What channel is the NASCAR race at Talladega on? Betting odds and how to watch

NASCAR heads to Talladega this weekend for superspeedway racing. The Cup Series race, the Geico 500, is Sunday at 2 p.m. on FOX.

Denny Hamlin is on the pole and coming off a second-place finish, with two stage wins, at Richmond last weekend. Alex Bowman won at the Virginia track, while Joey Logano finished in third place. Bowman is starting fifth on Sunday and Logano is lining up in the front row with Hamlin, who leads the series by 81 points.

Hamlin is also the favorite to win this weekend, according to BetMGM odds. He’s listed at +650 odds given his recent string of top-five finishes and Talladega record. Hamlin won the latest race at the 2.66-mile tri-oval in Alabama and finished the two prior Talladega races in the top five. He’s only finished one race this season out of the top five.

Ryan Blaney, however, is last year’s Geico 500 winner. Blaney is listed at +1000 odds behind Penske teammate Joey Logano (+900). Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski both have +1100 odds, per BetMGM, while Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are listed as the longer shots, all at +1600 odds.

Hamlin, Elliott and Keselowski, as well as Kevin Harvick (+2000), are situated in the top 10 in Cup points standings, and each is is still seeking his first win of the season. Bowman (+1800) was the eighth different driver to win in the first nine races of the year. Talladega’s unpredictability and inevitable “Big One” could help put another different driver in Victory Lane this weekend.

“Really the key is just surviving,” Bowman said. “You’ve gotta be there at the end. It’s really hard to do at superspeedways these days.

“Everybody’s just continually getting more aggressive, continually feeling like they can throw huge blocks and not cause crashes, and push each other really aggressively and not crash,” Bowman continued. “Surprise. We crash a lot. So it’s tough to make it to the end.”

The Geico 500 is 188 laps (500 miles) with stages ending on Laps 60, 120 and 188.

NASCAR this weekend: How to watch the race at Talladega

• Race: Geico 500
• When: Sunday, April 25 at 2 p.m. EST
• How to watch/listen: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 188 laps, 500 miles on the 2.66-mile tri-oval
• Stages: Laps 60, 120, 188
• Last year’s winner: Ryan Blaney

NASCAR Cup at Talladega starting order

This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 1:15 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription