Monster Energy Series Playoff Update and Talladega Preview

The days are quickly sliding past like turn 3 out of your right window at Talladega and there are only six races left to decide the Monster Energy Cup Series champion. Those that backed Chase Elliott in the Gandar Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway over the weekend cashed in big and in Las Vegas and surely dominated in there fantasy matchups, if you want to place some action into the next race you should read Bovada review before doing it.

Next up is the 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. 2.66 monster miles of mayhem, Talladega never fails to disappoint. We have to hope that the race goes smoothly and hope that the Hallowdega Curse doesn’t rear its ugly head.

Playoffs Leader Board

  1. Chase Elliott 3056
  2. Kevin Harvick 3101
  3. Kyle Busch 3096
  4. Martin Truex Jr. 3069
  5. Joey Logano 3064
  6. Kurt Busch 3054
  7. Brad Keselowski 3054
  8. Ryan Blaney 3043
  9. Aric Almirola
  10. Clint Bowyer
  11. Kyle Larson
  12. Alex Bowman

After Chase Elliott’s win at Dover and Joey Logano hitting the podium as well, the points race in the round of 12 is tight. Somehow after a pit-road mishap, Elliott road on worn tires to pop out into the lead and take the checkered flag.

His family name is legacy at Talladega. Bill Elliott holds the most poles ever at Talladega as well as the fastest official lap time, which has stood since 1987. So one has to wonder if this familiarity will be multigenerational and play into the 1000Bulbs.com 500.

Chase Elliott’s average finish at ‘The Big One’ is 13th. But this is a little misleading. In his five appearances in Talladega, his average start is 4th and he has two top-five finishes. His two races in 2017 were blemished by accidents, causing him to finish in 16th after a No. 2 start and 30th after a No. 8 start marring his overall finish stat. In Elliott’s most recent showing at Talladega, back in April, he finished 3rd.

With his momentum and history of fantastic starts at this track, he should be highly favored to get a top-five finish on October 14th.

The Big Three

Kevin Harvick is on a mission. Despite a 6th place finish in Dover, he led 286 laps and picked up a couple of extra points for winning the first two stages. Going into Talladega, Harvick has plenty of experience. With 35 races under his belt in Lincoln, there are not many drivers who have as much working knowledge of the track as Kevin Harvick. He’s coming off a 4th place finish and pole position start in April, so his recent form is good at this track.

Kyle Busch has an average finish of 20th and average start of 20th at Talladega Superspeedway. His last couple of showings at this track were lack-luster, taking 13th last April and 27th in October of 2017. However, he does have six top-five finishes and a win under his belt here, so he can’t be counted out.

Martin Truex Jr. has never gotten a win here. There is something about Talladega that chews him up no matter which team or car he is in. With an average start of 19th and an average finish of 21st, Truex Jr. seems to take two steps back on this track. His last four times to Lincoln he’s had bad luck. Accidents and engine troubles plague him at the 2.66-mile track. The last time he finished in the top ten was back in 2015. Talladega creates a prime opportunity for some of the hot drivers who are on the bubble, like Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowski to pass Martin Truex Jr. in points.

Unfortunately for Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson, who are entering Talladega in the 11th and 12th spots in the standings, this track has not been friendly to either of them.  Bowman has an average finish of 27th, though he did hit the top-ten, finishing 8th last April in his higher quality Hendrick car. Larson has only finished in the top ten once in his last eight appearances at Talladega, so there is a good chance that both of these drivers will get pushed out of playoff contention after this weekend.