{"id":57469,"date":"2026-04-25T21:31:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T02:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=57469"},"modified":"2026-04-29T11:45:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:45:42","slug":"nascar-talladega-saturday-notebook-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/25\/nascar-talladega-saturday-notebook-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Talladega Saturday Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

REDDICK NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE HATERS<\/b><\/p>\n

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Tyler Reddick is well-aware of \u201cvibe change.\u201d As quickly as race fans cheer on a team\u2019s big success, they often suffer fatigue of it as well. With five wins in the opening nine races of the season, the 23XI Racing driver smiled Saturday when asked about the reception he currently receives.<\/p>\n

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KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – APRIL 19: Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Supply House Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on April 19, 2026 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

He\u2019ll start his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota from pole position in Sunday\u2019s Jack Link\u2019s 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), going for his second Talladega victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is weird to be in this spot. I will say that,\u2019\u2019 Reddick allowed. \u201cThere\u2019s certainly a lot of noise out there, a lot of speculations, but for me, it’s easy to not get caught up in it because we know what we’re doing, we know how we’re doing it, when we’ve been successful with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, yeah, I feel bad for those that are tired of it,\u2019\u2019 he added, noting what a challenge his winless 2025 season had been for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are enjoying it. We want to keep winning and doing the things that we’re doing. Yeah, I don’t feel bad because I remember how I felt all of last year. I know how my team felt about last year, and so we don’t want to go back to not winning and we’re going to keep working really hard to find ways to get a to victory lane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI found out last year, it’s really hard just to win any race, and so for us to put together like we have and start the year strong like, it’s hard to do, but we’re really thankful that it’s happened, and certainly, I think, with how last year went for us at no point are we like, \u2018we’re good.\u2019 I think if anything, we\u2019re hungrier now than we were to start the year to just keep after it and keep winning races.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 zone Jalapeno Lime Chevrolet, speaks to the media after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 11, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

BUSCH SETTING EXAMPLE FOR SON<\/b><\/p>\n

A two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion with 233 victories total in the sport\u2019s three national series, Kyle Busch knows how to win and how to compete.<\/p>\n

One of the most dynamic competitors in the sport\u2019s history, however, Busch is currently enduring an unusual 102-race winless streak in the NASCAR Cup Series dating back to his last trophy on June 4, 2023 at Gateway (Madison, Ill.). Not only does the statistic continually motivate him, but it has given him an unusual opportunity to set an example of grace and persistence for his children.  <\/p>\n

The father of two, including up-and-coming racer, 10-year old son Brexton knows his kiddos are watching him at work and the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet is showing them how to react and prevail in both the challenging times as well as the victory circle moments. A two-time Talladega winner, he will start Sunday\u2019s race ranked 27th in the championship standings and still looking to earn his first top-10 of the year.<\/p>\n

His passion should never be doubted, however. And that ethos, he hopes to pass along.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating,\u2019\u2019 Busch said of those that would question his effort or dedication. \u201cBecause I feel like I\u2019ve done nothing except positive things in the time in which I\u2019ve been at RCR. The last four years I\u2019ve done nothing but work as hard as I could possibly do. There\u2019s a lot of great people there and a lot of smart people there as well in [team owner] Richard [Childress] and Mike [Dillon] and all those guys have given us all the resources and tools to go out there and succeed. It\u2019s just not quite come together with the results of winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first year it did but it\u2019s trickled off since then. But there\u2019s nothing that stands out to me other than going there to win races and be competitive. I\u2019m raising a little racer myself. Brexton sees every single weekend. He\u2019s around. He sees me go home and I\u2019m watching SMT film or I\u2019m looking at data or being at team meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing all I can on my side to help further develop the team and it\u2019s for me to show him there\u2019s a lot of work that goes into this. It doesn\u2019t just come easy. You\u2019ve got to pour it in to get the result out of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we want to win and be successful. Brexton doesn\u2019t really remember the days of me being out there winning all the time, winning all the races and [him] being thrown up in the air. That was a little before his memory time. Lennox too. I won those three races in \u201923 and she was a baby. Trust me, this is my life, our lives and everything we\u2019ve known and now another generation coming in.<\/p>\n

