When NASCAR last visited Talladega Superspeedway, everyone was talking about a rope tied with a noose found in driver Bubba Wallace’s garage cabin. On Sunday, October 4, it’s all about the YellaWood500 and the NASCAR playoffs. The race will be streamed live on fuboTV.
June’s mystifying visit seems so long ago in this 2020 Anomaly season. The focus has shifted to free agency, fans’ slow return to racetracks, efforts to survive the pandemic financially and , of course, the championship campaign.
Kurt Busch picked up his first win of the season last week at home Las Vegas Motor Speedway and is the only driver already qualified for the Round of 16. Talladega marks the second of three second-round races with four of the remaining 12 drivers set to be eliminated next week.
Talladega, the 2.66-mile high-inclined oval, is renowned for its high-speed pack racing and multi-car crashes. It’s an unpredictable 500-mile test of awareness and split-second strategic decisions and a roll of the dice for title contenders.
Reigning Cup champion Kyle Busch is yet to win a race this year and is in danger of missing the championship race for the first time since 2014. He is the first driver below the boundary line for elimination , ahead of Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon.
The race begins at 1 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) and will be broadcast live on fuboTV, which offers a 7-day free trial. NBC will broadcast the event.
Overview
All four are aggressive superspeedway racers – Dillon is a Daytona 500 winner – and the Talladega races give everyone a chance to win. Team Penske has won seven out of the last 12 races, including two straight victories by Ryan Blaney, who was eliminated in the first round.
But the theory is that Sunday’s race will be a Talladega trademark, a frantic race to earn a victory and slip into the third round of the playoffs. Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin starts from pole after a third-place finish in Las Vegas for his first strong playoff run.
Kurt Busch, the only driver with nothing to lose on Sunday, started second.
“We don’t have to worry about Talladega, which is a wildcard race,” he said. “We have two weeks of what you might call a celebration. But at the same time… let’s get this over with and get to work. Let’s keep the gas. Let’s go for stage points and stage wins and accumulate as many points as possible when we don’t have to worry about it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
