Statchat 2025 - Jack Link's 500 at Talladega

By Adam Carabine

Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend NASCAR travels to Lincoln, Alabama for the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega SuperSpeedway.

Talladega is the largest oval on the NASCAR circuit, at 2.66 miles long.  The track opened in 1969, and Richard Brickhouse was the first to win a NASCAR race at the facility that same year.  Last year, Tyler Reddick won this race in the spring.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the fall race.

Tomorrow’s race will be 188 laps long (for a total of 500.08 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 60 – 120 – 188.  Pit road speed is 55 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 75 mph.  The fuel window is between 40-50 laps.

This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 2,605 laps, for 3,131.56 miles so far this season.  Denny Hamlin is the only driver who has completed all of them.

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Talladega:

William Byron	14.43 over 14 races
Riley Herbst	14.50 over 2 races
Todd Gilliland	14.50 over 6 races
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	14.52 over 23 races (2 wins)
Chase Elliott	14.56 over 18 races (2 wins)

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Talladega:

Zane Smith	29.00 over 3 races
Ty Gibbs	27.40 over 5 races
Michael McDowell	26.54 over 28 races
Cody Ware	26.33 over 9 races
Josh Berry	26.00 over 2 races

Talladega is a Super Speedway

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Super Speedways:

JH Nemechek	14.90 over 9 races
Bubba Wallace	16.68 over 30 races (1 win)
Denny Hamlin	17.19 over 77 races (5 wins)
Chase Briscoe	17.47 over 17 races
Ryan Blaney	17.50 over 41 races (4 wins)

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Super Speedways:

Zane Smith	23.88 over 7 races
Michael McDowell	23.70 over 56 races (1 win)
Daniel Suarez	23.18 over 33 races
Ty Gibbs	22.95 over 11 races
Cody Ware	22.79 over 17 races

Dale Earnhardt is the winningest driver at Talladega, with 10 total wins.  Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Brad Keselowski are tied for 2nd with 6 wins each.

Notable drivers who have not won at Talladega:     

Kyle Larson	(has won at 18 other tracks)
Christopher Bell	(has won at 10 other tracks)
William Byron	(has won at 10 other tracks)
Alex Bowman	(has won at 8 other tracks)
Chris Buescher	(has won at 6 other tracks)

Three current drivers have scored their first Cup Series victory at Talladega.  Brad Keselowski in his 5th race, Bubba Wallace in his 143rd, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in his 158th 

Based on average finish, both Riley Herbst and Ty Dillon list Talladega as their BEST track – no drivers list it as their WORST track.

Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:

Drivers Faring Better than in 2024

Tyler Reddick	+632 pts
Bubba Wallace	+531 pts
Chris Buescher	+505 pts
William Byron	+424 pts
Chase Briscoe	+308 pts

Drivers Faring Worse than in 2024

Brad Keselowski	-410 pts
Ty Gibbs	-287 pts
Todd Gilliland	-273 pts
Josh Berry	-233 pts
Joey Logano	-197 pts

Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:

Best Career Year          

William Byron	9.11
Christopher Bell	9.78
Tyler Reddick	12.44
Chase Briscoe	15.11
Ryan Preece	18.11
JH Nemechek	18.89
Todd Gilliland	20.78

Worst Career Year

Cole Custer	27.78
Brad Keselowski	25.00
Erik Jones	23.44
Carson Hocevar	23.33
Ty Gibbs	19.89
Zane Smith	19.33

Rookie of the Year Battle

Riley Herbst	101
SVG	98

The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1st, 35 for 2nd, 34 for 3rd, etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.

Manufacturer Standings        

Toyota	329
Chevrolet	327
Ford	291

Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:

Chartered Team Standings

Joe Gibbs	326
Hendrick	324
RFK	255
23XI	252
Penske	252
Trackhouse	251
Spire	213
RCR	208
Kaulig	206
Front Row	199
Legacy MC	184
Hyak	162
Wood Bros	148
Haas Factory	83
Rick Ware	55

At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:

Stage Point Leaders

Ryan Blaney	89
William Byron	81
Kyle Larson	72
Bubba Wallace	68
Alex Bowman	66
Joey Logano	64
Denny Hamlin	54
Austin Cindric	47
Christopher Bell	47
Chase Elliott	46

Milestone Watch

Chase Elliott	Looking for his 20th Career Win
Noah Gragson	Looking for his 10th Career Top 10
Josh Berry	Looking for his 10th Career Top 10
Bubba Wallace	Looking for his 50th Career Top 10
JH Nemechek	Looking for his 10th Career Top 10
Ryan Preece	Looking for his 20th Career Top 10
Daniel Suarez	Looking for his 70th Career Top 10

Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:

Winless Streaks

Justin Haley	150 races
Cole Custer	98 races
Bubba Wallace	88 races
Erik Jones	88 races
Kyle Busch	66 races
Michael McDowell	57 races
Daniel Suarez	43 races
Chase Elliott	36 races
Brad Keselowski	32 races
Austin Cindric	30 races

The race begins Sunday, April 27th at 3:00 pm EST (12:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @RacingRefresh

Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!