Erik Jones Fares Pretty Well At Talladega

Erik Jones often fares well enough at Talladega. Whether it was with Joe Gibbs Racing or now Petty GMS, Jones has four top-ten results in his previous five appearances. Since 2020, that includes the Spring 2022 race where Jones led 25 laps and was in the top-ten in both stages as well. With a driver […]

Joey Logano Begins 11th At Talladega On Sunday

Joey Logano does not always have the best results at Talladega, but who does? The Team Penske car has racked up stage points in the last four fall races, including a second- and third-place finish in 2021. Logano finished third last October. For those wondering, the No. 22 car last won in Alabama in 2018. […]

Ty Gibbs Shows A Little Surprise At Talladega

Ty Gibbs was not able to get in a lap in the final round of qualifying, but earlier in the sessions, he turned in a time of 53.026 seconds, which would have been good enough for a pole position. The 23XI Racing driver was quite fast in the first two turns of the high-banking. Even […]

William Byron Looks To Build Off Third At Texas

William Byron has been excellent in three of the four playoff races so far in 2022. With two thirds, 101 laps led, and a ninth place result Byron has put himself in a solid position. His Hendrick Motorsports Racing car could again be in the forefront. Consider that five Chevy's qualified in the top ten […]

Tyler Reddick Trying To Carry Momentum From Texas

Tyler Reddick and his Richard Childress Racing car won the mess that was Texas last week. This week, he starts in eighth position at Talladega. The No. 8 car has had issues even in the Next-Gen this year. However, even with his engine blowing up early in the Spring race, Reddick does have hope. He […]

Noah Gragson Subs In For Alex Bowman This Week

Noah Gragson gets the chance of the season this week as he is driving the 48 car for Hendrick Motorsports Racing. Alex Bowman suffered a concussion last week at Texas and Gragson stepped in well. He qualified seventh with the Chevy and seemed to fare well especially in the tri-oval on Saturday. The driver might […]

Ross Chastain Could Benefit For YellaWood 500

Ross Chastain lucked out a bit as few seem interested in retribution for his past misgivings. The chase for the "Round of Eight" takes over an interest. As for the TrackHouse Racing driver, his top-ten result last week put him in an excellent playoff position. Chastain has won at Talladega before (this Spring). In that […]

Chase Briscoe On The Bubble For Talladega

Chase Briscoe is in a bit of an unenviable position for the YellaWood 500. The Stewart-Haas Racing starts fifth on Sunday. The No. 14 Ford stands eighth after one race of segment number two. Briscoe has not finished in the top ten in three races on the track. An accident early in the Spring race […]

Aric Almirola Thrives On Tracks Like Talladega

Yes, Aric Almirola knows that Talladega can be quite unforgiving. However, the Ford driver has an average finish of 15.3 in his previous seven races. Keep in mind, his Stewart-Haas Racing car was quite fast in the first sector along with Chase Briscoe (qualified fifth). Again, Almirola has not won recently at Talladega but nearly […]

Denny Hamlin Very Familiar With Talladega Success

Denny Hamlin is one of the few drivers with four top-ten results in his last seven appearances at Talladega. For the YellaWood 500, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver does have a win. Now his Fall results lately have been more consistent including a win two years ago. The No. 11 car produced an 18th in […]

Kyle Larson On Outside Of Row One For Talladega

Kyle Larson narrowly missed out on the pole for Sunday's YellaWood 500 by a mere 0.022 seconds. Basically, his last sector was about a tenth of a second slower than Christopher Bell. That was the difference between second and first in Saturday's final round of qualifying. Larson has endured some awful luck at Talladega. The […]

Christopher Bell Comes Up To Snag Talladega Pole

Christopher Bell pulled off a surprise on Saturday by taking the pole position for the YellaWood 500 on Sunday. Bell got around the 2.66-mile track in 53.026 seconds or 186.591 miles per hour. It is interesting just how fast the Toyota was in qualifying on Saturday. Besides Bell, Denny Hamlin qualified in third, and even […]

Chase Briscoe Begins Texas Near The Rear

Chase Briscoe made it into the "Round Of 12" as the Stewart-Haas Racing car avoided carnage for the most part. However, the Ford starts Texas on Sunday in 30th after a poor qualifying effort which saw him bleeding time in every sector and coming out of turns. His practice session in the Ford was even […]

Christopher Bell To The Middle Again For Texas

Christopher Bell did a great job of doing everything but winning during the first three races of the NASCAR Playoff Chase. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver racked up top-five results and a ton of stage points along the way. However, the start of segment number two at Texas means Bell goes right back to the […]

Alex Bowman Under The Radar A Bit Sunday

The only reason Alex Bowman qualified 17th for Sunday's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 is because he drove a corner a bit too fast. It's that simple. That little sideways adventure cost him about 10-15 spots honestly. However, he had top-five practice times all across the board and even his testing numbers were quite good. The […]

