Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR’s biggest oval (2.66-mile tri-oval), was the site for all three NASCAR series races this past weekend. Multi-vehicle wrecks and weather were factors in the schedules. Saturday’s Truck series took a 5-lap overtime to complete the event. The XFINITY Series followed later on Saturday and dealt with some rain and some wrecks. Since there are no lights around the huge track, this race was shortened by seven laps due to darkness. Sunday’s Cup race never got past the warm-up laps before being postponed to Monday afternoon because of rain. On Monday, after lap 118 of the scheduled 188 laps, persistent rain forced NASCAR to call it a completed race. Bubba Wallace, the leader on lap 118, was declared the winner. He became the first Black driver to win a race in NASCAR’s premier series since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott took the checkered flag on Dec. 1, 1963. What the three races had in common: This is the first time in NASCAR history there has been a first-time winner from all three series in a single weekend at the same track. The latest results and upcoming scheduled events for the NASCAR feeder series are included below as well as brief details on all tracks mentioned in this column.[[ad:athena]]
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Mon, Oct 4, YellaWood 500 - Talladega Superspeedway - 188 laps (shortened to 118, rain).
- No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Sunday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Denny Hamlin (#11 Toyota Camry) P1 on the starting grid. Kyle Busch (#18 Toyota Camry) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #9 Chase Elliott, #12 Ryan Blaney, #5 Kyle Larson, #19 Martin Truex Jr., #2 Brad Keselowski, #22 Joey Logano, #4 Kevin Harvick and #24 William Byron formed the rest of the top-10 in that order. Did not make the 40-car field: No one, only 40 entries.
- Bubba Wallace (#23 Toyota Camry) scored his first victory in 144 NCS races. This is his 3rd top-10 finish in 2021 and his first top-10 finish in nine races at Talladega. Brad Keselowski (2nd) posted his 13th top-10 finish in 27 Talladega races and his 14th top-10 finish in 2021. Joey Logano (3rd) posted his 11th top-10 finish in 27 races at Talladega. Anthony Alfredo (10th) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender (ROTY). Polesitter Denny Hamlin led six laps and finished in 7th place.
- NCS Championship points leader: Denny Hamlin by 19 points over Kyle Larson.
- NCS Playoffs - Round of 12: (G/L)
1. Denny Hamlin +1
2. Kyle Larson -1
3. Joey Logano +4
4. Brad Keselowski +4
5. Martin Truex Jr. -1
6. Ryan Blaney -1
7. Chase Elliott -1
8. Kyle Busch -5
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9. Kevin Harvick +1
10. Christopher Bell +2
11. William Byron -2
12. Alex Bowman -1
- After the next race (Charlotte Roval), the bottom 4 will not advance to the NCS Playoffs Round of 8 that starts on October 17 at the Texas Motor Speedway.
- Next: Sun, Oct 10, Bank of America ROVAL 400 - Charlotte ROVAL - 109 laps.
- 2021 NCS Regular Season Champion: Kyle Larson
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Sat, Oct 2, Sparks 300 - Talladega Superspeedway - 113 laps (shortened to 107, darkness).
- No practice or qualifying sessions. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Saturday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Justin Allgaier (#7 Chevrolet Camaro) P1 on the starting grid. Austin Cindric (#22 Ford Mustang) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #1 Josh Berry, #9 Noah Gragson, #16 AJ Allmendinger, #18 Daniel Hemric, #19 Brandon Jones, #11 Justin Haley, #20 Harrison Burton and #2 Myatt Snider formed the rest of the top-10 in that order. 41 cars entered for the 40-car field: #13 Timmy Hill did not make the race.
- Brandon Brown (#68 Chevrolet Camaro) scored his first victory in 115 NXS races. This is his 9th top-10 finish in 2021 and his 3rd top-10 finish in six races at Talladega. Brandon Jones (2nd) posted his 3rd top-10 finish in nine Talladega races and his 15th top-10 finish in 2021. Polesitter Justin Allgaier (3rd) led seven laps and posted his seventh top-10 finish in 14 races at Talladega. Josh Berry (9th) was the highest finishing ROTY.
- NXS Championship points leader: Austin Cindric by 22 points over Justin Allgaier.
- NXS Playoffs - Round of 12: (G/L)
1. Austin Cindric
2. Justin Allgaier +1
3. Daniel Hemric +2
4. AJ Allmendinger -2
5. Justin Haley +1
6. Brandon Jones +2
7. Noah Gragson -3
8. Harrison Burton -1
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9. Jeb Burton +1
10. Myatt Snider -1
11. Riley Herbst
12. Jeremy Clements
- After the next race (Charlotte Roval), the bottom 4 will not advance to the NXS Playoffs Round of 8 that starts on October 16 at the Texas Motor Speedway.
- Next: Sat, Oct 9, Drive for the Cure 250 - Charlotte ROVAL - 67 laps.
- 2021 NXS Regular Season Champion: AJ Allmendinger
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
Sat, Oct 2, Chevy Silverado 250 - Talladega Superspeedway - 94 laps (+5 OT).
- No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Saturday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Ben Rhodes (#99 Toyota Tundra) P1 on the starting grid. Todd Gilliland (#38 Ford F-150) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #88 Matt Crafton, #52 Stewart Friesen, #16 Austin Hill, #42 Carson Hocevar, #4 John Hunter Nemechek, #21 Zane Smith, #2 Sheldon Creed and #18 Chandler Smith formed the rest of the top-10 in that order. Did not make the 40-truck field: No one, only 40 trucks entered.
- Tate Fogleman (#12 Chevrolet Silverado) scored his first victory in 47 NTS races. This is his 2nd top-10 finish in 2021. It is his first top-10 finish in three races at Talladega. Tyler Hill (2nd) posted his first top-10 finish in two Talladega races and his first top-10 finish in 2021. Todd Gilliland (3rd) led a race-high 39 laps and posted his 2nd top-10 finish in five races at Talladega. Chase Purdy (9th) was the highest finishing ROTY. Polesitter Ben Rhodes led 20 laps and finished in 13th place.
- NTS Championship points leader: John Hunter Nemechek by 1 point over Ben Rhodes.
- NTS Playoffs - Round of 8: (G/L)
1. John Hunter Nemechek +1
2. Ben Rhodes -1
3. Matt Crafton +1
4. Sheldon Creed +1
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5. Stewart Friesen -2
6. Chandler Smith +2
7. Carson Hocevar -1
8. Zane Smith -1
- After the next race (Martinsville) the bottom 4 will not advance to the NTS Playoffs Championship 4 race that concludes the season at Phoenix Raceway on November 5.
- Next: Sat, Oct 30, United Rentals 200 - Martinsville Speedway - 200 laps.
- 2021 NTS Regular Season Champion: John Hunter Nemechek
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Sat, Oct 2, Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 - Salem Speedway - 200 laps.
Winner: Jesse Love - P1: Ty Gibbs - Points Leader: Ty Gibbs
Season Finale: Sat, Oct 23, Reese’s 150 - Kansas Speedway - 100 laps.
ARCA Menards East:
2021 ARCA Menards East Champion: Sammy Smith
2021 Bounty Rookie of the Year: Sammy Smith
Next: 2022 Season Opener
ARCA Menards West:
Thu, Sep 23, Star Nursery 150 - The Bullring at Las Vegas - 150 laps.
Winner: Taylor Gray - P1: Jake Drew - Points Leader: Jesse Love
NEXT: Sat, Oct 9, NAPA Auto Parts 150 - All American Speedway - 150 laps
Whelen Modified Tour:
2021 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion: Justin Bonsignore
Next: 2022 Season Opener
Pinty’s Series:
2021 NASCAR Pinty’s Series Champion: LP Dumoulin
Next: 2022 Season Opener
Peak Mexico Series:
Sun, Sep 26, Autodromo Monterrey in Monterrey Mexico
Winner: Ruben Rovelo - P1: Salvador De Alba Jr. - Points Leader: Salvador De Alba Jr.
Next: Sun, Oct 10, Ovalo Aguascalientes Mexico in Aguascalientes, Mexico
Track Details
All American Speedway - 0.333-mile oval - Roseville, California
Autodromo Monterrey - 1.0-mile oval - Monterrey, Mexico
Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - 3/8-mile paved oval - Las Vegas, Nevada
Charlotte ROVAL - 2.28 mile, 17 turn road course - Concord, North Carolina
Kansas Speedway - 1.5-mile oval - Kansas City, Kansas
Martinsville Speedway - 0.526-mile oval - Martinsville, Virginia
Ovalo Aguascalientes Mexico - 0.875-mile concrete oval - Aguascalientes, Mexico
Phoenix Raceway - 1-mile tri-oval - Avondale, Arizona
Salem Speedway - 0.555-mile oval - Salem, Indiana
Talladega Superspeedway - 2.66-mile tri-oval - Talladega, Alabama
Texas Motor Speedway - 1.5-mile quad-oval - Fort Worth, Texas
