NASCAR News: Talladega Weekend Preview

Following the only “off weekend” of the season, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to action this week at one of the sport’s most iconic venues, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Expectations are always high – and variable – for the high-speed, anything-goes brand of racing on a drafting track such as Talladega and Sunday’s Jack Links 500 (3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will undoubtedly add to the track’s storied history.

Will the season’s most dominant drivers – Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and William Byron, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin – add to their victory total? Will a driver from the perpetual championship contending Team Penske organization finally get that organization its first win of 2025? Or will Talladega produce a long-shot victor able to get it done in the frantic closing laps that make Talladega one of the most exciting venues on the schedule?

That unpredictability and genuine suspense is exactly what has made this race so compelling. Nine of the last 16 Talladega races have been decided on a last-lap pass. And there have been at least 66 lead changes in the last three races on the sport’s largest oval.

There are, however, drivers that have proven themselves favorites on the big track.

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick is the defending winner of this Spring Talladega race and HYAK Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. claimed his second Talladega win in the Fall.

It’s been 10 races since someone claimed back-to-back Talladega wins, however. That nod belongs to Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who has an impressive three Talladega wins, claiming trophies in 2019, 2020 and 2023.

He could really use a strong showing this weekend. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion has endured a series of bad-luck showings this season – the results hardly matching the day’s effort on track. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford is ranked sixth in the championship – one of six drivers in the top-10 without a victory yet.

His teammate, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano is in a similar situation. The driver of the No. 22 Ford has had strong showings in-race but yet to earn a top-five finish in the opening nine events of the season.

This year’s Daytona 500 winner – and current championship points leader – Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron is the only repeat winner on the big drafting tracks such as Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta with three wins in the last 12 races. But the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has never won at Talladega.

Hamlin, a two-race winner, sits 30 points behind Byron in the standings. The longtime driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is considered a drafting track master with three Daytona 500 victories and a pair of Talladega trophies (2014 and 2020). Hamlin is the only driver to finish on the lead lap in all nine races of this season. His JGR teammate Christopher Bell – a series best three-race winner in 2025 – is ranked third in the championship and the driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota is looking for his first Talladega win.

Hendrick’s Kyle Larson, a two-race winner this season, is another racing for his maiden Talladega series win. As dominating as the 2021 series champion has been throughout his career, he’s never won at a drafting style track. His teammate, 2020 series champ Chase Elliott, sits fifth in points and is racing for his first win of the year. He won at Talladega in 2019 and 2022.

Only five drivers have won this year – Byron, Hamlin, Bell, Larson and Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing owner-driver Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers with six Talladega trophies, including the first of his championship career in 2009. He finished runner-up in both Talladega races last year. He’s currently ranked 31st in the points and badly needing a good showing to get back in the title talk.

“I still think Talladega is one of those racetracks where anybody can win. Next Gen has been a little bit fickle at Talladega in the way that it values different things than the car before did,” Keselowski explained. “It seems to really value the last pit stop and executing that at a very high level and then the fuel saving stuff, which I think is gonna be the word everybody hates after this weekend. So, it’s different.

“It’s a different type of racing than what Talladega was four or five years ago before the Next Gen car, but I think that’s part of what makes Talladega special is just how the racing there has evolved at least a half dozen times since I’ve been in Cup and its different eras of racing that values different things. I appreciate that. There are certainly types that you like more than others of racing there, but I do think that it’s a place where I think of the 39 entries, 33 of them have a realistic shot of winning.”

Two-time series champ Kyle Busch is also a multi-time Talladega race winner, last taking a trophy at the big track in 2023. The driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet sits 15th in the standings and is looking for his first win in the series since that 2023 season.

Defending Spring race winner Reddick and his 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace are winless in 2025 but also considered drafting track favorites. They are ranked seventh and eighth – respectively – in the standings. Wallace claimed his first series trophy at Talladega in 2021.

Of note, the driver that led the most laps in the last nine Talladega races failed to win.

Busch Light Pole Qualifying is Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. (Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell is the defending pole-winner. Interestingly, the pole winner hasn’t finished better than 17th in the last six Talladega races.

Flat-Out and Fearless: Talladega Promises Another Xfinity Thriller

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to the high-banks of Talladega Superspeedway for Saturday afternoon’s Ag-Pro 300 (4 p.m. ET on The CW Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The bemouth 2.66-mile track always provides a season highlight reel and has all the trappings for another headline-making show this weekend.

The last six Talladega Xfinity Series races have been won by six different drivers. There are 11 drivers entered this weekend that have never competed in the series at the big track.

Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love scored his first career series victory at Talladega last year holding off Riley Herbst and Anthony Alfredo by .141-second. Love led a race best 28 laps – the first time the race winner has led the most laps at Talladega since Tyler Reddick’s work in April 2019.

