Hocevar claims first Cup victory at Talladega; massive wreck collects more than 20 cars
Carson Hocevar claims his first win as a Cup series driver at Talladega.
A major wreck involving more than 20 NASCAR drivers scattered the field at Talladega Sunday. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images) Sean Gardner via Getty Images TALLADEGA, Ala. — The best way to survive Talladega: Finish first.
The second-best way: Not even race Talladega at all. Carson Hocevar chose the first route, claiming the Jack Links 500 on Sunday for his first career NASCAR Cup win. Hocevar outlasting both Buescher and one of the largest, by sheer numbers, wrecks in recent NASCAR history.
Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, at the track for a sponsor event, escaped the carnage by not even climbing into a car at all. He happily offered up his perspective now that he’s a visitor, not a driver, at the beast of a track. “You don’t know what’s going to happen,” Johnson, a two-time Talladega winner, said a couple hours before the race.
Johnson, clearly relieved at no longer having to deal with the “anxiety,” in his words, of racing at NASCAR’s largest and fastest track, pegged the challenge of racing at Talladega no matter what the year. “Most races, you have tire fall-off and pit stops and other elements that you can focus on, and really control your own destiny,” he said. “But as we all know with the pack … anything can happen.