2025 Jack Link’s 500 Preview: NASCAR Takes On Talladega

After the Cup Series took last weekend off and let the Xfinity drivers play headliner at Rockingham, NASCAR’s best return to action for the 2025 Jack’s Link 500 at the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway.

Chaos, calamity, and intensity are inevitably the words at hand when we head to a drafting track – perhaps most of all here at Talladega. Can a surprise winner punch their ticket to the NASCAR postseason, or will we see Larson, Bell, or Hamlin add to their win totals?

Let’s dive into the field.

2025 Jack Link’s 500 Entry List

We have the usual cast of characters for the charter entries, though it is important to note that Spire and the crew chief of the #7, Rodney Childers, have parted ways. Ryan Sparks will move into the role of crew chief for Justin Haley moving forward.

JJ Yeley, Anthony Alfredo, and BJ McLeod make up the three non-charter entries for Sunday’s race. With 39 cars in the field, we don’t have a threat of a DNQ looming over any of the teams.

As we saw at Daytona, we will likely have some fuel-saving strategies in place during the early stages at Talladega. The cars will be bunched up as drivers will not be running full throttle. While the bunching makes for some awesome visuals, don’t expect drivers to be pushing each other too hard – at least until the end of the race.

Unmatched aura. pic.twitter.com/2jfL6J1sJe

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 25, 2025

Once we approach the final laps of the race, and possibly the stages, you can expect a bit of chaos to break out with pushes and blocks getting much more aggressive leading to incidents.

2025 Jack Link’s 500 Predictions

As ever, with the inevitable chaos that unfolds at drafting-style tracks, picking a winner is an exercise in futility. That’s not to say that there isn’t a bit of talent involved in being near the front at the end of the races. The Penske trio of Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Austin Cindric will doubtlessly factor in. Denny Hamlin marks another driver with a knack for competitiveness at drafting tracks.

Elsewhere in the field, drivers like Michael McDowell and Austin Dillon make for excellent dark horse choices. Don’t discount the back-to-back Daytona 500 winner William Byron either.

Fighting until the finish for a win. pic.twitter.com/vRMDHvmM4s

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 24, 2025

However, I’m going to go with the 23XI stable for my race winner pick. Tyler Reddick won this race last spring, but I’m taking Bubba Wallace to win this race come Sunday. Either way, we should be in for some excitement come the conclusion of the Jack Link’s 500.

Check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action this weekend.

Friday 04/25

NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 4:30 p.m. CT on the CW App

Saturday 04/26

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 9:30 a.m. CT on Prime

General Tire 200 (ARCA Menards Series) – 11:30 a.m. CT on FS1

Ag-Pro 300 (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 3:00 p.m. CT on the CW

Sunday 04/27

Jack Link’s 500 (NASCAR Cup Series) – 2:00 p.m. CT on FOX and Max

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