Busch won pole position for February\u2019s Daytona 500 and has a pair of victories at Talladega (Spring, 2008 and 2023) – leading laps in 14 of the last 15 races at the big track.<\/p>\n

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BRISTOL, TENNESSEE – APRIL 12: Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 Consumer Cellular Ford, stands during the national anthem prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 12, 2026 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Matt Kelley\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

KESELOWSKI\u2019S DEGA LEGACY<\/b><\/p>\n

RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski\u2019s six Talladega Superspeedway wins are most among active drivers and second all-time to only the late Dale Earnhardt\u2019s 10-trophy total. But it\u2019s been since 2021 that the 2012 series champ last celebrated in Dega\u2019s Victory Lane. He has three runner-up showings since – including both 2024 races.<\/p>\n

The former champion scored his career first NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega in his track debut in Spring, 2009. And, Keselowski fully concedes, he feels a special affinity for the place and enjoys watching historic YouTube videos of the races here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I watch them I think about how cool it is that I get to race here and get to compete on the same track and the success that you have and get to the same record book as those that were behind you,\u2019\u2019 Keselowski said. \u201cThat feels really cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalladega is a storied track. There\u2019s so much history here. I don\u2019t really necessarily get caught up too much in the pageantry, although I do think it\u2019s cool, as much as I get caught up in the idea of being able to race where legends have raced before me and hopefully adding my name to a record book beside them.\u201d<\/p>\n

JONES AND TALLADEGA APPROACH<\/b><\/p>\n

Even though the change to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship format has eliminated the win-and-in Playoff strategy, Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones insists the emphasis on points racing doesn\u2019t change the way he goes about competing. Particularly at places such as Talladega Superspeedway.<\/p>\n

Jones, who scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at a drafting track, the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway in 2018, enters Sunday\u2019s race 24th in the championship points standings – 63 points behind 16th place Daniel Suarez in the final points position that would advance to the Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe approach all these races pretty aggressive in the last handful years because this has been our only great shot to try to win our way in the playoffs,\u2019\u2019 said Jones, driver of the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota.  \u201cSo, I think if anything, it makes it more aggressive because the stage points are probably more important than ever. The finishes are great, but if you can go and earn top-three stage points in both stages, and even if you get wrecked out at the end, you’re still going to have a decent day, so I think that’s our focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stage lengths are probably a bigger change than anything, that first stage is a bit confusing, length on some strategies and things that guys can do. So, it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out, but I think as far as the aggression side, I think will be just as high as ever for stage points.\u201d<\/p>\n

TALLADEGA RACE NUGGETS<\/b><\/p>\n

The last 11 Talladega NASCAR Cup Series races have been won by different drivers, the longest such current streak of any track. \u2026 The winner led 10 laps or less in the last 10 Talladega races. \u2026 Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch has finished on the lead lap the last 10 Talladega races. Should he do so Sunday he would tie the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt with 11. \u2026 Eight of the last 12 Talladega races have been decided by a last lap pass. \u2026 A stage winner has gone on to win the race only once this season \u2013 Ryan Blaney at Phoenix. \u2026 Drivers have combined for only six DNFs through the last five races is the fewest for a five-race span in NASCAR history. \u2026 The 54 total caution flags this season are the fewest through nine races since 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service REDDICK NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE HATERS TALLADEGA, Ala. — Tyler Reddick is well-aware of \u201cvibe change.\u201d As quickly as race fans cheer on a team\u2019s big success, they often suffer fatigue of it as well. With five wins in the opening nine races of the season, the 23XI Racing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":57389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,208],"class_list":["post-57469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-talladega-superspeedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272108828-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-eWV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57489,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57469\/revisions\/57489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}