The NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 heads to the Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday for a wildcard race in the wildcard round. This is the point of the postseason where it is hardest to predict what will happen. Texas gave us a show. Now, Dega is up next on the schedule.
As far as our NASCAR Playoff drivers are concerned, there are a number of them that will have to have good races. Then there are those that fans should keep an eye on, because you know that they are going to be involved by the time the race gets to the nitty gritty at the end.
Who is going to punch their ticket to the Round of 8 after the Yellawood 500? Will it be a non-playoff driver that spoils the party at Talladega? We haven’t seen anyone except for playoff drivers win so far in the playoffs.
If there was a time when the unexpected was going to happen, this Sunday’s Yellawood 500 is it. Let’s just hope that the weather is good and the rain holds off for the entire weekend.
Drivers to watch at Talladega Superspeedway
Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski has won six times at Talladega. He wants to get that seventh win and break his winless streak that dates back to 2021. In order to do that, he has to qualify well and stay out of trouble in the Yellawood 500. He’s the only driver in the playoffs with four top-10s in four races. Let’s not forget he pushed Chris Buescher to the win at Daytona. Watch out for Brad.
Keselowski is the favorite heading into the weekend.
Chris Buescher
I’m not ready to say that the Chris Buescher hype has died down. He went off to finish the end of the regular season with three wins in five weeks. He’s cooled off since. Good news, he’s moved into third overall, 22 points above the cutline. Bad news, 20 points can go away in one race. Does he have one more win up his sleeve? I think he might on Sunday.
Chase Elliott
While he’s competing in the owners’ championship, Chase Elliott isn’t taking it any less seriously. He’s two points below the cutline heading into the Yellawood 500 in his own respective playoff race. Elliott won this race a year ago. Three top-10s and a P11 to start the playoffs, I like the speed Hendrick has. Elliott is one to watch as he remains winless in 2023.
Drivers with questions to answer in Yellawood 500
Ryan Blaney
Had he not been involved in a late wreck at Texas, he likely goes above the cutline after last weekend. However, he did wreck and now he’s 11 points under the cutline, in 11th place. I felt this would be a strong round for Blaney, and it arguably was a good race at Texas. He needs to get a good finish at Talladega if not an outright victory.
Blaney was right there to possibly win earlier this season, when he was blocked by Bubba Wallace, causing a final lap wreck and giving the race to Kyle Busch.
Bubba Wallace
So far during his run for the playoffs, and in the postseason, Wallace has stepped up to the plate. He finished P3 at Texas and has a chance to win in the end. Bubba says he “choked,” but others argued he didn’t – I need to see him overcome this personal battle once again in the Yellawood 500. He was leading with one lap to go in April, but that block cost him.
Coming off his second career pole award, I’d expect him to be a factor in qualifying once again.
Kyle Busch
Poor Rowdy has just been bitten with the bug this postseason. There are some gremlins over there at Richard Childress Racing. Nothing has gone right, and Busch sits 12th overall, 17 points below the cutline. Not impossible to overcome. The GEICO 500 winner needs to finish strong on Sunday, preferably in the top-5.
Busch has mixed results at superspeedways. However, RCR has an excellent program for these drafting tracks. We’ll see which side of that history wins out in the Yellawood 500.