NASCAR cup 2022 Talladega YellaWood 500 - Pre Race
In between the Motul Petit Le Mans IMSA race (Saturday) and the IMSA-sanctionned GTP Tests (Monday) at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, we had the opportunity to cover the NASCAR YellaWood 500 that took place on October 2nd, 2022 at Talladega Superspeedway.
After the 26-race regular season, YellaWood 500 is the second race (of 3) in the second round of the NASCAR Playoffs.
How does Playoffs work?
Drivers qualify for the playoffs by winning a regular-season race. Since there were 15 different playoff-eligible winners this season, the 16th and final spot was filled based on points.
At the end of the first three rounds, four drivers are eliminated, trimming the contenders from 16 to 12 to eight to four. Winning a race in a round automatically advances a driver to the next round, while the remaining spots are filled based on points (go to the end of this article to understand how points are attributed).
There are 10 races and four rounds in the playoffs – the Round of 16, Round of 12, Round of 8 and Championship 4. The first three rounds consist of three races each, while the Championship 4 comes down to one single race.
For the finale at Phoenix, the final four drivers will compete for the title with all the entries as usual: whoever crosses the finish line first is the champion.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Talladega 2022.
Joey Logano with #22 Team Penske Ford Mustang was the Playoffs leader before YellaWood 500.
Getting ready for the race.
The autmost is done for the spectator's eyes and ears.
From 8am, the garages are open to holders of a paddock pass. A 2 meters walkway enables spectators to watch and photography the mechanics ending the fine-tuning of the cars and warming up the engines.
📷 © Luc Warnotte.
Toyota with the Camry, Ford with the Mustang and Chevrolet with the Camaro are the three manufacturers.
📷 © Luc Warnotte.
Prior to the race, spectators are able to walk on the track, experience the banking and sign on the grid line.
📷 © Luc Warnotte.
The teams mechanics get ready for the pit stops. Pit stops during the race are always a spectacular moment.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ Talladega 2022.
Not only mechanics and cars are looked at.
📷 © Luc Warnotte.
Cars are aligned in the pit lane in qualification order, army jets flying just above the stadium, national hymn, and the speaker’s « start your engine » gets the crowd standing and applauding passionately. The race can start.
📷 © Luc Warnotte.
Drivers sit in the highly protected cockpit waiting to enter the track from pitlane.
How are points attributed during playoffs?
Once the playoffs begin, the points standings are reset. Each playoff driver is given 2,000 points to start, but points are added based on regular-season performance. If a driver wins a race, that gives him five playoff points. If a driver wins a stage (each race consists of three stages), that gives him one playoff point. The regular-season champion gets 15 playoff points, while second-place gets 10, third gets eight, fourth gets seven and so on.
So, take Chase Elliott for example. He made the playoffs (2,000 points), won the regular-season championship (15 points), won four races (20 points) and won five stages (five points). That gives him 2,040 points to start the playoffs, most among all drivers.
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