With nothing determined after the first Round-of-12 race, the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs resume Sunday with the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Non-playoff driver Ross Chastain captured the checkered flag at Kansas last weekend, leaving the field for the Round of 8 wide open. William Byron sits atop the playoff standings, six points ahead of both Christopher Bell and reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, while Tyler Reddick is in ninth place - four points below the cut line. Blaney won this race for the second time in his career last year and Reddick made his way to Victory Lane at Talladega this past April.

Blaney is the 12-1 favorite in the latest 2024 YellaWood 500 odds, while fellow two-time race winners Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski are 13-1. Kyle Busch is also 13-1 and Byron rounds out the top five NASCAR at Talladega contenders at 15-1. Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET.

Before making any NASCAR at Talladega picks, be sure to see what CBS Sports NASCAR writer Steven Taranto has to say.

Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com, and he chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion that he's had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR media credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez's breakthrough wins in 2022. Taranto has been red-hot for SportsLine in 2024 as he has nailed 14 winners, including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas. Anybody following his NASCAR picks has seen HUGE returns!

For the 2024 YellaWood 500, we can tell you Taranto is high on Michael McDowell, even though he's a 30-1 longshot. Another curveball: He's fading Chase Elliott (16-1), who won this race in 2022 and is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes. "This year has not been his best in terms of speedway racing," Taranto told SportsLine. "Although he's been consistent with four top-15 finishes and only one DNF (Daytona in August), Elliott has just one top-10 in speedway races this year and has led on just two occasions."

Taranto also locked in four more YellaWood 500 best bets and is high on a MAJOR dark horse who is going off at more than 50-1! You ABSOLUTELY need to see his picks before locking in any NASCAR picks of your own.

So who wins the YellaWood 500 2024? And which MASSIVE longshot do you need to target NOW? ...  Join SportsLine right now to see the 2024 NASCAR at Talladega best bets, all from the expert who has nailed a colossal 14 race winners this year!