NASCAR Weekend Preview: Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega turbulence awaits as Cup title race tightens

With only three races remaining to settle the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship, Sunday’s iconic Fall 500-miler at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway stands to, once again, play a major role in shaping the final push to the Bill France Performance Cup trophy.

The YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the ultimate wildcard in this late season Chase run. Many drivers consider it as much a test of survival as show of skill in the close-quarter racing on Talladega’s famed 2.66-mile high banks. It has so often proven consequential as the 16 championship drivers close out the season.

Twelve different drivers have won the last 12 Talladega races with Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney the last driver to earn back-to-back Talladega trophies in 2019-20.

The style of racing on tracks such as Talladega, the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway and the 1.5-mile EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) high banks has continually kept the oddsmakers honest.

This Spring, Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar claimed his first, and only, career NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega. And then there’s two-time and reigning series champion and current championship leader, Kyle Larson, still racing for his first ever win on a drafting track.

The top seven drivers in the Chase are separated by a mere 56 points. Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson continues to hold the lead but a bad luck day at Phoenix last week severely cut into his advantage atop the points. He now leads, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell by only five points. JGR’s Chase Briscoe is third, 24 points back and the No. 1 seed entering the Chase, JGR’s Denny Hamlin – who also had a rough outing in the Phoenix desert – is now 31 points off Larson. Team Penske teammates Blaney and Joey Logano are 41 and 44 points behind Larson. With his Phoenix victory, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick is eighth in the standings, 56 points back.

Larson leads all drivers in laps led (556) and average finish (7.3) through the seven Chase races to date.

“Talladega, like any superspeedway race, is challenging because there are so many things that can happen outside of your control,” said Larson, who after going winless during the regular season has two victories and two runner-up finishes in The Chase. “Focusing on what you can control is always an important part of racing at those tracks. As a Chevrolet group, I think we work really well together. We’ve continued to improve how we work together, and I think we’re in a good place.”

Bell, driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota, who is in his highest points position of the year, has earned the most stage points (96) during the Chase, followed by Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney with the second-most (82).

“I know I haven’t had the greatest finishes at Talladega throughout my career, but we’re also one of the top contenders when it comes down to the end of the race,” said Bell. “Outside of the final stage, we do a great job as a team of scoring stage points. I don’t view Talladega as negatively for us or for Kyle Larson as others might. I truly believe we can have a good day.”

Hamlin, a four-time winner in the No. 11 JGR Toyota this season, certainly presents a formidable case going forward with double the number of wins as any other driver in the next three Chase venues – 11 victories in total (two at Talladega, six at Martinsville, Va. and three at Homestead-Miami).

And the formidable Talladega certainly proved to be so in the spring visit with Larson finishing 40th, Hamlin 15th and Bell coming in 17th.

Interestingly, the driver who leads the most laps at the drafting tracks has won only three of the last 21 races – the most recent, Blaney in July at Atlanta. Blaney (two) and last week’s Phoenix winner, Reddick (three) are the only repeat winners on drafting tracks in the last 16 drafting-style races.

Ryan Preece (Daytona) and Hocevar (Talladega) both scored their first career wins on the big tracks. There have never been three first-time winners on drafting tracks.

In 2026, Reddick has an incredible 5.4 average finish on drafting-style tracks. Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suarez (10.6) and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott (11.0) have been next best.

And worth noting, Roush Fenway Keselowski driver Brad Keselowski’s seven wins on drafting style tracks are most in the field. Logano and Blaney each have six.

Busch Light Pole Qualifying is at 1 p.m. Saturday (TruTV, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hamlin is the last driver to win from pole position (2020). Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell is the defending polesitter for this fall race.

Love takes charge, but Talladega could shuffle the championship chase

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship battle continues to be dramatic with the top four drivers separated by less than a single race points-potential heading into Saturday’s Progress Group 250 (2 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Reigning series champ, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love claimed his second win of the Chase – and the season – last week at Phoenix and has taken over the points lead for the first time this season in the most crucial part of the calendar.

He’s now up 36 points on another former series champ, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier, who dominated the regular season but has had to regain footing in the six Chase races to date.

Much to the pleasure of fans, the top of the standings has been a competitive free-for-all throughout the Chase. Hendrick Motorsports’ rookie Corey Day is only 39 points off Love’s pace with an impressive four wins in his first title run. And Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed not only earned his first career victory this year (at Atlanta), but has answered it with two more in the Chase to keep the front-runners honest. He’s 59 points off Love’s pace.

