NASCAR at Talladega 2019 Results: Chase Elliott Earns Win over Alex Bowman

Chase Elliott won the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, holding off teammate Alex Bowman and Ryan Preece.

The race ended in a caution following a wreck midway through the final lap. As a result, Elliott could cruise to the finish line to claim the checkered flag.

Sunday was a good day for Chevrolet, which had the top four finishers and six of the top 10. The full results are available on NASCAR's official site.

Geico 500 Leaderboard

1. Chase Elliott

2. Alex Bowman

3. Ryan Preece

4. Joey Logano

5. Daniel Hemric

6. Kurt Busch

7. Ryan Newman

8. Brendan Gaughan

9. Aric Almirola

10. Kyle Busch

Elliott's victory was a team effort. He passed Joey Logano with three laps to go thanks to a helping hand from Bowman. Bowman's push allowed the No. 9 car to surge into the lead. From there, Bowman was pivotal toward ensuring Elliott remained in the top spot.

The caution was somewhat fortuitous for Elliott, as Logano lurked on the outside.

When the race ended, the focus quickly turned to the health of the drivers involved in the wreck. The concern largely centered around Kyle Larson in particular after the No. 42 car rolled multiple times.

Larson fortunately exited his car under his own power.

Elliott now has his first win of the season, which simultaneously punches his ticket to the championship playoffs. The 23-year-old is halfway to his father Bill's career win total at Talladega as well.

Elliott hadn't gotten off to a great start this year, posting two top-10 finishes in his first nine races. By getting to Victory Lane, he could kick-start his 2019 campaign.

Talladega Superspeedway has long held a reputation for making drivers' lives a nightmare. Seemingly every race is bound to produce an eye-popping crash that knocks multiple stars out of the event.

Sunday's edition required just 10 laps before the first multi-car accident. Bubba Wallace made contact with Ryan Blaney and then lost control. When all was said and done, Wallace, Michael McDowell, Kevin Harvick and Matt Tifft were done for the day.

This is Wallace's second season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis. Harvick seemed to direct a sharp critique toward the 25-year-old:

Denny Hamlin absorbed some contact from the No. 43 car yet remained in the race. He only completed 80 laps, though, before hitting the wall and heading for the garage. Hamlin already has two wins this season to guarantee himself a playoff berth. Perhaps because of that, he and his crew decided to call it a day rather than fix the No. 11 car.

For the most part, Sunday's race was pretty clean until the 182nd lap.

Chris Buescher hit the wall and immediately rolled up onto the hood of Matt DiBenedetto's No. 95 car. Justin Haley and Martin Truex Jr. were included, too. Truex was at least able to stay in the race following a lengthy caution to clear the debris from the track.

The final lap then delivered more of the destruction fans associate with Talladega.

The series moves to Dover International Speedway for the Gander RV 400 on May 5. Elliott won the most recent Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at Dover last October.