The race will be the second in the Cup Series Round of 8 . Larson enters Talladega 35 points above the cutline while Byron (minus 15) and Elliott (minus 23) have a bit of work to do over the next two events to advance to the Championship 4.

As a result, he ranks third in the standings, 37 points above the cutline and one point above Kyle Larson, who currently holds the final championship position.