Xfinity Series: Full Starting Lineup for the United Rentals 250 at Talladega

The Alabama sun beats down on Talladega Superspeedway, and you can feel the tension building in the air. It’s October, the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs are heating up, and the starting lineup for Saturday night’s race has been set. Jesse Love grabbed the pole position for Richard Childress Racing, but that’s just the beginning of what promises to be another wild chapter in this playoff story.

Love’s fourth pole of the season puts him in the catbird seat, but anyone who’s watched racing at Talladega knows that where you start doesn’t mean a damn thing when the checkers fly. This track has a way of humbling the fastest cars and elevating the scrappiest drivers when it matters most.

The Playoff Picture Gets Complicated

The starting lineup at Talladega tells a story that has playoff implications written all over it. Jesse Love (P1), Connor Zilisch (P7), Justin Allgaier (P8), Carson Kvapil (P4), Brandon Jones (P10), Sammy Smith (P11), Sam Mayer (P13), and Sheldon Creed (P16) are the eight playoff drivers still fighting for their championship dreams.

What jumps out immediately is how scattered these playoff contenders are throughout the field. Four of them, including Jones, Smith, Mayer, and Creed, all qualified outside the top ten. At Talladega, that’s not necessarily a death sentence, but it means they’ll have to work harder and take bigger risks when the racing gets intense.

Brandon Jones, starting P10, has to be feeling some pressure. The veteran driver knows what it’s like to have championship hopes dashed by Talladega’s chaos. Sammy Smith in P11  is another driver who can’t afford to have Lady Luck turn her back on him this weekend. But it’s Sam Mayer starting 13th that really catches your attention.

This kid has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but Talladega has a way of testing every ounce of patience and skill a driver has. Starting that far back means he’ll need to thread the needle between being aggressive enough to move forward and smart enough to avoid the inevitable carnage.

Love’s Opportunity at the Front

Jesse Love has been on fire this season, and grabbing his fourth pole proves he’s not backing down from the pressure. Starting from the pole at Talladega is both a blessing and a curse. You’ve got clean air and control of the race early on, but you also have a massive target painted on your back.

The No. 2 team has been one of the most consistent all season long, and Love has shown the kind of race craft that wins championships. But Talladega doesn’t care about your regular-season success. It’s a great equalizer that can turn heroes into zeros in the blink of an eye. William Sawalich joins Love on the front row, giving the young guns a chance to set the pace early. But with superspeedway racing, especially in the playoffs, you know the field will bunch up quickly and the real racing won’t start until those final 20 laps.

The Non-Playoff Threats Lurking

Don’t sleep on some of the non-playoff drivers in this starting lineup. Austin Hill in 5th, Jeb Burton in 6th, and Aric Almirola in 9th all have the experience and speed to play spoiler. These guys have nothing to lose and everything to gain by mixing it up with the championship contenders. Almirola is especially dangerous. The veteran knows how to work the draft and position himself for those late race moves that can steal victories. Starting 9th puts him right in the thick of things when the racing gets serious.

What History Teaches Us About This Starting Lineup

Talladega has taught us over the years that a qualifying position means less here than anywhere else. The starting lineup might look orderly now, but by lap 50, it’ll look like someone threw the field into a blender. The key for these playoff drivers isn’t where they start. It’s how they position themselves in those final 20 laps when everything goes sideways.

The drivers who understand pack racing, who can read the air and anticipate the moves before they happen, those are the ones who’ll be there when it counts. Christian Eckes, starting P3, knows this as well as anyone. He’s not in the playoffs, but he’s got nothing to lose and can afford to take the kinds of risks that championship contenders might shy away from.

United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway

Xfinity Series: Starting Lineup

(p) indicates drivers running for and earning playoff points.

• 1.  Jesse Love (P), No. 2 (Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet)
• 2. William Sawalich, No. 18 (Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota)
• 3. Christian Eckes, No. 16 (Kaulig Racing, Chevrolet)
• 4.  Carson Kvapil (P), No.1 (JR Motorsports, Chevrolet)
• 5.  Austin Hill, No. 21 (Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet)
• 6. Jeb Burton, No. 27 (Jordan Anderson Racing, Chevrolet)
• 7.  Connor Zilisch (P), No. 88 (JR Motorsports, Chevrolet)
• 8. Justin Allgaier (P), No. 7 (JR Motorsports, Chevrolet)
• 9. Aric Almirola, No. 19 (Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota)
• 1o.  Brandon Jones (P), No. 20 (Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota)
• 11. Sammy Smith (P), No. 8 (JR Motorsports, Chevrolet)
• 12.  Brenden Queen, No. 11 (Kaulig Racing, Chevrolet)
• 13.  Sam Mayer (P), No. 41 (Haas Factory Team, Ford)
• 14. Blaine Perkins, No. 31 (Jordan Anderson Racing, Chevrolet)
• 15. Daniel Dye, No. 10 (Kaulig Racing, Chevrolet)
• 16. Sheldon Creed (P), No. 00 (Haas Factory Team, Ford)
• 17. Dean Thompson, No. 26 (Sam Hunt Racing, Toyota)
• 18. Connor Mosack, No. 99 (Viking Motorsports, Chevrolet)
• 19. Mason Maggio, No. 91 (DGM Racing X JIM, Chevrolet)
• 20. Nick Sanchez, No. 48 (Big Machine Racing, Chevrolet)
• 21. Jeremy Clements, No. 51 (Jeremy Clements Racing, Chevrolet)
• 22. Ryan Ellis, No. 71 (DGM Racing X JIM, Chevrolet)
• 23. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 (RSS Racing, Ford)
• 24. Parker Retzlaff No. 4 (Alpha Prime Racing, Chevrolet)
• 25. Caesar Bacarella, No. 5 (Alpha Prime Racing, Chevrolet)
• 26. Jordan Anderson, No. 32 (Jordan Anderson Racing, Chevrolet)
• 27.  Anthony Alfredo, No. 42 (Young’s Motorsports, Chevrolet)
• 28.  Nick Leitz, No. 07 (SS-GreenLight Racing, Chevrolet)
• 29.  Leland Honeyman, No. 70 (Cope Family Racing, Chevrolet)
• 30. Harrison Burton, No. 25 (AM Racing, Ford)
• 31. Josh Williams, No. 46 (Alpha Prime Racing, Chevrolet)
• 32. David Starr, No. 35 (Joey Gase Motorsports, Chevrolet)
• 33. Garrett Smithley, No. 14 (SS-GreenLight Racing, Chevrolet)
• 34. Brennan Poole, No. 44 (Alpha Prime Racing, Chevrolet)
• 35. Kyle Sieg, No. 28 (RSS Racing, Ford)
• 36. Joey Gase, No. 53 (Joey Gase Motorsports, Chevrolet)
• 37. Carson Ware, No. 74 (Mike Harmon Racing, Chevrolet)
• 38. Taylor Gray, No. 54 (Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota)

The Bottom Line

Saturday night’s race at Talladega is going to come down to who can survive the chaos and who has their car positioned perfectly when the white flag flies. This starting lineup gives us a preview, but at Talladega, the real story gets written when 38 cars start racing three-wide at 190 mph. Jesse Love might have the pole, but championship dreams will be made or broken based on split-second decisions and a little bit of luck.

The playoff contenders scattered throughout this field know that one wrong move, one bad break, could end their season in a heartbeat. That’s what makes Talladega special and terrifying. The starting lineup is just the opening chapter. The real story gets written when these drivers strap in and go racing for everything they’ve worked for all season long.