By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
Talladega, Ala. —
| For the first time all playoff season, each of NASCAR’s top touring series are on the same schedule as the second race in the Round of 8 takes place at Talladega Superspeedway. Ford has more Cup Series playoff wins at this facility than any other as Mustang drivers Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano look to add another one on Sunday and clinch a spot in the Championship 4. |
 TALLADEGA PLAYOFF SUCCESS No track has provided more playoff success for Ford than Talladega Superspeedway, which has seen 10 Blue Oval wins in the postseason. Team Penske has been at the forefront of that success with Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney each winning twice. FORD PLAYOFF WINS AT TALLADEGA 2005 – Dale Jarrett, Robert Yates Racing 2009 – Jamie McMurray, Roush Fenway Racing2012 – Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing2014 – Brad Keselowski, Team Penske2015 – Joey Logano, Team Penske2016 – Joey Logano, Team Penske2017 – Brad Keselowski, Team Penske2018 – Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing2019 – Ryan Blaney, Team Penske2023 – Ryan Blaney, Team Penske  CINDRIC GOING FOR TALLADEGA SWEEP Austin Cindric punched his ticket to this year’s playoffs after winning for the third time in his career earlier this year at Talladega Superspeedway. Cindric came out with the lead following a late-race green flag pit cycle and was able to outduel fellow Ford driver Ryan Preece at the finish line to win the Jack Link’s 500. Cindric and Preece exchanged the lead from each other five times over the final seven laps before the Team Penske driver won by .022 seconds.  KESELOWSKI CLIMBING ALL-TIME TALLADEGA WIN LIST Brad Keselowski, who will be making his 34th career start at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, is the winningest active driver at the track with six NASCAR Cup Series victories. That ties him for second on the all-time list with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon and puts him four behind all-time winner Dale Earnhardt Sr., who won 10 times during his NASCAR Hall of Fame career. In 33 races, Keselowski has registered 12 top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes while completing almost 95 percent of the laps (5892-of-6218). |
| LARSON CONTINUES TO ADD TO THE POINTS BANKKyle Larson made one of the biggest climbs up the NASCAR Cup Series playoff rankings – leaving Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the top provisional points position with a 35-point advantage over the cutline. The 33-year-old Elk Grove, California, native turned in a 54-point race to open the Round of Eight – matching race winner, Denny Hamlin, to lead the series. His runner-up finish extended an already stellar performance during the midway point of the postseason with the 2021 champion heading to Talladega Superspeedway with a streak of four-straight top-seven finishes. While luck hasn’t been on his side on superspeedway’s throughout his Cup Series career, Larson has found his footing on the configuration this season. He has earned top-six results in three of the five races on drafting-style tracks, including a runner-up finish at Talladega Superspeedway in April. The finish marked back-to-back top-five finishes at the Alabama venue, with the No. 5 team also tallying a fourth-place result at the track one year ago. |
| BYRON, ELLIOTT LOOK TO TAP INTO SUPERSPEEDWAY SUCCESSWhile a disappointing trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway put William Byron and Chase Elliott in an unfavorable position below the cutline, the Hendrick Motorsports duo will look to tap into their superspeedway success this weekend. This season alone, each driver has earned a victory on a drafting-style track including Byron’s DAYTONA 500 victory and Elliott’s first win of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. |
QUOTABLE QUOTES: Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
How do you approach Talladega?
“Talladega is such a wild-card. You truly have no idea how it’s going to go for you. You can be the fastest car but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll win. You need to be a little bit lucky to avoid the accidents so you can even have a shot at winning at the end. There really hasn’t been a pattern for me at this track. I’ve won it from a last lap pass to ending up wrecked making a high-risk move for position, you just truly don’t know what is going to happen. That’s why the fans like it so much, you just never know who is going to win.”
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NXS/NCTS
Toyota drivers on right side of the cutline heading to Talladega … With just two races remaining in the Round of 8, Toyota’s three remaining Cup Series Playoff drivers are in favorable spots entering this weekend at Talladega. With his win on Sunday in Las Vegas, Denny Hamlin has locked himself into the Championship 4 for the fifth time in his career, and it’s his first shot at the Cup Series title since 2021. For Toyota, it continues the streak of being the only OEM to have at least one driver in the Championship 4 every year in the current points system. Hamlin’s Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe earned top-five finishes in Las Vegas to get themselves above the cutline, sitting 20 and 15 points to the good, respectively.
Hamlin makes history … The win by Hamlin at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marked the 60th of his historic career, tying him with Kevin Harvick for 10th on the all-time Cup Series win list. The victory was also his 57th with Toyota, making him the manufacturer’s winningest Cup Series driver. The 44-year-old has six victories on the season, the most wins he’s had in a season since 2020 when he captured seven. His most in a single year was eight in 2010.
Bell continues top-10 streak … Bell’s third-place finish at Las Vegas extended his top-10 streak to six consecutive, dating back to World Wide Technology Raceway in September. This was also Bell’s third straight third-place result.
Toyota GR Supras continue in title fight … With the win by Aric Almirola last weekend in Las Vegas, the No. 19 JGR Xfinity Series team has locked themselves into the owners’ Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway in three weeks. It’ll be the second consecutive season Almirola will contend for the owners’ title with JGR after last season in the No. 20 entry. In the drivers’ standings, the No. 20 team and Brandon Jones head to Talladega eight points below the cutline, seeking a big points day going into Martinsville or even a win at Talladega to lock themselves into the title race.
Roy J. Akers covers NASCAR for www.skyviewsports.net and is the host of High Banked Fury the Podcast on YouTube. Subscribe to both for FREE Today!Edit
