The NASCAR Cup Series will back to Talladega this week for the Yellawood 500 Sunday. This will be the second race in the Round of 12. This is the race that the playoff drivers have feared the most. Racing on the superspeedways is unpredictable. The drivers know that they can do their best to race up front, but their fate is not in their hands this week. It will be a wild ride Sunday, but it will be fun to see which drivers can navigate this tough track and take the next step in their journey to the 2023 championship.
TALLADEGA PRACTICE SPEEDS
NASCAR decided to eliminate practice at the Superspeedways for the 2023 season. The cars lined up for qualifying Saturday afternoon and then they will race Sunday. This limits the data we have to handicap this race. It really doesn’t matter though. The races at Talladega come down to a driver being in the right place at the right time. Speed is not a factor as much as it is at the smaller tracks.
STATS FOR THE RACE AT TALLADEGA
Talladega is one of the most unpredictable tracks on the circuit. There are some drivers who have figured out how to navigate this track. It would be a good idea to select these drivers for your DFS lineups Sunday.
Here are the average DFS Points for the drivers on the Superspeedways this year and the last three races (Gen-7 car races) at Talladega…
DRAFTKINGS STRATEGY
The strategy for DFS Contests is to score as many place differential points as possible. I typically do not play any drivers who start inside the top-15. Most of the drivers I use in my lineups will start outside the top-20. Do not chase dominator points this week. Simply, select the drivers who start in the back and then wait until the end of the race to see how it all plays out. Also, do not be afraid to leave a lot of salary on the table Sunday. Our goal is to score the most points, not to spend the most money.
The drivers with the best chance to score place differential points includes Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Carson Hocevar and Ty Dillon
DRAFTKINGS MODEL (Prediction Based on Stats)
Finish = Finishing Points PD = Position Differential Fastest = Fastest Laps Led = Laps Led
* The number in front of the driver is his projected finishing position based on stats.
FANDUEL MODEL (Prediction Based on Stats)
CORE DRIVERS FOR TALLADEGA
TOP-TIER DRIVERS: CHRIS BUESCHER (DK $10K / FD $13K), DENNY HAMLIN (DK $9.8K / FD $12K), CHASE ELLIOTT (DK $9.3K / FDK $11.5K)
VALUE-TIER DRIVERS: ROSS CHASTAIN (DK $8.8K / FD $9.5K), KYLE BUSCH (DK $8.7K / FD $10K), RICKY STENHOUSE JR. (DK $8.5K / FD $8.5K), DANIEL SUAREZ (DK $8.1K / FD $5.5K), ERIK JONES (DK $7.8K / FD $8.2K), ALEX BOWMAN (DK $7.7K / FD $5.8K), MICHAEL MCDOWELL (DK $7.1K / FD $6.8K), AUSTIN DILLON (DK $7K / FD $5.2K), TY GIBBS (DK $6.9K / FD $6.2K), AJ ALLMENDINGER (DK $6.6K / FD $4.5K), COREY LAJOIE (DK $6.2K / FD $4.2K), JUSTIN HALEY (DK $6K / FD $4K)
PUNT PLAYS: CARSON HOCEVAR (DK $5.9K / FD $4.8K), TODD GILLILAND (DK $5.8K / FD $4K), J.J. YELEY (DK $5K / FD $3.5K), TY DILLON (DK $5K / FD $3.5K)
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST LINEUP
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
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