NASCAR YellaWood 500 at Talladega Live Race Updates
Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (scheduled to take place at 2:00 PM ET on NBC) marks the second of three races in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8.
While Denny Hamlin secured his place in the Championship 4 last weekend at Las Vegas, the seven remaining Playoff drivers are still fighting for a chance at the Bill France Cup. Sunday's event at Talladega Superspeedway will be a nerve-racking affair for all seven drivers as the race will bring the opportunity for them all to win, but it will also have a high probability of them being swept up in a big crash.
RELATED: Previewing the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500
Welcome to the Racing America On SI live-race updates page for the YellaWood 500. This page will serve as your guide leading up to and throughout Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Playoff event. This page will be updated with key pre-race updates, in-race updates such as lead changes, and video highlights of crashes or incidents. Also included will be stage and race results, and much more. Continue checking back for additional updates.
- Final Stage Updates
- Stage 2 Updates
- Stage 1 Updates
- Pre-Race Updates
- Starting Lineup
- Playoff Picture (Heading Into Talladega)
Final Stage Updates
CHASE BRISCOE WINS THE YELLAWOOD 500 at TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
Chase Briscoe is heading to the Championship 4, after getting to the lead late at Talladega Superspeedway. It's his fifth NASCAR Cup Series victory, and the third of the season in the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE.
Position | Car | Driver |
|---|---|---|
1 | 19 | Chase Briscoe |
2 | 34 | Todd Gilliland |
3 | 54 | Ty Gibbs |
4 | 23 | Bubba Wallace |
5 | 41 | Cole Custer |
6 | 77 | Carson Hocevar |
7 | 45 | Tyler Reddick |
8 | 20 | Christopher Bell |
9 | 38 | Zane Smith |
10 | 6 | Brad Keselowski |
Lap 191: Gearing Up for NASCAR Overtime
With two laps remaining in the YellaWood 500, it's Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson holding down the front row on a restart with two laps to go. Carson Hocevar is in third, with Bubba Wallace in fourth. What will the running order look like at the checkered flag... or heaven forbid, another yellow.
Lap 187: Chris Buescher Turned From The Lead... Hard Impact for the No. 17
Chris Buescher, leading the race coming to the white flag, got turned around after a major bump from Carson Hocevar to William Byron and Byron to Chris Buescher. The RFK Racing No. 17 gets turned into the inside wall HARD. We are going to NASCAR Overtime.
Lap 184: WILLIAM BYRON TO THE LEAD... FOR A MOMENT
WHERE DID THE 24 COME FROM? HE LEADS WITH FOUR LAPS TO GO AT TALLADEGA WITH A NEAR DISASTEROUS PUSH FROM HIS TEAMMATE KYLE LARSON. THE TOYOTAS ARE FIGHTING BACK ON THE BOTTOMW ITH THREE TO GO.
Lap 182: THINGS ARE GETTING TENSE
Things are getting crazy at Talladega Superspeedway with six laps to go, as three lanes of cars are crammed into two and a half lane of racetracks. Briscoe, Larson, Wallace, Buescher, Byron, Bell, and AUSTIN HILL are all in contention to take the victory.
Lap 180: Chase Briscoe Soars to The Front in The Third Lane
Chase Briscoe, with a push from Chris Buescher, has gotten the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE back to the front of the packw ith the help of Chris Buescher on the third lane. Seven laps remaining.
Lap 177: The Pack Catches A Wounded Alex Bowman; Shucks Out Suarez, Hocevar
With 11 laps remaining, the pack caught the wounded lapped car of Alex Bowamn, who is suffering from engine issues. That totally shuffled the pack, allowing Front Row Motorsports teammates Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith to be in control of the race. Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar were shucked to the rear of the draft.
Lap 175: A Third Lane Has Formed as Kyle Larson Clears for The Lead
Kyle Larson has jumped down on the inside lane and taken the lead of the lane in front of Todd Gilliland. Meanwhile, Zane Smith has started a third lane on the outside and IS CHALLENGING FOR THE RACE-LEAD with help from Ross Chastain and Bbubba Wallace. HE HAS IT!
Lap 174: Kyle Larson Challenging Todd Gilliland for The Lead; Two Lanes of Drafting
Kyle Larson, with the help of Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher, leads the outside lane with Todd Gilliland on the inside, utilizing the help of Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano to remain side-by-side with 14 laps remaining in the YellaWood 500.
