While the children are out racing on the small track the Cup Series drivers take to the Superspeedway at Talladega to qualify for the Jack Link’s 500.

While there is plenty of action on the track during race weekends, Talladega offers plenty of excitement and action out on the Boulevard before and after the races.  On Friday night, Joey Logano was inducted into the Talladega Walk of Fame.

Justin Haley’s number seven car failed the pre-race inspection process twice; as a result the team has lost the car chief for the weekend.

The 39 drivers will hit the track to qualify with no practice!

Anthony alfredo is the first driver on the track and posts a time of 53.381 seconds around the 2.66 mile track.

Todd Gilliland was the first driver to break the 53 second mark with a time of 52.995 seconds.

The top 10 drivers will move on to a second round of qualifying to set the pole.

With a time of 52.565 seconds Zane Smith put his number 38 car on the pole for his first career pole.  Kyle Busch will start alongside on the front row.

Of the top 10 drivers, Ty Gibbs is the only Toyota with RCR drivers Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon the only Chevrolets; the remainder of the top 10 are Fords.

Starting lineup for the Jack Links 500:
Zane Smith
Kyle Busch
Joey Logano
Ryan Preece
Austin Dillon
Chris Buescher
Austin Cindric
Josh Berry
Ryan Blaney
Ty Gibbs
Christopher Bell
Cole Custer
Denny Hamlin
Michael McDowell
Todd Gilliland
William Byron
Chase Briscoe
Alex Bowman
AJ Allmendinger
Bubba Wallace
Ty Dillon
Brad Keselowski
Riley Herbst
Daniel Suarez
Kyle Larson
Tyler Reddick
Noah Gragson
Carson Hocevar
John Hunter Nemechek
Chase Elliott
Anthony Alfredo
Ross Chastain
Cody Ware
Erik Jones
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Shane van Gisbergen
Justin Haley
BJ McLeod
JJ Yeley

Stages one and two are 60 laps each with stage three 68 laps for a total of 188 laps around the 2.66 miles track.

Zane Smith brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Kyle Busch alongside.  Smith takes the lead to lead the first lap at Talladega.

Lap two, Joey Logano comes up on the outside to take the lead.

The top five are Joey Logano, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Josh Berry, and Kyle Busch.

Driver are three wide through the field.

Lap three, Joey Logano ahs the lead but Austin Dillon moves up to battle for the lead.

Drivers are three and four wide through the field.

Lap four, Josh Berry takes the lead with Michael McDowell in second; Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Lap five, Michael McDowell and Joey Logano battle for the lead.

Lap six, the drivers are four wide through the field with Joey Logano leading the race.

Lap seven, Michael McDowell takes the lead with Zane Smith in second; Josh Berry, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Preece round out the top five.

Carson Hocevar started the race in 28th place; he is now in the top 10.

Lap eight, the drivers are running 190+ four wide across the track!

Lap 10, Josh Berry leads the race but Zane Smith moves up to take the lead; then Michael McDowell gets out in front

Lap eleven, Josh Berry and Zane Smith battle for the lead as lanes move up and down.

Lap 12, Ryan Preece has the lead; followed by Josh Berry, and Joey Logano.

Lap 13 The top four drivers are all Fords and seven of the top 10.

Lap 14, Ryan Preece has the lead but the drivers are swapping positions very quickly several times a lap.

Lap 16, Ryan Preece leads the race with Michael McDowell in second.

Because of the immense size of Talladega, there  parts of each lap that the driver’s spotters are a mile away!

Lap 18, Michael McDowell has the lead with Zane Smith in second.

Lap 20, Zane Smith has the lead when Michael McDowell gets out in front.

Lap 22, Zane smith leads the three wide field.

Austin Dillon is celebrating his 35th birthday racing at Talladega.  Before coming to NASCAR, Austin played Little League Baseball where he wore uniform number three – the same as his car number.

Lap 24, Kyle Busch takes the lead.

The drivers can run around 45 laps on a single load of fuel and will need to make a pit stop in every stage.

Lap 26, Michael McDowell is the leader.

Lap 27, Chase Briscoe is the new leader…briefly before Michael McDowell gets back out in front.

Lap 28, Chase Briscoe is back out in front.

Lap 30, the top seven cars are single file with Chase Briscoe leading the way; Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Riley Herbst round out the top five.

Lap 33, the drivers have gotten double file with the leaders single file.  The top six drivers are in Toyotas.

