EVEN WITH PREPARATION, UNPREDICTABILITY RULES AT TALLADEGA
TALLADEGA, Ala. – The 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway high-banks easily provide the most unpredictable setting in the closing races of this 2026 NASCAR Cup Series championship Chase. A lot is on the title line in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) but drivers say they expect this race to be no different than any other here – ultra-competitive and highly-dramatic.
The approach here can be defensive – just trying to hold steady and escape with a reasonable finish, or it can be aggressive – jumping into the close-quarter fray to wrangle one of the most sought trophies on the schedule.
And depending on where a driver is in the championship standings seems likely to play a role. The word “wildcard” has become synonymous with this venue and these 188 laps of full-on action and anxiety.
Two-time and reigning series champion, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson holds a five-point advantage atop the standings over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell. JGR’s Chase Briscoe is third, only 24 points back with regular season champ, JGR’s Denny Hamlin 31 points off Larson and Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano 40 and 44 points, respectively off Larson.
Among the five – Briscoe is the defending winner of the Fall race. Hamlin has a pair of Talladega wins and both Blaney and Logano have won three times here.
“Do you prepare as much as you can with your team and with your group and can you go execute that day and if you do, that’s very, very rewarding if you can go and do the right things and everything works out for you,’’ Blaney said of his approach. “But, if things don’t go your way and something happens that is outside of your control, that’s just kind of it is what it is.
“Sometimes, there’s not a lot you can do about it and you just have to deal with that. I think everyone thinks of these speedways a little bit differently, but I’ve always enjoyed coming just because I like the style, and I feel like it’s just a different form of racing and you just hope you make the right decisions. Sometimes you don’t, but you just hope you make the right ones between yourself and your group.”
Briscoe also acknowledged the track’s unique character and propensity to produce new winners. There have been no repeat winners in the last 12 Talladega races.
“I feel like it’s definitely an opportunity for the good and the bad, right? ‘’ Briscoe said.
“More often than not, the Chase guys are for the most part all in the top 10 [at other venues] where here, you can just have such big swings, so that’s an opportunity,’’ he added. “If you do have a good points day, then you can just gain a ton of points on guys, but also, you can lose a lot of points too. So, I think it’s an opportunity for both sides. They’re just obviously a little bit more out of our control here. So I don’t know, just try to come in with an open mind. Hope you go away with a solid day.”
HOCEVAR FIRST-TIME BACK AT SITE OF FIRST-TIME WIN
Spire Motorsports’ driver Carson Hocevar earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series win this April after out-negotiating the field on three late race re-starts at one of the sport’s most famous – and famously tough – tracks, Talladega Superspeedway.
The victory – and the one-of-a-kind ensuing celebration with Hocevar sitting on the window ledge of his No. 77 Chevrolet for a Victory Lap – helped propel the 23-year old Michigan native to great popularity among the NASCAR faithful. And the fondness has remained.
“My life hasn’t been the same, but it’s just more fun because a lot of it is very visual memories,’’ Hocevar said. “I remember what everything looks like and what we experienced and all. A lot of my friends … I’m glad I won here of all places. My agent was like, ‘Man, with Carson winning everybody wants to come here, all his friends want VIP passes. I was like, “Dude, it’s Talladega. They were gonna come anyways. … It’s by far the most fun track you could win your first one at.”
“I don’t think anything’s really changed other than I signed a few more autographs,’’ he added with a grin, “But I’ve always enjoyed it. Obviously, the crowds are a lot bigger, and I get recognized in a lot weirder spots and a lot more spots. There’s a lot more female fans for sure, which has been cool. All of it’s been awesome for me.
TOYOTA WINS NASCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S TITLE
With 23XI Racing Tyler Reddick’s victory last week at Phoenix Raceway, Toyota officially wrapped up its fourth NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer’s title – and first since 2019.
Toyota has been a dominant force this season claiming 18 wins – including the Daytona 500 – through the opening 33 races; its second-highest win total all-time. In 2019 the make claimed 19 trophies.
The overall win tally for Toyota among NASCAR’s three premier series sits at 698 with the opportunity to reach the 700-win milestone this weekend at Talladega. It is also in contention to claim the driver’s title in both the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Craftsman Truck series. Toyota driver Christopher Bell sits second in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, only five-points behind Kyle Larson. In the truck series, Kaden Honeycutt extended his lead to 43.
“Obviously incredibly excited about what’s going on this year,’’ TRD President Tyler Gibbs said earlier this week, noting that the work for this started end of 2024 into 2025. “we’re really beginning to see the fruits of that this year.’’
“There’s an expectation for us compete for race wins and championships and that’s kind of where we’ve been living,’’ Gibbs continued. “I think you’ve seen over the last number of years we’ve had plenty of guys in the final four. The last one-day event didn’t work for us the way we’d like but we’ve been right there competing until the very end.
“We’re good, have great support and can’t tell you the number of texts and emails I received after winning the championship from the leadership at Toyota, so we’re in a good spot and have just great support from TGR (Toyota Gazoo Racing North America).’’
NMPA MOST POPULAR DRIVER VOTING NOW OPEN
The always-anticipated NMPA Most Popular Driver Award voting began Friday morning and already much of the NASCAR Cup Series garage has thrown their support behind the late two-time series champion Kyle Busch, who passed away in May after a brief illness.
Eight-time defending winner of the award, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott asked to be removed from the voting ballot this year and so many other of the sport’s big names – from reigning series champ Kyle Larson to Christopher Bell to Carson Hocevar and Chase Briscoe – all took to social media asking their fans to please vote for Busch.
Elliott spoke to the media Saturday reminding that his father, another longtime Most Popular Driver Award winner, removed his name from contention in 2001 – the year Dale Earnhardt died in the Daytona 500 and that he just felt compelled to take the stance.
“I do think it’s an opportunity for me to encourage the great supporters that I have and the people that have supported my family over the years to show that love and show that energy to Kyle and his family,’’ Elliott said. “Ultimately, I believe that he is a deserving winner of it, and he has my vote. I encourage those out there that want to get involved and want to take part in that to show him that same love. I think he deserves it. I think it would be a really cool honor for he and his family.”
Hocevar, considered one of the front-runners for the award, said he expected to have many more chances to win the award and absolutely thought it was proper to encourage his fans to back Busch.
“It’s crazy, a driver that was probably super hated or not appreciated enough – he’s super appreciated now after his passing, and I think it just feels right,’’ Hocevar said of his decision to encourage fans’ Busch vote.
“I texted somebody and I was like, ‘Hey, just go ahead and take my name off.’ They used to be PR and really close to Kyle, and they’re like, ‘He wouldn’t want to win it by default.’ And so I was like, okay, I’ll just keep my name on then if that’s what you feel like. I’ll just urge my fans to go vote for him. I’d be very disappointed if they voted for me. We can try and win another year.”
To vote, visit NASCAR.com’s Most Popular Driver landing page. Fans can vote for one driver per ballot submission with voting being limited to five submissions per day, per email at NASCAR.com/mostpopulardriver or on the NASCAR Mobile App. The five votes per day aren’t limited to a single driver.
Voting is open through Monday, Nov. 9 at noon ET.
— NASCAR News Wire —