Lap 171: RESTART AT TALLADEGA
Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland hold the front row on a restart with 17 laps remaining at Talladega Superspeedway. Everybody SHOULD be able to make it to the end on fuel, Todd Gilliland clears Blaney for the lead. Can the No. 34 Ford Mustang hold on first his first career win?
Lap 167: Pit Stops
The entire field is coming down pit road for their final stop of the afternoon. Ryan Blaney and Joey Logao win the race off pit road, with Todd Gilliland, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, and Daniel Suarez the top-six.
Lap 165: Caution!
Cody Ware, who has had a decent day, has gone for a spin in Turn 2 on Lap 165, and he has come to a stop. Sounds like the engine blew, which led to him to spin in his own fluid.
Lap 150: Lead Change(s)
Ross Chastain narrowly surged to the lead from the middle lane and led Lap 150, but Joey Logano went back to the lead on Lap 151.
Lap 149: Final Pit Stops Coming Soon
As the field sits three-by-three in fuel conservation mode, we're approaching the final pit stops of the race. Logano still leads with Blaney behind him.
Lap 143: Herbst Has Issues
Riley Herbst, who was running third in line in the middle lane, just had an issue that caused him to slow up big time. He swerved to the left, and everyone was able to avoid him.
Lap 134: Lead Change
Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have gone to 1-2 as they got around the 23XI Racing drivers, led by Riley Herbst on Lap 134.
Lap 129: Logano reporting gear smell, and high temp
Joey Logano is telling his crew chief Paul Wolfe that the gear temperature is high, and that he is smelling gear oil. Wolfe tells him the gauge is wrong and to keep chugging.
Lap 128: Nemechek Leads With Help from Reddick
John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick are hooked up out front as the Toyota duo leads the field. Kyle Busch is sitting third as the top-six or seven cars are in single-file order right now.
Lap 126: Back to Green!
John Hunter Nemechek and Kyle Busch bring the field back to green on Lap 126. Nemechek won the race off pit road.
Lap 124: Berry to Garage
Josh Berry has gone to the garage with mechanical issues. He was one of the fastest cars in this race as he had led a race-high 27 laps.
Lap 121: Catch Your Breath
Alright, it's been a fun YellaWood 500 at Talladega so far. As we enter the final Stage of the race, there have already been 46 lead changes, we've seen a big crash end the day for Playoff contender Chase Elliott, and Shane van Gisbergen went for a spin coming to pit road. What will we see in Stage 3?
Stage 2 Updates
Lap 120: Briscoe Wins Stage 2 Over Larson!
Chase Briscoe held on in a hard-fought finish to win Stage 2 over Kyle Larson.
Stage 2 results:
Fin | Car | Driver | Stage Points | Playoff Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 19 | Chase Briscoe (P) | 10 | 1 |
2 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | 9 | -- |
3 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | 8 | -- |
4 | 24 | William Byron (P) | 7 | -- |
5 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | 6 | -- |
6 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | 5 | -- |
7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | 4 | -- |
8 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | 3 | -- |
9 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | 2 | -- |
10 | 48 | Alex Bowman | 1 | -- |
Lap 119: Briscoe Nearly Spins!
Chase Briscoe led Lap 119, but a shove from Kyle Larson nearly sent him spinning. They are now side-by-side for the Stage 2 win.
Lap 118: Lead Change
Kyle Larson narrowly leads Lap 118, but Chase Briscoe gets back in front of him after they cross the line.
Lap 117: Back to Green!
Chase Briscoe leads the field back to green, four laps left in Stage 2!
Lap 114: Ty Dillon Penalized
Ty Dillon clipped a tire sitting in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing pit box, which actually hit a crew member that was working inside the rear wheel area of the car. Dillon has been flagged for the incident.
Lap 113: Weeper Caused SVG to Spin
In a replay shown on the NBC broadcast, it was apparent that Shane van Gisbergen drove over a weeper, a water seeping point in the track surface, which caused him to spin out at pit entrance.
SVG goes for a slide at the entrance to pit road, and the yellow flag comes out on Lap 112. pic.twitter.com/330GrEl0lS
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 19, 2025
Lap 112: Caution!
NASCAR has called a caution for Van Gisbergen, who is stuck in the grass.
Lap 111: Van Gisbergen Spins Heading to Pit Road
Oh my! As a massive group of cars peeled off track to make green flag pit stops, Shane van Gisbergen went for a spin at pit entrance, and he landed in the infield grass. And he is stuck due to the wet grass from this morning's rain!