Lap 35, Chase Briscoe leads the race with Christopher Bell on his bumper; Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Riley Herbst round out the top five.

Lap 39, Chase Briscoe continues to lead the race with Christopher Bell in second; Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Riely Herbst round out the top five.

Lap 41, green flag pit stops begin with the leaders on pit road.  Cole Custer is the new leader. 

Lap 43, the caution flag comes out when Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch make contact coming to pit road and spin out.  Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman also have damage to their cars.

If a drivers remains in his car, he is seeking assistance to get moving and may continue in the race; if, however he gets out of the car, he is out of the race.

Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch are on pit road for repairs; but Ryan Blaney has taken his car to the garage.

Brad Keselowski is out of his car and the car is in the garage.

Kyle Busch returns to the track.

Pit road is closed while NASCAR gets the track cleaned up; some of the drivers are running very low on fuel.

Once pit road opens the drivers who have not made a pit stop come down pit road for service. 

Chris Buescher leads the race and brings the field down for the green flag restart with nine. laps remaining in stage one. 

Christopher Bell brings out the caution flag when he gets into the wall hard after a push from Denny Hamlin.  While spinning out, Bell hits Chris Buescher who side swipes the wall.  Bell reports over his radio that he is ok.

Denny Hamlin is the new leader.

Out of the race, Ryan Blaney has had four DNF’s so far this season.

Denny Hamlin brings the field down for the green flag restart with Bubba Wallace alongside on lap 57 with Hamlin getting out in front.

Lap 58, the drivers are spreading out across the track looking to advance to earn some stage points.

Kenny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr battle for the lead with Stenhouse taking the lead.

Lap 59, bubba Wallace takes the lead.

Lap 60 Kyle Larson takes the lead.

Kyle Larson edges out to win stage one for his first ever stage win at Talladega.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Kyle Larson
Willaim Byron
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Chase Elliott
Bubba Wallace
Denny Hamlin
AJ Allmendinger
Cody Ware
Riley Herbst
Ty Dillon

Some of the drivers come down pit road for service.  William Byron reports a possible steering issue.  Kyle Larson wins the race off of pit road but there are drivers who did not make a pit stop.

Lap 66, drivers who stayed out on the track, come down pit road for service.  Carson Hocevar also change helmets after the helmet didn’t fit correctly.

Anthony Alfredo is the only driver who did not come down pit road and is the race leader with William Byron alongside for the green flag start of stage two on alp 67.  Byron takes the lead.

Lap 68, William Byron leads the race with Ross Chastain in second.

Lap 68, Ross Chastain takes the lead briefly before Anthony Alfredo and William Byron takes over the lead.

Lap 69, the battle between Ross Chastain and William Byron continue their battle for the lead; swapping it back and forth.

Lap 70 in a three wide battle, Anthony Alfredo, Ross Chastain, and Willaim Byron battle for the lead.

Lap 71 Anthony Alfredo leads the race.  Beard Motorsports is a part time team that does not run all of the races. They have a single full time employee.

BJ McLeod takes his car to the garage and is out of the race.

Lap 74, John Hunter Nemechek is the 18th driver to lead the race.

Ross Chastain takes the lead.

Defending champion Joey Logano has not had a top five finish this season; the last time that happened was 1952!

Lap 76, drivers are three and four wide through the field.

Anthony Alfredo retakes the lead.

Lap 77, Ross Chastain leads the race.

As much as the drivers at the front of the field battle for the lead, the optimum spot for fuel conservation is four or five rows back and in the middle of the line.  The driver is literally being pulled along with the minimum of fuel consumption.

Kyle Larson was caught speeding on pit road and had to restart the race from the back of the field.

Lap 82, Ross Chastain takes the lead.

Lap 85, Alex Bowman has worked his way through the field to take the lead.

The field of 34 drivers on the track are separated by just two seconds.

Lap 86, Ross Chastain retakes the lead.

Lap 87, Daniel Suarez takes the lead.

Lap 90, Anthony Alfredo leads the race.

Lap 94, Anthony Alfredo leads the race.

Lap 95, 38 lead changes…so far…with Ross Chastain out in front.

Lap 99, Kyle Busch brings his car down pit road with a vibration.  The left front tire was corded.

There have been 19 different leaders and 39 lead changes in 99 laps.

Lap 100, leader Anthony Alfredo comes down pit road for fuel.  Noah Gragson is the new leader.

Ross Chastain takes the lead.

Lap 102, Joey Logano takes the lead.

