Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, with qualifying Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET on The CW App.

QUALIFYING ORDER: Cup Series

Superspeedway qualifying procedures are in effect, with only one round of qualifying and one lap each and will be the only time cars will hit the track before Saturday’s race (4 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Forty-one drivers are vying for 38 spots, meaning three cars will fail to qualify for the 113-lap event.

The qualifying order below is determined via metric that combines the previous race finish by owner (70%) and current owner points position (30%).

# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points

Pos.Car No.DriverMetric Score
129Jake Garcia(i)42.8
266Mason Maggio42.5
332Katherine Legge(i)40.7
424Jeffrey Earnhardt39.5
553Joey Gase36.6
635Greg Van Alst35.5
787Austin Green34.2
871Ryan Ellis31.8
931Blaine Perkins31.4
1070Leland Honeyman Jr.30.8
115Kris Wright29.8
1219Aric Almirola29.3
1300Sheldon Creed28.1
1448Nick Sanchez #27.4
152Jesse Love27.4
1645Caesar Bacarella26.4
1799Matt DiBenedetto26.4
1814Garrett Smithley25.3
1918William Sawalich #25.3
2028Kyle Sieg22.1
2107Patrick Emerling21.7
2216Christian Eckes #21.5
2391Jesse Iwuji21.2
2441Sam Mayer19.1
2542Anthony Alfredo17.7
2639Ryan Sieg15.6
277Justin Allgaier15
2851Jeremy Clements13.3
291Carson Kvapil #13
3026Dean Thompson #12.8
3111Josh Williams11.5
3288Connor Zilisch #11.5
3310Daniel Dye #10.8
3420Brandon Jones10.5
3527Jeb Burton9.5
3644Brennan Poole8.8
374Parker Retzlaff8.3
3854Taylor Gray #8.3
3925Harrison Burton6.3
4021Austin Hill5.4
418Sammy Smith1.3
Posted on by Press Release

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Brandon Ward proved one turn can change everything at Bowman Gray Stadium after he pulled a classic, last-lap bump-and-run on Burt Myers to win the season-opening Hayes Jewelers 200 on Saturday, April 19.

It was Ward’s first Hayes Jewelers 200 win, and 13th at the track. Myers led 198 of the race’s 204 laps, while Ward led just five laps. Both drivers chalked up the contact to typical short track action.

On Saturday, April 26, the Brad’s Golf Car’s Modified Series is back in action with the Twin 25s, along with the always-exciting Chain Race, to bring the house down.

Fans can buy tickets online and find parking information at www.bowmangrayracing.com. Adult tickets are $12 and kids ages 6-11 get in for $2.

Gates open at 6 p.m., and racing starts at 8 p.m.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

Young’s Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo has been around the block a few times. Throughout his seven-year NASCAR career, he’s never been with the same team for consecutive seasons.

The closest was last year, when he returned to Our Motorsports for a second time after a one-year stopgap with BJ McLeod Motorsports in 2023. Alfredo put in some of his best work with the team in 2024, earning seven top-10 finishes and finishing 15th in the championship standings. The highlight was winning the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus at Dover Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Anthony Alfredo driver page

“I’ve driven a lot of different equipment, worked with a lot of people and that’s made me more well-rounded as far as my ability to adapt to different equipment, but also the communication, chemistry and building relationships with a lot of people,” Alfredo said of his ability to click with different teams. “I think something unique about it is I got to drive some competitive equipment early in my career, part time. Not many people have been on both sides of the fence.”

For the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Tyler Young, owner of Young’s Motorsports, was looking for an experienced driver to help develop his program. After running older chassis from the now-defunct Brandonbilt Motorsports last year with rookie driver Leland Honeyman Jr., the No. 42 team bought out the remaining Cup Series inventory from Chip Ganassi Racing and committed to leasing ECR engines for the full season.

Alfredo was a natural fit.

“It’s funny when someone like that calls you and says they want a guy with experience because I’m still only 26 years old,” Alfredo said. “Because I’ve driven for all these different teams and been in all these different environments, I’ve learned a lot for being a young driver. I think there’s a value there, and I appreciate him acknowledging that and giving me the opportunity.”

