Which is the next NASCAR race on Sunday? Exploring the venue, previous winners, and more

NASCAR heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the GEICO 500 Cup series race this Sunday (April 23). After visiting the dirt track in Bristol and the short track in Martinsville, the series now heads to the famed Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama.

The 2.66-mile tri-oval will host the Cup, Xfinity, and ARCA races over the weekend. The track, nicknamed 'Dega', is the longest NASCAR oval ever built. The Superspeedway was built in 1969 by the founding father of the series Bill France Sr. 'Dega' is regarded as the most feared track by the Cup Series drivers.

Being the longest oval, speeds above 200 mph are commonplace at the Superspeedway. Rusty Wallace holds the record for the fastest recorded time on the closed oval course with a speed of 216.309mph (348.116 km/h) set on June 9, 2004, in a test. Meanwhile, Bill Elliott (212.809mph or 342.483km/h) holds the record for the highest speed in an event.

NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500

With high speeds, the draft at the Superspeedway has famously been known as an equalizer for decades. This allows the slower drivers in the back to hold on to the faster cars and keep pace with the leaders.

With the entire grid bunched up, the track is also infamous for its last-lap wrecks, which usually end up in multi-car pile-ups. This also results in surprise winners taking the checkered flag as the victory contenders get taken out in the wrecks.

Dale Earnhardt holds the record for most Cup Series wins with 10 wins on the track. Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Gordon are second on the list with six wins each.

The track hosts two races per season, with Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott emerging as victors at 'Dega' the previous year. Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace won at the Superspeedway in 2021. The last four winners have all started the race 10th or worse.

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NASCAR weekend schedule at the Talladega Superspeedway

Here is the three-day schedule for the Cup, Xfinity and ARCA races over the weekend (all times in EST):

Friday, April 21

• 4 – 5 p.m. — ARCA practice
• 5:30 – 7 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying

Saturday, April 22

• 10:30 a.m. – Noon — Cup qualifying
• 12:30 p.m. — ARCA race (76 laps, 202 miles)
• 4 p.m. — Xfinity race (113 laps, 300 miles)

Sunday, April 23

• 3 p.m. — Cup race (188 laps, 500 miles; Fox, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Slight showers are expected on Friday and Saturday with sunny weather forecast for Sunday.

Catch the 188-lap GEICO 500 Cup Series race live on Fox, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.