By John Goolsby, Prep Sports Editor
TALLADEGA – Ryan Blaney won the YellaWood 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway Sunday.
Blaney also secured a spot in the third round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with the win.
The #12 Team Penske driver passed Harvick to the inside on the backstretch on the final lap.
Blaney held Harvick off at the finish line by 0.012 seconds in front of a massive crash to claim his third win at Talladega since 2019.
The pileup was triggered by Corey LaJoie, who turned Riley Herbst.
Harvick was subsequently disqualified by NASCAR for an unsecured windshield and was demoted to the 38th position.
The race features 70 lead changes among 24 different drivers. Before the last lap crash, the race saw just four cautions, two for wrecks.
Race Results:
1. Dave Blaney
2. Kevin Harvick (disqualified, scored 38th)
3. William Byron
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Corey LaJoie
6. Austin Cindric
7. Justin Haley
8. Chase Elliott
9. Ryan Preece
10. Riley Herbst
11. Daniel Suarez
12. Chandler Smith
13. Todd Gilliland
14. Chase Briscoe
15. Christopher Bell
16. Kyle Larson
17. Tyler Reddick
18. Aric Almirola
19. Martin Truex Jr.
20. Chris Buescher
21. AJ Allmendinger
22. Michael McDowell
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24. Bubba Wallace
25. Joey Logano
26. Kyle Busch
27. Erik Jones
28. Ty Dillon
29. Alex Bowman
30. BJ McLeod
31. Brennan Poole
32. Harrison Burton
33. Brad Keselowski
34. Austin Dillon
35. Ty Gibbs
36. Carson Hocevar
37. JJ Yeley
38. Ross Chastain
Playoff standings:
1. William Byron 3,136 (Texas win)
2. Ryan Blaney 3,077 (Talladega win)
3. Denny Hamlin, 3,108 points
4. Christopher Bell, 3,080
5. Chris Buescher, 3,077
6. Martin Truex, 3,075
7. Kyle Larson, 3,073
8. Brad Keselowski, 3,060
9. Tyler Reddick, 3,058
10. Bubba Wallace, 3,051
11. Ross Chastain, 3,050
12. Kyle Busch, 3,034
The series heads to Charlotte for the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday at 1:00 PM CT.