What to Watch: Talladega, where opportunity and a variety of victors abound
Track: Talladega Superspeedway
Location: Talladega, Alabama
Track length: 2.66 miles
When: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,055,250
Race distance: 188 laps | 500.08 miles
Stages: 60 | 120 | 188
Defending winner: Tyler Reddick, April 2024
Starting lineup: Zane Smith claims Busch Light Pole
By Zack Albert NASCAR.com Published: April 26, 2025
Ten races, ten faces?
At a track where the unexpected regularly takes place, the one thing to count on in recent years at Talladega Superspeedway is new faces in Victory Lane.
The last nine races at the Alabama speed palace have produced nine different winners, and the specter of another no-repeat outcome looms large in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 (3 p.m. ET FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). That nine-race Talladega span precedes the advent of the Next Gen car in 2022.
MORE: Cup Series standings | Full 2025 schedule
Denny Hamlin began that string in October 2020, and since then (in chronological order) the winners’ list has welcomed Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Can someone new add their name to the record books Sunday? The prospects for the Cup Series going 10 for 10 with another different winner are high.
“The field is so close, right, that it just opens up a lot of opportunities,” said Josh Berry, driver of the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford. “A lot of these races just kind of come down to circumstance, and you find the same players up front a lot, but ultimately, it kind of is left up to fate a little bit on how obviously missing the wrecks and executing and it just opens the door for opportunity. So it’s definitely a bit of a wild card, I think, from a driver’s standpoint.” More
