Schedule, Watch, Tips for YellaWood 500 – NBC 6 South Florida

It's Talladega week.

The fifth race of the playoffs will take place on Sunday on NASCAR's largest oval, and the round of the last 12 is now underway.

Alabama Superspeedway is one of the most unpredictable tracks on the NASCAR circuit, with high speeds and massive accidents that can often claim the lives of dozens of drivers. None of the playoff drivers have secured a safe place in the Round of 8 yet, so there is a lot at stake ahead of Sunday's race.

So who's driving at Talladega? What is the schedule for TV and streaming? And which drivers could fight for victory? Here's everything you need to know for YellaWood 500 2024:

When is the NASCAR race at Talladega?

The YellaWood 500 takes place on Sunday, October 6th at 2 p.m. ET.

Before the race there will be a qualifying session on Saturday. The 40 drivers will take to the track one by one (in that order) for the two-lap qualifying session. Each driver gets two laps in the first round, with the ten fastest going to the final lap. The last 10 drivers have two more laps to determine the starting order of the top 10. Places 11 to 40 are based on first lap times.

What does the NASCAR TV schedule look like this weekend?

Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Jeff Burton (analyst) and Steve Letarte (analyst) will be on NBC Sports all weekend. Here is the full TV and streaming schedule:

Saturday, October 5th (USA Network Streaming)

Sunday, October 6th (NBC and streaming)

NASCAR Talladega entry list, drivers

40 drivers will compete in Talladega – the 34 full-time drivers plus six others.

Three Xfinity Series regulars will jump into the Cup Series on Sunday: AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen drive for Kaulig Racing and Anthony Alfredo drive for Beard Motorsports. Then there are part-timers Cody Ware for Rick Ware Racing, JJ Yeley for NY Racing Team and BJ McLeod for Live Fast Motorsports.

Here is the full list of participants for Talladega:

NASCAR Talladega Predictions, Tips, Favorites

Predicting a winner at Talladega is no easy task – there have been eight different winners in the last eight races since 2020. But while it may seem like a dart throw on a course with so much carnage, there's actually a science behind running.

Then the Ford trio Blaney, Logano and Keselowski are just the thing for you. Blaney has three wins in his last 10 starts at Talladega, including this race last fall that ultimately gave him the title win. Logano's 490-lap lead at Talladega is the best among active drivers. And Keselowski has six Talladega victories – behind only Dale Earnhardt (10) and tied with Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Part of the challenge at Talladega is actually finishing the race. So keep an eye on those who don't normally get into trouble. Chastain and LaJoie are the only drivers in the field with more than 10 starts and only one DNF. On the other hand, Truex (13) and McDowell (10) both have double-digit DNFs.

Alfredo has the best Talladega average (9.3) despite only making three starts. Elliott (13.7 average finishes in 17 starts), Briscoe (14.4 in seven starts), Blaney (14.8 in 20 starts) and Stenhouse (15.1 in 22 starts) are the top finishers among drivers with more than five starts.

Meet NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney.

NASCAR Talladega winners list, racing history

Ten of the 40 drivers in the field are former Talladega winners, including six with multiple wins.

Keselowski leads all drivers with six Talladega wins, followed by Logano and Blaney with three wins each. Busch, Hamlin and Elliott each have two wins and the one-time winners are Stenhouse (2017), Wallace (2021), Chastain (2022) and Reddick (2024).

NASCAR playoff rankings for Talladega

Since Chastain (a non-playoff driver) won in Kansas last week, no one has decided to advance to the next round. This means that all twelve drivers are at risk, although some are in a bigger hole than others.

Reddick, Suarez, Briscoe and Cindric are below the cut line, with Talladega and Charlotte still to go before the final four are eliminated.

A full explanation of NASCAR's playoff format can be found here.

Here are the playoff rankings for Talladega: