I wanted to go. So I went back up just to stay off the apron and it just unloaded. It’s just unfortunate, but I tried not to wreck my buddy, Ryan, and it cost our day and some others." TO THE REAR: Eight cars dropped to back of the starting grid prior to the drop of the green flag for unapproved adjustments. Among those dropping to the rear include all four from Joe Gibbs Racing — Hamlin (11), Kyle Busch (18), Truex (19) and Erik Jones (20). Also going to the back: Newman (6), Stenhouse (17), Reed Sorenson (27) and Cody Ware (51). Brendan Gaughan (62) started from the rear after a driver change — Tyler Reddick, Saturday's Xfinity Series winner, qualified the car for Gaughan, who was attending his son’s first communion. Follow Horrow on Twitter @EllenJHorrow GEICO 500 RESULTS Sunday from the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway (starting position in parentheses): 1. (11) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 188. 2. (9) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188. 3. (30) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 188. 4. (8) Joey Logano, Ford, 188. 5. (5) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 188. 6. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 188. 7. (24) Ryan Newman, Ford, 188. 8. (29) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 188. 9. (2) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188. 10. (22) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188. 11. (36) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 188. 12. (16) Daniel Suarez, Ford, 188. 13. (4) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 188. 14. (1) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188. 15. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 188. 16. (17) Paul Menard, Ford, 188. 17. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 188. 18. (37) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 188. 19. (27) Erik Jones, Toyota, 188. 20. (20) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 188. 21. (25) William Byron, Chevrolet, 188. 22. (33) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, Accident, 187. 23. (15) David Ragan, Ford, Accident, 187. 24. (10) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 187. 25. (6) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, Accident, 187. 26. (34) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 187. 27. (35) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 186. 28. (40) Cody Ware, Ford, 184. 29. (3) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 182. 30. (31) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, Accident, 181. 31. (26) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, Accident, 181. 32. (38) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, Accident, 180. 33. (21) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 178. 34. (32) Landon Cassill,, Chevrolet, 154. 35. (39) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, Suspension, 132. 36. (23) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 80. 37. (18) Matt Tifft, Ford, Accident, 11. 38. (19) Kevin Harvick, Ford, Accident, 11. 39. (28) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, Accident, 10. 40. (12) Michael McDowell, Ford, Accident, 10. Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 161.331 mph. Time of Race: 3 Hours, 5 Minutes, 59 Seconds. Margin of Victory: Under Caution. Caution Flags: 6 for 21 laps. Lead Changes: 38 among 16 drivers. Lap Leaders: A. Dillon 0; B. Keselowski 1-7; J. Logano 8; R. Blaney 9; J. Logano 10-13; Gaughan, 14; J. Logano 15-16; A. Almirola 17-30; J. Logano 31-32; A. Almirola 33; K. Larson 34; A. Almirola 35-46; M. Truex Jr 47-49; T. Dillon 50-56; C. Elliott 57-60; A. Bowman 61-67; B. Keselowski 68-70; J. Logano 71-73; R. Blaney 74-75; K. Busch 76; R. Blaney 77; R. Stenhouse Jr 78-90; K. Busch 91-92; R. Stenhouse Jr 93; C. Elliott 94-112; Gaughan, 113-114; C. Elliott 115-132; Gaughan, 133-134; E. Jones 135-138; J. Logano 139-143; M. Truex Jr 144-151; J. Logano 152-154; M. DiBenedetto 155; R. Chastain, 156-164; R. Stenhouse Jr 165-166; J. Logano 167-173; K. Busch 174; J. Logano 175-184; C. Elliott 185-188.<doc-sep>Bubba Wallace started a six-car wreck on Lap 10 of Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway when his No. 43 Chevrolet got loose in Turn 1 while he was working with the No. 12 Ford driven by Ryan Blaney. Wallace’s car wobbled after getting close to Blaney and made contact with the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin. Then, Wallace’s car moved up the track and slammed hard into the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, driven by Michael McDowell. “It was just unfortunate. I was trying not to wreck my buddy Ryan and cost us and some others, so I apologize,” Wallace told FOX. “We were fast. I was just trying to ride and not wreck somebody, and I wrecked myself.” RELATED: Race leaderboard Farther back in the field, Clint Bowyer, in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Kevin Harvick, in the No. 4 SHR Ford, and Matt Tifft, in the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford, also were involved. The Nos. 4, 34, 36 and 43 were all ruled out of the race while the No. 11 stayed in. The No. 11 later left the race during Stage 2. “I am not really sure what happened,” McDowell said. “I didn’t see a lot of it. Looked like the 43 was being real aggressive and making stupid moves at the beginning of the race.”