Racing Insights: Behemoth championship stakes await Talladega Goliath

NASCAR’s largest oval awaits the Cup Series with just three races to go as Sunday’s Chase race at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) could produce many surprises from who heads to Victory Lane and who will see their championship hopes dashed.

Five of the last six winners at the 2.66-mile behemoth are currently in the 16-driver Chase presented by Mobil 1 and for Cup, there’s a current pattern of winners by manufacturer. In the last seven races, it’s been: Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Chevrolet. With the superspeedway strength of Team Penske and RFK Racing, can Ford keep the trend going this weekend?

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Kyle Larson heads to Talladega with just a five-point advantage over Christopher Bell, and seven drivers are within 56 points of each other for the championship. A big swing is bound to happen and both the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver and No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver are seeking their first Talladega victories. Meanwhile, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick are all past winners at the Alabama track.

Read on to see drivers worth monitoring over 188 laps at Talladega, as well as Racing Insights’ full projected results for the YellaWood 500.

DRIVERS TO WATCH

TYLER REDDICK: Not many Sharpie’d the No. 45 23XI Racing driver to triumph at Phoenix Raceway entering The Chase, but that’s what Reddick did and his championship hopes are still alive after scoring his sixth win of 2026. Reddick won the 2024 spring race at Talladega and has been an animal on superspeedways in 2026 — winning the first two races of the year at the Daytona 500 and EchoPark Speedway, and finishing no worse than 14th in five superspeedway races this season. He’s tallied 233 points at such tracks this year, the most among all Cup drivers. With teammate Bubba Wallace not within 100 points of the title battle, Reddick could get the help needed to push him another step closer to a miracle championship rally.

CARSON HOCEVAR: By way of most drivers unlikely to work with the fiery, assertive young phenom, it will be an uphill battle for the No. 77 Spire Motorsports driver to sweep the season at Talladega. Despite crashing twice at Daytona this season, Hocevar has scored the second most superspeedway points this season among Cup drivers with 169. Highlighted by his memorable ‘Dega win, Hocevar placed inside the top five in both EchoPark events — showcasing his skill to race through the pack to the front. With the updated rules package this weekend, Hocevar could transfer over what makes him good at the Georgia track to the state bordering west.

RYAN PREECE: The No. 60 RFK Racing driver is entering the weekend with house money. He’s last in points among Chase drivers ahead of Sunday so expect the RFK trio to be aggressive in playing spoiler (no pun intended) with a good crop of superspeedway drivers in Preece, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski. Preece hit the walk-off of the 2026 season — overcoming a 31-point deficit in the Daytona regular-season finale to take his first career Cup checkered flag and punch his ticket to The Chase. Preece is tied with Blaney for third in most points scored on superspeedways this year (163), and while The Chase hasn’t provided eye-popping results for the No. 60 team, Sunday could mark another massive upset for Preece to garner momentum heading into the offseason.

FULL PROJECTED RESULTS FOR YELLAWOOD 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC)