The Cup Series will head back to Talladega this weekend for some Superspeedway racing. Most people consider this a “wild card race” in the playoffs, but that will not be the case if it plays out the way it did in April at Talladega. The drivers played a game of follow the leader and created a boring race for fans. There were only two cautions for wrecks and 30 drivers finished on the lead lap. I expect more chaos this weekend, since there is a lot more on the line for the drivers competing in the playoffs. The YellaWood 500 can be seen Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
It is impossible to predict a finishing order for a race that is 75% luck. We can look at the driver’s stats from the previous races at Talladega in the Gen-7 car and add it to their stats from the five races on the Superspeedways this year (Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega) to handicap the race this week. The drivers who have the best results in this model will have luck on their side at Talladega.
Here are the Driver Rankings for the YellaWood 500 …
| DRIVER |
| 1. RYAN BLANEY |
| 2. WILLIAM BYRON |
| 3. KYLE BUSCH |
| 4. AUSTIN CINDRIC |
| 5. ALEX BOWMAN |
| 6. ROSS CHASTAIN |
| 7. CHASE ELLIOTT |
| 8. TODD GILLILAND |
| 9. BRAD KESELOWSKI |
| 10. MICHAEL MCDOWELL |
| 11. TYLER REDDICK |
| 12. DANIEL HEMRIC |
| 13. MARTIN TRUEX JR. |
| 14. BUBBA WALLACE |
| 15. JOEY LOGANO |
| 16. TY GIBBS |
| 17. KYLE LARSON |
| 18. CHRIS BUESCHER |
| 19. COREY LAJOIE |
| 20. CHRISTOPHER BELL |
| 21. DANIEL SUAREZ |
| 22. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. |
| 23. JOSH BERRY |
| 24. NOAH GRAGSON |
| 25. JUSTIN HALEY |
| 26. CHASE BRISCOE |
| 27. DENNY HAMLIN |
| 28. HARRISON BURTON |
| 29. AJ ALLMENDINGER |
| 30. ERIK JONES |
| 31. RYAN PREECE |
| 32. JOHN H. NEMECHEK |
| 33. AUSTIN DILLON |
| 34. ANTHONY ALFREDO |
| 35. SHANE VAN GISBERGEN |
| 36. CARSON HOCEVAR |
| 37. CODY WARE |
| 38. ZANE SMITH |
| 39. B.J. MCLEOD |
| 40. J.J. YELEY |
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