{"id":220488,"date":"2025-10-17T19:36:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/220488\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:36:09","slug":"who-could-play-spoiler-to-the-nascar-playoffs-at-talladega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/220488\/","title":{"rendered":"Who could play spoiler to the NASCAR playoffs at Talladega?"},"content":{"rendered":"

LINCOLN, Ala. \u2014 NASCAR\u2019s top three national series head to Talladega Superspeedway for each series\u2019 second race in the playoffs\u2019 Round of 8. <\/p>\n

While the eight drivers are favored to win and collect valuable points, it\u2019s Talladega. Anyone can win but some drivers particularly stand out.<\/p>\n

Who may spoil the NASCAR playoffs at Talladega? Here are four picks per series: <\/p>\n

Austin Cindric<\/p>\n

\"\"Joseph Eigo\/TRE<\/p>\n

Austin Cindric comes into Talladega with the most laps led and tied for the most top-10 finishes on superspeedways \u2013 Talladega and Daytona \u2013 this season. He also comes into it with a win.<\/p>\n

Now eliminated from the playoffs, Cindric is there on Sunday to support his teammates but his record suggests he is going to be a prime contender to win. <\/p>\n

Cindric has led double-digit laps in six of the last eight superspeedway races. In those other two, he crashed out early \u2013 Daytona in August \u2013 and won at Talladega in April. <\/p>\n

Cindric starts well \u2013 averaging a seventh-place start \u2013 but his average finish is 21.1. If he can avoid the wrecks, he\u2019ll be in prime contention to make 2025 the first multi-win season of his Cup career.<\/p>\n

Brad Keselowski<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe Brad Keselowski \u2013 or RFK Racing for that matter \u2013 is winless with only three races left in the season.<\/p>\n

Keselowski has had a chance to win to win several races this season and could\u2019ve won if not for one or two things going wrong.<\/p>\n

Keselowski\u2019s team had the right strategy at Pocono until an issue on pit road. The Hendrick Motorsports duo of Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman snookered Keselowski with the lead on the final lap at Atlanta in June, using their strength in numbers to send Elliott to victory lane. <\/p>\n

Keselowski arguably had the best car at Iowa Speedway and in the Bristol Night Race but pit strategy and a jumbled final restart again kept him out of victory lane. <\/p>\n

RFK Racing has been too good this season to not break through at some point for a win. Keselowski, a 6-time Cup winner at Talladega, has also been way too good recently in the NextGen era to not break through. <\/p>\n

Scratch a 36th-place DNF after 42 laps in the spring and Keselowski has finished second in the two previous Cup races at Talladega. He also has a fifth-place finish in the spring race in 2023 and, overall, four top-five finishes and five top-10s in the last 10 superspeedway races. <\/p>\n

While Keselowski will certainly try to help his Ford fellows, the 2012 Cup champion wants to win bad and won\u2019t hold back if he has a chance at it.<\/p>\n

Bubba Wallace<\/p>\n

\"\"Joseph Eigo\/TRE<\/p>\n

Bubba Wallace will be in support of his Joe Gibbs Racing manufacturer teammates but he is too strong of a superspeedway driver in his own right to be counted out of a chance at winning Sunday.<\/p>\n

Wallace ranks sixth for most laps led in the last 10 superspeedway races. He also has four top-10 finishes, including a top-five in the 2024 Daytona 500. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019s all going to come down to pit stops and Wallace\u2019s pit crew has been turning it up in the playoffs, like at Kansas Speedway where nearly won to get into the Round of 8. <\/p>\n

Wallace has been close on superspeedways since his big breakthrough at Talladega in 2021 so maybe Sunday could be the day.<\/p>\n

Alex Bowman<\/p>\n

\"\"Getty Images\/NASCAR<\/p>\n

Like Keselowski, it is somewhat hard to believe Alex Bowman hasn\u2019t gone to victory lane this season.<\/p>\n

Bowman nearly won earlier this season at Homestead-Miami Speedway and scored top-10 finishes at Daytona and Talladega earlier this season. <\/p>\n

