Carson Hocevar wins NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega in April 2026

The NASCAR Cup Series competed at Talladega Superspeedway and it was a unique event. After NASCAR changed the stage lengths, it created a more spread out Stage 1 and intense Stage 2. Then, the Final Stage produced two-by-two racing, giving a Spire Motorsports driver their first Cup Series victory.

Carson Hocevar and the No. 77 team for Spire Motorsports won the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega on Sunday, earning their first victory of the 2026 Cup Series season. Hocevar was able to beat RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher to the line after battling upfront over the last 40 laps of the event.

After the event, Hocevar drove his No. 77 car the opposite direction while sitting outside of the vehicle. It was one of the most memorable NASCAR celebrations in recent memory. The Spire Motorsports driver has been knocking on the door, and he finally broke through at Talladega on Sunday evening.

NASCAR results: Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway (April 2026)

1. No. 77 Carson Hocevar
2. No. 17 Chris Buescher
3. No. 48 Alex Bowman
4. No. 9 Chase Elliott
5. No. 38 Zane Smith
6. No. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
7. No. 1 Ross Chastain
8. No. 2 Austin Cindric
9. No. 4 Noah Gragson
10. No. 8 Kyle Busch
11. No. 34 Todd Gilliland
12. No. 7 Daniel Suarez
13. No. 10 Ty Dillon
14. No. 45 Tyler Reddick
15. No. 11 Denny Hamlin
16. No. 16 AJ Allmendinger
17. No. 20 Christopher Bell
18. No. 60 Ryan Preece
19. No. 3 Austin Dillon
20. No. 97 Shane Van Gisbergen
21. No. 51 Cody Ware
22. No. 42 John Hunter Nemechek
23. No. 43 Erik Jones
24. No. 78 Daniel Dye
25. No. 35 Riley Herbst
26. No. 88 Connor Zilisch
27. No. 33 Jesse Love
28. No. 66 Chad Finchum
29. No. 19 Chase Briscoe
30. No. 44 Joey Gase
31. No. 6 Brad Keselowski
32. No. 71 Michael McDowell
33. No. 21 Josh Berry
34. No. 54 Ty Gibbs
35. No. 24 William Byron
36. No. 23 Bubba Wallace
37. No. 12 Ryan Blaney