For the first time all playoff season, each of NASCAR’s top touring series are on the same schedule as the second race in the Round of 8 takes place at Talladega Superspeedway. Ford has more Cup Series playoff wins at this facility than any other as Mustang drivers Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano look to add another one on Sunday and clinch a spot in the Championship 4.
THE SCHEDULE
Friday, October 17 – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 3:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, October 18 – NASCAR Xfinity Series, 4 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, October 19 – NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (NBC)
UP TO SPEED
TALLADEGA PLAYOFF SUCCESS
No track has provided more playoff success for Ford than Talladega Superspeedway, which has seen 10 Blue Oval wins in the postseason. Team Penske has been at the forefront of that success with Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney each winning twice.
FORD PLAYOFF WINS AT TALLADEGA
2005 – Dale Jarrett, Robert Yates Racing
2009 – Jamie McMurray, Roush Fenway Racing
2012 – Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing
2014 – Brad Keselowski, Team Penske
2015 – Joey Logano, Team Penske
2016 – Joey Logano, Team Penske
2017 – Brad Keselowski, Team Penske
2018 – Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing
2019 – Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
2023 – Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
CINDRIC GOING FOR TALLADEGA SWEEP
Austin Cindric punched his ticket to this year’s playoffs after winning for the third time in his career earlier this year at Talladega Superspeedway. Cindric came out with the lead following a late-race green flag pit cycle and was able to outduel fellow Ford driver Ryan Preece at the finish line to win the Jack Link’s 500. Cindric and Preece exchanged the lead from each other five times over the final seven laps before the Team Penske driver won by .022 seconds.
KESELOWSKI CLIMBING ALL-TIME TALLADEGA WIN LIST
Brad Keselowski, who will be making his 34th career start at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, is the winningest active driver at the track with six NASCAR Cup Series victories. That ties him for second on the all-time list with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon and puts him four behind all-time winner Dale Earnhardt Sr., who won 10 times during his NASCAR Hall of Fame career. In 33 races, Keselowski has registered 12 top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes while completing almost 95 percent of the laps (5892-of-6218).
FORD DRIVERS IN THE CUP SERIES PLAYOFFS
DRIVER - POINTS POSITION
Joey Logano – 7th (-24 below the cut line)
Ryan Blaney – 8th (-31)
Note: Top 4 advance after Martinsville
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT TALLADEGA
Joey Logano: 33 starts, 3 wins, 9 top-5, 11 top-10
Ryan Blaney: 22 starts, 3 wins, 6 top-5, 8 top-10
THEY SAID IT
RYAN BLANEY
DOES TALLADEGA MATTER IF IT’S IN THIS ROUND OR THE PREVIOUS ROUND?
“I think when you have Talladega in any round in the playoffs there are going to be challenges. I look at it as people are making a big deal when it was in the Round of 8 like, ‘Oh man, it’s the semifinal round and it’s really gonna shake things up.’ I looked at it as you have to race less guys, whereas if it was in the Round of 12, I’ve got to race 11 other guys. This way, I’ve only got to race seven, so I look at it from that perspective of points and guys that could win. It kind of shrinks the field of playoff guys that can win and move on. It’s still gonna be scary and you never know what’s gonna happen, but we’re fortunate to have that problem right now and getting there and competing, but it doesn’t matter to me what round it is in.”
JOEY LOGANO
DOES TALLADEGA MATTER IF IT’S IN THIS ROUND OR THE PREVIOUS ROUND?
“There’s definitely a difference. I hate calling them wild cards because I just hate saying that – but it’s a race where a lot of things can happen. A wreck can take out a few cars more than normal, so it just becomes interesting that way. I don’t know if I’m a huge fan of that where it is in the playoffs, but the rules are the rules and we’re gonna play by them. That’s the whole thing with this whole playoff system. When we start in Daytona, those are the rules. We all know it. We all know the schedule. We all know how everything goes and it’s up to us to figure out how to do it the best. They’re not gonna change because we don’t like it. They are what they are, so let’s go figure out how to win with it.”
A LOOK BACK
BLANEY’S TALLADEGA SUCCESS
Ryan Blaney heads into this weekend 31 points below the cut line after last week’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but three of his 16 career NASCAR Cup Series wins have come at Talladega Superspeedway (2019, 2020 and 2023). Blaney advanced to the Round of 8 with his photo finish victory over Ryan Newman in 2019 after the race had to be completed on Monday due to rain. The race came down to a final inch as Newman got past Blaney for the lead coming off turn three, only to see the Team Penske driver battle back on the inside and nip him by a bumper at the stripe. The script was much the same in 2020 as rain forced the race to Monday with Blaney this time beating Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by inches in an overtime finish. In 2023, Blaney outdueled Kevin Harvick in a door-to-door battle for the entire final lap to win in a photo finish and once again advance to the Round of 8.
CREED ON TOP 10 TALLADEGA STREAK
Sheldon Creed comes into this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway 21 points below the cut line, so he would like nothing better than to continue a streak that has seen him finish 10th or better in each of the last four series races at the facility. That includes a ninth-place run earlier this year in which he led nine laps, and a runner-up effort in 2023. Creed’s Haas Factory Team teammate, Sam Mayer, also has a second-place series finish at Talladega with that coming in this event in 2022.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE XFINITY PLAYOFFS
DRIVER - POINTS POSITION
Sam Mayer – 4th (+8 above the cut line)
Sheldon Creed – 6th (-21)
Note: Top 4 advance after Martinsville
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT TALLADEGA
Sam Mayer: 7 starts, 0 wins, 1 top-5, 1 top-10
Sheldon Creed: 6 starts, 0 wins, 2 top-5, 4 top-10
ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO
The second race in the Round of 8 is on tap Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway and both Ford drivers, Layne Riggs and defending champion Ty Majeski, are in the thick of contention. Riggs and Majeski are currently on the outside looking in, but are only one and two points below the cut line, respectively. Even though he’s still looking for his first win of the season, Majeski comes into the weekend on a roll with nine straight top-10 finishes while Riggs will be making only his second start at Talladega.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE NCTS PLAYOFFS
DRIVER - POINTS POSITION
Layne Riggs – 5th (-1 below the cut line)
Ty Majeski – 6th (-2)
Note: Top 4 advance after Martinsville
PAST WINNERS
FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA
1975 – Buddy Baker (Sweep)
1976 – Buddy Baker (1)
1979 – Bobby Allison (1)
1983 – Dale Earnhardt (2)
1985 – Bill Elliott and Cale Yarborough
1987 – Dave Allison and Bill Elliott
1989 – Davey Allison and Terry Labonte
1992 – Davey Allison (1)
1994 – Jimmy Spencer (2)
1995 – Mark Martin (1)
1997 – Mark Martin (1)
1998 – Dale Jarrett (2)
2005 – Dale Jarrett (2)
2009 – Jamie McMurray (2)
2012 – Matt Kenseth (2)
2013 – David Ragan (1)
2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (2)
2016 – Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano
2017 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Brad Keselowski
2018 – Joey Logano and Aric Almirola
2019 – Ryan Blaney (2)
2020 – Ryan Blaney (1)
2021 – Brad Keselowski (1)
2023 – Ryan Blaney (2)
2025 – Austin Cindric (1)
FORD’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA
1995 – Chad Little
1997 – Mark Martin
2002 – Jason Keller
2009 – David Ragan
2015 – Joey Logano
2017 – Aric Almirola
FORD’S NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT TALLADEGA
2006 – Mark Martin
2023 – Brett Moffitt
The Ford Mustang, celebrating its 61st anniversary in 2025, is the world’s best selling sports car. It is also one of the planet’s most popular race cars. With Mustang-based race cars competing in international sports car competition (GT3 and GT4), NASCAR, NHRA, Formula Drift, in Australian Supercars, at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and in its own bespoke one-make series – Mustang Cup and Mustang Challenge – the platform has an unprecedented global reach. This weekend, 27 Mustang race cars are scheduled to race across all disciplines.