What swayed Alfredo to Young’s was the grit of the team that has fielded Craftsman Truck Series entries for more than a decade. He knew success might not be immediate, but playing the long game was important.

Through the opening 10 races, Alfredo has had a mixed bag of results. He has a trio of DNFs, getting caught up in crashes in the first two races of the season while experiencing engine woes at Martinsville Speedway. The No. 42 team is trending in the right direction with four top-20 finishes, plus consecutive 15th-place outings, in the last six races.

MORE: Talladega schedule | Xfinity Series schedule | Xfinity Series standings

“It’s a game changer,” Andrew Abbott, crew chief of the No. 42 Chevrolet, said about bringing in an experienced driver. “I worked with Jeremy Clements, who is the same way. They can get a lot more out of a car because they’ve done it for so long.

“We’ve had a lot of speed. We just haven’t had great luck.”

To be so close to triumph in the past and knowing the investment the No. 42 team made over the offseason, Alfredo won’t sugarcoat his goals. He intends to win a race and make the postseason for the first time.

“I talk a lot, but I’m keeping that answer short,” Alfredo said. “I’ve done this enough times of starting over with new teams that it used to be overwhelming. Now, I’ve learned what I need to do as a team player to make that transition more seamless for myself and everyone else. I have a lot more experience now, and I’ve proven to myself that I can run up front, lead laps, especially in superspeedway races. I have as good of a shot as anyone else.”

Alfredo’s rebuilding with a new team each season has been a daunting task. But he also knows that if he excels, it can lead to greater opportunities.

“More than anybody, I want to build a home somewhere; that’s what I talk to every team about,” Alfredo said. “Unfortunately, I think one of the challenges of running so well with a smaller team is a lot of people come knocking on the door with a little more than you’ve got in your pocket.

“I’ve raced against Austin Hill in the Xfinity Series, and he’s been in the [No.] 21 car for the last four years, and I’ve been in four different cars. You think about the challenge to keep up with someone like that who is with a top-tier organization. But to go run the way that I do in all of these different environments, I think I’ve proved that no matter whose car I’m in, I’m going to be a threat. That’s given me confidence.”

TALLADEGA ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | Xfinity Series

Of the 60 laps Alfredo has led at the Xfinity level, 75% have come on superspeedways. His next chance comes this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. He will be pulling double duty, also driving the No. 62 car for Beard Motorsports in the Cup Series race. He had a splendid sixth-place finish in the spring Cup race last year at Talladega.

“I’ve also got these Cup races scheduled, and I feel like I’ve got as good of a shot as anybody in these because of the effort Beard Motorsports has put forward,” Alfredo said. “Winning a Cup race, let alone an Xfinity race, could both be career-defining for me.”

Posted on by Nate Ryan

The quality of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway and in the Cup Series recently on short tracks was a topic on the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast.

After leading 462 of 500 laps in a victory last September, Kyle Larson led 411 laps in his April 13 victory at Bristol. NASCAR managing director of communications Mike Forde said chief racing development officer John Probst had commissioned the engineers in the competition department to evaluate possible short-track tweaks after Larson’s most recent victory.

“Nothing concrete or specific to talk about just yet, but (Probst) said look at every lever that you could possibly pull and pull them,” Forde said. “To be clear, ‘NASCAR is aware and is working on it’ is really the message to be delivered out of that one race, which was not a great watch. … When you have (the winner) lead 411 laps, that is something to talk about.”

Forde said NASCAR has no aerodynamic or tire tests planned yet for short tracks. Two years ago in a Richmond Raceway test, NASCAR experimented with removing the diffuser on the Next Gen car.

“They didn’t really change much from an aerodynamic perspective, but also it was a test,” Forde said. “So who knows how hard those (test drivers) were going. They don’t want to wreck their test car. There’s nothing on the line. But we test for a reason to get those data points, and the data points for removing the diffuser really weren’t that super promising. So there’s work being done, and hopefully there will be more to come.”

The lack of tire wear emerged as a concern at Bristol. NASCAR and Goodyear officials meet every Tuesday morning, and Forde said “nothing specific came out of that meeting” after Bristol. Goodyear held a short-track tire test at Bristol last year after the March 17, 2024 race produced heavy falloff that necessitated a much shorter pit window.

