Talladega Superspeedway is about to roar again, with the track welcoming NASCAR and its three national series for a weekend of playoff racing.
The Cup Series playoff race, the YellaWood 500, will be at 1 p.m. Oct. 6. The Xfinity series race is on Oct. 5 and the truck race is Oct. 4. The defending champion of the Cup Series race is Ryan Blaney who won the 2023 fall race, while Tyler Reddick won the spring race in April. Both come to the track looking for a win to help their championship aspirations.
Here are some things to watch going into the race week in Alabama.
Brad Keselowski is current wins leader at Talladega Superspeedway
Keselowski comes in after being eliminated from the 2024 NASCAR playoffs two stops ahead of this race. He has six wins at the track, but none since 2021. The six victories put him in a tie with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and behind Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s 10 wins at the track.
Other past winners include Joey Logano and Blaney. The Penske Ford teammates have three wins each. The duo both could use a win to help their case in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Defending champions need to find repeat performances
Blaney is the defending champion of the fall race while Reddick, another racer in the NASCAR playoffs won the spring race. Both could use strong days at Talladega to advance their case, but they aren’t the only past race winners to come in looking for help in the playoffs. Chase Elliott is the big name looking for a big day, coming into the Round of 12 in seventh place and a win would take the pressure off.
The two defending winners come into the Round of 12 with strong places in the playoff standings. Reddick comes in, in third place while Blaney is fifth.
Three past winners looking to save seasons at Talladega
A few past winners who aren’t in the playoffs could turn seasons around with big wins on Oct. 6. Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain all barely missed the playoffs. Bubba has historically been strong at drafting tracks with great finishes at Talladega and Daytona.
Busch has won at least one race per year since 2005, but with the 2024 season winding down that win streak is in jeopardy. Busch has won twice at Talladega, including in 2023. He has 10 top-10s, and had three straight top-5s to end the regular season but the first three races of the playoffs weren’t spectacular. He has seven top-10s at drafting tracks since joining Richard Childress Racing in 2023.
SPRING RACE: Tyler Reddick wins NASCAR Cup Series Geico 500 with slow day at Talladega Superspeedway
MICHAEL JORDAN: Why is NBA legend Michael Jordan at Talladega for Geico 500 NASCAR Cup Series race?
Non-past winners to watch in YellaWood 500
There are two strong superspeedway racers that have not won at NASCAR’s longest oval in Austin Dillon and Michael McDowell. Both are outside of the playoffs even though Dillon won the race at Richmond in August. The win was deemed to not be eligible for entry to the playoffs because Dillon spun two other drivers in the race.
The two have wins at Daytona, with McDowell’s first win coming there. He has won five poles this season, including the spring Talladega race. The others include both Atlanta races and the August Daytona race. Dillon has won three times at Daytona, including the 2018 Daytona 500, but only has five top-10s in 22 races there.
Talladega is longest NASCAR oval track
At 2.66 miles, Talladega Superspeedway is the longest oval in NASCAR, only beat out by some of the road course that the series frequents. With the long straightaways, it’s common for cars to reach over 200 miles an hour. The mix of speed and the drafting style of racing that has become synonymous with Talladega and Daytona can lead to what fans call the big one — usually a crash that takes out a good portion of the field.
The track is similar in shape to the famous Daytona International Speedway, one major difference is Talladega has the start-finish line on the far end of the tri-oval, meaning drivers have to race down the front stretch and have to plan for moves after turn four.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: What to know about NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 race at Talladega
Read the full article here
