{"id":48354,"date":"2024-10-03T12:52:06","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T17:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=48354"},"modified":"2024-10-03T12:52:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T17:52:06","slug":"nascar-weekend-preview-talladega-superspeedway-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/03\/nascar-weekend-preview-talladega-superspeedway-8\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Weekend Preview: Talladega Superspeedway"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Highly anticipated Talladega could shake-up the Cup Playoffs<\/b><\/p>\n

The NASCAR Cup Series takes the 2024 Playoffs to one of the most anticipated races of the season this weekend, Sunday\u2019s YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the world-famous Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway high-banks.<\/p>\n

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(Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

With a non-Playoff driver, Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Ross Chastain claiming the trophy last weekend at Kansas Speedway, now only two races \u2013 at Talladega and at the Charlotte ROVAL next week – remain in this round for the 12 Playoff eligible drivers to score a win and automatic ticket to the Playoffs\u2019 Round of 8.<\/p>\n

With his runner-up showing at Kansas, Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 William Byron has taken the lead in the Playoff standings \u2013 six points ahead of reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Team Penske\u2019s Ryan Blaney and Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Christopher Bell. Hendrick\u2019s Kyle Larson is ranked fourth.<\/p>\n

JGR\u2019s Denny Hamlin, Hendrick teammates Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott and Team Penske\u2019s Joey Logano complete the top eight drivers. Elliott and Logano, however, have only a four-point advantage on the Regular Season Champion, 23XI Racing\u2019s Tyler Reddick for that final spot to advance in the Playoffs.<\/p>\n

Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Daniel Suarez (-14), Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Chase Briscoe (-25) and Team Penske\u2019s Austin Cindric (-29) are all below the cutoff line heading into the weekend. But when it comes to racing on the Talladega high banks anything can happen. And typically, does.<\/p>\n

Blaney is the defending race winner, the victory last year setting him up for a Championship 4 Round appearance where he ultimately claimed the title in the Phoenix season finale. In fact, Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford is a three-time winner at the big track and joins Elliott \u2013 the 2020 series champion \u2013 as the only multi-time Talladega winners in the last 10 races at the track.<\/p>\n

Owner-driver Brad Keselowski is the winningest active driver at Talladega \u2013 scoring his first career NASCAR Cup Series win there in 2009 and making five additional trips to Victory Lane since. He finished runner-up to Reddick this spring.<\/p>\n

Only three current Playoff drivers \u2013 Reddick, Byron and Bowman – finished among the top-10 this May.<\/p>\n

Among the current Playoff contenders, Blaney, Elliott (two), Hamlin (two) and Logano (three) all have multiple Talladega victories.<\/p>\n

Among those four drivers below the cutoff line and needing a solid performance at Talladega to advance their Playoff run, Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Chase Briscoe brings a strong resume with him this weekend. In seven NASCAR Cup Series starts on the big track, his best finish was fourth in the 2023 spring race and he has finished worse than 15th only once. Briscoe\u2019s average finish of 14.4 is fourth best in the field among drivers with multiple starts \u2013 behind only Beard Motorsport’s Anthony Alfredo (9.3), Front Row Motorsports\u2019 Todd Gilliland (12.8) and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott (13.7).<\/p>\n

Instead of fearing the unpredictability of a track like Talladega, Briscoe, 29, said he has developed a calm mentality about the style of racing. And interestingly, since 2014 eight of the 10 Talladega Playoff races have been won by drivers ranked below the Round of 8 cutoff line \u2013 as Briscoe finds himself this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have to have a short memory,” the two-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner said. \u201cI\u2019ve gone through different kinds of spectrums of superspeedway racing. I\u2019ve taken the conservative route and I\u2019ve gone the super-aggressive route. And every time I\u2019ve gone the conservative route, I typically end up crashed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I\u2019m just going to go back to being on the aggressive side. It\u2019s a little tougher with this Next Gen car just because you can\u2019t take runs or do things like you typically would. You\u2019re going to have to try to be up in the mix for stage points and try to just finish the best you can.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 I\u2019m just going to go with the mindset of being aggressive and trying to lead every lap and trying to make every move I can and hopefully, stay out of the chaos.”<\/p>\n

Fifteen different drivers have won the 20 Talladega Playoff races. Team Penske teammates Blaney and Logano are the only current Playoff contenders to win multiple Playoff races at Talladega \u2013 both claiming two Playoff victories.<\/p>\n

Of note, NASCAR has issued a technical bulletin for the Talladega race weekend with changes to the cars designed to increase safety at the big track. Modifications will be made to the Rocker skirt, Right side roof flap fabric and the Ride side roof rails will be extended to 2\u201d with polycarbonate.<\/p>\n

