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October 5, 2024

What to Watch: Teamwork, manufacturer alliances put to test at Talladega


YellaWood 500

(⏰ Sunday, 2 p.m. ET | NBC | NBC Sports App | MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | NASCAR 101

Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Track length: 2.66 miles
Race purse: $9,222,964
Race distance: 188 laps | 500.08 miles
Stages: 60 | 120 | 188

Starting lineup: Michael McDowell secures pole position
Pit stall assignments:
See where drivers will pit
Defending winner:
Ryan Blaney, October 2023

Key things to watch

Saturday session

Not shockingly, Michael McDowell ruled superspeedway qualifying again with his fifth consecutive Busch Light Pole Award on tracks where the aerodynamic draft dominates. McDowell posted a final-round lap of 183.063 mph, putting his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the first starting position for Sunday’s 500-mile race.

Ford drivers swept the top three spots, with Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and fellow FRM driver Todd Gilliland completing the qualifying podium. Fords claimed five of the top six spots on the lineup, with Kyle Busch starting fourth in the fastest Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin eighth in the top Toyota. | Full Saturday recap

Big story line

Alliances run deep in manufacturer maneuvers

The badge on the nose of each car in Sunday’s field might loom a little larger at Talladega, where NASCAR’s three automakers draw distinct lines of collaboration among their own. That includes coordination of pit stops in manufacturer-allied groups and aligning their aerodynamic help with like-minded drivers of Chevrolets, Fords and Toyotas.

That’s been the theme to multiple Talladega races in recent years, and that cooperation was key to Tyler Reddick’s victory for the Toyota camp here in April. The expectation again is that manufacturers will make their best-laid plans, except the stakes will be higher this go-around with playoff implications holding sway.

“It’s definitely a little bit tricky,” said Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez, a Chevrolet driver. “But you know, we are stronger together, so we have to work together as long as we can, but at the end of the day, we also are competing against each other. So we have to just be smart and try to help each other up front. It’s way easier to work up front than in the back, so we’ll see how things play out. With my experience here, every time that we come with 10 different plans, there’s something always different showing up in the race. There are so many different scenarios and different things that are going to happen that we’re not even thinking about. So we just have to be smart and try to have a good execution day.”

Talladega stands as the middle event in the three-race Round of 12. No postseason driver earned automatic advancement in the round-opening race last weekend at Kansas Speedway, with Ross Chastain spoiling that opportunity with his first win of the season.

Reddick is among the quartet of drivers currently below the provisional elimination line, leading a group that includes Suárez, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric on the wrong side of the playoff bubble. A well-hatched strategy effort among Toyota teams last spring had its midrace hitches, but ultimately helped the 23XI Racing driver end up on top.

“I think back to early in the year for us at Talladega, I know things had to play out a very specific way,” said Reddick, who is four points below the elimination divider. “I feel like speedways have been a good one. When we have a car that isn’t wrecked, we can advance our way through the field. It’s up to me, though, in some of those situations to, once I get to the front, stay there.”

No single manufacturer has had a grand run of success in recent years at Talladega, save for a modest three-race streak by Chevrolet drivers from 2022-23. The last time an automaker had a corner on the Talladega market was when Ford won seven straight here (2015-18), part of a bigger string when Ford claimed 10 of 12 races.

History tells us…

A playoff driver is likely to win. The words “Talladega” and “wild-card” have been in harmonious lockstep all week, with the draft-dependent style of racing frequently factoring heavily into the outcome. Underdogs might salivate at the thought of adding their names to the list of Talladega surprise winners, but recent history suggests that the top hotshots have an advantage.

In Talladega playoff races since the elimination-style format was instituted in 2014, nine of the 10 winners have also been championship-eligible. The outlier in those 10 races is Bubba Wallace, who was not among the playoff contenders when he notched his first Cup Series victory here in 2021.

He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…

Todd Gilliland. Front Row Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell has garnered a bit more attention, scoring five of his series-leading six pole positions this year on drafting tracks. But Gilliland’s recent results in FRM’s No. 38 Ford have been another bright spot, and his average finish of 9.3 in the last four Talladega races ranks fourth among all Cup Series drivers.

Gilliland opened as a 50-to-1 dark horse for Sunday’s 500-miler, and he also flies under the radar as the only non-playoff driver with three top-10 finishes in his last four Talladega results. He’ll start a stout third in the 40-car field come Sunday. | Talladega odds

Speed reads

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.

– Ready for a repeat? Ryan Blaney is hungry for another championship | Read article
– Eyes on the No. 9:
Chase Elliott on his Talladega fortunes, plus the path ahead | Read article
– Relief ramps up:
NASCAR community rallies to help Helene victims | Read article
– ‘The mission continues’:
Greg Biffle leads emergency response from the air | Read article
– Talladega twists:
Postseason primed for a Round of 12 shake-up | Read article
– Aero changes:
NASCAR officials aim to reduce lift at high-speed tracks | Read article
– Rowdy’s remainder:
‘Numb’ feeling for Busch with win streak still at stake | Read article
– Wallace, party of three:
Bubba Wallace, wife Amanda welcome newborn son | Read article
– iRacing spotlight:
Parker White takes title on eSports’ big night at NASCAR Hall | Read article
– ‘Full Speed’ ahead:
NASCAR Studios, Words + Pictures re-up for Season 2 | Read article
– Superspeedway stunners:
Inside Talladega’s history of surprise winners | Photo gallery
– Drafting-track dynamos:
Ranking the best of the Cup Series | Photo gallery
– Bubble Watch:
Margin of error narrows in Talladega visit | Photo gallery
– Power Rankings: Ryan Blaney in position for Talladega repeat | Photo gallery
– Turning Point: Lessons learned from the Kansas madness | Read article
– Racing Insights: Full finishing order projections; Blaney, Elliott expected to contend | Read article
– 36 for 36: Check out this week’s survivor pool picks | Read article
– Fantasy Fastlane:
Looking at Ford fondly for Talladega lineup | Photo gallery
– Talladega all-timers: List of Cup Series winners at the Alabama track | Photo gallery
– NASCAR Classics: Rewind with full-race Talladega replays from the vault | Read article
– Paint Scheme Preview:
Fresh designs to take on Talladega | Pick your favorite

Fast facts

Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

Four of the nine closest finishes in NASCAR Cup Series history have occurred at Talladega Superspeedway.
Alex Bowman has scored 24 more points than any other driver in the playoffs, a figure aided by his series-best 53 stage points in the last four races.
Kyle Larson has gone 14 consecutive races without a top-10 finish on drafting-style race tracks, the Cup Series’ longest active drought.

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