Lap 100: Lead Changes Continue as Green Flag Pit Stops About to Begin
We have seen a slew of lead changes between Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, Cody Ware, and Josh Berry and green flag pit stops are about to begin.
Lap 80: Lead Change
After Alfredo led for a couple of laps, Chase Briscoe goes to the lead, but that lead was short-lived as Michael McDowell led Lap 81. We're up to 29 lead changes now on the day.
Lap 78: Lead Change
Anthony Alfredo takes the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet to the lead on Lap 78.
Lap 74: Lead Change
Kyle Busch, who is looking to end a 90-race winless streak, continues to look strong today as he retakes the lead on Lap 74 from Josh Berry.
Lap 69: Lead Change
After Chris Buescher led the way for three laps, Josh Berry has surged back into the lead.
Lap 66: Lead Change
Chris Buescher took the lead from Ty Dillon on Lap 66.
Lap 65: Green Flag!
Ty Dillon is the leader of this race as we go back to green to kick off Stage 2.
Stage 1 Updates
Lap 60: Ty Gibbs Wins Stage 1
Ty Gibbs took the Stage 1 win over fellow Toyotas Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek. Playoff contenders Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Christopher Bell were 4th, 6th, and 10th.
Stage 1 Results:
Fin | Car | Driver | Stage Points | Playoff Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | 10 | -- |
2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 9 | -- |
3 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | 8 | -- |
4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | 7 | -- |
5 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 6 | -- |
6 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | 5 | -- |
7 | 38 | Zane Smith | 4 | -- |
8 | 71 | Michael McDowell | 3 | -- |
9 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | 2 | -- |
10 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | 1 | -- |
Lap 54: Chase Elliott Done for the Day
Playoff contender Chase Elliott, who was among the many in that crash, is officially done for the day. He'll likely need to win at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4.
Chase Elliott, who is out of the race, says he saw somebody sideways in front of him, and before he knew it, he was sent sideways. He explained that the poor execution by the HMS cars during the green flag pit sequence led to where he was. pic.twitter.com/YtE8YxasP9
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) October 19, 2025
Lap 52: Big Crash!
A big crash has erupted on Lap 52, and there are some Playoff contenders involved in the crash. Chase Elliott appears to have massive damage. AJ Allmendinger's No. 16 car is sitting on fire at the inside of the track. Justin Haley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Noah Gragson also took a major impacts. Looked like Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cindric were also among the drivers involved in this.
Here is the crash that impacted the day in Stage 1: pic.twitter.com/vpGwmyfQBV
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) October 19, 2025
Lap 50: Lead Change
Noah Gragson has taken the lead on Lap 50, and that is the 19th lead change in the opening 50 laps of the race.
Lap 49: Lead Change, Blaney and Cindric Nearly Cause Crash
As Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, and the Hendrick Motorsports cars have all pit, the lead has been handed to AJ Allmendinger on Lap 49, but as the thunderous pack approached Blaney and Cindric who were getting back up to speed, the Penske teammates attempted to cut in front of the field, it almost resulted in disaster.
After this, Carson Hocevar suffered an issue of some kind and had to come back to pit road.
Lap 46: Lead Change, Fords Pit
Austin Cindric has taken the lead of the race, as the Ford drivers, led by Brad Keselowski, have come to pit road.
Lap 44: Lead Change, More Pit Stops, Briscoe Penalized
Chase Briscoe suffered a pit road penalty, while Brad Keselowski re-took the lead as the Chevrolet contingent, led by Kyle Busch, came to pit road on Lap 43.
Lap 42: Lead Change, and Pit Stops Begin
The Toyotas, led by Chase Briscoe, have peeled off the track an onto pit road to kick off green flag pit stops. With that, Kyle Busch took the lead back on Lap 42.
Lap 41: Kyle Busch re-mounting a challenge
Kyle Busch is back out front of the middle lane, and he is starting to threaten Brad Keselowski for the lead. Busch has help from Denny Hamlin, right now.
Lap 38: Lead Change
The momentum in the middle lane, due to a forming outside third lane, came to a halt, which allowed Brad Keselowski to take the lead on Lap 38, as Kyle Busch is fading in the middle lane. Chase Briscoe is now P2.
Lap 37: Lead Change
Kyle Busch, who pulled up in front of Denny Hamlin, has been credited with leading Lap 37. Brad Keselowski is side-by-side with him in the inside line, working for the lead.
Lap 34: Lead Change
Denny Hamlin, in the outside lane, has gone to the race lead as he surged ahead of Josh Berry on Lap 34.
