It seems that the world’s quickest superspeedway will quickly have a extra distinguished function in deciding NASCAR’s champion.
In response to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, the two.66 mile Talladega Superspeedway may play host to a race within the Spherical of 8 in 2025, probably making the annual fall date on the Alabama observe the third-to-last race of the season.
With Talladega being the only drafting observe that can seem within the 2025 NASCAR playoffs, the way in which drivers strategy their championship hunt will now should be modified. Because the inception of NASCAR’s elimination model playoff format in 2014, Talladega has been firmly located within the Spherical of 12. In 2014, 2015 and 2016, it served because the cutoff race for the second spherical of the playoffs earlier than transferring to the center race of the spherical in 2017. The race has held its present place because the thirty first race of the season from 2017 till the current day.
Superspeedways akin to Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega are seen as wild card races because of the intense pack racing and excessive probability of crashes that may wipe out the sector instantly. The drafting component of those races additionally serves as an equalizer for smaller groups with much less assets, in addition to underdog drivers seeking to steal a win.
If Talladega does transfer into the Spherical of 8 as Bianchi studies, it’ll definitely make Talladega’s second race of the yr must-see TV, because the fixed menace of the ‘Massive One’, underdog tales and intensifying postseason strain will be sure you have your entire subject on edge.
Talladega is already identified to be a wild venue, however making it the third-to-last race of the season may make subsequent yr’s version of the observe’s playoff race essentially the most intense iteration so far.