NASCAR race at Talladega shatters drafting track record set over 20 years ago

The NASCAR Cup Series races across four main track types: superspeedways, intermediate tracks, short tracks and road courses. Superspeedways, especially Talladega, are known for intense, dramatic racing that challenges even the most experienced drivers.

This year’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega didn't disappoint, delivering high-speed action and breaking a record that stood for more than two decades. The race featured the most laps completed under green flag conditions before the finish in a drafting race.

A post on X by NASCAR Insights highlighted the broken record, which was last held by the 2004 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon secured pole position, led the most laps and eventually won the race that year.

"The Cup race at Talladega ended with a 62-lap green flag run. This was the longest green flag run to end a drafting track race without a last lap accident since the 2004 July Daytona race," the post was captioned.

Drafting remained the key to success all afternoon. In simple terms, drafting happens when one car closely follows another to cut through the air faster.

A prime example came in the closing laps as Austin Cindric led the field, with former champion Kyle Larson behind him. Larson used the draft to build momentum, and, with a final push, helped Cindric secure the win at the finish line.

Other major highlights from the Jack Link’s 500 included the disqualification of RFK Racing’s #60 driver Ryan Preece, who had originally crossed the line in P2 by a razor-thin margin. Team Penske’s Joey Logano faced a similar outcome, as both drivers failed post-race inspection due to technical violations found in the rear spoilers of their cars.

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Ryan Blaney speaks out after becoming the victim of two former NASCAR champions' Talladega wreck

Team Penske's #12 driver Ryan Blaney started the Jack Link’s 500 from P9 and maintained a strong position inside the top 10 before green-flag pit stops began. However, a miscue between former Cup Series champions Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch resulted in contact, with Blaney getting caught in the aftermathm ending his race early.

Following the race, Blaney, who's also a former champion, reflected on the incident at the Talladega Superspeedway.

"I saw the 8(Busch) and 6(Keselowski) kind of get hooked together and they were going up the track, so I kind of picked the bottom and tried to get out of there and I think they clipped someone outside of them and the 6 came back into me and I got clipped in the right-rear. Oh gosh, man, another DNF. It just su**s. Just when we were kind of getting our momentum and didn’t even get to race today,"

Meanwhile, the next Cup Series race is scheduled at Texas Motor Speedway on May 4 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. Catch the race live on FOX Sports 1, Pro Racing Network and SiriusXM's NASCAR channel.