Live Pre-Race Coverage of NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 Playoff Race from Talladega Begins Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continue with NBC Sports’ presentation of the YellaWood 500 live from Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., this Sunday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. A 45-minute Countdown to Green Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC leads into live race coverage. Talladega is the first of six consecutive Cup Series playoff races to be presented live on NBC, culminating in the Cup Series Championship on Nov. 10.

For the third time this year, NBC Sports is going “NASCAR Nonstop” during Sunday’s YellaWood 500 coverage on NBC, utilizing only side-by-side breaks during green flag action so that viewers never miss a moment of the action. By the conclusion of the race, NBC Sports will have shown over 600 laps of green flag Superspeedway racing during the Daytona, Atlanta, and Talladega races.

Additionally, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will again join pre- and post-race coverage for the YellaWood 500 and will offer commentary during the race from the Peacock Pit Box alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett. Johnson won the GEICO 500 at Talladega in 2006 and 2011, while Jarrett is a two-time winner of this race (1998, 2005).

Five of the 12 remaining playoff drivers have won at Talladega Superspeedway during their careers, including Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and defending champion Ryan Blaney. In last season’s YellaWood 500, Blaney won by 0.012 seconds in a photo finish against Kevin Harvick and ultimately went on to win the 2023 Cup Series Championship

Ross Chastain earned his first win of the season last Sunday at Kansas Speedway, holding off Martin Truex Jr. after a restart with 20 laps to go and winning by a slim margin of 0.388 seconds. William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five in the current playoff standings.

Below is a chart outlining the drivers on the border of playoff contention heading into the second of three Round of 12 races:

Coverage from Talladega begins this Saturday with Xfinity Series qualifying at Noon ET on NBCSports.com and NBC Sports app before changing to both USA Network and NBCSports.com/NBC Sports app at 12:30 p.m. ET. Cup Series qualifying begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

21-time Cup Series race winner and “The Mayor” of NASCAR Jeff Burton, who won this race in 2000, and Daytona 500-winning crew chief Steve Letarte will serve as analysts for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with Leigh Diffey serving as play-by-play. Marty Snider, Kim Coon, Dave Burns, and Parker Kligerman will serve as pit reporters. Snider will host pre- and post-race coverage alongside Johnson and Jarrett.

BROADCAST TEAM

Play by Play: Leigh Diffey
Analyst: Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte
Reporters: Marty Snider, Kim Coon, Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman