Kyle Larson aiming for first superspeedway victory in 400th Cup start

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Dustin Albino

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Kyle Larson isn’t certain how he will feel should he ever reach Victory Lane at a drafting-style track. It would be extra special, admitted the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, if he could become the seventh driver to win in their 400th start, joining an elite list that includes Lee Petty, Richard Petty, David Person, Dave Marcis, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson.

“It would be pretty neat,” Larson stated on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. “I would like to go to, like, Bristol for my 400th start, but it would be extra special to get my first win on a superspeedway in my 400th career start. It would be awesome. We will give it our best effort tomorrow and hopefully join that list of Hall of Famers.”

For the bulk of his career, superspeedways have plagued the 2021 Cup champion, but the No. 5 team has stepped up its game in 2025. Entering the final drafting event of 2025, Larson has tallied the most points in the series’ first five attempts of the season at 177.

Fifty-four of those points came in the spring race at Talladega, 11 more than his closest playoff competition (William Byron earned 43). He has consecutive top-five finishes at NASCAR’s largest oval, placing second and fourth, respectively. Add in a third-place finish at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta) in late February, and Larson has top fives in half of the last six drafting races.

Larson boils the recent success down to pure racing luck.

MORE: Projected Talladega results | Fantasy Live tips

“It’s easy in the past to look on paper and say, ‘Kyle Larson is the worst ever on superspeedways’ but if you really watch the race, we’ve been a top contender, in the Next Gen era, especially,” Larson said on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. “Hopefully, we can stay lucky.”

The turnaround directly correlates to doing the minute details right in the Next Gen car. The No. 5 team has maximized getting to pit road during cycles of green-flag pit stops as well as saving fuel throughout the run. By doing those nuances over the course of a grueling 500 miles, it positions Larson well for the end of stages, as three of his series-high 10 stage victories in 2025 have come at superspeedways.

According to Racing Insights, Larson has averaged a gain of 8.9 positions per green-flag pit cycle at Talladega and Daytona International Speedway since the start of 2024. He trails only Byron at 11.9 positions advanced through green-flag pit cycles.

Preparing for superspeedways is no different from any given weekend for Larson. It all boils down to executing during crunch time and getting in a better position.

“We have our pre-weekend meeting as always and look at different scenarios,” Larson added. “I do think something that the good guys do here, and I would consider myself one of them, is the part that you don’t really see leading into the green-flag cycle.

“Just executing all of that cycle is important. That’s something with us as the 5 team, as well as the other key partners teams, do good. I think that’s why we are in contention at the end of some stages and at the end of the race. Sometimes, it works out to where you finish; sometimes it doesn’t. I think that’s something that we’ve worked hard on as a group in the past three or four years, and I think we’re one of the best, if not the best, at doing that.”

The numbers would back Larson’s theory. Before the 2024 playoff race at Talladega, Larson had just one top-five effort in 46 career superspeedway starts. One-third of his 12 total top 10s at superspeedways – four – have come in that same timeframe. Pacing the field is the next goal for the No. 5 team, as he’s led a mere 19 laps in those six events.

Having to persevere through his primary weakness, Larson can now admit that winning a superspeedway race would be a highlight.

“I think for a long time, at least early to mid-portions of my career, I had a thought of anyone can win on superspeedways, so it’s not going to feel that special when I finally do win,” Larson stated. “Now, it’s been so long, and I haven’t even had many top 10s or top fives that I think, hopefully, if I ever do win – I don’t know what the feeling is going to feel like, but I would assume it’s going to feel really big. I will take it anywhere: here, Daytona 500, Atlanta, I don’t even care at this point, I would just love to get a win.”

Larson will take the green flag for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 in the 19th starting position. Only his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, will start deeper in the field of playoff drivers (25th).

Posted on October 18, 2025October 18, 2025 by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Michael McDowell may be driving for a new team this year, but the Spire Motorsports driver still proved himself to be one of the fastest at a superspeedway, earning the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 Round of 8 playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock).

