White-knuckle weekend is here.

Of all the stages of the NASCAR playoffs, this one is the most anxiety-inducing. With the other rounds a mix of short tracks at mile and a halves, NASCAR chose to give this round a double dose of unpredictable.

The Round of 12 began last week with more-or-less, you-know-what-you-get Texas Motor Speedway. Now its off the rails this week with wreck-inducing pack racing at Talladega Superspeedway. Then it heads to the quirkiest of all layouts on the schedule, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

William Byron is the only driver sans butterflies in his stomach as he got the free pass after last week’s win at Texas.

Everybody else will be fighting for their lives and stage points because even the problems were bigger in Texas for playoffs drivers. Of the dozen remaining, nine had issues at the Texas track. Only Byron and Denny Hamlin have really separated themselves; Hamlin has a 25-point lead over third-place Chris Buescher. From third-back, no more than eight points separates consecutive drivers.

Who’s the favorite?

If you listen to the handicappers, it’s Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney. According to Fanduel, each are +1100. Buescher is +1200 and Mobile-born Bubba Wallace is +1300.

After a couple of rough outings last season, Keselowski is getting closer to his Penske ways at the superspeedways. He’s collected six wins at Talladega Superspeedway, the most of any active driver.

In his third RFK Racing start, he was fifth and then second at Daytona after getting collected in a crash in the season opener. Is that enough to prove they’ve got it figured out? While the sample size is small, it’s certainly trending upward.

Back on the topic of Penske, Blaney has back-to-back second-place finishes at Talladega Superspeedway after a stretch of four races where he scored only one top 10.

Keselowski is in a little safer spot when it comes to the playoffs (seventh out of 12), though nobody in this round is completely safe. Blaney, however, will need every bit of his status as co-favorite as he’s next-to-last in the playoff standings.

Superspeedway superstition?

At Augusta National, no golfer has ever won the Par 3 contest then gone on to add the Masters’ green jacket to his closet. That’s why golfers will intentionally fire a couple in the drink or sometimes even let their children putt. Anything to not be a part of the curse.

Talladega Superspeedway has its share of superstitions. Whether there is truth to them or something just manufactured by a track worker from days gone by, you never know.

What is a fact is during the NASCAR Cup Series playoff era (2004-present), the winner of the fall Talladega Superspeedway race has never gone on to win the championship that season. Twice the winners have finished runner-up: Jeff Gordon (2007) and Joey Logano (2016).

What’s certain is you won’t see any drivers intentionally try to take themselves out – a la Masters fashion – with a right turn or anything crazy on Sunday.

Stars fell on Alabama

A pair of drivers in today’s Craftsman Truck Series Love’s RV Stop 250 hail from the Yellowhammer State. And one has a whole lot on the line.

Fairhope’s Grant Enfinger (No. 23 Champion Power Equipment) and Munford’s Bret Holmes (No. 32 First Bank of Alabama Chevrolet) will try to bring home the checkered flag at their home NASCAR track.

Holmes is in his first full-time season in the Truck Series after winning an ARCA championship in 2020. He had issues with his brakes at the other Superspeedway this season, so, he’ll hope to turn those issues around in search of his first top-10 finish of the season.

Enfinger, however, is a far different story. The Truck Series veteran in his seventh full-time season is on pace for possibly one of his best seasons. He’s in the playoffs and fourth in points with three wins this season (four in 2020 is his career-best).

Enfinger won at Talladega Superspeedway in 2016, but he’s searching for his first top-10 at the track since 2019.