“We made some tweaks and then had a Kyle Larson-dominant race in the fall,” Forde said.  “Goodyear is kind of figuring out their plans for what we need to do.”

Other topics covered during the 11th episode of “Hauler Talk,” which explores competition issues in NASCAR:

— The disqualification of Jesse Love’s Xfinity Series victory at Rockingham Speedway and why NASCAR decided six years ago to change a longstanding policy and begin stripping victories with inspections immediately after the race.

— Explaining the disqualification for Justin Bonsignore for missing four lug nuts after crashing during the Xfinity race.

— Exploring the new batch of NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees eligible for election in the Class of 2026.

— The unveiling of a new format for the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway that will feature the debut of “promoter’s cautions.”

Click on the embed above to listen or search for “Hauler Talk” wherever you download podcasts to hear it on your phone, tablet or mobile device.

Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the new “Hauler Talk” show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.

Posted on by Zack Albert

NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports officials announced Wednesday the format for the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race, including an expanded 250-lap main event, a new promoter’s caution rule, revisions to the Pit Crew Challenge and an enhanced spotlight on manufacturer competition.

The annual Cup Series exhibition is scheduled for Sunday, May 18 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM) at North Wilkesboro Speedway, marking the third consecutive year for the All-Star Race at the historic 0.625-mile track. It’s the culmination of an action-stuffed four-day weekend that includes races for the Craftsman Truck Series, Whelen Modified Tour and CARS Tour.

The two previous editions of the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro were held with 200-lap features. This year’s main event will expand by 50 laps, including a competition break at or near the 100-lap mark and the potential for an extra intermission that’s new for 2025.

A single, optional promoter’s caution flag potentially will be in the mix to reshape the race’s complexion. If that yellow flag takes place, it must fly before Lap 220 and cannot be used if a naturally occurring caution happens after Lap 200.

A competition within the race will place an emphasis on automaker performance, with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota teams facing off in the Manufacturer Showdown. Manufacturer teams will include all drivers from the least represented manufacturer, and an equal number of drivers from the other two manufacturers selected based on their final All-Star grid positions. Team drivers will be scored against each other and the team with the lowest combined total of finishing positions will be the winner. Any tie would be broken by the best overall finish among the group.

“The NASCAR All-Star Race continues to evolve as one of the most fun and innovative events on our calendar,” said John Probst, executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “Returning to historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for the third year in a row allows us to honor our sport’s roots while pushing the envelope with fresh competitive elements. The introduction of the Manufacturer Showdown brings a new layer of intensity and pride for our OEM partners, and fans can expect even more strategy, teamwork and drama on race day.”

RELATED: All-Star Fan Vote | Buy All-Star race tickets

Other procedures remain intact from the previous year’s running, including Sunday’s All-Star Open — a 100-lap qualifying race with a competition break at or near Lap 50 for drivers not already eligible for the main event. Three drivers will advance — the Open’s top two finishers and the top vote-getter in fan balloting.

The qualifying structure will be revised this year, with All-Star and Open drivers in a combined qualifying session with the Pit Crew Challenge expanded to include all teams. A three-lap qualifying effort will include a mandatory four-tire pit stop on the second lap, and the total time will set both the All-Star Open starting lineup and the starting grid for Saturday’s pair of 75-lap All-Star heats.

The fastest stop — measured by the elapsed time from timing lines one pit stall before and after a designated pit box — will determine the winner of the Pit Crew Challenge. Those results will be reflected in the order for pit-stall selection, with the winning team picking first.

Drivers eligible for the NASCAR All-Star Race include those who’ve won a points event in either 2024 or 2025, drivers who’ve won a NASCAR All-Star Race and compete full-time, and drivers who’ve won a NASCAR Cup Series championship and compete full-time.

Drivers already eligible for the All-Star Race main event include (in alphabetical order): Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Daniel Suárez.

Posted on by Staff Report

Now is your opportunity to support your favorite driver for a chance to compete in the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race on May 18 at the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The All-Star Race Fan Vote polls are open, and Fan Rewards members will receive a one-time 25-point bonus for their first vote. Fans can vote up to five times per day, per unique email address.

