Highly anticipated Talladega could shake up the Cup Playoffs

The NASCAR Cup Series takes the 2024 Playoffs to one of the most anticipated races of the season this weekend — Sunday‘s YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on the world-famous Talladega Superspeedway high-banks.

With a non-playoff driver in Trackhouse Racing‘s Ross Chastain claiming the trophy last weekend at Kansas Speedway, now only two races — at Talladega and at the Charlotte Roval next week — remain in this round for the 12 playoff-eligible drivers to score a win and automatic ticket to the Round of 8.

With his runner-up showing at Kansas, Hendrick Motorsports‘ William Byron has taken the lead in the playoff standings — six points ahead of reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion and Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney along with Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Christopher Bell. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson is ranked fourth.

JGR‘s Denny Hamlin, Hendrick teammates Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott and Team Penske‘s Joey Logano complete the top eight drivers. Elliott and Logano, however, have only a four-point advantage on the Regular Season Champion, 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick, for that final spot to advance in the playoffs.

MORE: Full 2024 playoff standings | Talladega weekend schedule

Trackhouse Racing‘s Daniel Suárez (-14), Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Chase Briscoe (-25) and Team Penske‘s Austin Cindric (-29) are all below the elimination line heading into the weekend. But when it comes to racing on the Talladega high banks, anything can happen. And typically does.

Blaney is the defending race winner, the victory last year setting him up for a Championship 4 Round appearance where he ultimately claimed the title in the Phoenix season finale. In fact, Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford is a three-time winner at the big track and joins Elliott — the 2020 series champion — as the only multi-time Talladega winners in the last 10 races at the track.

MORE: See every fall winner at Talladega | Surprise winners, too

Owner-driver Brad Keselowski is the winningest active driver at Talladega — scoring his first career NASCAR Cup Series win there in 2009 and making five additional trips to Victory Lane since. He finished runner-up to Reddick this spring.

Only three current playoff drivers — Reddick, Byron and Bowman — finished among the top 10 this May.

Among the current playoff contenders, Blaney, Elliott (two), Hamlin (two) and Logano (three) all have multiple Talladega victories.

RELATED: Drivers with most wins at Talladega all time

Among those four drivers below the elimination off line and needing a solid performance at Talladega to advance their playoff run, Briscoe brings a strong resume with him this weekend. In seven NASCAR Cup Series starts on the big track, his best finish was fourth in the 2023 spring race and he has finished worse than 15th only once. Briscoe‘s average finish of 14.4 is fourth best in the field among drivers with multiple starts — behind only Beard Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo (9.3), Front Row Motorsports‘ Todd Gilliland (12.8) and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott (13.7).

Instead of fearing the unpredictability of a track like Talladega, Briscoe, 29, said he has developed a calm mentality about the style of racing. And interestingly, since 2014, eight of the 10 Talladega Playoff races have been won by drivers ranked below the Round of 8 elimination line — as Briscoe finds himself this weekend.

“I think you have to have a short memory,” the two-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner said. “I‘ve gone through different kinds of spectrums of superspeedway racing. I‘ve taken the conservative route and I‘ve gone the super-aggressive route. And every time I‘ve gone the conservative route, I typically end up crashed.

“So, I‘m just going to go back to being on the aggressive side. It‘s a little tougher with this Next Gen car just because you can‘t take runs or do things like you typically would. You‘re going to have to try to be up in the mix for stage points and try to just finish the best you can.

“… I‘m just going to go with the mindset of being aggressive and trying to lead every lap and trying to make every move I can and hopefully, stay out of the chaos.”

Fifteen different drivers have won the 20 Talladega playoff races. Team Penske teammates Blaney and Logano are the only current playoff contenders to win multiple playoff races at Talladega — both claiming two playoff victories.

Of note, NASCAR has issued a technical bulletin for the Talladega race weekend with changes to the cars designed to increase safety at the big track. Modifications will be made to the Rocker skirt, right side roof flap fabric and the right side roof rails will be extended to 2” with polycarbonate.

MORE: NASCAR to implement aerodynamic changes ahead of Talladega playoff race

Busch Light Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET (USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Aric Almirola won the pole position for this race last year. Michael McDowell started on pole at Talladega this spring.