The lone superspeedway race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule is here, and there are seven drivers who still have a legitimate chance to win the championship heading into the season's final three races. With that in mind, Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway has the potential to turn the championship battle upside down.
In Saturday's qualifying session for Sunday's 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked oval in Lincoln, Alabama, the seven drivers still in the title fight found themselves scattered from pole through 33rd place.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, winner of two of the series' three most recent races, took the pole position, but 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, who is coming off of his series-high sixth win of the year at Phoenix Raceway, qualified 33rd.
Championship leader Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports qualified 10th, four spots lower than his closest challenger in the standings, Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell.
Follow along with our YellaWood 500 race updates from Talladega.
NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: YellaWood 500 Stage 1 results
NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: YellaWood 500 Stage 2 results
NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: Full YellaWood 500 results
The penultimate race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Xfinity 500, which is set to be shown live on NBC from Martinsville Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 1. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from the 2026 season's penultimate race!
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