McDowell turned in a lap of 182.466 mph in the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Saturday afternoon to claim the lead position in Sunday’s pivotal NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race — the second of the final three-race round to determine which four drivers will be championship-eligible in the Nov. 2 finale at Phoenix Raceway.

McDowell bettered playoff driver Chase Briscoe by a slight .019 seconds on the lap around the 2.66-mile track. It’s the eighth pole position of McDowell’s career and the second of the 2025 season, matching his work at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.

“You know, Talladega for qualifying, there’s not a whole lot the driver does but try not to make any mistakes,’’ said the 40-year-old Arizona native McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner.

“We were looking forward to seeing where our car was at and if we made any gains from the first two superspeedway races. We didn’t know where we were at today just because we didn’t have the baseline [at the rained-out qualifying session] at Daytona [this summer]. We’ve worked really hard to find some speed, everybody at Hendrick engine shop as well, just trying to catch up at these superspeedways.

“Having a fast car is important, and being able to lead lanes and control lanes, you have to have speed to do that. The pole is awesome, but more important, just knowing you have a fast car going into the race tomorrow.

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch was third fastest in the No. 8 Chevrolet, followed by the Fords of Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece and Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry — all non-playoff competitors.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Penske’s Ryan Blaney — both among the eight-driver playoff field — will start seventh and eighth, followed by non-playoff drivers, 23XI Racing teammates Riley Herbst and Bubba Wallace.

The Regular Season Champion, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, will roll off 13th in the No. 24 Chevrolet with Penske’s Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin starting 16th and 17th. Hendrick teammates Kyle Larson (19th) and Chase Elliott (25th) round out the playoff field on the starting grid.

Hamlin already earned a position in the Championship 4 with a victory last week at Las Vegas. Larson goes into the race with a 35-point advantage above the cutline with JGR teammates Bell (plus-20) and Briscoe (plus-15) currently above the line.

Byron (minus-15), Elliott (minus-23), Logano (minus-24) and Blaney (minus-31) are below the elimination line. Elliott, Logano and Blaney are all former Talladega race winners.

Hyak Motorsports’ driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the defending race winner and will roll off 37th in the 40-car field.

Posted on October 18, 2025October 18, 2025 by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

NASCAR Cup Series

YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

NASCAR Xfinity Series

United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: How to watch NASCAR on The CW

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday (4 p.m. ET, FOX, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: How to watch NASCAR on FOX

Posted on October 17, 2025October 17, 2025 by Dustin Albino

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Entering Talladega Superspeedway, a blanket could cover the seven Craftsman Truck Series playoff drivers that hadn’t already clinched a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. After 90 laps, there’s a bit more clarity.

Rajah Caruth entered the Love’s RV Stop 225 on the proverbial cutline, knowing he needed a “big-picture race.” Veteran crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion and spotter Eddie D’Hondt reiterated that phrase multiple times throughout the event on the No. 71 team’s radio.

With half of the playoff contingent receiving damage in the opening stage, Caruth powered on to his first stage victory of the season. It was the second stage victory of his career.

Among the playoff drivers with heavy damage during the first stage was Layne Riggs. Contact from his Front Row Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith at Lap 10 sent the No. 34 truck around with considerable damage. He rebounded in the waning laps of the stage to finish 12th.

“[Smith] gave me a big shove into the corner and just the wrong spot to do that,” Riggs stated. “I’m very thankful it wasn’t a day-ender because it very well could have been easily.”

Riggs powered on during the second stage while Caruth battled for the stage victory, ultimately finishing third and banked eight additional stage points. On Lap 31, the No. 34 Ford cut a left-front tire and needed to drop out of the draft to hit pit road. He was credited with a 31st-place result in Stage 2 and lost the left-front crush panel. The Dylan Capello-led team made significant repairs, requiring Riggs to switch which foot he was using to throttle the car due to a blistering in-car temperature.

Pushing Spire Motorsports teammate Corey Lajoie during an overtime restart, Caruth got squirrely through the tri-oval on the final lap and dropped to ninth position. Riggs, glued to the double-yellow line, moved up the running order, taking the checkered flag in fifth position. Caruth earned a ninth-place finish and has three consecutive top-10 finishes for the second time in 2025.

Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media

“I would say pretty frustrated with how it ended,” Caruth said, describing his emotions post-race. “I didn’t want to split [Lajoie], I just got popped at the wrong time. Still a great points day.”

MORE: Craftsman Truck Series standings

The No. 71 truck dropped a handful of spots in the sprint to the finish off the tri-oval, but was fortunate to be in one piece, Manion was relayed by some of his competitors. Ultimately, Caruth is 14 markers above the bubble entering the Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway.

“You’re never safe going into Martinsville, but today was a great race for us,” Manion told NASCAR.com. “I feel like we gave up five points in the last 500 feet, which is painful, but after a little bit of replay and talking to a couple of people, we were lucky we weren’t last in the tri-oval when we got a shot from behind. Big picture for the day is it was a massive points day.”

Riggs lessened the blow by charging late in the race, but dropped from fifth to sixth on the playoff grid. He lost five points to the cutline and will enter Martinsville six points behind the cutoff.

“Thankfully, Martinsville is pretty cut and dry,” Riggs added. “If you’re fast, you’re going to run up front and get stage points if you qualify well and run up front. We’ve got to go with big speed.

“We’ve been working for six weeks on Martinsville. I’ve put over 20 hours into it, trying to get better at that race track. It’s a place I feel like I’ve always been pretty good, we’ve just never been a stellar truck.”

Tyler Ankrum is currently slotted in third on the playoff grid, eight points above the cutline. Kaden Honeycutt will enter Martinsville on the bubble, five points ahead of Ty Majeski. Daniel Hemric (-32) and Grant Enfinger (-40) will be in must-win mode, as both failed to finish at Talladega.

Posted on October 17, 2025October 17, 2025 by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Rookie Gio Ruggiero capped a typically dramatic afternoon of racing on the Talladega Superspeedway high banks with the 19-year-old’s first career trip to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Victory Lane in Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225.

Though not in the playoffs, Ruggiero held off his Tricon Garage teammate and current championship leader Corey Heim in a two-lap overtime duel to the checkered flag, his No. 17 Toyota leading the way by a mere .059 seconds. The effort rewarded an absolutely strong day for the young driver, who won pole position and led a race-best 37 of the 90 laps.

Ruggiero took the lead with two laps remaining in regulation after then-race leaders, ThorSport Racing teammates Ben Rhodes and rookie Luke Fenhaus, made contact — both Fords spinning out and allowing Ruggiero and Heim to the front. The teammates held position for the two laps of overtime to claim the win.

“Super thankful all the guys on this 17 truck, they worked their butts off today and definitely brought the best piece today,’’ the Massachusetts driver Ruggiero said. “We showed it in qualifying and throughout the race there that we had the fastest piece. Thanks to Toyota and everybody who supports me. Great to win a race with my mom and dad here.’’

Heim’s runner-up effort was the best showing by one of the eight playoff drivers with only a single race remaining in this three-race round to finalize which four will race for the championship on Oct. 31 at Phoenix Raceway.

Heim, the regular-season points leader and 10-race winner, has led laps in all 23 races this season. He is the only driver with a secure entry to the Phoenix finale thanks to a victory in this round’s opening race at the Charlotte Roval two weeks ago.

ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski — the reigning series champion — turned in an impressive rally on the afternoon to finish third after dropping to 34th in the 36-car field early with collateral damage from an early-laps accident.

Rookie Dawson Sutton was fourth, followed by playoff driver Layne Riggs, who, like Majeski, earned his top five the hard way. He started at the rear of the field after an inspection violation and was involved to varying degrees in multiple incidents during the race.

“I’m just glad to end the day in one piece,’’ said Riggs, driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. “I know Chandler [Smith] gave me a bad push getting into the corner there, and we both wrecked. Just so glad that wasn’t a day-ender.

“Started shotgun on the field and went to the back a few times, there at the end just trying to be patient and hold that bottom and hoping the top would break up and it did. Really bummed we didn’t get any stage points. We’re not quite in the position we want to be in, but it’s a lot better than it could have been.’’

