The playoffs, which are in the second of three races in the Round of 8 , head to the NASCAR Talladega race on Oct. 19 (1 p.m., NBC). The final race in the Round of 8, when the field will be cut to four drivers, is Oct. 26 at Martinsville with the championship set for Phoenix on Nov. 2.

Last year’s playoff race there featured a 28-car crash.With help from Racing Insights, here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup drivers and teams heading to Sunday’s race at Talladega.23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two Talladega races.

William Byron has the race lead in the South Point 400 at the NASCAR Las Vegas race. Byron passed Todd Gilliland, who pitted to give up the lead. Byron is ahead of Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe, who had a long pit stop that has kept him from maintaining the lead.

The playoff battle for the NASCAR Cup Series championship faces its most unpredictable challenge yet, 500 miles at Talladega Superspeedway.

The NASCAR Cup Playoffs standings tighten before Martinsville. Find out who’s in, who’s out, and what’s at stake before the Championship 4.

Larson and Christopher Bell made it past Briscoe in the final laps to finish second and third, with Briscoe coming home fourth and Tyler Reddick finishing fifth. Logano would parlay his strategy into a sixth place finish, with Alex Bowman seventh, Kyle Busch eighth, Ryan Preece ninth and Brad Keselowski rounding out the top 10.

The Playoffs Round of 8 kicks off on Sunday evening in Sin City, as the remaining championship contenders get set to race in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We have only four races left in the 2025 NCS season.

NASCAR 25 centers on a robust single-player experience where the competitors are AI representations of real-life drivers.

Joey Logano gives his opinion on the rumored three-race championship format, backing the single-race finale with reasons.