DUDE Wipes Chevrolet Driver Avoids Last-Lap Accident to Score Top-10 Finish in GEICO 500
Date: April 21, 2024
Event: GEICO 500
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Format: 188 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/68 laps)
Start/Finish: 24th / 6th (Running, completed 188 of 188 laps)
Race Winner: Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Overview:
Anthony Alfredo, driver of the No. 62 DUDE Wipes Chevrolet Camaro for Beard Motorsports, finished an impressive sixth in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway after avoiding chaos on the final lap of the 188-lap race. The field raced three-wide during the initial stage of the race as Alfredo worked to learn the draft. The No. 62 Chevrolet got up to 15th by Lap 36 before making a trip to pit road for fuel only during the only round of green-flag pit stops in the first stage. The team elected to make another stop for fuel prior to the end of the first stage placing Alfredo in 30th place to finish that segment. During the second stage, Alfredo led on lap 70, his first laps led at Talladega as the field once again raced three-wide. He stayed up front even as the bottom line became unorganized. In an effort to save fuel, the DUDE Wipes driver positioned himself in the middle lane behind the leaders. Unfortunately, he ran out of fuel coming to the stage end and finished 36th. During the final stage, Alfredo restarted 10th but was forced to restart at the tail end of the longest line for pitting early during the stage break. He raced into the top-10 before falling back in the final stage. Using the draft, he was able to maintain a spot among the top-25 cars racing in a tight pack. Coming to the checkered flag, the leaders started wrecking collecting multiple cars. Alfredo was able to not only avoid the spinning cars but also launch himself from 18th to sixth, scoring his best career finish in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Anthony Alfredo, driver of the No. 62 DUDE Wipes Chevrolet Camaro for Beard Motorsports:
“Beard Motorsports has worked really hard to come to a couple races a year, but when they do it, they do it right, and they know they have a shot to win. So, I take a lot of pride in being the one behind the wheel for them. I hope I can do a lot more with them. You know, we had an awesome car today drove to the front, let some laps stayed skid-mark free thanks to DUDE Wipes. And at the end there we were just kind of boxed in. I couldn’t really do a whole lot especially when that third lane formed. I wanted to join that party earlier, but I was just trapped on the bottom so I pushed as hard as I could. In typical Talladega Superspeedway racing fashion things got a little crazy coming to the line and I just yanked it hard left, flew through the grass and somehow I crossed the line in sixth.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Würth400 on Sunday, April 28 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
The next race for Beard Motorsports and the No. 62 Chevrolet is Saturday, Aug. 24 in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
