TALLADEGA, Alabama – In a sport that is easily perceived as an individual sport, the teamwork of more than 500 km around Talladega Superspeedway was the determining factor in Aric Almirola's victory on Sunday in 1000Bulbs.com.

With his teammates Stewart-Haas races – the pole – Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer – he started on the first two lines as the fastest qualifying car. They worked in unison throughout the 193-lap race on NASCAR's longest track. With five laps to go, they had taken 20 car lengths ahead of everyone else.

A flag of caution with three remaining laps threatened their victory, and when the leader of the time, Busch, had broken down gasoline in the last lap in overtime, Almirola took control to win his first race of the season.

"It's so great! I've been so close so many times this year." Four or five times this year, I thought we had a chance to win, but I did not manage to seal the deal, "said an enthusiast, Almirola. leaving his Ford No. 10.

"I arrived with the idea that we were going to give them hell, we were going to try the victory, and if we destroyed we would destroy."

Almirola ended a series of 149 wins to win his second career victory. His last victory was at Daytona International Speedway in July 2014. The 34-year-old driver joined SHR this year, taking over from Danica Patrick's No. 10.

Bowyer finished second, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. AJ Allmendinger, Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones, Paul Menard and Regan Smith complete the top 10.

In the first 500-kilometer race, SHR teammates took control and resisted Penske Team's traditionally dominant drivers Brad Keselowski and Logano, who have won six of Talladega's last nine races.

Even after the restarts, the work done by the four Ford SHR pilots on the track was often accurately calculated and choreographed, as they drew close together and formed single file rows inside the track of 2, 66 km. Whenever they lined up back to back, they controlled the pace with unparalleled speed, leaving everyone struggling to chase them away.

"It was an incredible race," said Almirola. "We were all four so well organized – it was us against the field – what an incredible race of Stewart-Haas Racing … we finally did it!"

Their teamwork led to domination, made them impossible to catch – must pass less – and allowed Almirola to take the checkered flag while Busch could no longer hold. Busch finished 14th, while Harvick, forced to do a few seconds before extending his race due to a gasoline outage, was ranked 28th, just behind his teammates Keselowski (27th) and Kyle Busch (26th).

Almirola joins Chase Elliott, last weekend's winner at Dover International Speedway, as the only drivers stuck in the round of 16 in the playoffs, while the last race of the round of 16 at Kansas Speedway is looming.

1000Bulbs.com 500 Results

Sunday from the Talladega Superspeedway of 2.66 miles (starting position in parentheses):

1. (4) Aric Almirola, Ford, 193.

2. (2) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 193.

3. (12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 193.

4. (10) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 193.

5. (20) Joey Logano, Ford, 193.

6. (23) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 193.

7. (6) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 193.

8. (15) Erik Jones, Toyota, 193.

9. (30) Paul Ménard, Ford, 193.

10. (25) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 193.

11. (34) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 193.

12. (28) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 193.

13. (24) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 193.

14. (1) Kurt Busch, Ford, 193.

15. (29) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 193.

16. (13) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 193.

17. (21) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 193.

18. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 193.

19. (17) Darrell Wallace Jr., Chevrolet, 193.

20. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, 193.

21. (26) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 193.

22. (38) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 193.

23. (11) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 193.

24. (36) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 193.

25. (22) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 193.

26. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 193.

27. (18) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 193.

28. (3) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 193.

29. (19) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 193.

30. (27) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 192.

31. (5) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 192.

32. (40) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 191.

33. (7) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 191.

34. (33) DJ Kennington, Chevrolet, 190.

35. (31) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 186.

36. (32) JJ Yeley, Ford, Accident, 185.

37. (35) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 185.

38. (39) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 185.

39. (16) David Ragan, Ford, 173.

40. (14) Michael McDowell, Ford, 155.

Race statistics

Average winner of the race: 153.707 mph.

Race time: 3 hours, 20 minutes, 24 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.105 seconds.

Warning flags: 8 for 32 rounds.

Lead changes: 15 of 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders: Kurt Busch 1-11; A. Allmendinger 12; Kurt Busch 13-56; Mr DiBenedetto 57; R. Blaney 58-63; R. Chastain 64; K. Harvick 65-68; Kyle Busch 69; K. Harvick 70-111; B. Keselowski 112-121; W. Byron 122-126; B. Keselowski 127-137; Mr. DiBenedetto 138; B. Gaughan 139; Kurt Busch 140-192; A. Almirola 193;

Summary of Leaders (Pilot, Times, Rounds Led): Kurt Busch 3 times for 108 laps; K. Harvick 2 times for 46 rounds; B. Keselowski 2 times for 21 rounds; R. Blaney 1 time for 6 turns; W. Byron 1 time for 5 turns; Mr. DiBenedetto 2 times for 2 rounds; R. Chastain 1 time for 1 round; Kyle Busch 1 time for 1 lap; A. Almirola 1 time for 1 round; A. Allmendinger 1 time for 1 round; B. Gaughan 1 time for 1 round.