The voting period opened at 9 a.m. ET on April 23 and will conclude at 11:59 p.m. ET on May 17, a day before the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Open (May 18, 5:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The fan vote winner will be revealed after the All-Star Open and before engines fire for the main event.

RELATED: Vote now! | Buy All-Star race tickets

Notable past winners of the fan vote include Ken Schrader, who was first to receive the honor in 2004. Other familiar names on the list of past winners include Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2011), Danica Patrick (2013, ’15) and Clint Bowyer (2020). Noah Gragson was the most recent recipient in 2023 and ’24.

Kasey Kahne secured the fan vote victory in 2008 and stands as the sole fan vote winner to have subsequently triumphed in the All-Star Race. This highlights the significant impact of fan support in shaping the event.

Stay tuned to NASCAR.com over the coming weeks for updates on the progress of the fan vote.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

CONCORD, N.C. — One quarter down in the 2025 Cup Series season, Brad Keselowski and the No. 6 RFK Racing team are trailing big time to their competitors.

Whether you’re a supporter of the driver or the organization at large, the numbers will make you want to look away from how the 2012 series titleholder has performed in his 16th full-time season.

The stat sheet is full of goose eggs across the board for Keselowski … zero wins, zero top fives, zero top 10s, zero poles and zero laps led. The numbers that are ballooned are the ones you don’t want to see with a high value — 31st in points and a 25th-place average finish.

Keselowski will be the first to tell you that the start to this season has been less than optimal, but he’s begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Talladega schedule

“It’s definitely a lot of scratching and clawing. Our company went through a lot of changes; my team went through a lot of changes,” Keselowski said Tuesday in a media availability at the NASCAR Productions Facility. “We haven’t recognized the step forward. Hopefully, soon we’ll recognize the two steps forward with all the changes we made, but we definitely took a step backward in the process.”

It hasn’t been for the lack of effort from the No. 6 camp, but the running position at the time of each checkered flag this season has been unfavorable. Keselowski’s best finish so far this season was 11th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and with RFK teammates Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher netting top 10s on a consistent basis, it appeared a track like Darlington would flip the switch for Keselowski.

It very much did not.

A loose wheel forced the No. 6 Ford to limp back to pit road at the “Lady in Black,” stifling what was a top-10 capable car to a 33rd-place finish.

The statistics indicate it’s the worst start for Keselowski since his rookie season in 2010, but the 41-year-old veteran sees the positives in his car’s performance and from his crew.

“It’s definitely not my best start,” Keselowski admitted. “But, I mean, I got my internal optimist glasses on and I see the potential. The potential for this team is higher than any team I’ve had in the last four or five years. Just got to recognize it. There’s a lot of talent on it, a lot of fresh faces and the mistakes that come with that, and we have to clean that up and recognize our potential.”

That potential can be recognized this Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where anyone in the field has a fair shot to nab a win and a provisional spot in the 2025 postseason. It’s also a track where Keselowski has won six times in his career; the most among active drivers and tied with Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second-most victories all time at the 2.66-mile Alabama behemoth.

With racing at Talladega evolving in recent years and fresh off runner-up results in both Cup events last season, Keselowski has embraced the superspeedway as a “thinking man’s race” and knows he may be best positioned to capitalize despite his early-season misfires.

“The goal is to be in the middle of the bee’s nest, right? And come out on top,” Keselowski said. “That’s actually really hard. The gaps are very small. The commitment level is very high. You have to get comfortable with the fact that you have an extremely limited visibility. That’s not just because of the helmets or the head surrounds, or even the car itself. It’s because you’re in the middle of a pack and you can’t see through the cars you’re around. In a lot of ways, you’re driving at 190-plus miles an hour and your reference points are very poor. So it’s a really unique environment that’s hard to get comfortable with, and I think that’s the challenge. That’s part of the fun about it, being in this really difficult environment and trying to come out on top of it. I think that’s super rewarding.”

No one knows how to find the reward at Talladega more than Keselowski does, and if there’s any other incentive to flip the No. 6 team’s fortunes in one race, they can look toward a driver who struggled through the first half just last season as a strong reference point.