Six of the eight playoff drivers finished among the top 10, with playoff driver Tyler Ankrum in sixth, followed by former three-time series champ Matt Crafton and part-time driver Corey Lajoie, and playoff competitors Rajah Caruth and Kaden Honeycutt rounding out the top 10.

Three positions in the Championship 4 are still to be decided. The playoff standings heading to the final race of this round show Caruth heading to Martinsville 14 points above the cutline with Ankrum plus-eight and Honeycutt plus-five. Majeski is five points below the line and Riggs is six back.

Daniel Hemric, who had a tire go down late in the race during a green flag run, finished 34th and Grant Enfinger was 36th — essentially putting both veteran drivers in a must-win situation next week at Martinsville Speedway. Hemric is 32 points below the cutline and Enfinger is now 40 points back.

Enfinger, the defending Talladega race winner entering Friday’s event, was an innocent victim collected in an accident only four laps into the race, his No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevy among three playoff trucks suffering damage. But Enfinger’s Chevy was unable to continue, making him the first title contender with issues.

“Bounced off a guy on the inside and thought I had it saved, just one of those Talladega deals,’’ the Alabama native Enfinger said. “I love this place, but it just wasn’t meant to be today. … so our job’s pretty simple at Martinsville next week.”

MORE: Enfinger, Majeski caught up in Stage 1 crash

The series moves to the half-mile Martinsville Speedway to decide which four drivers move forward in championship contention with the Oct. 24 Slim Jim 200 (6 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Christian Eckes — now a full-time Xfinity Series driver — is the defending race winner.

Note: Inspection was completed in the Craftsman Truck Series garage with no issues, confirming Ruggiero as the winner. No trucks will be taken back to the R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further evaluation.

Posted on October 17, 2025October 17, 2025 by Staff Report

Norm Benning was ousted from Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway after a blown engine left his No. 6 truck in flames.

Benning was running 32nd at Lap 65 when the engine of his No. 6 Chevrolet failed entering Turn 1. A plume of white smoke bellowed from the vehicle before turning to flames, which rolled beneath and behind the vehicle before Benning came to a halt at the exit of Turn 2.

MORE: Unofficial results | At-track photos

The 73-year-old Pennsylvania native climbed from the truck under his own power before safety personnel aided him beside the truck once the fire was extinguished. He was later treated and released from the infield care center.

Benning is a longtime NASCAR competitor who made his 259th Truck Series start Friday at Talladega. Benning made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 1989, making three of his four career Cup starts that season. Additionally, Benning made three Xfinity Series starts from 2003-04.

Posted on October 17, 2025October 17, 2025 by Staff Report

CR7 Motorsports driver Grant Enfinger was caught up in a wreck on Lap 4 of Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs race at Talladega Superspeedway, putting his hopes of advancing to the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season in peril.

Enfinger, the defending winner of the Truck Series race at Talladega, received an errant push from Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith exiting Turn 4, which got Enfinger loose and sent him spinning before entering the tri-oval.

Fellow playoff driver Ty Majeski also suffered left-front damage when Enfinger’s No. 9 Chevrolet slid in front of him after driving through the tri-oval grass to avoid the multitruck incident. Jake Garcia also incurred significant front-end damage but was able to continue.

Entering Talladega, Enfinger was four points below the cutline to advance from the Round of 8, with Majeski two points below. Enfinger took his No. 9 Chevrolet to the garage and could not continue. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center and will be credited with a last-place finish.

Enfinger left his home state of Alabama 40 points below the elimination line, as Majeski put together a key recovery drive by finishing third, placing the defending Truck Series champion five points out of a Phoenix transfer spot.

Layne Riggs, another playoff contender, also incurred damage in a separate crash at Lap 10 but was able to continue on for a fifth-place finish. The driver of the No. 34 Ford ended the day six points below the cutline.

Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Dustin Albino

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Jim Pohlman can be described as an intense, highly motivated individual chasing the ultimate goal in NASCAR: winning. In 2026, he gets to chase that goal as a full-time Cup Series crew chief, taking over the reins of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing car with future Hall of Famer and two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch.

Pohlman will return to RCR after spending the previous three seasons leading the way for Justin Allgaier in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports. He spent 2022 deep in the RCR bubble, playing multiple roles, including being one of the leads of the team’s research and development program.

“Working for Richard Childress, a Hall of Famer, and Kyle Busch, a future Hall of Famer, speaks paramount for the organization and what they are trying to accomplish,” Pohlman told NASCAR.com Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. “Who better to take a swing at the Cup Series at with somebody other than those two guys?”

MORE: Talladega schedule | Details on Pohlman’s new job

Accepting the inquiry to crew chief Busch, who sits ninth on the all-time Cup wins list and is the winningest NASCAR driver in history across the top three national tour series (232), was a no-brainer for Pohlman. He brought the possibility to Allgaier’s attention, and the duo hashed out their feelings.

Allgaier told Pohlman that he “would be an idiot if he didn’t take” the No. 8 gig. He knows there will be a glaring hole to fill on the No. 7 team, but wanted Pohlman to pursue his ambition.

“It’s a double-edged sword for me,” Allgaier admitted when talking to NASCAR.com. “I am sad to see him go because he has meant the world to me – and still will. His dream has been to be a full-time Cup Series crew chief, to have a shot for going for a championship. He has had forays and been able to be on the Cup side, but not in this scenario.

“I couldn’t have asked Jim to do any more for me. We came into this series and he put more effort than anyone I could ever imagine into what he was doing. The hard work and dedication that he’s given to me, I couldn’t ask for any better. As sad as I am to see that go, he accomplished everything we ever asked for. If you could write it all down on paper, you couldn’t even ask for those stats.”

The pairing has won nine races together since the beginning of 2023. The highlight was securing the 2024 Xfinity Series title at Phoenix Raceway in an emotional, feel-good fashion. Pohlman will forever be grateful to Allgaier for giving him his first foray into the full-time crew chief role and running with it.

“Justin is the guy that put me on the map,” Pohlman added. “Without JRM, this opportunity doesn’t exist. It’s very hard to leave Justin; he’s a great friend and has been a friend for a long time. We’ve won an ARCA championship, we’ve won an Xfinity championship – hopefully, we’re going to win two. To walk away from the possibility of winning three in a row was very heavy on my mind.

“The goal for me has always been to race on Sunday and make it to that level and have an opportunity to win Daytona 500s and win at the highest level. It’s a great opportunity and I’m certainly looking forward to it.”

Getty Images

While Pohlman has crossed paths with Busch on a professional level for more than two decades, he wouldn’t consider themselves to be the best of buds. Their conversations have been minimal.

Pohlman has 20 Cup starts as a crew chief on his resume, including 17 with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2011, earning a pair of top-10 finishes. He called the shots in two races for RCR in 2022, one apiece for Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevrolet and Austin Hill in the team’s part-time third entry. Having that previous experience is admirable, but he reiterates that without Allgaier, this opportunity wouldn’t exist.

“I would say that the opportunity to be a crew chief and move to that level all starts with Justin,” Pohlman said. “If Justin doesn’t make that phone call, we’re not standing here. With everything that we’ve accomplished with Justin, myself and this JRM team, it doesn’t come along without that.”

The motivation of winning a second consecutive championship is pegged for Pohlman. He wants to depart the No. 7 team better than he found it.

“After winning the championship last year, the goal when we came back was, ‘we’ve got to do it again and again after that,'” Pohlman said. “We turned into champions, and if you win three in a row, we wanted to turn it into a dynasty. Definitely hard to make that decision, but kudos to Justin for putting me here and giving me this opportunity.”

Allgaier wants to rejoice the final three weeks of the 2025 season with Pohlman and leave him in rarified air.

“I don’t know of any crew chiefs that have come into the series for three years and had two firsts and a second (in points),” Allgaier said. “Those are pretty good stats.”

The courting process for the next crew chief of the No. 7 car will likely be put on hold until the conclusion of the 2025 season, as Allgaier has asked JRM management for “a little time to process it and help not take away from what we’re doing on the race track.”