Kyle Busch has gone one lap down after making his unscheduled pit stop for a flat tire.

Anthony Alfredo is also now one lap down.

Lap 108, Joey Logano and Carson Hocevar battle for the lead.

Austin Dillon comes down pit road for fuel.

Lap 109 green flag pit stops begin.

Shane van Gisbergen had issues getting on pit road and was caught speeding on pit road.  He will have to serve a passthrough penalty.

Chase Elliott was caught speeding on pit road.

Lap 111, more drivers come down pit road for service, Bubba Wallace is the new leader.

Lap 112, much of the rest of the field come down pit road for service.

Daniel Suarez was caught speeding on pit road.

John Hunter Nemechek spins out coming to pit road but the track stays green.

Lap 114, Carson Hocevar leads the race.

Lap 115, Joey Logano passes Carson Hocevar for the lead.

Lap 116, Joey Logano and Carson Hocevar swap the lead back and forth.

Lap 117, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst, and Ty Gibbs short pit the end of stage two to get fresh tires and a load of fuel.

Lap 119. Bubba Wallace takes the lead/

Bubba Wallace wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Bubba Wallace
Joey Logano
Kyle Larson
Carson Hocevar
Austin Cindric
Josh Berry
Ryan Preece
Tyler Reddick
Todd Gilliland
Zane Smith

Most of the drivers come down pit road for service with Chase Briscoe winning the race off of pit road.

Chase Briscoe brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 127.  Chase Briscoe edges out Ty Gibbs to take the lead.

Five of the top six cars are Toyotas.

Lap 128, Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe battle for the lead; swapping it back and forth.

There are 32 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 130, Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs continue to battle back and for the for the lead.

Lap 134, Ty Gibbs leads the race with the top five drivers in a Toyota.

These are the first laps Ty Gibbs has led this year.

Lap 136, there have been 21 leaders with 54 lead changes and 32 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 139, the top five drivers are in a Toyota.

Lap 144, the top five cars are Toyotas and are in single file.

After getting involved in a crash and going a lap down, Kyle Busch has entered the top 10 in ninth place.

Lap 152, Ty Gibbs leads the race.

With 36 laps remaining in the race, the drivers are now within their fuel window to make it to the end of the race.

Thirty to go!  Ty Gibbs leads the race with Denny Hamlin in second; Riley Herbst, Joey Logano, and Zane Smith round out the top five.

After working for the past several laps, Joey Logano takes the lead on lap 162.

Lap 163, after pushing Joey Logano to the lead, Zane Smith moves up alongside Joey Logano to battle for the lead.

Lap 164, green flag pit stops begin.

Lap 168, Ty Dillon leads the race; Josh Berry passes Dillon lor the lead.

Lap 171, more drivers come down pit road for service.

Lap 172, the remainder of the drivers come down pit road including leader Josh Berry.  Kyle Busch and Josh Berry were caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty.

Lap 173, Austin Cindric is the new leader; followed by the four Hendrick Motorsports cars – William Byron Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, and Chase Elliott.

Kyle Larson and Wiliam Byron battle for second.

Lap 177, William Byron moves up on the outside to challenge Austin Cindric for the lead.

Lap 178, William Byron takes the lead.

Lap 180, Austin Cindric retakes the lead.

Lap 181, Austin Cindric and William Byron battle for the lead.

Lap 184, Ryan Preece battles with Austin Cindric for the lead.

Just two laps to go, Austin Cindric and Ryan Preece are side by side in a battle for the lead.

Austin Cindric takes the white flag.

After a push from Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric wins the race.

Cindric is the 18th driver to break a 30+ race drought at Talladega.

The unofficial results of the Jack Links 500:
Austin Cindric
Ryan Preece
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Joey Logano
Noah Gragson
Chase Elliott
Carson Hocevar
Alex Bowman
Bubba Wallace
Daniel Suarez
Austin Dillon
Michael McDowell
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Cole Custer
Tyler Reddick
Chase Briscoe
Todd Gilliland
Ty Gibbs
Erik Jones
Zane Smith
Ross Chastain
Denny Hamlin
Riley Herbst
Ty Dillon
AJ Allmendinger
Justin Haley
Josh Berry
Kyle Busch
Anthony Alfredo
Shane van Gisbergen
John Hunter Nemechek
Cody Ware
JJ Yeley
BJ McLeod
Chris Buescher
Christopher Bell
Brad Keselowski
Ryan Blaney