The middle races in the Round of 12 and Round of 8 for the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, respectively, are slated for this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Ford’s bid for consecutive championships in both series remains alive with Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney on the Cup side, and Zane Smith, Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes in the Truck series.

CURRENT CUP PLAYOFF STANDINGS

The Round of 12 continues on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.  Here’s where Ford’s three contenders sit going into the weekend.

3rd – Chris Buescher (+22)

7th – Brad Keselowski (+8)

11th – Ryan Blaney (-11)

NOTE: The top 8 drivers will advance after Charlotte

TALLADEGA PLAYOFF SUCCESS

No track has provided more playoff success for Ford than Talladega Superspeedway, which has seen nine Blue Oval wins in the postseason.  A bulk of those came during a six-year winning streak from 2014-19 when Team Penske drivers Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney combined to win five times.

FORD PLAYOFF WINS AT TALLADEGA

2005 – Dale Jarrett, Robert Yates Racing

2009 – Jamie McMurray, Roush Fenway Racing

2012 – Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing

2014 – Brad Keselowski, Team Penske

2015 – Joey Logano, Team Penske

2016 – Joey Logano, Team Penske

2017 – Brad Keselowski, Team Penske

2018 – Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing

2019 – Ryan Blaney, Team Penske

KESELOWSKI CLIMBING ALL-TIME TALLADEGA WIN LIST

Brad Keselowski, who will be making his 30th career start at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, is the winningest active driver at the track with six NASCAR Cup Series victories.  That ties him for second on the all-time list with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon and puts him four behind all-time winner Dale Earnhardt Sr., who won 10 times during his NASCAR Hall of Fame career.  In 29 races, Keselowski has registered 10 top-5 and 14 top-10 finishes while completing almost 98 percent of the laps (5306-of-5459).

BLANEY GOES BACK-TO-BACK

Ryan Blaney heads into this weekend with eight career NASCAR Cup Series wins and two of those came back-to-back at Talladega Superspeedway in 2019 and 2020. Blaney advanced to the Round of 8 with his photo finish victory over Ryan Newman in 2019 after the race had to be completed on Monday due to rain forcing a postponement following the first stage one day earlier. The race came down to the final inch as Newman got past Blaney for the lead coming off turn three, only to see the Team Penske driver battle back on the inside and nip him by a bumper at the stripe. The script was much the same in 2020 as rain forced the race to Monday with Blaney this time beating Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by inches in an overtime finish.

BUESCHER LOOKING TO BACK UP DAYTONA WIN

Chris Buescher is coming off the best Talladega Superspeedway finish of his career, a third-place effort in April that saw four Fords in the top 5.  That marked the Texas native’s third top-10 finish at the track and second in the last four races.  Buescher, who is in the midst of a career year with three wins (Richmond, Michigan and Daytona), has already surpassed his only other playoff appearance by advancing to the Round of 12.  In his last superspeedway appearance, Buescher won the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway in large part to his teammate and car owner, Brad Keselowski, who pushed him to victory on the final lap.

ROBERT YATES RACING’S FINAL WIN

When Dale Jarrett won the UAW-Ford 500 on Oct. 2, 2005 it ended up being the final trip to victory lane for Robert Yates Racing.  This race came down to a green-white-checker restart, where Jarrett was positioned fourth.  He was still in that spot when they came around to start the final lap, but quickly moved to the outside as Tony Stewart grabbed the lead on the inside lane.  The two drivers battled side-by-side down the backstretch before Jarrett powered his way in front.  Seconds after getting the lead, Kyle Petty was involved in a single-car accident that brought out the caution as the cars entered turn three.  Jarrett was declared the winner after NASCAR verified that he was in front at the time the yellow flag was thrown.  The win was RYR’s 57th triumph in the NASCAR Cup Series, and came six years after the team won its only championship with Jarrett in 1999.

CURRENT NCTS PLAYOFF STANDINGS

After a week off, the Round of 8 will resume for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Ford’s three championship contenders needing a good day to move above the cut line.  Here’s where they stand with two races remaining in the round.

5th – Zane Smith (-14)

6th – Ben Rhodes (-19)

8th – Ty Majeski (-22)

NOTE: The top 4 drivers will advance after Homestead

MARTIN LEFT HIS MARK

Mark Martin is the only Ford driver to have won in all three of the major series offered by NASCAR at Talladega. Martin won the Cup series race in 1995 and 1997, Xfinity in 1996 and lastly in the Truck series’ debut 2006 event.  Martin went a lap down in that NCTS victory after only 10 laps when his engine began to overheat due to debris getting stuck on the grille of his F-150.  Once that was removed, Martin was able to get back on the lead lap and team up with Mike Wallace to work his way to the front.  He passed Ted Musgrave with four laps to go and was still leading when a multi-truck accident occurred on the final lap to end the race and allow Martin to complete his Talladega series sweep.

FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA

1975 – Buddy Baker (Sweep)

1976 – Buddy Baker (1)

1979 – Bobby Allison (1)

1983 – Dale Earnhardt (2)

1985 – Bill Elliott and Cale Yarborough

1987 – Dave Allison and Bill Elliott

1989 – Davey Allison and Terry Labonte

1992 – Davey Allison (1)

1994 – Jimmy Spencer (2)

1995 – Mark Martin (1)

1997 – Mark Martin (1)

1998 – Dale Jarrett (2)

2005 – Dale Jarrett (2)

2009 – Jamie McMurray (2)

2012 – Matt Kenseth (2)

2013 – David Ragan (1)

2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)

2015 – Joey Logano (2)

2016 – Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano

2017 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Brad Keselowski

2018 – Joey Logano and Aric Almirola

2019 – Ryan Blaney (2)

2020 – Ryan Blaney (1)

2021 – Brad Keselowski (1)

FORD’S NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA

2006 – Mark Martin