<doc-sep>Chase Elliott won his first race of the 2019 season Sunday, taking the checkered flag at the GEICO 500 and automatically qualifying for the 16-driver, 10-race NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in the fall. The first win of the season for Hendrick Motorsports, it was also the first time this season someone other than a Joe Gibbs Racing or Team Penske driver won this year. Elliott is only the sixth winner this season. But he won under caution because of a wild last-lap wreck that took out multiple cars and threw Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet into a barrel roll on the inside of the 2.66-mile track. Larson and the other drivers involved were OK, but moments like this are always terrifying. RT TO CONGRATULATE CHASE ELLIOTT ON HIS WIN AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY! pic.twitter.com/6XahWJchiv — FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 28, 2019 Even though NASCAR threw the yellow caution flag out, Elliott was the leader going into the last lap and had already crossed the start-finish line, which brought out the white flag to signal the final circuit. So a caution on the final lap only freezes the field and doesn’t lead to another restart. The wreck appears to have been sparked by Elliott’s teammate, William Byron in the No. 24 Chevrolet. Here’s another look at Larson’s barrel roll. NASCAR has to be freaked out by the fact that Kyle Larson’s car flipped over on its own. pic.twitter.com/hQi2trJ0R4 — Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) April 28, 2019 After the wreck and being cleared by the infield care center, Larson told FOX Sports he thought that was the longest flip he’s ever had. Kyle Larson talks about his scary wreck. pic.twitter.com/NF4r0t2WDu — FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 28, 2019 Larson explained: “Initially, I thought I was just going to hit the inside of the wall pretty hard. And then right before I got to it, I felt it lift and was just hoping it would set down. And then it just started tumbling. That was probably the longest flip I’ve ever had. Still haven’t really seen a replay of it. But I just didn’t know if it’d ever stop. I knew I was flipping and just hoping that I wasn’t gonna get any closer to the catchfence, so yeah, was just a little bit scary. But thankfully, I’m all right.” Larson got lucky because not much of his car was left when he finally stopped.<doc-sep>
Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyle Larson went for a ride on a last-lap wreck Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, emerging from a multi-flip wreck no worse for wear. Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron and Front Row Motorsports driver David Ragan made contact coming out of Turn 2 on the final lap of Sunday’s GEICO 500, with Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet hitting the outside wall and turning back to the inside of the pack. His car smashed into Larson’s car, and the No. 42 Chevrolet was sent off the track toward the inside retaining wall — where it made heavy contact, and flipped down the apron. “That was probably the longest flip I’ve ever had,” Larson said after he was checked out of the infield care center. “I didn’t know if it would ever stop. … It was a little bit scary, but thankfully I’m all right.” RELATED: Race results All drivers involved in the incident — Larson, Ragan, Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jeffrey Earnhardt — exited the cars under their own power and were eventually cleared from the medical center. “I was in the middle there after we took the white flag and I just got loose and wrecked the 24 (of Byron),” Ragan said after the race. “I spun him out across my nose and he collected a few other cars. That last wreck was my fault. I was pretty stupid to wreck like that when you are running 10th or 15th on the last lap.” For Larson, it was yet another incident on what he’s dubbed a “crappy” start to his season so far. He finished the race 24th and currently sits 21st in the points standings. “Thanks to the fab shop and Chip Ganassi Racing for building safe race cars,” Larson said. “Like I said, that was scary. So, I’m just thankful that I’m OK. … As soon as we left the restart zone we were kind of just in a bad spot. When you’re like that and everybody is four or five-wide, you know something crazy is going to happen.” MORE: Wreck brings out red flag