NASCAR playoffs at Talladega: Where to watch, live stream, preview, expert picks for the YellaWood 500

LINCOLN, Ala. -- From the time NASCAR first adopted a postseason format 20 years ago, no track in the final 10 races on the path to a Cup Series championship has proven more perilous than the largest, fastest superspeedway on Earth. Time and again, Talladega Superspeedway has proven that while it can't grant a driver a Cup championship, it can certainly take it from them.

This weekend, the most unpredictable race of the NASCAR playoffs is set to be renewed with the latest edition of the YellaWood 500, a race that has seen everything from surprise winners to photo finishes to last lap carnage. This race a year ago featured both of the latter two, as Ryan Blaney beat Kevin Harvick to the finish line by a nose as The Big One broke out behind them coming to the checkered flag.

As great a risk as Talladega presents, there is also the great reward of a trip to Victory Lane and an automatic berth in the Round of 8. Something Blaney used a year ago to propel himself to his first Cup title.

Where to watch the NASCAR playoffs at Talladega

• When: Sunday, Oct. 6
• Where: Talladega Superspeedway -- Lincoln, Ala.
• Time: 2 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC
• Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)

What to Watch

After a rash of crashes in late August where cars went airborne, including the most recent superspeedway race at Daytona where both Michael McDowell and Josh Berry's cars flew up and into the air, NASCAR has implemented several aerodynamic changes for this weekend's race in an effort to lessen the chances of such accidents occurring. Each car in the field will feature an extended-height right side roof rail, an extended rocker panel skirt and fabric underneath the right side roof flap.

The new roof rail will be a two-inch fin made of polycarbonate, which will allow air to deflect off of its flat surface if a vehicle slides sideways at high speed. The roof flap fabric will fit on the inboard edge of the flap and serve as a parachute of sorts, and the rocker panel's new skirt will be an aluminum extension to eliminate space between the floor of the car and the ground beneath it.

The right side of the car is a particular focus, as the Next Gen car has shown a tendency to create lift on that side since its introduction in 2022. That was the case in McDowell and Berry's crashes at Daytona, as well as in separate accidents like Harrison Burton's in the 2022 Daytona 500 and Corey LaJoie's accident at Michigan in August.

While the aerodynamic changes should theoretically lessen the chances of a car achieving liftoff -- as well as the safety concerns it poses -- there's no real way to guarantee that all four tires on each car in the field will stay on solid ground. In the springtime, after all, LaJoie crossed the finish line riding the outside wall on his side before rolling over once after being pushed and lifted off the ground as a result of being lifted up and over by impact with other cars in a multi-car crash.

News of the Week

• 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have jointly filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR after refusing to agree to the terms of the sport's proposed renewal to the charter agreement, claiming that the sanctioning body and CEO Jim France have used "anticompetitive and exclusionary practices" in order to enrich themselves at the expense of their race teams. The two teams are being represented by top antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, whose claims to fame include litigations for current free agency rules in the NFL and NBA as well as NIL deals for college football players among other cases.
• Many NASCAR figures are aiding those in Western North Carolina and other areas devastated by Hurricane Helene , with drivers, teams, race tracks and others all doing their part. Former Cup Series star and Hall of Fame nominee Greg Biffle in particular has gone above and beyond, as he has been using his private helicopter to deliver aid and supplies to those who have been stranded by the storm and its aftereffects.
• Former NASCAR driver Danny Efland has been hired by Xfinity Series team AM Racing as the crew chief for Harrison Burton in 2025, marking his first full-time crew chiefing job after serving as the lead engineer for Erik Jones' team at Legacy Motor Club. Efland made 73 combined starts as a driver in the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series, and he has made three starts as an interim crew chief at the Cup level.
  

Pick to Win

Michael McDowell (+2500) -- No driver has had faster or better cars in speedway races more consistently in 2024 than Michael McDowell. In the five speedway races so far, McDowell has won the pole four times and started on the outside pole one more time, and he has led 125 laps including a race-high 36 laps at Talladega in April. The problem for McDowell has been getting to the finish without some sort of spectacular exit.

McDowell had victory in sight coming off the final corner at Talladega in April, only to crash out in the trioval after blocking Brad Keselowski one too many times, then was leading in the final laps at Daytona in August before getting sent on a flier in Turn 1. Over the course of his career, though, McDowell has generally had a knack for getting to the finish at Daytona and Talladega with his car intact. And if he gets back to that, he should be considered among the outright favorites to win.