YellaWood 500

Only three races are left in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season and the YellaWood 500 at Talladega will be a big one. One spot has already been claimed in the Championship Race at Phoenix on November 2. That means that three spots remain for those who are hoping to have a shot at winning the title.

Denny Hamlin was the big winner last week in Las Vegas and he is the one with the spot secured. Other than that, it is a very competitive sprint to the finish.

 

How to Watch The YellaWood 500

When: Sunday, October 19, 2025

Where: Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, AL

Time: 2:00 p.m. ET

Channel: NBC

2025 NASCAR Cup Series Standings

The race winners so far are William Byron (2), Kyle Larson (3), Christopher Bell (4), Denny Hamlin (6), Shane van Gisbergen (5), Ryan Blaney (3), Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe (2), Chase Elliott (2), Bubba Wallace, and Austin Dillon through 30 points races. Hamlin’s win at Las Vegas not only gave him back the outright lead on victories, it also made him the only one with two wins during the playoffs.

All remaining playoff drivers had their point totals set to 4000 and then bonus points accumulated during the season were then added. The bottom four in points of the playoff drivers will be cut from contention after each round of three races.

After last week’s South Point 400, here are the playoff standings.

  • Denny Hamlin 4090
  • Kyle Larson 4086
  • Christopher Bell 4071
  • Chase Briscoe 4066
  • William Byron 4051
  • Chase Elliott 4043
  • Joey Logano 4042
  • Ryan Blaney 4035

The top four finishers from last week are the top four in points going into this weekend’s race. Hamlin already has his berth squared away for the Championship Race. To remove all doubt, any one of these drivers can do the same with a win. Otherwise, the top three in points will get the chance to move on.

2025 NASCAR Cup Championship Playoffs Schedule

Round of 16

  • Cook Out Southern 500 (Darlington) – August 31, 6 p.m. ET
  • Enjoy Illinois 300 (World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison) – September 7, 3 p.m. ET
  • Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Bristol) – September 13, 7:30 p.m. ET

Round of 12

  • Mobil 1 301 (New Hampshire) – September 21, 2 p.m. ET
  • Hollywood Casino 400 (Kansas) – September 28, 3 p.m. ET
  • Bank of America Roval 400 (Charlotte) – October 5, 3 p.m. ET

Round of 8

  • South Point 400 (Las Vegas) – October 12, 5:30 p.m. ET
  • YellaWood 500 (Talladega) – October 19, 2 p.m. ET
  • Xfinity 500 (Martinsville) – October 26, 2 p.m. ET

Championship Race

  • NASCAR Cup Championship Race (Phoenix) – November 2, 3 p.m. ET

YellaWood 500 Winners

Talladega is not only a solid Eric Church song, but also a twice-a-year stop for the NASCAR Cup Series. So that means we have a ton of data points to consider. But, consistency can be tough to find on the big track.

Over the last 10 races, there have been 10 different race winners. Byron has five top-five finishes, but has not been able to cross the finish line first. Brad Keselowski also has five top-finishes without a win. Hamlin, Elliott, Blaney, and Larson all have three top-five finishes each. Byron has the highest average finish by more than three positions over any other regular driver.

Steve Makinen’s YellaWood 500 Predictions

For the latest odds and VSiN’s NASCAR Best Bets, head to our NASCAR Hub to see Steve Makinen’s final simulation results and more stats on the drivers.

Sunday brings us the wild card race of the playoffs at Talladega, where anything can and will happen. Its a good bet here that a non-playoff driver will upset the proceedings by going to victory lane. Talladega is known as the most unpredictable track on the circuit because of the close drafting and often 4-wide racing on the track, which can lead to huge crashes, known as “big ones” to race fans. As such, this venue gets a handicap-ability grade of D- on my scale. That said, we did score our first race projected winner here in a while back in April when Austic Cindric took home the checkered flag at 16-1. Not surprisingly, he is the front runner for Sunday’s final simulation as well. However, his projected average finish on the simulation runs was just 9.52 and there are eight other drivers within four spots as him. The next closest competition figures to come from Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney,

Talladega is well known as a track in which underdogs can thrive. You can see my favorite underdogs to consider, as well as my predictions below.

Top 5: Blaney, Cindric, Buescher, Logano, Briscoe
Top underdogs to consider: Preece, Buescher, Berry, Custer, Gilliland, Gragson
Favorites to struggle: Hamlin, Keselowski, Elliott, Bowman, Larson

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