TALLADEGA, Ala. — Never before has Talladega Superspeedway been held this late in the Cup playoffs.
Mix pack racing with a spot to the championship race and add a field of drivers looking to score a win — or another win this season — before the year ends and it could create a potent combination.
NBC and Peacock will have the coverage from the Alabama track. Pre-race coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET. Race coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET.
Here’s what to watch for today:
Playoff race
Denny Hamlin claimed one of the four spots in the championship race last weekend at Las Vegas. Another spot is available today.
Chase Elliott enters the race 23 points below the cutline and starts 25th — last among the playoff drivers. Still, a victory would give him a chance to go for a second championship next month.
“I feel like we’ve got to go win, and if we don’t, we’ve got to have really good opportunities to win to claw ourselves out of the position that we are in,” Elliott said. “I think I find more relief than anything in just our performance last week (at Las Vegas). I don’t think our result was a great indication of just the job we did throughout the week and throughout the entire weekend.”
Chase Briscoe has the best average finish in the playoffs and starts second in Sunday’s Cup playoff race at Talladega.
Chase Briscoe holds the final transfer spot by 15 points on William Byron, who seeks to move on from last weekend’s disappointment when, unaware that Ty Dillon was pitting, Byron ran into the back of Dillon’s car, ending his race. Byron admits he can’t be passive.
“I don’t think playing it safe is ever the right call in the Cup Series,” Byron said. “At least for me here, you’ve got to assume a guy below the cutline or even below you is going to win.
“… So no, I think you need to go and try to score as many points as you can. And obviously get a win would lock you in. So yeah, I would say we’re not approaching this race any differently than we would in the spring race here. We’re trying to score as many points we can and get a win, if possible.”
Chaos of the final lap
There have been seven races this season that had a last-lap lead change, including the spring Talladega race.
Also, seven of the last 11 Talladega races have ended with a last-lap pass.
In the chaos of the final lap — or final laps — knowing what move to make can be challenging.
“The difficult part about speedway racing is that you never know what the right decision or wrong decision is until after you make it,” said Kyle Larson, who continues to seek his first Cup win at a superspeedway. “You just don’t know.”
Who is next?
The last 10 Talladega races have been won by a different driver. Austin Cindric was the most recent winner, taking the checkered flag in April. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won last fall’s playoff race.
Hamlin, Elliott and Ryan Blaney are the Round of 8 playoff drivers who have won during that stretch.
So, who could be next?
Only three of the eight playoff drivers qualified in the top 10 for Sunday’s Cup race on NBC and Peacock.
Byron has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five Talladega races and has won the past two Daytona 500s.
Michael McDowell starts on the pole and ranks ninth on points scored on drafting tracks this season.
Cole Custer was passed for the win on the last lap at Daytona in August in the most recent drafting track race. Custer also was challenging for the win on the last lap of the Daytona 500 before he was involved in a crash. Could he be an upset winner?
“It’s a great shot for us to go try to get a trophy,” Custer said of today’s race. “We try and bring all we got every weekend, but these weekends definitely stand out as being a little bit more in the hunt.”
The Big One
Last year’s playoff race featured a 28-car crash near the end. It’s not if but when a crash with 10 or more cars is likely to happen.
Then it’s a matter of who gets through and who has damage. It can dramatically change the race.