A couple of noteworthy streaks – Chevrolet has won the last 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Talladega and Richard Childress Racing has won the last six pole positions.

RCR simply has a dominating record at the big circuits winning 10 of the last 19 races at drafting tracks (since 2022) including two races this season already. The team has led 1,152 laps in the last 19 drafting track races – nearly four times that of any other team.

Eight of RCR veteran driver Austin Hill’s 10 career wins have come on drafting-style tracks – Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta. Hill and Love led the most laps in their victories – Love at Daytona and Hill at Atlanta – already this season. Hill’s 734 total laps led on drafting tracks is a series record.

Should he win Saturday, the 31-year old Georgia-native Hill, would become the winningest driver on this style of track – a ninth win breaking the all-time mark he shares with a pair of NASCAR Hall of Famers, the late Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart.

Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier takes a commanding 87-point lead over Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer into the weekend.

There are four former Talladega race winners in Saturday’s field – Sammy Smith, Jesse Love, Jeb Burton and Aric Almirola. Burton, driver of the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Chevrolet, is the only multi-time Talladega winner among the current series full-timers. He won in 2021 and 2023.

Smith is looking to become the first driver since Justin Haley (2020 season sweep) to win back-to-back Talladega races.

“Although you never know what’s going to happen at Talladega, I’m looking forward to going back there with this No. 8 JR Motorsports team as the defending winners,” said Smith, who was awarded the Rockingham victory last week after Love’s car was disqualified in post-race technical inspection.

“We had a great car in the fall and coming off this past week at Rockingham, we’re even more hungry to keep the momentum rolling and get this Pilot Chevrolet in Victory Lane again.”

Qualifying for the race will be Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET (The CW App). Hill won the pole position for this race last year.

TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY-SPECIFIC STATISTICS

(Drivers are listed in alphabetical order; Loop Data stats in the below section are from 2005-Present)

Ryan Blaney

(No. 12 Team Penske Ford)

Three wins, six top fives, eight top 10s
Average Finish of 15.905, fifth-best
Average Running Position of 12.688, second-best
Driver Rating of 91.2, series-best
2,690 Laps in the Top 15 (68.3%), seventh-most

Kyle Busch

(No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)

Two wins, eight top fives, 10 top 10s
Average Finish of 20.179, 11th-best
Average Running Position of 16.728, ninth-best
Driver Rating of 81.5, ninth-best
4,151 Laps in the Top 15 (56.4%), series-most

William Byron

(No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)

Four top fives, six top 10s
Average Finish of 14.500, series-best
Average Running Position of 13.104, third-best
Driver Rating of 86.2, fifth-best
1,639 Laps in the Top 15 (63.1%), 12th-most

Austin Cindric

(No. 2 Team Penske Ford)

One top five, two top 10s
Average Finish of 19.500, ninth-best
Average Running Position of 14.772, fifth-best
Driver Rating of 81.6, eighth-best
649 Laps in the Top 15 (56.8%), 26th-most

Cole Custer

(No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford)

One top 10
Average Finish of 21.000, 12th-best
Average Running Position of 16.408, eighth-best
Driver Rating of 83.8, seventh-best
528 Laps in the Top 15 (49.1%), 27th-most

Chase Elliott

(No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)

Two wins, five top fives, eight top 10s; two poles
Average Finish of 15.556, fourth-best
Average Running Position of 12.011, series-best
Driver Rating of 89.4, second-best
2,338 Laps in the Top 15 (69.6%), eighth-most

Noah Gragson

(No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford)

One top five, one top 10
Average Finish of 19.800, 10th-best
Average Running Position of 17.058, 10th-best
Driver Rating of 80.5, 11th-best
397 Laps in the Top 15 (41.6%), 31st-most

Denny Hamlin

(No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)

Two wins, 11 top fives, 17 top 10s; one pole
Average Finish of 16.553, sixth-best
Average Running Position of 17.429, 12th-best
Driver Rating of 81.4, 10th-best
3,512 Laps in the Top 15 (49.0%), third-most

Brad Keselowski

(No. 6 RFK Racing Ford)

Six wins, 12 top fives, 16 top 10s
Average Finish of 15.031, third-best
Average Running Position of 15.191, sixth-best
Driver Rating of 87.7, third-best
3,506 Laps in the Top 15 (58.1%), fifth-most

Kyle Larson

(No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)

Two top fives, four top 10s
Average Finish of 21.950, 13th-best
Average Running Position of 18.133, 13th-best
Driver Rating of 77.3, 13th-best
1,941 Laps in the Top 15 (52.0%), 10th-most

Joey Logano

(No. 22 Team Penske Ford)

