For the third time in the first ten races of the season, NASCAR Cup teams will race on a drafting course. This weekend’s race is at Talladega Superspeedway.
The last seven Cup races at Talladega have all been won by different drivers. The drivers are Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Blaney.
Here’s where each Cup organization stands heading into the season’s tenth race:
23XI Racing — Good news: Last weekend was the second consecutive weekend that the team had a car finish fourth and seventh. At Martinsville, Bubba Wallace was fourth and Tyler Reddick was seventh. Last weekend at Texas, Reddick was fourth and Wallace was seventh. Bad news: Wallace’s win at Talladega in October 2021 was the last time a Toyota won a Cup race on a drafting style track. Toyota is winless in 14 races since Wallace’s victory.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland has led 74 of 460 laps run this season at drafting style tracks. That’s 16.1% of those laps. … Michael McDowell qualified second for the Daytona 500 and on the pole at Atlanta in the two previous races at drafting style tracks this season. … The team had a car finish in the top 10 in both Talladega races last year. Both were by the No. 36 car. Riley Herbst was in the car for the fall race, and Todd Gilliland was in the car for the spring race. Bad News: The No. 36 is not entered this weekend.
Hendrick Motorsports – Good news: The organization has won three of the last four races, leading 46.7% of the laps. Hendrick Motorsports has also had at least two drivers finish in the top five in the previous four races. … William Byron has won three drafting races with the Next Gen vehicle, including the Daytona 500. Chase Elliott has three consecutive top-five finishes, including his triumph in Texas. Bad news: Kyle Larson has one top-five result in 43 career races at drafting style courses. He has been unable to finish five of the last eight races at such courses due to accidents. Alex Bowman has never won a Cup Superspeedway event in 37 attempts.
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