0
0
October 16, 2025
By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Mixed expectations flourish as the Talladega Playoff wildcard approaches
TALLADEGA, Ala. – It’s a case of mixed expectations for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers as they anticipate Sunday’s YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET on MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the famous Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway high banks.
Some consider Talladega a prime opportunity to formalize a spot in the Nov. 2 Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway, others approach this traditional wildcard race more cautiously with its history of unexpected trophy hoists and intense racing.
One driver that doesn’t have to worry about Talladega’s typical all-holds bar style is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who clinched his position in the title race with an exciting victory last week at Las Vegas – earning him his first championship bid since 2021.
It not only re-energizes Hamlin’s No. 11 team and the 44-year-old veteran still seeking his first career NASCAR championship, but it could also be an intimidating scenario for this competition considering the three-time Daytona 500 winner is so good on superspeedways and now lines up on the grid with his title chance already secure.
Three more positions are still to be decided in the round’s two final races, Talladega and next week at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The last 10 Talladega races have been won by different drivers – the longest streak without a back-to-back race winner in the track’s 112-race history. The only two current Playoff drivers to win in that span are local favorite, Georgia-native Chase Elliott (2022) and fellow NASCAR Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney (2023).
Both Elliott and Blaney could use a quality runs this weekend as they are both ranked below the cutoff line in the Playoff standings. Interesting to that point, however, seven of the nine Talladega Playoff race winners were at or below the cutline at the green flag.
Beyond Hamlin, who has advanced with a victory already, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson – who finished runner-up at Vegas – now leads the standings, 35 points above the cutoff line. Hamlin’s JGR teammates Christopher Bell (+20) and Chase Briscoe (+15) round out the current top-four drivers.
Regular Season Champion, Hendrick’s William Byron is 15 points below the cutoff after a heart-breaking accident at Vegas last week. He’s followed by his teammate Chase Elliott (-23) and Team Penske drivers, the reigning series champion Joey Logano (-24) and 2023 series champ Blaney (-31).
Their Penske teammate, Austin Cindric, won at Talladega this April. And this season, Logano leads all drivers in laps led (228) at drafting tracks (Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta) but his best finish is 12th.
The four drivers below the cutoff line have a combined 17 victories at Talladega and Martinsville.
At Talladega, specifically, Larson, Bell and Briscoe have never won a NASCAR Cup Series race. Blaney and Logano each have three Talladega trophies and Elliott has two.
“Talladega is where anything and everything can happen and change quickly,” acknowledged Byron, who has won the last two Daytona 500s in the No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet.
“We would like to collect stage points but also strategy will be big when it comes to fuel. Plus, you don’t want to put yourself in a situation where your race could end early all because you pushed too hard for stage points. It’s going to be a very fine balance and all we can do is execute and see where the chips fall at the end.”
There is no practice this weekend. Busch Light Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell won the pole position for this race last Fall. Hamlin is the last driver to win at Talladega from pole (2020).
Talladega could be someone’s Xfinity Series ticket to the Championship 4
With two races remaining to set the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship field, all four positions are yet to be formally decided. That could change in this weekend’s United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway (4 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Aric Almirola – the 2017 series Talladega winner – won last week’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas securing a position for the No. 19 Toyota in the owner’s championship at the Nov. 1 Phoenix grand finale. However, the drivers’ portion of the title race remains very much up for grabs as Talladega moves into the crucial final round schedule for the first time. At least two drivers will now advance based solely on their points position.
Championship leader and 10-race winner, JR Motorsports’ rookie sensation Connor Zilisch finished runner-up to Almirola in a thrilling opener to this round last week at Las Vegas and continued to pad his championship advantage – now 82 points above the cutoff line and 38 up on his teammate and reigning series champion Justin Allgaier.
Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love is 20-points above the cutoff line and Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer is eight points to the good.
JGR’s Brandon Jones is the first driver below the cutoff line, eight points off Mayer. Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed (-21) and JR Motorsports’ Carson Kvapil (-22) and Sammy Smith (-24) are separated by only two points.
Love (third), Allgaier (fourth) and Creed (ninth) finished top-10 in April at the track. Creed has finished in the top-10 at Talladega four consecutive times, one shy of the all-time record.
Love (2024) and the defending Fall race winner Smith are the only current Playoff drivers with Talladega trophies.
Three of the last five races at Talladega have featured a last-lap pass for the win. Love’s RCR teammate Austin Hill won in the Spring race and has proven to be a drafting track master – the only driver in series history to win at all three drafting tracks (Atlanta-five times, Daytona-three times and Talladega once).
Of note, no driver has won Race 2 of this final round and then gone on to claim the championship.
Kennametal Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET. (CW App) Love started from pole position last year. Only three times in the series’ 38-race history at the track has a driver hoisted a trophy after starting from pole. Justin Haley was the last to do it in 2020.
CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returns Playoff action at Talladega
After a week off the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returns to action with Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 (4 p.m. ET on FOX, NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Talladega Superspeedway – the second of three Playoff races that will decide which four drivers race for the 2025 championship.
The odds-on title favorite is Corey Heim, who is the first driver in series history to win 10 races in a single season and the only driver so far to have advanced to the Championship 4 Round via his victory on the Charlotte ROVAL two weeks ago. The driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota has won five of the last six races coming to Talladega.
Only one of the current eight Playoff drivers have won previously at Talladega – Alabama-native Grant Enfinger, who won in 2016 and again in the last race in 2024. He could use that kind of showing this weekend as he is among the four drivers below the cutoff line with only the Talladega race and the Oct. 24 race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway remaining to set the championship field.
Beyond TRICON Garage driver Heim, it’s a very – very – tightly bunched standings. McAnally-Hilgemann teammates Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Hemric – both two points above the cutoff line – and Spire Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth, who is just a single point to the good.
Front Row Motorsports Layne Riggs is that 1-point back, followed by reigning series champ, ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski (-2), CR7 Motorsports’ Enfinger (-4) and Halmar Friesen Racing’s Kaden Honeycutt (-4).
Four of the last six Talladega races have featured a first-time CRAFTSMAN Truck Series winner.
Kennametal Pole Qualifying is Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET (FS2). William Sawalich started from pole position last year. The last polesitter to win at Talladega was Timothy Peters in 2015.