Three wins, nine top fives, 11 top 10s
Average Finish of 18.969, eighth-best
Average Running Position of 14.296, fourth-best
Driver Rating of 87.7, fourth-best
3,756 Laps in the Top 15 (62.3%), second-most

Ricky Stenhouse Jr

(No. 47 HYAK Motorsports)

Two wins, eight top fives, 11 top 10s; one pole
Average Finish of 14.609, second-best
Average Running Position of 17.232, 11th-best
Driver Rating of 80.1, 12th-best
2,077 Laps in the Top 15 (48.2%), 12th-most

2025 TOP 16 IN THE CUP SERIES DRIVER STANDINGS AT TALLADEGA

	Driver	Races	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs	Average Finish	Driver Rating
	Driver	Races	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs	Average Finish	Driver Rating
1	William Byron	14	0	0	4	6	3	14.4	86.2
2	Denny Hamlin	38	1	2	11	17	6	16.6	81.4
3	Christopher Bell	10	2	0	1	3	2	19.5	69.9
4	Kyle Larson	20	0	0	2	4	6	21.9	77.3
5	Chase Elliott	18	2	2	5	8	3	14.6	89.4
6	Ryan Blaney	21	0	3	6	8	5	15.9	91.2
7	Tyler Reddick	10	0	1	1	3	2	19.3	68.6
8	Bubba Wallace	14	0	1	1	2	4	20.4	75.3
9	Joey Logano	32	0	3	9	11	10	18.9	87.7
10	Alex Bowman	18	0	0	2	5	6	22.4	74.1
11	Ross Chastain	12	0	1	2	2	2	21.2	68.3
12	Chris Buescher	19	0	0	1	3	5	19.9	68.3
13	Chase Briscoe	8	0	0	1	2	1	16.4	67.1
14	Ryan Preece	10	0	0	1	3	3	18.3	76.5
15	Kyle Busch	39	0	2	8	10	7	20.2	81.5
16	AJ Allmendinger	21	0	0	1	3	6	22.9	56.7

* – Based on last 40 races at Talladega Superspeedway (2005 – 2024).

TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY STATS & TIDBITS

EVENT & TRACK SPECIFICS

Season Race Number: 10 of 36 (April 27, 2025)

Race Purse: 11,055,250

Race Length: 188 laps / 500.08 miles

Stage 1 & 2 Length: 60 laps (each) – Stage 2 Ends on Lap 120

Final Stage Length: 68 laps – Ends on Lap 188

Track Size: 2.66-miles (Biggest in NASCAR)

Banking/Turns (All 4): 33 degrees (Steepest in NASCAR)

Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees

Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees

Length/Frontstretch: 4,300 feet

Length/Backstretch: 4,000 feet (Longest in NASCAR)

TRACK RECORDS: QUALIFYING & RACE

Track Qualifying Record: Bill Elliott, Ford, 212.809 mph, 44.998 secs. April 30, 1987

Track Race Record: Mark Martin, Ford, 188.354 mph, (02:39:18), May 10, 1997

2024 Spring pole winner: Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports Ford, 182.022 mph, 52.609 secs. April 20, 2024

2024 Spring race winner: Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota, 155.977 mph, (03:13:29), April 21, 2024

TRACK HISTORY

Construction began on what was then known as the Alabama International Motor Speedway on May 23, 1968 in a soy bean growing area near Talladega, Alabama.
In 1965 Bill France was considering building a track in South Carolina but was convinced by an Anniston, AL insurance man and sometimes race driver Bill Ward to “build it in Alabama”. France agreed to build it if Ward could find a suitable location. He found it at a virtually abandoned airport next to I-20.
The airport next to where the track sits today was originally built in 1942 to train Navy pilots. The city of Talladega had acquired the airport from the Government for $1 but it had to pay to maintain it.
In exchange for NASCAR building a new runway the city gave 600 acres to NASCAR. France later leased and bought more land and with the support of Governor George Wallace the state built a spacious access road.
It cost NASCAR $6 million to build the superspeedway in Alabama at that time.
The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway was held on September 14, 1969. The race was won by Richard Brickhouse, from Rocky Point, North Carolina, driving a 1969 Dodge Daytona for car owner Ray Nichels. The average speed of the first race was 153.778 mph. The race was run after most of the regulars decided not to compete because of their concern about the capability of the tires to withstand the high speeds.
The name of the facility changed to Talladega Superspeedway in 1989.
The fourth repaving of the 2.66-mile track was completed on September 19, 2006.
Today, Talladega Superspeedway covers about 3,000 acres – the most of any Cup track (Daytona is 482 acres).
In total, there have been 111 NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway, one series event in 1969, and two races per year since 1970.