After Sunday's Round of 12 opener at Kansas Speedway, where non-title contender Ross Chastain took his first win of 2024, the 12 drivers still in contention for the championship may be starting to think about the big one, that lies in front of them:

Talladega Superspeedway.

The steep, super-fast 2.66-mile track and its YellaWood 500 race Sunday represent the 31st weekend stop, but the 188-lap racer is one that is considered a potential game-changer when it comes to the points standings, with lurking danger from round to round.

Entering the weekend, ninth-place Tyler Reddick is four points below the new cut line, Daniel Suarez is 14 points below, Chase Briscoe is 25 points below and Austin Cindric needs help with his championship chances at 29 points with two races left in the Round of 16.

The chase above the border line is even more exciting than the quartet of drivers who could be eliminated from the title fight.

Two-time Cup champion Joey Logano and 2020 champion Chase Elliott are tied just four points above the cut line, putting them in the difficult position of hoping to avoid catastrophic trouble.

Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman is in sixth place and is the third driver with a single-digit lead at plus-eight. Fifth-place finisher Denny Hamlin is just plus-11, making the race for places five through eight tighter than those below.

Fifth-place Kyle Larson, the 2021 title winner, managed some distance at plus-18 across the finish line, but struggled with a 26th-place finish at Kansas and has never been in victory lane on the treacherous track east of Birmingham, Alabama.

Just like its expansive sister track, Daytona International Speedway, with its highly explosive nature, Talladega will be a major obstacle to overcome. It's a fast-paced puzzle where drivers try to find the right approach to tackling the mammoth route.

Two decades ago, some teams decided that the best way to get through a 400- or 500-mile lap on the two superspeedways was to ride at the back, basically keeping everything in front of the drivers and avoiding breakdowns in the top 10 as well to avoid slipping and smoke-filled fallout.

Stage racing and bonus points helped put an end to this strategy, as did the next-gen car's lack of overtaking opportunities, and more and more drivers are fighting for the front and taking risks with the race leaders.

Talladega remains the most unpredictable obstacle on the NASCAR circuit, an obvious trap for any driver who slips, falters or suddenly accelerates or brakes incorrectly, even though brakes don't play as big a role in racing at the 55-year-old track.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell sits third in the points standings, six behind playoff leader William Byron and tied with Ryan Blaney, a three-time Talladega winner.

Bell had an odd assessment of where this race will land next season: the Round of 8 on Oct. 19, which falls between the Las Vegas opener and the penultimate race at Martinsville.

Only two races left before the championship in Phoenix.

“We’re in a weird situation right now,” the 29-year-old Oklahoma native said of the championship format. “And with Talladega in the Round of 16, things get even stranger.”

“Weird” might be one way to describe the north-central Alabama superspeedway and its placement in the 10-race postseason.

But “the ultimate wild card” might be better.

–Field level media