Lap 33: SVG Hung Out to Dry
Shane van Gisbergen pulled out from behind Josh Berry in an attempt to take the lead, but nobody went with him, and he is now free-falling backward. Brad Keselowski is up to second behind Berry.
Lap 32: Lead Change
Josh Berry is back to the lead, but this time, he has Shane van Gisbergen, not Joey Logano pushing him. SVG currently runs second.
Lap 31: Denny Hamlin in Third
Denny Hamlin, who went to the back, by design in the opening laps, has decided to go forward and now runs third on Lap 31. Hamlin is trying to see what kind of a car he has so he can set himself up for later in the race.
Lap 29: Lead Change
John Hunter Nemechek narrowly led lap 29, and the field is back to three-wide all the way through the field.
Lap 28: Lead Change
After several laps of the field single-filing out, Cody Ware has taken the lead off a push from Chase Briscoe on Lap 28. Noah Gragson is up to third, Josh Berry has fallen to fourth.
Lap 23: Lead Change
Josh Berry, with a push from Joey Logano, is back to the lead on Lap 23.
Lap 22: Berry, Logano battling back
Josh Berry and Joey Logano have pulled down low, and lead the inside line, which is now mounting a challenge to the Chevrolet contingent at the front of the field. Berry and Logano run fifth and sixth, but could be leading next time around.
Lap 19: Chevrolet 1-2-3
Justin Haley was able to work ahead of Bubba Wallace, and now Chevrolet leads the field 1-2-3 with Kyle Busch and SVG in positions 1 and 2. Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, and Christopher Bell, in Toyotas, run fourth through sixth, and Austin Hill, yesterday's Xfinity race winner, is seventh.
Lap 17: Lead Change
Kyle Busch has returned to the lead. He fell to roughly 18th spot after leading early in the event, but he has charged back to the front on Lap 17. Shane van Gisbergen right behind him in P2.
Lap 16: Lead Change
Ryan Preece has taken the lead as the top lane, led by Josh Berry and Joey Logano got dis-jointed on Lap 16. Preece used a push from Christopher Bell, who followed him up to the top lane. They run 1-2.
Lap 14: SVG to Third
Shane van Gisbergen utilized a push from Ryan Preece on the bottom lane to knife in front of Bubba Wallace to lead the middle lane. This allowed SVG to cross the finish line in the third spot behind Berry and Logano on Lap 14.
Lap 9: Herbst Up to 22nd
Riley Herbst, who qualified ninth, but had to start at the rear after clutch repairs were made after Saturday's qualifying session, has climbed to 22nd-place on Lap 22. Currently, he has the Xfinity Fastest Lap of the race at 49.832 seconds on Lap 7.
Lap 8: Lead Change
Josh Berry has surged back to the front with help from Joey Logano. The two Fords have pulled out front by themselves with Justin Haley tucked in behind them. Bubba Wallace now fourth.
Lap 7: Wallace Fending Off All Three Lanes
Bubba Wallace continues to lead, and he is in a row by himself out front. He keeps weaving from top to bottom to block the three lanes, which are all led by Josh Berry (top), Chase Briscoe (middle), and Kyle Busch (bottom).
Lap 5: Lead Change
Bubba Wallace narrowly leads Lap 5 by 0.020 seconds over Kyle Busch. Josh Berry runs third. A lot of surging forward and backward for the three lanes in the race so far.
Lap 4: Lead Change
Kyle Busch surges to the point on Lap 4.
Lap 3: Logano Climbs to Second
Joey Logano, who was mired mid-pack on the initial start, has moved into second, and is now tucked in behind Josh Berry in the top lane, and he is pushing his quasi-Penske teammate.
Lap 2: Lead Change
Josh Berry leads the second lap of the race, which equates to the first lead change of the YellaWood 500 at Talladega. McDowell narrowly led lap 1 by 0.006 seconds over Chase Briscoe, the field went three wide, and now the race is on up front. Berry leads Bubba Wallace and Chase Briscoe, currently.
2:29 PM ET: Green Flag
Michael McDowell and Chase Briscoe lead the field in a drag race to Turn 1, the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is underway! The field is broken into two on Lap 1, the second half of the field is led by Playoff contender Joey Logano.
Pre-Race Updates
2:17 PM ET: Engines Fired
The command to fire engines have been given, and instantly 40 throaty V-8 engines roar to life. The cars will drive up onto the banking to begin the pace laps momentarily.
2:11 PM ET: Invocation and National Anthem complete
The invocation and National Anthem have been completed, and soon, the engines will be fired ahead of the green flag in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega.
