The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs continue this weekend, with the YellaWood 500 set for Sunday at 2:00 pm Eastern time from the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Tyler Reddick won last week’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, prevailing by 1.190 seconds over Joey Logano in a 24-lap green-flag finale. This was Reddick’s third career victory and first win on an oval track. It is also his third win this season, with the other two victories coming on road courses. Now we have seen four straight wins by drivers who cannot win the Cup Series championship to start the playoffs, keeping the 12 playoff contenders from taking an automatic path to the next round. The race featured drama, as William Byron and Denny Hamlin traded bumps, as Hamlin sent Byron into the wall at Turn 2, and Byron responded by sending Hamlin into the infield. What will happen this week? Don’t miss our NASCAR betting predictions.
NASCAR News: Cup Series YellaWood 500 Preview
| Driver | Odds |
|---|---|
| William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott | +1200 |
| Tyle Reddick, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric | +1500 |
| Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace | +1800 |
| Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski | +2000 |
| Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon | +2500 |
| Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola | +3000 |
| Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr | +4000 |
| Ty Gibbs, Justin Haley | +5000 |
| Cole Custer | +7500 |
| Noah Gragson, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Hemric | +10000 |
| Todd Gilliland, Ty Dillon, Harrison Burton | +15000 |
| Landon Cassill, J.J. Yeley, Cody Ware, B.J. McLeod | +50000 |
Given that this is a plate track, you’ll want to focus on the drivers who do well in this sort of environment. Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 and came in third at Daytona’s summer raace. He came in third at Atlanta and won there in the Xfinity Series, all running with plates.
Denny Hamlin has the best average finish over the last 30 plate races in the Cup Series – 15th. That includes four victories and 11 finishes in the top five.
Joey Logano won at Talladega in 2015, 2016 and 2018. Chase Elliott won and came in sixth at the last two Atlanta races, and he won at Talladega in 2019. He came in seventh at the earlier Talladega race this year. Kevin Harvick has finished in the top ten in three straight Talladega races (and four of the last five).
Ryan Blaney also had a 2019 win at Talladega, and he followed that up with a win in 2020. He finished in the top 15 in both 2021 races, and he came in 11th at the spring race there this year.
Martin Truex Jr has started to improve in plate races, with six top-15 finishes in a row in this format. Brad Keselowski almost won the Daytona 500 in 2021, and he won and came in second here in 2021. Austin Cindric has been driving that car this year (see above).
Ross Chastain won the spring race here and came in second in both of the races in Atlanta. Austin Dillon did get lucky in his win at Daytona, but plate racing takes a lot of luck – and Dillon seems to have a lot of luck. He has finished in the top ten in 39% of the last 30 plate races, which ranks him fourth in the Cup Series.
Erik Jones has four top-ten finishes in the last five races at Talladega. He has won once on a plate track in the Cup Series. Justin Haley has been terrific in plate racing for the Xfinity Series, and his results in the Cup SEries have been respectable. Michael McDowell has two top-ten finishes in the last three races at Talladega.
NASCAR Betting Odds
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