Posted on October 17, 2025October 17, 2025 by Zach Sturniolo

The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford was barred from making a qualifying lap for Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs race at Talladega Superspeedway (4 p.m. ET, FOX, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The team was found making an unapproved adjustment to the vehicle following pre-race inspection for the middle race of the Round of 8, NASCAR announced Friday, and officials ruled the vehicle set to be driven by Layne Riggs would not be eligible to post a qualifying effort.

MORE: Talladega schedule | Truck Series Playoffs standings

Riggs is one of eight drivers remaining who are eligible for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, with four drivers slated to advance to the Championship 4 following the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. Riggs enters Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 fifth in the standings, one position and one point beneath the cutline and will start the 85-lap race from the rear.

In addition to losing the ability to qualify at Talladega, Riggs’ No. 34 team will have last choice of pit-stall selection at Martinsville, set for Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Nate Ryan

This season marks the deepest Talladega Superspeedway has been positioned in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which also happen to feature the deepest Round of 8 ever in 2025.

Naturally, these two developments are related.

Talladega Superspeedway long has been the bugaboo of NASCAR’s championship run.

The longest oval on the circuit, nestled among the forests of eastern Alabama, is the home of portentous dread for title hopefuls. Its potentially disastrous ramifications have hung over the playoffs like the thick and acrid campfire smoke constantly wafting from the campgrounds of its mammoth infield.

Since the debut of the playoffs in 2004, Talladega’s monstrous impact on the championship has been an annual October talking point. The track is in its 22nd consecutive season of playing host to a fall playoff race, and the handwringing grew more intense with the addition of elimination rounds 11 years ago.

With points resets every third race, there has been much debate about where and how to slot the track, which always was in the Round of 12. Talladega even was tried as a cutoff race. That two-year run in 2015-16 is remembered for the confusion and controversy spawned by determining the finishing order of a 500-mile race that often ends with the frame-by-frame video reviews necessitated by a last-lap caution flag.

This year has proved the middle race in the Round of 8 is where the 2.66-mile oval always belonged, and the strength of the field underscores why the eighth of 10 races is the perfect playoff spot for Talladega.

The remaining title contenders hail exclusively from the “Big Three” of the Cup Series — Hendrick Motorsports (represented by William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson), Joe Gibbs Racing (Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe) and Team Penske (Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano). It’s a power trio of mighty multicar organizations that should be the betting favorite to lock out the Round of 8 every year. Penske and Hendrick achieved perfect playoff attendance this season, but each of their weakest links (Alex Bowman and Austin Cindric) was eliminated in the first two rounds.

In results and star power, this year’s final eight is the cream of the crop from the regular season and with nary a sleeper in the bunch. Hands down, it is the most deserving of competing for the championship.

That’s in large part because there were no early and undeserving wipeouts at Talladega, where a slight bobble of the wheel in a tightly bunched pack at 200 mph can eliminate more than half the field.

With four laps remaining in the scheduled 500-mile distance of last year’s playoff race, a massive crash erupted with a record 28 cars swept up in the chaos. Among those involved were playoff drivers Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suárez and Alex Bowman.

A week later, they all were gone from the playoffs.

That sense of uncertainty is pervasive with Talladega, especially as it’s been followed on the schedule by the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval for the past five seasons. The randomness of having two treacherous tracks back-to-back created scenarios in which it was easy for big names to be unjustly eliminated in the second round.

Talladega’s arbitrary nature is a lot easier to swallow in the third round, where points inherently matter less and being below the cutline (as the field shrinks from eight to four) is nearly always a must-win proposition.

Since the advent of stages in 2017, only two drivers (Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. in 2021) have made the Championship 4 on points from below the cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 8.

Whether a playoff driver gets caught in one of Talladega’s infamous pileups or escapes unscathed Sunday, history tells us that the third-round finale at Martinsville Speedway still looms as a must-win either way.

That will be an oddly comforting thought for the most formidable Round of 8 field ever — as well as a reaffirmation that Talladega has found its rightful place in the playoffs.