Track: Talladega Superspeedway
Location: Talladega, Alabama
Track length: 2.66 miles
When: 3 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: FOX, HBO Max, FOX One, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 188 laps | 500.08 miles
Stages: 98 | 143 | 188
Sunday’s starting lineup | Cup Series pit stall assignments
How many options do drivers have for long Stage 1 on Sunday?
TALLADEGA, Ala. — In a twist for Sunday’s Cup Series race at Talladega, the opening stage will be the longest of the 500-mile event.
Stage 1 will make up more than half the race, consisting of 98 laps that will open the door for a myriad of strategy options when it comes to pitting for fuel.
Recent events at Daytona and Talladega have seen the field defer to a hive-mind mentality of fuel saving while running in a tight-knit pack around the superspeedways. However, this weekend could see a different pace to the choreography and three-time Talladega winner Joey Logano was quite bullish about the multiple scenarios that could take place with the new race layout.
“A, B, C, D and E. That’s where we’re at at the moment,” Logano said of Sunday’s strategy playbook. “I’m looking forward to it. “I think Stage 1 is going to be — I hope it goes green because I want to see it play out. Everybody’s a different kind of race fan, right? Some people want to see the wide-open the whole time and draft. But I mean, this race, you’re gonna get a little bit of both. The two- versus one-stop (strategy). I mean, that’s a real discussion and a real decision everyone has to make. And what’s better? I don’t know if there’s a clear answer. You can’t do it on your own, right? So everyone getting on the same page, it’s very challenging, but I think it’s kind of fun.”
With an estimated fuel window around 45 laps, it will require some serious fuel saving to try to attempt to complete Stage 1 on one pit stop if there isn’t a caution or two early on.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe described a “cat-and-mouse game,” where those toward the rear of the field could risk the one stop versus those racing toward the front.
“It’s only the guys in the back that can really do the max save to do the one-stop thing,” Briscoe said. “That’s where it’s hard because this car, even when the whole field is going hard, the guys in the back can just naturally still save more and kind of keep up. I think there’s going to be somebody that gambles the one-stop thing. Obviously, you have to have a couple guys do it with you. But if it works out, you could really screw the field because you could lap them essentially depending on how the pace works out.”
MORE: Weekend schedule, TV info | At-track photos
One of the keys to success at Talladega is whether the active or reactive decision-making will make the difference in gaining the track position for the push to the Stage 1 finish and the subsequent segments, where a fuel stop is not expected due to Stage 2 and the final stage likely falling around 40 laps apiece.
Bubba Wallace, who scored his groundbreaking first-career Cup Series win at Talladega in the fall of 2021, has been vocal on not wanting to do the saving-fuel strategy and believes there will be a bit more “freedom” for the drivers to go all-out most of Sunday.
“At the end of the day, you put yourself in the best spot possible to capitalize on stage points and obviously the race win at the end,” Wallace said. “With the adjustments to stage lengths, it changes up our strategy a little bit, but I think it allows us to control our own destiny, which is kind of what we want. I am not the one to follow orders when it’s saving and doing all this stuff. I just want to go, but I understand the big picture. We gotta keep some fuel in the tank so that’s still gonna be the name of the game, but we’ll see.”
MORE: Sunday Setup
In the details …
A dozen active NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won at Talladega, but only seven have visited the track’s Victory Lane multiple times. Brad Keselowski leads the charge with six victories, tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon for the second-most all-time. In the midst of a 68-race winless streak, the RFK Racing co-owner and driver is looking for a seventh Talladega win that would put him behind only Dale Earnhardt (10) in total ‘Dega triumphs.
Here are the active drivers who join Keselowski as multi-time Talladega winners:
| Drivers | Wins |
|---|---|
| Brad Keselowski | 6 |
| Joey Logano | 3 |
| Ryan Blaney | 3 |
| Kyle Busch | 2 |
| Denny Hamlin | 2 |
| Chase Elliott | 2 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 2 |
Speed reads
Race-day essentials:
– Talladega hub: Key information, pit-stall assignments, results | Read more
– Paint Scheme Preview: Dip into ‘Dega looks ahead of Cup, O’Reilly doubleheader | View gallery
– Hauler Talk: Officials detail in-race communications with teams | Listen now
– Reddick’s run: Where does Tyler Reddick go from here in historic stretch? | Neil Paine’s analysis
– Power Rankings: Cup Series’ top 20 drivers after Kansas | This week’s ranks
– NASCAR Classics: Inside the video vault from Talladega | Watch now
Contributing: Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR.com