Geico 500

Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL
Sunday April 29, 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on FOX
2.66 Mile Tri-Oval
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 77°F

Previous Five Winners and Pole Sitters

Race	Race Winner	Pole Sitter
Fall 2017	Brad Keselowski	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Spring 2017	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Fall 2016	Joey Logano	Martin Truex Jr.
Spring 2016	Brad Keselowski	Chase Elliott
Fall 2015	Joey Logano	Jeff Gordon

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to Alabama this Sunday with the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. A total of 40 cars are scheduled to enter the event, matching the Daytona 500 for most total entries this season. Who can avoid "The Big One" and capture the checkered flag at the longest track on the NASCAR circuit?

The Favorite

Restrictor plate racing at speeds in excess of 200 mph with the ability to go four-wide makes for a very volatile race. It's not if "The Big One" is coming but when. The field is so wide open at Talladega that picking a winning driver is like picking winning lottery numbers.

However, if you look at the past five race winners you'll notice a pattern developing: they all drove Fords. That's why Brad Keselowski is the favorite this week, he is the best plate race driver in a Ford.

Keselowski has won two of the past four races at Talladega, and he leads all active drivers with five career victories here. Over the last two seasons, no one has led more laps at Talladega than Keselowski. He also has a knack for avoiding trouble with only two DNFs in eighteen career starts. At Talladega, you not only have to have speed, you have to be able to keep the car clean. Keselowski has been doing that better than anyone.

Other Drivers to Watch

Joey Logano has led the second most laps at Talladega over the past two seasons, including a victory in the fall 2016 race. No surprise here, he is Keselowski's teammate at Team Penske Racing. The duo can quickly move to the front of the field when they hook up with the draft. Logano is less adept at avoiding trouble, he tends to be a boom or bust option here. Team Penske is trying to correct this by hiring TJ Majors as Logano's spotter. Majors previously was the spotter for Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose biggest strength was plate track racing. If Majors can keep Logano out of trouble, he will be a contender for the checkered flag.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crossed the finish line first in this race last spring to claim his first Cup Series victory. He went on to win the next plate race on the schedule at Daytona. Stenhouse Jr. has two top-five finishes in his last three starts at Talladega and has led laps in each of those races. Patience will be the key for him on Sunday, if he can avoid adversity early his No. 17 Ford should have the speed to move to the front of the pack.

Aric Almirola finished in the top-five in both Talladega races last season while driving for Richard Petty Motorsports. This season he has moved to powerhouse Stewar-Haas Racing, home of 2018 race winners Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. Almirola will have more speed and help with the draft to contend for victory.

Ryan Blaney has not had much success at Talladega in his young career with only two top-ten finishes in seven races running for the Wood Brothers. Now he has moved to Team Penske where he can team up to draft with Logano and Keselowski. He led a race-high 118 laps on his way to a seventh place finish at the first plate race this season, the Daytona 500. If he can keep up with his teammates, he might score his first Cup Series restrictor plate win.

Kevin Harvick only has one career win at Talladega in 34 starts and hasn't finished in the top-five since 2011. He gets a mention this week because Fords have dominated Talladega's victory lane recently and he is the premier Ford driver this season with three wins in nine races. Harvick does have an exceptional ability to avoid "The Big One", he has only recorded three DNFs in those 34 starts.

Kyle Busch is the hottest driver in NASCAR. He has won the past three races and has finished in the top-three in seven out of nine races this season. So why isn't he the favorite this week? Talladega has been the worst track for him in his career. His average finish in 25 career starts is 20.8, the lowest mark he has at any track on the NASCAR circuit. Busch is an aggressive driver and aggression does not play well at restrictor plate tracks. However, Busch did win here once back in 2008. No driver has won four straight Cup Series races since Jimmy Johnson achieved the feat in 2007, the beast known as Talladega Superspeedway will most likely keep that record safe.

"It’s such a crapshoot there in the last 20, 30 or 40 laps that you never really know who is going to win, what’s going to happen and where the wreck is going to come from," Busch said.

News Around the Track

Roush Fenway Racing announced on Wednesday that Matt Kenseth will rejoin their organization and share the driver's seat of the No. 6 Ford with Trevor Bayne. Bayne will still drive the car this weekend at Talladega and Kenseth is scheduled to make his 2018 Cup Series debut May 12 at Kansas Speedway.

Kenseth broke into the Cup Series with Roush in 1998 and won the team's first championship in 2003. 24 of his 39 career victories came in a Roush car, including two Daytona 500 wins. Kenseth left Roush to join Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2012 season. Despite winning 15 races in a five year span, Kenseth's contract was not renewed by Gibbs after the 2017 season with Rookie of the Year Erik Jones ready to take his place.

Kenseth wasn't ready to retire, but he entered the 2018 season without a ride. Trevor Bayne's struggles this year opened up an opportunity to don the fire-suit once again.

"I’m excited about all of it," Kenseth said. "To come back and hopefully help Jack, who has done so much obviously for my career, hopefully get Roush Fenway Racing running better again. I feel like they’ve been definitely trending in the right direction … I think it’s a good challenge for me that I’m looking forward to and not just the driving part, but a lot of the rest of it too, to hopefully get in there and get my hands dirty and try to evaluate what we can do better – what we’re doing good and what we can do better – and to go on from there."

Team Owner Jack Roush is hoping Kenseth can not only improve the team's results on the track, but also become a mentor to his stable of young drivers.

"We think Matt will give us a chance to work with some of our drivers that are rookies and also with Trevor (Bayne) and Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.), who will benefit from his experience," said Roush, who also employs four drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Roush has yet to determine Kenseth's complete driving schedule this season. Aside from the Kansas race, it was announced Kenseth would also drive the No. 6 car at the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Roush Fenway Racing also acquired a new sponsor for the No. 6 car, the Wyndham Hotel Group. Wyndham Rewards will be the sponsor for Kenseth's 2018 debut. Kenseth feels all the pieces came together at the right time.

"The timing, to you guys, it might seem weird, but the timing was right," Kenseth said. "And it was the right deal. It’s exciting bringing a new sponsor into the sport at the same time and it all just lined up and seemed like the right thing at the right time."

Enjoy The Race!

_{Author: @chops316}
_{Editor: @liberty-minded}

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega - Geico 500 Preview