Like Wallace and Cindric, he may be in service to some allies but the itch to win will be strong \u2013 especially for Bowman, who is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver without a win and without a Round of 8 berth this season. <\/p>\n

Looking at the numbers, Bowman has two top-fives and five top-10s and has averaged a finish of 13.5 and 28.9 points per race in the last 10 superspeedway races. His average finish ranks second only to teammate William Byron and his average points per race is fourth to Byron and their two other teammates. <\/p>\n

Those marks indicate Bowman knows what it takes to run up front and be in contention when it counts.<\/p>\n

Bowman winning also wouldn\u2019t be the worst thing for Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 playoff chances \u2013 it would certainly be much better than a non-Hendrick playoff driver winning and automatically locking into the Championship 4.<\/p>\n

Austin Hill<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: Joseph Eigo\/TRE<\/p>\n

Pick an Richard Childress Racing driver or any driver affiliated with them and there is a good chance they may win Saturday at Talladega.<\/p>\n

Next to Championship 4 hopeful and RCR driver Jesse Love, Austin Hill has the best chance at a win.<\/p>\n

Hill is always in contention to win on drafting tracks in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Surprisingly, though the spring Talladega race marked the first time he won at Talladega in the Xfinity Series. <\/p>\n

Hill won after avoiding a crash on the final lap and leading 19 of the 113 laps run. It was a fraction of the laps he led in three other Talladega races he dominated and didn\u2019t win but it\u2019s enough to open the floodgates for him, like previous wins have at Atlanta \u2013 where he won two races in a row and three in a row \u2013 and Daytona \u2013 where he won three February races in a row and might\u2019ve won a fourth if not for a mechanical issue.<\/p>\n

The main prerogative is to help Love. However, anything can happen in a superspeedway race. If Love has an issue, Hill could easily find himself in victory lane. That win could not only help shut one of Love\u2019s competitors out of locking into the Championship 4 \u2013 but it could also ease Hill\u2019s self-inflicted elimination. <\/p>\n

Jeb Burton<\/p>\n

\"\"Joseph Eigo\/TRE<\/p>\n

Next to Hill, the RCR or RCR-affiliated driver with the best chance is likely Jeb Burton.<\/p>\n

Burton finished a very close second to Hill in the spring, drawing emotion from him for the hard work he has put into keeping his career going with Jordan Anderson Racing. <\/p>\n

Burton has two wins, four top-five finishes and seven top-10s in the last nine Xfinity races at Talladega. He has also never had a DNF and has finished on the lead lap in every race he has done. <\/p>\n

While it\u2019s likely Burton will return to JAR in 2026, every year is always a question \u2013 but a win at Talladega on Saturday would go along way to erase that question mark. <\/p>\n

Nick Sanchez <\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: Ryan Kemna\/TRE<\/p>\n

After Burton, there\u2019s Nick Sanchez. <\/p>\n

Sanchez earned his first career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series back in June at Atlanta, another drafting track. He also won at Daytona in February 2024 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series before moving up to the Xfinity Series. That same year in Trucks, he also led laps in the Talladega race.<\/p>\n

Sanchez\u2019s drafting track skill have translated well to the Xfinity Series. He earned 11 stage points in the spring at Talladega before a late-race move shuffled him back to 15th. It helps that his No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet has also been a prime contender at Talladega before. <\/p>\n

Finishing 13th at Bristol, eighth at Kansas and ninth at Charlotte Roval weren\u2019t enough to overcome a lack of points that ultimately eliminated him from the playoffs \u2013 but a fifth-place finish and a fiery attitude toward a skirmish with technical ally Jesse Love shows that elimination is motivating him to run well.<\/p>\n

Watch out for Sanchez if he is up front late in the race Saturday. <\/p>\n

Harrison Burton<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo: Dominic Aragon\/TRE<\/p>\n

The few Fords in the NASCAR Xfinity Series have been sneakily strong on the superspeedways and Harrison Burton\u2019s No. 25 AM Racing Ford is no exception.<\/p>\n

Burton has averaged a 10th-place finish and 30 points per race on superspeedways this season. He finished sixth at Daytona in February and eighth at Talladega in April, then qualified eighth at Daytona in August. <\/p>\n