Love, the driver of the No. 2 RCR Chevrolet, has scored the most points in the Chase to date – 307 to Day’s 283. And the 18-year-old Californian, Day, earned his career first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory here at Talladega this spring in true ‘Dega style – leading only the final lap in his No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet holding off Brett Crews and Creed.

“Superspeedways are always pretty unpredictable, and Talladega will be the same way,” said Day, who steers the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “Winning there in the spring was a pretty cool surprise, and hopefully I can take what I learned from that race and apply it this weekend.

“We’re still in contention for The Chase, so we need to put together a clean race, stay out front and give ourselves a shot at the end.”

Four Chase drivers have previous wins at Talladega, including Day, Love (2024-1), JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith (2024-2) and RCR’s Austin Hill, an absolute master on the big tracks who claimed both 2025 race trophies. Hill’s back-to-back wins marks the only time a driver has claimed consecutive trophies since Martin Truex Jr. accomplished the feat in a three-peat in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Although not Chase-eligible, Jeb Burton is the only other former winner in the field boasting two Talladega spring triumphs in 2021 and 2023.

Only Hill has previous wins at all three of the remaining Chase tracks. Allgaier is the only other driver with multiple trophies at those tracks, winning at Martinsville (twice) and Homestead-Miami.

Of note: Love has won the last four Talladega pole positions and could become the first driver in series’ history to win five consecutive pole positions at a single track.

Qualifying is at 11 a.m. Saturday. Love is the defending polesitter, however the last time a pole-winner also won the race was driver Justin Haley in 2020.

Talladega wild card could deal a twist in CRAFTSMAN Truck title chase

Unlike the other two national series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship dance has narrowed to a duet coming into Talladega Superspeedway, the most unpredictable venue remaining in the 2026 season.

TRICON Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt and Front Row Motorsports’ Layne Riggs take a considerable advantage over the field when the green flag falls for Friday afternoon’s Love’s RV Stop 225 (4 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Heading into the always-thrilling Talladega race, the season’s four-time winner and driver of the No. 11 Toyota, Honeycutt holds his largest advantage of the Chase, a 39-point edge over seven-race winner Riggs – both drivers well in front of third place, McAnally-Hilgemann’s Christian Eckes at 112 points back. None of these drivers have won on the sport’s biggest track, however.

In last year’s Chase race at Talladega, Riggs, driver of the No. 34 FRM Ford, finished fifth, Honeycutt was 10th, and it was actually Honeycutt’s TRICON teammate Gio Ruggiero scoring his first career win – from pole position – leading a race best 37 of the 90 laps including the final seven in a thrilling overtime triumph.

CR7 Motorsports driver Grant Enfinger is the only Chase-eligible driver with trophies at all the remaining tracks (Talladega, Martinsville, Va. and Homestead-Miami). Neither Honeycutt nor Riggs have won at any of those venues.

Any driver more than 153 points behind the leader following the Talladega race will be mathematically eliminated from championship contention. And going into the weekend, four drivers are already that many points back, including Ruggiero (-151), Enfinger (-184), three-time series champ Ben Rhodes (-188) and Tyler Ankrum (-201) – all needing to rally for a good day Friday to stay in the hunt.

Of note, Honeycutt boasts the best average finish (3.3) in the opening four Chase races with McAnally-Hilgemann’s Daniel Hemric second best with a 7.3 average finish and his teammate Eckes third best with a 9.0 average. Riggs, who opened the chase with finishes of 32nd (Bristol, Tenn.) and 19th (Kansas), is only seventh best in the Chase with a 13.8 average finish so far.

There have been nine different winners in the last nine Talladega races, including five hoisting their first career trophies. Talladega boasts the series record for most last lap winning passes (11) – including six of the last eight races.

Pole Qualifying is slated for 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday (FS2).

NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: YellaWood 500
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
Track Length: 2.66 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Sunday, October 25
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
The Purse: $11,233,037
TV: NBC, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 500.08 miles (188 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 98),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 143), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 188)

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Next Race: The Progress Group 250
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
Track Length: 2.66 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Saturday, October 24
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,661,806
TV: CW, 3:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 250.04 miles (94 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 25),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 50), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 94)

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Next Race: Love’s RV Stop 225
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
Track Length: 2.66 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Friday, October 23
The Time: 4 p.m. ET
The Purse: $789,700
TV: FS1, 4 p.m. ET
Radio: NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 226.1 miles (85 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 85)