Motorsports
Full starting lineup at Talladega
Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled to host the middle race of the round of 8 of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs this Sunday afternoon.
Seven drivers have a chance to join Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who won this past weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, by punching their ticket to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway with a win, though the 2024 Talladega playoff race wasn’t actually won by a playoff driver.
The qualifying format for Sunday’s 188-lap YellaWood 500 around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval is the standard qualifying format for superspeedway races.
It only differs from the qualifying format for other oval races in that there actually is a second round shootout for the pole position, featuring the fastest 10 drivers from the first round.
The qualifying order for the first round is determined by the two-variable metric that was introduced by NASCAR over the offseason as the replacement for the four-variable formula that had been used since 2020.
A full breakdown of the current and far more straightforward formula can be found here.
For the playoffs, the drivers remaining in championship contention are not factored into the equation until the others are all slotted in. So with eight drivers still in contention, they are slotted into spots 33 through 40, behind the 24 non-playoff drivers and the eight playoff drivers who have already been eliminated.
Follow along with our YellaWood 500 qualifying updates from Talladega.
NASCAR playoff starting lineup at Talladega
Round 1 results
1st – Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
2nd – Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
3rd – Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
4th – Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
5th – Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
6th – Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
7th – Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
8th – Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
9th – Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
10th – Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
11th – Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
12th – Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
13th – William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
14th – Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
15th – Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
16th – Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
17th – Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
18th – Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19th – Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
20th – Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
21st – Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
22nd – Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
23rd – Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
24th – Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
25th – Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26th – Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
27th – Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
28th – John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
29th – Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
30th – Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
31st – Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
32nd – Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
33rd – Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
34th – A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
35th – Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
36th – Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
37th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
38th – Anthony Alfredo, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
39th – B.J. McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
40th – Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
Round 2 results
1st – Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
2nd – Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
3rd – Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4th – Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
5th – Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
6th – Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
7th – Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
8th – Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
9th – Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
10th – Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Talladega starting lineup
1st – Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
2nd – Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
3rd – Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4th – Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
5th – Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
6th – Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
7th – Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
8th – Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
9th – Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
10th – Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
11th – Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
12th – Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
13th – William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
14th – Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
15th – Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
16th – Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
17th – Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
18th – Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19th – Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
20th – Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
21st – Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
22nd – Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
23rd – Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
24th – Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
25th – Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26th – Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
27th – Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
28th – John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
29th – Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
30th – Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
31st – Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
32nd – Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
33rd – Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
34th – A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
35th – Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
36th – Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
37th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
38th – Anthony Alfredo, No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
39th – B.J. McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
40th – Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
The YellaWood 500 is set to be shown live on NBC from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 19. If you have yet to begin a free trial of FuboTV, do so today and don’t miss any of the action!