Joey Logano, a longtime former teammate of Keselowski’s at Team Penske, leaned on his lone regular-season win at Nashville in 2024 to make the postseason and eventually alchemized that into three playoff wins and a third Cup Series championship for the No. 22 stable.

It doesn’t necessarily need to happen this Sunday — though the window is closing — but Talladega is going to be one of the best opportunities for Keselowski to find the jolt to launch his season in the right direction.

“I feel like that can strike at any moment,” Keselowski said. “We just need to trust our process. We’re developing a lot of people and they’re not all clicking together yet, but there’s a lot of signs that say that can and should, whether that’s on pit road or with the team and the mechanics and engineers. All those pieces have to click to have a great race and to win on any given weekend, and we haven’t experienced that yet.

“But we’ve shown these glimpses of being able to get there.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Kasey Kahne experienced a little bit of everything and then some in his return to stock car racing.

Named one of the 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023, Kahne came back to NASCAR Saturday to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway, his first appearance across the sport’s national touring series since 2018.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Rockingham

Driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Kahne qualified fourth and was steadily toward the front of the field until he suffered damage in a Stage 1 crash that hindered his car for the remainder of the 256-lap event. Nonetheless, Kahne trudged through the day and rebounded for a respectable, hard-fought 14th-place finish in the North Carolina Education Lottery 250.

“That was definitely a handful once the car was tore up,” Kahne said. “I think we were an easy top-five car prior to that, maybe even better. But yeah, once the front end was tore off the right side, and then just the damage, it was just a battle from that point on. The guys did good — like I thought we did a good job of getting back to the lead lap and just avoiding wrecks, just kind of salvaged the best we could at that point.”

It was nearly impossible to tell it had been seven years since Kahne’s last time driving a stock car. At 45 years old, Kahne continues to race sprint cars through his team, Kasey Kahne Racing, and is competing full-time in the Kubota High Limit Racing series in 2025. His departure from NASCAR, though, was medically necessary. Then 38 years old, Kahne would regularly overheat in the race car and become dehydrated more quickly, he explained in a February episode of Dirty Mo Media’s “Dale Jr. Download.”

Away from the intense heat and duration of a stock-car cockpit for numerous years, Kahne felt ready to get back behind the wheel, this time with Richard Childress Racing.

“As far as my health, I’m in a good place right now because I don’t do this all the time,” Kahne said Friday. “I don’t do the long races, the (heat). It got worse as soon as the summer months came, and then every week after that just was draining me, those last couple years I did it. I think going into this, it’s good.”

Good it was for Kahne, who soldiered through the 2 hours, 59 minutes and 38 seconds of Saturday’s event with little to no issues despite two red flags and 14 caution periods slowing the race’s average speed to 80.377 mph.

“Long day. I was hot on Lap 60,” Kahne said, referencing the end of Stage 1. “And then we got some ice bags and started drinking more water. Went fine from there, but yeah, I haven’t been that hot in a long time. Seven years.”

Yet Kahne returned to competition just as naturally as he entered it in 2004, when he finished second in a thrilling photo finish at Rockingham behind Matt Kenseth in just Kahne’s second career Cup start.

“It’s been a long time, and as long as I drove these cars, it was really cool to get back in one and feel it (and) do that whole race weekend because it’s just so much different,” Kahne said. “The sprint car stuff I’m doing now I love, and things happen quick and the night’s over and you move on to the next one. But this is just a different type of racing, different type of race weekend. I enjoyed it. I’m glad I did it.”

Ultimately, the 18-time Cup Series winner walked away satisfied with his entire experience. Whether Kahne returns for another crack at NASCAR racing — Cup? Xfinity? Trucks? — remains yet to be determined. But the process of being back in the throes of a NASCAR team for a January test, simulator prep work and the motions of a practice, qualifying and race was heartily welcomed by the 2017 Brickyard 400 winner.

“I enjoyed it,” Kahne said. “I’ve really looked forward to it and put a lot into it. It was really fun working with the RCR group, going up to their shop, just being part of a NASCAR team again — that was really cool. And all the people at RCR were great. So, yeah, I mean, I enjoyed it. I don’t know about more in the future, but I’m really glad I did this. I wish it would have went much different, but I think we were very competitive and had a shot at being somewhere in that top five if things go our way throughout.”