After finishing 16th at Daytona in August, it\u2019s likely they will dial more speed into the car to race better. Ford teammates Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer are also still in the mix for the playoffs so any help will be warranted, including from Burton \u2013 who is set to leave AM Racing at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Burton had a remarkable run to the playoffs with AM Racing in what has been a major turnaround for the organization and the driver in 2025. Getting a win would be the perfect way to cap that off and for Burton to bid farewell. <\/p>\n

JJ Yeley<\/p>\n

\"\"Dominic Aragon\/TRE<\/p>\n

After 823 NASCAR national series starts, start No. 824 could be the biggest of JJ Yeley\u2019s enduring NASCAR career. <\/p>\n

The 2003 USAC Triple Crown Champion and 2006 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year candidate, who has helped many small teams when they need it most, now is getting a little help to go for his first ever national series win. Yeley will drive Spire Motorsports\u2019 No. 7 Chevrolet at Talladega. The truck won a drafting track race earlier this year with Kyle Busch at Atlanta. Yeley is experienced in the draft with his 20-plus years of NASCAR racing and is trusted among competitors. <\/p>\n

If Yeley can win Friday\u2019s race, it will be one of the biggest wins of the year. A man who has been living out his NASCAR dream, through being a valuable asset for teams who need it, gets a chance to take center stage as his career reaches the later years as a reminder and (somewhat of a) validation of the resume that has kept him around for so long. <\/p>\n

Corey LaJoie<\/p>\n

\"\"Dominic Aragon\/TRE<\/p>\n

Similar to Yeley, LaJoie has been NASCAR national series racing for over a decade without a win yet. <\/p>\n

LaJoie moved up the traditional development ladder with part-time starts in Xfinity and Trucks after some time in ARCA. His Cup stint started slow, got better \u2014 even including a year without a DNF \u2014 but petered out as Spire Motorsports\u2019 ever-expanding Cup team left him out. <\/p>\n

Now, with Spire in Trucks and a track like Talladega, this is the time for LaJoie. His plans beyond 2025 are unclear but a win at Talladega would, hopefully to LaJoie, perk some ears up. <\/p>\n

LaJoie is proven on drafting tracks. He has earned top-fives and top-10s on mere pace in Cup and was even in contention to win the Daytona 500 in February. <\/p>\n

A win would make those stacks of Lincolns shine. <\/p>\n

Bret Holmes<\/p>\n

Three years ago, many people believed Bret Holmes won at Talladega until a review found Matt DiBenedetto was ahead of him at the time of caution on the final lap. <\/p>\n

Second-place is often forgotten in races like those \u2014 but TRICON Garage didn\u2019t forget. They tabbed Holmes for this weekend\u2019s Talladega race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holmes disappeared from the series late last year after his team went under. Talladega will mark his first start since that ordeal.<\/p>\n

A win would be sweet redemption and a big relief after a tough last year that saw him out of NASCAR racing. More importantly for the Munford, Alabama native, it would happen right in his backyard and be an even bigger win for him. <\/p>\n

Chandler Smith<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Dominic Aragon\/TRE<\/p>\n

Chandler Smith should be racing for a championship, if not for luck akin to packing an umbrella on a rainy day and then having a piano fall on you in the pouring rain. <\/p>\n

Smith and his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team did everything right this season \u2013 finishing the 18-race regular season with four top-five finishes, 13 top-10s and a third-place points finish \u2013 only to have mechanical issues unravel it all in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

If Smith can get around those gremlins at Talladega, he\u2019ll be a factor for the win. He led 34 of 100 laps at Daytona, finishing sixth, and earned a top-five the following week at Atlanta.<\/p>\n

While helping playoff teammate Layne Riggs is the priority for Smith, the taste of a win would have Smith salivating. He last won at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May. <\/p>\n

A win may also help Riggs\u2019 points situation by having two spots open for drivers on points. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LINCOLN, Ala. \u2014 NASCAR\u2019s top three national series head to Talladega Superspeedway for each series\u2019 second race in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-220488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nascar","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}