Ryan Blaney Back On Bubble As Texas Looms

Ryan Blaney and his Team Penske Ford are back on the playoff bubble as they are right on the cut line. The "Round Of 12" sees Blaney starting 14th for the race on Sunday in Texas. Blaney is reasonably consistent on the intermediate track with four top-ten results in his past five appearances. The average […]

Ross Chastain Has To Feel Fortunate For Texas

Ross Chastain made it to the "Round Of 12" and now benefits from the playoff reset. He begins third in playoff points and 12th at Texas for Sunday. The TrackHouse Racing driver and his No. 1 car ran well at Texas before literally flying during the All-Star Race in May. It was abundantly clear that […]

Austin Cindric On The Bubble To Start Segment Two

Austin Cindric and his Team Penske Ford are in a bit of an uneasy position. The playoff reset has Cindric in 12th and arguably he is in a bit of a bind for segment number two. Intermediate tracks are not quite his forte yet. However, the No. 2 Ford car does start 11th on Sunday […]

Daniel Suarez Familiar With Texas Success

Daniel Suarez has progressively improved every time he has been on the Texas track over the past couple of seasons. He finished tenth last year in the Fall race but had top-five closing stage from the end of Stage 2. The No. 99 Chevy won the qualifier to the All-Star Race in May and nearly […]

Kyle Larson Starts Ninth From Texas On Sunday

Kyle Larson is nestled with a few Chevy's and a couple of teammates in ninth for the start of the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday. The good news is that the playoff points reset puts Larson back in fourth with a double-digit point cushion on the bubble. Even better for the Hendrick Motorsports Racing […]

Denny Hamlin Loves Intermediate Tracks Like Texas

Denny Hamlin over the past three seasons has been the most proficient driver on intermediate tracks. Texas is no exception as the 1.5-mile track does set up well for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. With Hamlin now getting a boost in pit crew quality, things may be looking even better. Hamlin qualified eighth for Texas […]

Austin Dillon Another Chevy Qualifying Strong

Austin Dillon was among a string of Chevy's in the top ten in qualifying on Saturday for the Texas race. Dillon was eliminated from the playoff chase last week but qualified seventh with the No. 3 car averaging some solid top-five caliber times later in his laps. Dillon and his Richard Childress Racing car has […]

Chase Elliott In Solid Spot At Texas

Chase Elliott begins sixth for the race at Texas on Sunday but more importantly the No. 9 car is not too far from William Byron (third) and Kyle Larson (ninth). It would not be a surprise if the Hendrick Motorsports cars draft off each other a good deal during Stage 1. The other good bit […]

Michael McDowell Not A Surprise At Texas

Some will think that Michael McDowell qualifying fifth is a surprise for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 but it is not. McDowell and his Front Row Motorsports No. 34 car managed to stay just above 188 mph around the 1.5-mile Texas track for an entire lap (188.029 to be exact). Naturally, the wildcard is where […]

Tyler Reddick Pushes Hard To Start Fourth Sunday

Tyler Reddick and his No. 8 Chevy knows he needs to press a bit. Reddick knows what is at stake and will start fourth at Texas on Sunday. He was just 0.091 seconds off the qualifying run of Brad Keselowski. The Richard Childress Racing driver found speed in the early sectors but lost a bit […]

William Byron Starts Third For Texas Race

William Byron is starting to get back to that consistency from last season. Remember when the Hendrick Motorsports driver had 14 top-tens in 15 races. Now, maybe that level is not quite attainable now. However, Byron has been better of late and qualifying third at Texas only enhances his chances. It does not hurt that […]

Joey Logano Nearly Takes Pole At Texas

Joey Logano probably thought he had the pole position at Texas but his former teammate, Brad Keselowski, was just a tiny bit faster. Logano's 28.601 second lap was good enough to be outside Row 1 for this race. This could be a considerable benefit as the Team Penske driver looks to get off to a […]

Brad Keselowski Snares Pole At Texas

Brad Keselowski had a pretty fast car in practice. No one could have seen Keselowski running a qualifying lap like he did on Saturday. The RFK Racing driver managed to get around the 1.5-mile track in 28.573 seconds. That was good enough to qualify in the top spot for Sunday's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500. Can […]

Chase Elliott Has Subpar Qualifying Effort Friday

Chase Elliott did not have the best qualifying lap on Friday, ending up a mere 23rd. The silver lining is that the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver keeps improving on this type of track. The 0.533-mile course kind of suits Elliott's swashbuckling style of driving. The last few years have been interesting. Elliott won an All-Star […]

Kyle Busch On The Outside Looking In At Bristol

Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing car are on the outside looking in at Bristol on Saturday night. He starts 21st which is not the greatest but far from fatal. The younger Busch has shown the ability to advance through fields on short tracks with ease. Overall, he is the only active driver with […]