Posted on by Press Release

NEW YORK (April 22, 2025) — Prime Video announced a June 12 premiere date for “American Thunder: NASCAR to Le Mans,” a feature-length documentary about NASCAR’s 2023 endeavor to compete in the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans race with an American stock car.

The documentary — formerly known as “Garage 56” — will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide and is the latest addition to the Prime membership. Prime members enjoy savings, convenience and entertainment all in a single membership.

RELATED: Timeline, coverage of Le Mans project | Join Prime Video today!

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the crown jewels of international motorsports. It’s a showcase of sports car racing excellence that tests the limits of man and machine. For the race’s 100th anniversary running in June 2023, an invitation was extended to NASCAR to bring an American stock car Chevrolet Camaro to compete against the futuristic Ferrari and Porsche prototypes and attempt to complete the grueling 24-hour challenge that is Le Mans. It was NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France’s dream since childhood to have one of his cars race at Le Mans, so he recruited NASCAR’s most successful team, Hendrick Motorsports, to build and race the car. Along with world-class drivers Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson, and Mike Rockenfeller, Hendrick Motorsports embarked on an 18-month journey to develop a race car designed to run three-hour races on ovals in the United States into one that could survive the challenge of racing 24 hours straight on an unforgiving road course.

“American Thunder: NASCAR to Le Mans” is produced by NASCAR Studios and Griffin Van Malssen and directed by Brad Lockhart. The film is executive produced by Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports and Tim Clark, John Dahl, Amy Anderson, Tally Hair and Matt Summers of NASCAR.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Kyle Larson bested the field in a big way on April 13 at Bristol Motor Speedway and carries all the momentum coming out of the Cup Series off-weekend. But Talladega is a different animal and could give other former champions, such as Ryan Blaney, an opportunity for win No. 1 this season.

NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series contenders after the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway and before Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: 2025 Cup Series schedule | Full Cup Series standings

Analysis: Few drivers in the sport can take charge of a race and just flat-out dominate the way Larson has at Bristol, twice in a row now, and the rest of the garage has to wonder how they’re gonna beat this guy. Thankfully for them, Talladega is the great equalizer, and as his four top 10s there in 20 tries suggest: He’s incredible but not infallible.

Analysis: Hamlin did everything right — and everything he could — to match teammate Christopher Bell’s 2025 feat of three straight wins but fell just short of accomplishing the task after a runner-up finish to Larson. Still, he’s off to one of his best starts ever and heads to a track where he’s won twice with a style of racing at which he tends to excel. 

Analysis: While Byron failed to lead his first laps at Bristol — to be fair, his teammate didn’t exactly help to accommodate that — he did turn in his fifth top-six finish in the past seven races to keep a healthy points lead atop the standings. After some misfires in his early career at Talladega, he’s been sneaky good in the Next Gen and has an average finish there of 7.7 since 2022.

Analysis: Bristol felt like a bit of a quiet race for Bell, but No. 20 did wind up scoring the third-most points of the afternoon behind Larson and Hamlin. He’ll look to carry momentum from three straight top 10s into Talladega, where he has just three of them in his 10 career starts.

Analysis: Blaney nearly lucked into a win at Bristol, had a late caution flown after he inherited the lead while Larson pitted late, but alas … luck has not favored the No. 12 through nine 2025 races. Pure speed and talent weigh a little heavier in this sport, though, and Blaney’s had plenty of that this year and also at ‘Dega, where he’s won thrice.

Analysis: His 22 points at Bristol are tied for the fewest Elliott has scored in a race this season as he’s starting to slightly trend downward. Nothing major and nothing that a trip to Talladega — where he’s won twice and led laps in 10 of the last 12 — can’t fix, however.

Analysis: While Reddick is already sporting what would be a career-best 12.4 average finish, it’s notable that he’s on pace for just 16 top 10s after posting 21 last year. It’s quite possible he hasn’t fully gotten going yet, however, and as the defending Talladega winner, we could see that start next weekend.

