Almirola took the lead in overtime and held on for the victory at the 1000Bulbs.com 500. Clint Bowyer placed second while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished in third.
The win was Almirola’s first of 2018 and guarantees him a spot in the next round of the NASCAR playoffs.
“I’ve been so close so many times this year,” Almirola told NBCS after the race. “Four or five times this year I feel like we had a shot to win and haven’t been able to seal the deal. I love racing at Talladega, I came with a mindset of ‘we’re going to go race.’
“What a cool time (to win). … What a team effort. This was an incredible race.”
The race went into overtime after Alex Bowman was involved in a late crash.
Kurt Busch won Stage 1 while Kevin Harvick followed with a Stage 2 victory. Busch ran out of fuel on the final lap and claimed 14th place.
Monster Energy NASCAR results at Talladega
Aric Almirola Clint Bowyer Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Denny Hamlin Joey Logano AJ Allmendinger Jimmie Johnson Erik Jones Paul Menard Regan Smith Kyle Larson Brendan Gaughan Trevor Bayne Kurt Busch Ty Dillon Daniel Suarez Austin Dillon Joey Gase Darrell Wallace Jr. William Byron Chris Buescher Landon Cassill Martin Truex Jr. Ross Chastain Ryan Newman Kyle Busch Brad Keselowski Kevin Harvick Ryan Blaney Matt DiBenedetto Chase Elliott Corey Lajoie Alex Bowman DJ Kennington Jamie McMurray JJ Yeley Jeffrey Earnhardt Cody Ware David Ragan Michael McDowell
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