NASCAR returns to the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.
Racing on superspeedways creates plenty of three-wide, close-quarters racing. The Next Gen gets its first opportunity to taste the 33-degree banking on Sunday in Alabama (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Get ready for the weekend with all the information you need here:
GET GRIDDED, GET RACIN’
After days of superspeedway practice at Daytona back in February, there will be no practice for the Cup Series this weekend at Talladega. Instead, the series will jump straight into single-car, two-round qualifying on Saturday (11 a.m. ET, FS1). The top-10 fastest cars in the first round will advance to the second round, where each of the 10 drivers will lay down another lap. The fastest of the final 10 wins the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s race.
RELATED: Talladega schedule | Cup Series standings
TALLADEGA HISTORY
— Talladega Superspeedway was completed in 1969, built in a soybean growing area. Today, the facility covers about 3,000 acres, the most of any Cup track (Daytona is 482 acres). It cost $6 million.
— Bill Ward, an Alabaman insurance salesman and part-time racer, convinced NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. to build the track in Alabama despite France’s initial ideas to build in South Carolina.
— Ward found the location for the enormous facility at a near-abandoned airport next to Interstate 20, which was built in 1942 to train Navy pilots.
— The track was originally called Alabama International Motor Speedway.
— Richard Brickhouse won the inaugural Cup race on Sept. 14th, 1969 at Talladega, an event run after most of the regulars decided not to compete due to concerns over the tires’ capability of withstanding the high speeds.
— The track was last repaved before the fall race in 2006. Mark Martin won the Truck Series’ inaugural race at Talladega in the first race on the fresh asphalt.
— Talladega is the biggest oval on the circuit at 2.66 miles with the steepest banking (33 degrees) and is the site of the most lead changes in one race (88, spring 2010 and spring 2011) and closest margin of victory (.002 seconds, Jimmie Johnson, spring 2011).
Source: Racing Insights
GOODYEAR TIRES
In addition to the multiple test sessions held at Daytona International Speedway, a Dec. 13, 2021 tire test by Drew Herring (Toyota), Brad Keselowski (Ford) and Daniel Suárez (Chevrolet) helped confirm the tire setup for both Daytona and Talladega.
After a test in September, the decision was made to go ahead with a December test with a change made to reduce the stagger in the superspeedway tire setups. That change was confirmed in January tests at Daytona and throughout Speedweeks in February.
“With this new car, we’ve put a lot of work into the superspeedways over the past many months,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “We got a lot of feedback from the drivers after an early session at Daytona and we made a change to the stagger, which has given the cars more stability in the draft. We had a good race at the (Daytona) 500 in February and we expect similar results this week at Talladega.”
TALLADEGA STORY LINES
— Team Penske has won eight of the last 13 races at Talladega — three with Brad Keselowski, three with Joey Logano and two with Ryan Blaney.
— Bubba Wallace has three consecutive top-two finishes on superspeedways, including his first career Cup win last October at Talladega. Only four drivers have scored four in a row: Cale Yarborough (twice), Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan and Dale Jarrett.
— Chevrolet has just two wins at Talladega in the past 16 races there — Dale Earnhardt Jr. (spring 2015) and Chase Elliott (spring 2019).
— Four of the last seven superspeedway races were won by drivers getting their first NCS win.
— The final green-flag stretch was two laps or less in the last 15 superspeedway races.
— Martin Truex Jr. has never won a superspeedway race in 68 starts.
Source: Racing Insights
LAYING MONEY ON THE LINE
For as unpredictable as superspeedway racing can be, Team Penske sure knows how to dominate lately.
Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are co-favorites this weekend at 11-1 odds, according to BetMGM. Their rookie teammate Austin Cindric, who won the Daytona 500 in February, is right behind them at 14-1 odds.
Joining Logano and Blaney with 11-1 odds are Toyota’s quasi-teammates Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace. Hamlin, a Joe Gibbs Racing driver, co-owns 23XI Racing, the team for which Wallace drives. These two have won each of the last two fall races at Talladega and know how to get it done on superspeedways, as shown by Hamlin’s three Daytona 500 titles.
Don’t forget about Brad Keselowski (14-1). Now the co-owner of RFK Racing and driver of its No. 6 Ford, the former Penske driver is the defending race winner this weekend and leads all active drivers with six Talladega triumphs, tying Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon for second-most all-time. The Fords carried plenty of speed at Daytona, which is likely to translate to Talladega this weekend.
RELATED: Odds for Talladega
FANTASY LIVE
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner.
The 2022 Fantasy Live points leaders are Chase Elliott (318), Ryan Blaney (313) and Joey Logano (301).
How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!
ALSO ON NASCAR.COM
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.