The NASCAR Cup Series travels to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for another race on a drafting track. Tyler Reddick won the first two races on the Superspeedways (Daytona and Talladega). Can he do it again? If Reddick does win, he needs to go directly to the gas station and buy a Power Ball Ticket, because it takes a lot of luck to three-peat at the drafting tracks. It should be fun to see how it all plays out Sunday. The Jack Link’s 500 can be seen Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
Here are my updated picks for your season long Fantasy NASCAR games…
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR TALLADEGA
GROUP A DRIVERS
RYAN BLANEY (7): What are we going to get from Blaney at Talladega? He is the definition of a “boom or bust” driver at this track. Blaney finished 1st (October 2023), 2nd (April 2023) and 2nd (October 2022) at Talladega. He also finished 23rd (October 2025), 37th (April 2025) and 39th (October 2024). Blaney always runs up front, scores Stage Points and most of the wrecks he is involved in are not his fault. He just needs better luck at Talladega. Team Penske is good at qualifying up front, so Blaney has a good chance to score bonus points for qualifying Saturday.
WILLIAM BYRON (9): I took a chance with Ryan Blaney, so I need a safe driver as a backup plan. That driver is Byron. He finished 3rd (April 2025), 3rd (October 2024), 7th (April 2023), 2nd (October 2023) and 7th (April 2022) at Talladega. Byron has never won at Talladega, but he has three wins at Daytona and two wins at Atlanta. Byron has a good chance to win his first race at Talladega Sunday.
GROUP B DRIVERS
BUBBA WALLACE (6): It is tough to find a safer pick for your Driver Group Game lineups than Wallace Sunday. He finished 4th, 8th and 9th in his last three races at Talladega. Wallace also has the upside to win the Jack Link’s 500. Wallace won the race at Talladega in 2021. He finished 8th at Atlanta and 10th in the Daytona 500 earlier this season. Wallace should add another top-10 finish to his Superspeedway resume Sunday.
BRAD KSESLOWSKI (8): Keselowski has the most wins in the Cup Series at Tallaedga (6). He has never won in the Gen-7 car at Talladega, but he has been close. Keselowski finished 2nd in both races at Talladega in 2024. He finished 10th in the race last October. Keselowski looked good in the Daytona 500 this year when he finished 5th. He knows that the race Sunday will be one of his best chances to get to Victory Lane in 2026. The No. 6 car has a great chance to win the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega.
AUSTIN CINDRIC (7): Cindric is a lot like his teammate (Ryan Blaney) at Talladega. The No. 2 car is going to have the speed to qualifying up front, run up front andscore a lot of Stage Points. Finishing the races is where it gets risky with Cindric. He won this race last year, but he also finished 34th (October 2025), 32nd (October 2024) and 23rd (April 2024). There is just too much upside to pass up with Cindric. He scored bonus points for qualifying in 3 of his last 4 races at Talladega, so I at least need the No. 2 car on my bench for qualifying points.
JOEY LOGANO (8): Another Team Penske car and another “boom or bust” driver for my lineup. It would not surprise anyone if Logano won his 4th race at Talladega Sunday. It would not surprise anyone if Logano was running in the top-5 and gets involved in a wreck and finishes dead last. That is just how the races at Talladega go for Logano. He is the best in the series at qualifying at this track, so I at least need him on my team for some bonus points Saturday.
GROUP C DRIVERS
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. (7): Stenhouse has two wins at Talladega on his resume and I would not be surprised if he won another race Sunday. The last trip to Victory Lane for Stenhouse at Talladega was in 2024. He finished 12th in this race last year and Stenhouse finished 2nd in the Daytona 500 to start the 2026 season. Stenhouse should be the best pick in Group C this week.
TODD GILLILAND (8): Can Gilliland repeat what he did in the last race at Talladega? He started 27th and finished 2nd. Gilliland has the 5th-best average finishing position (12.3) in the last four races at Talladega. Gilliland also scored bonus points for qualifying in 2 of the last 4 races at Talladega. Gilliland is a good pick for all Fantasy NASCAR lineups Sunday.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
SPEEDWAY COLLECTIVE PICKS
GROUP A DRIVERS: I know the Fords are good on the Superspeedway tracks but I am going with two drivers from Hendrick Motorsports in Group A Sunday. William Byron should be one of the safest picks in the field for the Jack Link’s 500. I will use his teammate, Chase Elliott as my second driver in Group A. He has 3 wins at Talladega and Elliott finished 4th (Daytona 500) and 11th (Atlanta) on the Superspeedway tracks this year.
GROUP B DRIVERS: My drivers for Group B will be the same as Group B for the Driver Group Game. I would love to use Bubba Wallace this week, but I am quickly running out of allocations with the No. 23 car. I will pivot to the two RFK Racing Drivers. Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher have a history of running well on the drafting tracks. They should be good plays this weekend.
GROUP C DRIVERS: I have Austin Cindric in the Driver Group Game and I will use him in the Speedway Collective game too. He is a “boom or bust” driver, but the upside is too good to fade…. Carson Hocevar has been good at Talladega too. “The Hurricane” finished 6th in both races at Talladega last year and 14th and 17th in 2024. I would not be surprised if Hocevar won Sunday at Talladega.
GROUP D DRIVERS: My two drivers for Group D in the Speedway Collective game will be the same drivers that I am using in Group C of the Driver Group Game. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Todd Gilliland are easily the safest picks from this group. I expect one of these drivers (if not both) to finish in the top-10 Sunday.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
FANTRAX PICKS
* Each league in Fantrax is different. Some leagues have bench drivers and award qualifying points and others do not. The two leagues that I am playing in do not have bench drivers. Also, most leagues (including mine), do not require your lineup to be set until minutes before the race starts. My picks will change after practice and qualifying for most races. If you need bench drivers, you can use my picks from the Driver Group Game.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
Good Luck Sunday!
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