NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: Ryan Blaney wins Geico 500 in photo finish, Bubba Wallace has top-15 finish

Highlights, analysis of Blaney's victory at Talladega Superspeedway

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Due to inclement weather, Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was postponed on Sunday night. The full 188-lap race began at 3 p.m. ET on Monday with Fox handling the broadcast.

Ryan Blaney and his No. 12 Ford Mustang took the win at Talladega. This is the first win of the season for the Team Penske driver.

The tight race and photo finish made for a wild finish in Alabama, where 5,000 fans watched live. This is one of the first races since the coronavirus pandemic hit that fans were allowed in the stands.

But what happened on the track isn't the only thing that had fans talking heading into Monday's race. On Sunday, a noose was found in Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega. Wallace is NASCAR's only full-time Black Cup Series driver and the company released a statement saying that they are "angry and outraged."

NASCAR drivers showed their support for Wallace by pushing his No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro to the front of the grid followed by standing around it prior to the race.

Athletes around the sports world were cheering for Wallace and with everyone watching, the Richard Petty Motorsports driver was in contention as the drivers completed their final laps, but in overtime dropped to 17th before finishing 14th, a career-best finish for Wallace at Talladega.

Wallace walked out to the fans after the race while holding his fist up, as his best friend on the track Blaney took in the win. Wallace finished just three-tenths of a second behind the winner and joked after the race saying, "Man, I know I should've won that damn race. We ran out of gas."

Lightning and rain forced a delay to the green flag on Sunday in Talladega and with rain in the forecast on Monday as well, it was touch and go at the start of the race. 

Sunday's postponement was in part due to the lack of lights at Talladega, with the race unable to happen at night.

Oddsmakers had a three-way tie for the driver with the best chances to win Monday's race with Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano sitting at +1000 heading into Monday's actions.

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Aric Almirola, who finished in third place in spectacular fashion after his car spun out in the final straightaway, also shared his support for Wallace following the race by explaining how NASCAR drivers look at themselves as part of the same family at the end of the day.

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Like many others, Jimmie Johnson was furious after hearing what happened at Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega which led to the rest of the field rallying around their fellow driver in what was a powerful moment prior to the green flag being waved.

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After taking the checkered flag at Talladega, Ryan Blaney was as candid as can possibly be when discussing the things that his friend, Bubba Wallace, had to go through over the course of the weekend.

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