Takeaways From Talladega and Things To Look Forward to at NASCAR's Wurth 400 in Dover

Ryan Blaney must be feeling like a gambler on a losing streak, unable to catch a break no matter how much he tries. Following his fourth runner-up finish in 56 races, the Team Penske driver led the pack at Talladega, with only his best friend Bubba Wallace ahead. It was a make-or-break moment, and Blaney hoped that Wallace would give him a break, but it wasn't to be. Wallace blocked every move, and Kyle Busch emerged as the winner, leaving Blaney to finish second yet again.

It's been a long drought for Blaney, who hasn't won since the 2021 regular-season finale at Daytona. In those 56 races, he's managed 17 Top-5 finishes and 28 Top-10s, but it's not enough for the frustrated driver. To make matters worse, the upcoming tracks don't seem to favor him, either.

Take Dover, for example, where Blaney has never finished in the Top-5 and has only managed two top-ten in 12 starts. His last seven starts at the track have seen him finish 12th or worse. Kansas is pretty much the same, with Blaney finishing 20th or worse in five of his last eight starts there. Darlington hasn't been kind to him either, with just one top ten finish in 12 tries and finishes of 17th and 13th, respectively, last year. Even the Coca-Cola 600, where he finished third in both races in 2020, has been a challenge for Blaney, with just two top-five finishes in 12 Charlotte oval starts. The last two years have seen him finish 13th and 29th, respectively, despite leading a total of eight laps, including two laps each in four of the previous five oval races.

NASCAR didn't waste any time in hauling Kyle Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet off to their R&D Center in Concord after a terrifying crash at the end of Sunday's race in Talladega. While Hendrick Motorsports doesn't face any penalties this time, NASCAR wants to examine the car thoroughly to ensure it is safe for future races. Larson's car was t-boned by Ryan Preece, causing severe damage to the interior and prompting NASCAR to consider making adjustments to improve safety.

On the other hand, Kyle Busch celebrated his third win this season in his No. 8 Chevrolet at Talladega, a partnership with RCR that is already yielding more significant results than anticipated. It's been quite a journey for Busch, who was once chased by Richard Childress at Kansas Speedway 12 years ago. Now, the watch that Childress famously tossed aside during the incident has become part of the signing bonus to lure Busch to Richard Childress Racing.

Childress made a significant move last fall by signing one of NASCAR's most accomplished drivers in the 21st century. Busch, who is 37 years old, is now set to drive one of RCR's cars for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. Only Busch and Joey Logano, two active drivers in the garage, have won multiple Cup Series championships, making them standout drivers in the competition.

Kyle Busch hadn't won a superspeedway race since 2008 and had only won once before at Talladega. But on Sunday, he picked up his second win at the track, showing he still had the skills to compete on the big ovals. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson continued his impressive season by scoring his first career win at Martinsville, a track that had always given him trouble in the past. Larson had also won at Richmond two weeks prior, proving that he was a versatile driver who could succeed on a variety of tracks.

Other recent winners, such as William Byron, Joey Logano, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., had similarly defied expectations by winning races at tracks where they had struggled in the past. However, some of the winners this season, such as Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell, had more experience and success on the types of tracks where they won. Despite the unpredictability of this year's winners, there were still some close calls that could have changed the outcome of the season. For example, Kyle Busch was on his way to winning the Daytona 500 before a late-race incident altered the outcome. If not for that, he might have had a more impressive streak of wins this year.

Hendrick Motorsports has been dominating the NASCAR scene this year, and now they're taking on the Dover Motor Speedway, one of their best tracks. The question is, can anyone even come close to stopping them? In the past two years, Hendrick has had impressive showings at Dover, finishing in the top six in both races. They've also been unstoppable on tracks one mile or less, with William Byron and Kyle Larson taking home wins in Phoenix, Richmond, and Martinsville.

Last year, they led an impressive 94 laps on the Monster Mile, and this year, they led a staggering 382 out of 400 laps, which is a 95.5% lead in the race. But there's one driver who could possibly challenge the HMS juggernaut, and that's Kyle Larson. With three straight top-three finishes at Dover, while driving for Ganassi, Larson has proven he's a force to be reckoned with on this track. He followed that up with a second-place finish in 2021, leading for 263 laps, and a sixth-place finish last year with Hendrick Motorsports. In fact, Larson has finished in the top ten in 11 of his previous 13 starts at Dover, with seven of those being in the top five.

The Wurth 400 held at the Dover Motor Speedway will unfold Sunday, April 30, at 2:00 PM ET.