Alabama 500 starting grid, lineup: NASCAR Playoffs from Talladega
By Nick Tylwalk
See where the remaining contenders in the NASCAR Playoffs are starting at Talladega Superspeedway, and if they can catch a man who’s had a lot of success at this track.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t had a ton to smile about during his farewell season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but you have to imagine he’ll be grinning from ear to ear when the green flag drops for the Alabama 500.
Junior will lead the field to green at Talladega, a place where he’s claimed six of his 26 career Cup Series victories. The script couldn’t have been written any better for a potential exclamation point to his career, as the qualifying result suggests his No. 88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet has inherent speed, and we already know he knows how to work the draft better than almost anyone.
The NASCAR Playoffs are going on too, of course, and while Earnhardt isn’t participating in them, 12 drivers still are. The top contender in terms of starting position for the Alabama 500 is Chase Elliott in second, while spring Talladega winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is lurking in fifth and could shake things up with a 2017 track sweep.
Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick are in somewhat unfamiliar positions starting outside the top 20, but both men are in excellent shape for the Round of 8 even if the Big One catches them in its tendrils on Sunday. Other than Stenhouse, the current bubble drivers to watch are starting sixth (Brad Keselowski), ninth (Ryan Blaney), 17th (Jamie McMurray) and 19th (Matt Kenseth). It will be interesting to see if they can afford to hand back and try to miss wrecks or if they need to be in the top 10 for precious stage points.
Here’s a look at the complete lineup for the Alabama 500 from Talladega Superspeedway, which goes green shortly after 2:00 p.m. Eastern time on NBC:
2017 Alabama 500 starting grid
(p) – playoff contender
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Chase Elliott (p)
- Joey Logano
- Kurt Busch
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (p)
- Brad Keselowski (p)
- Clint Bowyer
- Jimmie Johnson (p)
- Ryan Blaney (p)
- Trevor Bayne
- Kasey Kahne
- Kyle Larson (p)
- Danica Patrick
- Daniel Suarez
- Denny Hamlin (p)
- Kyle Busch (p)
- Jamie McMurray (p)
- Austin Dillon
- Matt Kenseth (p)
- Paul Menard
- Martin Truex Jr. (p)
- Kevin Harvick (p)
- Erik Jones
- A.J. Allmendinger
- Ty Dillon
- Aric Almirola
- Ryan Newman
- Chris Buescher
- Michael McDowell
- Landon Cassill
- Justin Marks
- Matt DiBenedetto
- David Ragan
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Brendan Gaughan
- Mark Thompson
- Joey Gase
- Cole Whitt
- Gray Gaulding
- D.J. Kennington