Three Cars to Rear
NASCAR has officially confirmed that three cars will drop to the rear of the field prior to the green flag in the YellaWood 500 due to unapproved adjustments following Saturday's qualifying session. The three that will drop to the rear are No. 35 Riley Herbst (qualified ninth), No. 42 John Hunter Nemechek (qualified 28th), and No. 43 Erik Jones (qualified 30th).
Pre-Race Festivities Schedule Revealed
- Driver Introductions: 1:35:00 PM ET
- Invocation: 2:08:20 PM ET
- National Anthem: 2:09:00 PM ET
- Command to Start Engines: 2:16:00 PM ET
- Green Flag: 2:28:00 PM ET
11:45 AM ET: Weather is Rolling Out
After a batch of early-morning rain was dumped onto the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, the sun is starting to appear, and NASCAR's Air Tundras are circling the race track for track drying efforts. As of now, there is no expected delay to the start of Sunday's YellaWood 500, and weather is not expected to be a factor for the remainder of the day.
YellaWood 500 Pre-Race Information
The YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will be televised on NBC and can be streamed on the HBO Max streaming platform, as well as the NBC Sports App and on Peacock. The race broadcast will begin at 2:00 PM ET on Sunday, October 19.
The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 will provide the radio broadcast of Sunday's event. For subscribers of the HBO Max streaming service, NASCAR Driver Cam, which streams live in-car camera footage from every car in the field, will be available for today's race.
The overall race purse, which teams will fight for their portion of in Sunday's event in Alabama amounts to a total of $9,797,935.
The race distance is a total of 188 laps around the 2.66-mile superspeedway, which equates to a race distance of 500.08 miles. The YellaWood 500 will be broken up into three stages. Stage 1 will end at Lap 60, Stage 2 will end at Lap 120, and the final stage of the race will conclude at the end of Lap 188, barring an overtime finish.
Sunday's event is the second race of the three-race Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Should a playoff-eligible driver win the race, they will be automatically locked into the Championship 4 and will compete for the Bill France Cup at Phoenix Raceway next month.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the defending winner of the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500. Denny Hamlin is the lone Playoff contender currently locked into the Championship 4 field.
Starting Lineup
McDowell Rockets to Pole Over Briscoe
Michael McDowell scored his second pole of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season as he topped Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe for the top qualifying spot in Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. For McDowell, this is his eighth pole since the start of the 2024 season, he had no career poles prior to 2024.
Briscoe, who was looking for his eighth pole of what has been a successful first year with Joe Gibbs Racing, had to settle for second, which is the highest starting spot of any Playoff contenders in the 40-car field.
Starting Lineup
Pos | Car | Driver | Lap time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 71 | Michael McDowell | 52.481 | 182.466 |
2 | 19 | Chase Briscoe (P) | 52.500 | 182.400 |
3 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 52.558 | 182.199 |
4 | 2 | Austin Cindric | 52.563 | 182.181 |
5 | 60 | Ryan Preece | 52.582 | 182.116 |
6 | 21 | Josh Berry | 52.614 | 182.005 |
7 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | 52.660 | 181.846 |
8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | 52.679 | 181.780 |
9 | 35 | Riley Herbst # | 52.692 | 181.735 |
10 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 52.694 | 181.728 |
(P) indicates Playoff contender
# indicates Rookie of the Year contender
Click here for the full official starting lineup.
Playoff Picture (Heading Into Talladega)
Heading into the second race of the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, there is only one Playoff contender feeling 'Comfortable' and that is Denny Hamlin, who won last weekend's race at Las Vegas to secure his place in the Championship 4 field.
Hamlin can go for broke on Sunday at Talladega, while everyone else will hope to score a Championship 4 berth-clinching win, and on the path to said win, will hope they don't find trouble at the chaotic 2.66-mile superspeedway.
Kyle Larson, who has notably had a rough career on superspeedways, heads into the day 35 points above the cutline, while Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe sit 20 and 15 points above, respectively.
Below the cutline are four drivers, who have a rich history of finding victory lane on drafting tracks -- William Byron, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney.
Playoff Standings Heading Into YellaWood 500:
1. Denny Hamlin (Locked Into Championship 4)
2. Kyle Larson, +35 points
3. Christopher Bell, +20
4. Chase Briscoe, +15
CUTLINE
5. William Byron, -15
6. Chase Elliott, -23
7. Joey Logano, -24
8. Ryan Blaney, -31
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.
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