NASCAR Cup Series

What finish would playoff drivers take at Talladega? Their answers vary

Published Oct. 3, 2024 11:28 a.m. ET

With the unpredictability of Talladega Superspeedway — where wrecks often happen, those wrecks often are big and more than likely occur near the end of the race or the final lap — drivers try to enter the event with reasonable expectations.

We asked the playoff drivers prior to the start of the postseason what finish they would take Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. So for context, they didn’t know their current spot in the standings when they gave these answers.

But they still are interesting answers for sure to the question "What finish would you take at Talladega?"

Christopher Bell: 20th.

Ryan Blaney: I would take happily 45 points, no matter where that finishes.

Alex Bowman: Top-10 with stage points.

Chase Briscoe: I would take a ninth.

William Byron: I think a seventh-place finish would be great.

Austin Cindric: A win. I think that’s the only acceptable answer ... FOX: Some say top-5 or top-10 or top-10 with stage points? Stage points would be sick. Win both stages and the race. That’s my answer.

Chase Elliott: I’d like to just finish at Talladega. [That] would be good. More specifically, anything in the top 10 would be a good day.

Denny Hamlin: 15th.

Kyle Larson: I would take a fifth. I would take any amount of stage points and I would take a 10th at Talladega and I would be happy with that day.

Joey Logano: So if you would give me 35 points and I could walk out of here and take 35 points? I’d probably take 35 and get out of Dodge.

Tyler Reddick: I would take a top-10. Stage points both stages and a top-10.

Daniel Suarez: A top-5, top-10, it depends on where we are in the standings because that’s a very important race in the second round. So it depends where we are at. A top-5 would be nice. A top-10 would be okay.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.