Busch Light Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET (USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Aric Almirola won the pole position for this race last year. Michael McDowell started on pole at Talladega this spring.<\/p>\n

Xfinity Series returns to the unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway<\/b><\/p>\n

For the first time in two years, the NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to Talladega Superspeedway for a Playoff race \u2013 the United Rentals 250 Saturday at 4 p.m. ET (The CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

Aric Almirola won last week\u2019s 2024 Playoff opener at Kansas Speedway but because he is not Playoff eligible- this second race of the three-race round becomes even more pivotal in deciding which eight drivers will advance to the next round.<\/p>\n

Playoff driver A.J. Allmendinger won the last Fall Playoff race at Talladega in 2022. Jordan Anderson Racing\u2019s Jeb Burton is a two-time Talladega winner and joins Playoff rookie Jesse Love, who won at the big track this Spring as the only current fulltime drivers to hoist a Talladega trophy.<\/p>\n

Entering the race, Regular Season Champion, Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Cole Custer, Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Chandler Smith, Richard Childress Racing\u2019s Austin Hill, JR Motorsports Sam Mayer, JGR\u2019s Sheldon Creed, Kaulig Racing\u2019s Shane van Gisbergen, RCR\u2019s Love and SHR\u2019s Riley Herbst sit above the Playoff cutoff line.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a pair of preseason title favorites \u2013 JR Motorsports\u2019 Justin Allgaier and Kaulig\u2019s Allmendinger are currently just below that cutoff line. Allgaier, a two-time race winner this season, is a single point behind Herbst, has only four top-five finishes in 17 Talladega starts and has never hoisted a trophy there.<\/p>\n

A victory this week would similarly go a long way for Allmendinger, who is still racing for his first win of the season and currently sits 10th in the Playoff standings, 13 points below the cutoff line.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything can and usually does happen at Talladega. JR Motorsports has always had an incredibly strong superspeedway program and I know that that will be the case once again on Saturday,” Allgaier said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just need to be smart out there and not get ourselves caught in a bad position in the middle of the pack. If we can keep our nose clean and run up front all day long, I see no reason why we won\u2019t be fighting for the win with our JRM teammates and get ourselves into the next round of the Playoffs once the checkered flag falls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qualifying is set for 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday (USA Network, NBC Sports App). Austin Hill won the pole position in the Spring race. Mayer won the pole for the last Playoff race at Talladega two years ago.<\/p>\n

CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs’ Round of 8 starts now<\/b><\/p>\n

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series begins the final three-race Playoff round to set the Championship Four with Friday\u2019s Love\u2019s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway (4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

Last weekend\u2019s Kansas winner Corey Heim arrives at the 2.66-mile superspeedway now boasting six wins on the season – double that of any other competitor, The 22-year-old TRICON Garage driver scored the win in the final race of the opening round last week when race leader, ThorSport\u2019s Ty Majeski ran out of gas on the final lap. Heim finished just ahead of Front Row Motorsports\u2019 Layne Riggs, who had won the previous two races but is not among the Playoff drivers.<\/p>\n

Regular Season Champion , McAnally-Hilgemann\u2019s Christian Eckes, Majeski and REV Racing\u2019s Nick Sanchez sit safely atop the cutoff mark entering the first race of this all-important round. Rajah Caruth trails Sanchez by eight points just outside the Playoff bubble with Tyler Ankrum and Grant Enfinger both -11 points and Taylor Gray -15 points back.<\/p>\n

Enfinger is the only current Playoff driver with a previous Talladega win, earning his trophy in 2016. Former series champion Johnny Sauter \u2013 the 2013 Talladega trophy winner \u2013 will be competing this weekend for Hattori Racing Enterprises. Brett Moffitt is the defending race winner.<\/p>\n

There have been eight different winners in the last eight Talladega races. Heim, Eckes and Enfinger (2) are the only Playoff drivers to have scored top-five finishes at the big track.<\/p>\n

Among those entered this week, William Sawalich (No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota) and 18-year-old Connor Zilisch (No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet) are hoping to make their first career superspeedway start. And crowd favorite, veteran Norm Benning is hoping to qualify for his first race of the season. <\/p>\n

Cometic Gasket Qualifying is set for 1 p.m. ET Friday (FS2). Chase Purdy is the defending polesitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Highly anticipated Talladega could shake-up the Cup Playoffs The NASCAR Cup Series takes the 2024 Playoffs to one of the most anticipated races of the season this weekend, Sunday\u2019s YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the world-famous Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway high-banks. With […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":45668,"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-48354","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\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2149579552-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-czU","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48354"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48357,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48354\/revisions\/48357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}