NASCAR: 2021 Talladega playoff race – Full starting lineup, odds

The starting lineup is set for the final superspeedway race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season at Talladega. Who are the favorites to take the checkered flag?

Assuming no rain delays like we saw in 2019, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs will be halfway complete by the time the upcoming weekend comes to an end.

The YellaWood 500 is fifth race of the four-round, 10-race postseason and the second of three races in the second round (round of 12), and it is scheduled to take place this Sunday afternoon.

Where is the YellaWood 500?

The YellaWood 500 is a 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Talladega Superspeedway oval in Lincoln, Alabama. This track also hosted a race back in late April, a race which was won by Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski.

Talladega broadcast information

NBC is set to broadcast the YellaWood 500 live from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 3. Make sure to start your free trial of FuboTV today if you have not already done so!

Who is on pole for Talladega?

NASCAR is still using the starting lineup formula to set the starting lineups for the playoff races, and the plan is for this to continue until actual qualifying returns for November’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

As a result, it is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin who is set to start Sunday afternoon’s race from the pole position behind the wheel of his #11 Toyota after winning this past Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He is set to be joined by teammate Kyle Busch on the front row behind the wheel of his #18 Toyota.

The 12 remaining championship contenders are all set to start inside the top 12, as the other competitors are not included in the formula until after it has been used to solidify the starting positions of those dozen drivers.

Here is the full starting lineup for the 2021 YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Starting Lineup
1st – Denny Hamlin
2nd – Kyle Busch
3rd – Chase Elliott
4th – Ryan Blaney
5th – Kyle Larson
6th – Martin Truex Jr.
7th – Brad Keselowski
8th – Joey Logano
9th – Kevin Harvick
10th – William Byron
11th – Alex Bowman
12th – Christopher Bell
13th – Tyler Reddick
14th – Kurt Busch
15th – Matt DiBenedetto
16th – Austin Dillon
17th – Chase Briscoe
18th – Daniel Suarez
19th – Bubba Wallace
20th – Aric Almirola
21st – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
22nd – Michael McDowell
23rd – Ross Chastain
24th – Chris Buescher
25th – Ryan Newman
26th – Erik Jones
27th – Ryan Preece
28th – Cole Custer
29th – Corey LaJoie
30th – Anthony Alfredo
31st – Cody Ware
32nd – B.J. McLeod
33rd – Justin Allgaier
34th – Josh Bilicki
35th – Quin Houff
36th – Joey Gase
37th – Garrett Smithley
38th – Justin Haley
39th – David Starr
40th – Landon Cassill

Talladega betting odds

Take a look at the betting odds for the remaining championship contenders in this Sunday afternoon’s race, courtesy of WynnBET.

• Denny Hamlin: +700
• Joey Logano: +800
• Chase Elliott: +800
• Ryan Blaney: +850
• William Byron: +1000
• Brad Keselowski: +1000
• Kyle Larson: +1000
• Kyle Busch: +1200
• Kevin Harvick: +1200
• Alex Bowman: +1400
• Martin Truex Jr.: +1700
• Christopher Bell: +2000

Talladega betting prediction

Among these 12 contenders, Ryan Blaney probably has the most attractive odds at +850. He has solidified himself as one of the top superspeedway drivers, if not the top superspeedway driver, in the series, having won a superspeedway race in each of the last three seasons.

Blaney has not gone a season without winning at Talladega Superspeedway since 2018, and it was teammate Brad Keselowski who won the April race at the track. So be on the lookout for him to pull off one of his signature 0.007-second victories this weekend.

Of course, Hamlin is always in the mix in the superspeedway races, and he has not won one yet this year. He has not gone a season without winning a superspeedway race since 2018, and with two wins in the first four playoff races after a winless regular season, he appears to be heating up at the right time.

As a wild card race, this Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway could very well produce a winner from outside the playoffs, and two drivers to consider are Bubba Wallace and Matt DiBenedetto.

Wallace earned his first career stage win at Talladega Superspeedway in April, and he has had a top three car in all three superspeedway races so far this season. He tied his career-high finish with a second place effort at Daytona International Speedway in the regular season, so with odds of +2000, he could be worth the gamble.

DiBenedetto is in the mix to win almost every superspeedway race on the calendar, and that held true at Talladega Superspeedway both last October and this past April, yet he has never managed to pull it off.

He knows he probably needs to win a race to have a shot at a decent ride in any series next year, and this would be the ideal place for him to do it. He should be in the mix again, and odds of +1750 are hard to pass up.

Make your pick now on WynnBET.