Talladega, Ala. (NEXSTAR) — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. secured a win at Talladega Superspeedway in a photo finish at the YellaWood 500. The win marks Stenhouse Jr’s second victory at this iconic track, where he narrowly edged out competitors in the final moments of the race. In an interview with CBS 42 Sports Director Dee Jackson, Stenhouse reflected on the intensity of the race and how he managed to avoid the “big one” that knocked out 27 cars.
Dee Jackson, CBS 42 Sports Director: Well, another historic day at Talladega Superspeedway, the winner of the YellaWood 500, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ricky, you talk about that photo finish. What was that like going down to the wire for you?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Yeah it's Talladega. You know, I wasn't sure if we won or not, but I knew that we were in control of the race for that last run. We did a great job getting to pit road and getting off pit road. That set us up to where we were in the front with our Chevy teammates. I've lost a couple by inches here, and it's cool to win them by inches. My spotter told me pretty quick that we won, but I wasn't too sure. Just a great day for us. I thought the race was intense. It was fun, three or four wide pretty much the whole day, and people pushing and shoving. I think for the most part, it was just really hard racing, and I had a lot of fun. Our car was really solid. It felt like it was fast enough, handled good, pushed and got pushed good, so it was doing everything I needed it to do.
Jackson: Second win for you here at Talladega, but this race was so unique in the sense 28 cars were eliminated in the big crash. How did you stay up front, and how did you avoid the big one?
Stenhouse: Yeah, I mean, we got our door destroyed on that one. We were just far enough ahead. Luckily, it didn't hit us in the left rear tire, didn't get us in the left front. It kinda hit right in the center of the door. In these races, you don't normally want to be like 15th to 25th, but when it comes down towards the end of the race, the crashes normally happen towards the front. Luckily, we were able to escape that narrowly. You've got to have luck on your side when it comes to these races and put yourself in the right position at the same time. We did everything right today and had a fast car.
Jackson: Fast car is going to be zooming over to Charlotte next week. What are you looking forward to for next week's race?
Stenhouse: Yeah, I mean, when you come off a win, you're always looking forward to getting back to the racetrack. The Roval has got a couple of new corners that we're going to find out what they're like and have a lot of fun. But this one's huge for our team. That's two wins in two years over the last two years, so that's good for us. We'll keep pushing.
Jackson: All right, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. takes home the checkered flag at Talladega Superspeedway.