Twelve drivers competing in the playoffs will go into the YellaWood 500 race with no idea about what’s in store for them. A win seems like a distant dream on a racetrack like Talladega Superspeedway, where a driver’s fate isn’t entirely in their own hands. Apart from fuel mileage and strategy-heavy race features, Dega is known to become a wildcard race. All thanks to the big ones and crashes that are almost predestined.

Last time around, the drivers visited the 2.6-mile drafting track, Corey LaJoie ended the race with his racecar being dragged upside down to the start-finish line. And the group of Toyota cars also ended up wrecking each other trying to pack-race themselves. However, despite the uncertain nature of crashes, Steve Letarte wasn’t buying into the narrative that Talladega is a wild car race. Instead, he even went on a rant to explain his theory with examples of drivers who have been good at drafting tracks.

There’s more to the Talladega race than just dumb luck and crashes

The Next-Gen race car has certainly added new dynamics to superspeedway racing. However, crashes and big ones aren’t something that has picked up in the last two years, they have always been around at Talladega. Back in 2012, Jeff Gordon had managed to survive a late race onslaught that engulfed 25 racecars; he managed to finish 2nd behind Matt Kenseth. He described that race as “Talladega on steroids.”

Similarly, there have been the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski who have managed streaks of good results at Dega. Dale Jr. has won four consecutive races at the superspeedway from 2001 to 2003. Meanwhile, Keselowski is the winningest active driver, with six victories to his name. Surely, these guys have earned their stripes apart from being lucky. And this is why Letarte feels that the “wildcard” narrative against Talladega has gone overboard.

Sharing his unfiltered opinion on this topic, he argued, “Okay. So I’m going on my Talladega rant; I do this every time. It is not random; people say it’s a bingo ball; it’s random; that’s all bullsh-t. That’s a slap in the face to the guys that are good at it…Yes. I’m not gonna say the results don’t seem more random; I will agree with that. But what happens on the racetrack is not random. That’d be like telling Denny, Joey Logano and Dale Jr., and Brad Keselowski and all these guys that win all the time that they’re just getting lucky.”

Not only that, Denny Hamlin does have a good shot at turning the tides back in his favor. He has an average finish of 4 in the last eight fall Talladega races, which includes his win from 2020. Moreover, the worst finish he’s had during the YellaWood in the last 4 races is a P7. So it goes on to show that without the chaos and wrecks, he’s right up there among the top drivers to contend for the win. However, it will be interesting to see what Ryan Blaney and William Byron can conjure up this weekend.

Ryan Blaney or William Byron are the frontrunners to win the Talladega race

Although guys like Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski have left their mark on the historic track, the younger generation is catching up. One of the big differences while making any prediction for a drafting track is the new Next-Gen car, and this is where both Blaney and Byron seemed to have pulled ahead of the pack at Talladega.

Ryan Blaney will be defending his win from last year when he takes the wheel behind the #12 Ford Mustang this weekend. Three times he’s finished inside the top 5 places in his last five races at Talladega, which includes two consecutive runner-up finishes. However, he’s not optimistic about repeating his past heroics when asked about a preferred result for the race. “I would take happily 45 points, no matter where that finishes.” The defending champion said this to Bob Pockrass.

William Byron is arguably the best shot from the HMS stable, who can contend for a win at Talladega. The driver of the #24 Chevy is on a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes, and last year he finished behind Blaney in the runner-up spot. Speaking of Byron’s superspeedway prowess, he did clinch the Daytona 500 win this year, which only adds to his credentials and skillset on such racetracks. A fourth win in 2024 has been long due for William Byron; he’s finished three races in 2nd place.

Who would you be backing for this weekend’s race at Talladega, the old guard comprising of Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski, or the young guns Blaney and Byron?