Analysis: We’re officially a quarter of the way through the entire season, so it feels fair to wonder what, exactly, is behind the defending champion having just one top 10 so far and being on pace for his worst average finish since 2011. Logano and Penske have proven time and again that early-season returns do not indicate eventual championship chances, but if No. 22 still ain’t right at Talladega — where the three-time track winner will be inducted into the Walk of Fame next weekend — perhaps the alarm bells will ring a bit louder.

Analysis: For all the “Bubba’s off to a hot start” buzz that was out there, it’s jarring to now look at his stats at the quarter pole and see that he’s on pace for fewer top 10s than last year and his worst average finish since 2022. Still, he’s eighth in points (which would be a career-best) as we head to one of the two tracks where he’s won. Could be worse.

Analysis: Chastain continues to just flat-out wheel it despite not quite having the oomph in his car, grinding out an ugly, 35th-place qualifying run into a P7 at Bristol. His overall Talladega record isn’t stellar, but we know he can get it done there (2022 spring win), and his aggressive nature should come in handy when we return to the track.

Analysis: Buescher has five top 10s this year, but only two have come consecutively as No. 17 looks strong at times but has struggled to maintain consistency so far. Daytona’s been a strong track for him but the superspeedway success hasn’t quite translated to ‘Dega for Buescher, though he did land a P3 in this race two years ago.

Analysis: Briscoe did recently mention he felt he was one-to-two weeks away from things really clicking in his fresh tenure at JGR, and as one of three cars the team put in the Bristol top four, it appears the time has come. Six of Briscoe’s eight Talladega results ended in top 15s, so he could keep it rolling, too.

Analysis: Thankfully for Bowman, the Bristol pole winner stayed in the race long enough to collect stage points to buffer an otherwise disappointing result (37th) after his engine expired. That’s three rough endings in a row for him after starting the season brilliantly, as he now heads to a track at which he’s averaged a 22.4 finish.

Analysis: After looking quite strong for a three-race stretch in March, Preece has dipped a bit again with finishes in the 20s the past two, and his fewest points scored since COTA coming at Bristol. That said, it’s tough to count out any driver who once raced at Talladega in a Wonder Bread scheme — and scored his best track finish in doing so — and he could get back on the horse down in Alabama.

Analysis: Only nine drivers finished on the lead lap at Bristol, and how many people out there before the weekend would’ve penciled in Allmendinger to be one of them? Probably not many, but he continues to be slept on as his Cup return has now seen three top 10s in the past five races — none of which, notably, were road courses. The somewhat recent Xfinity Series winner at Talladega could make a little noise here.

 

Analysis: Busch did finally turn in his first Bristol finish better than 20th since 2020, but it’s a far cry from the days of him sweeping tripleheaders at the track as the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing entry still appears to be missing some sizzle. The two-time champ did win the Talladega spring race with this bunch just two seasons ago, so maybe the week off and return to a happy place rekindles some magic.

Analysis: Berry did stop the bleeding a bit with a 25-point, 12th-place Bristol finish, but all that momentum from a Vegas win is all but washed away, with no top 10s in the month since. That said, the sophomore actually led a handful of laps at ‘Dega in his first shot in Cup last year in this race before settling in 16th.

Analysis: That’s more like it. Perhaps no driver in the field has had a greater divide between expectations vs. results, but things did seem to click for Gibbs at Bristol, where he had easily his best run of the year. It’s a step in the right direction, but we’ll need to see more to consider him a true contender, and it may be hard to keep it rolling at a track (Talladega) that he has no top 10s at with just one finish better than 22nd in five tries.

Analysis: There was a lot of hope Stenhouse, starting on the front row at one of his best tracks, could turn in his second top 10 of the year, but alas … nil. Thankfully for him, we now head to another of his best tracks — one where he is the most recent winner and averaged a 2.5 finish last year.

Analysis: McDowell is in the confusing spot of thus far cultivating his second-best average finish ever … while also failing to secure a single top-10 finish to date in 2025. He’s become a threat on more and more tracks the past few years, but part of his bread-and-butter will always be superspeedways, and it wouldn’t be the biggest shock to see him win when we get back to action.