The Xfinity Series will join the Cup Series and Truck Series at Talladega Superpeedway this weekend. The Sparks 300 at Talladega will be the second race for the Xfinity Series in the Round of 12. Noah Gragson won last week at Texas so he is locked into the Round of 8. That should not surprise anyone though. Gragson has won the last four races in this series. Can he will again? It is not going to be easy to get around Austin Hill but Gragson has nothing to lose Saturday. Gragson started 19th and went to Victory Lane last year at Talladega. We will see if his dominance over the Xfinity Series continues at Talladega.
XFINITY SERIES QUALIFYING
NASCAR no longer has a practice session for the races at the Superspeedways. The drivers make one qualifying lap and then lineup up to race. Qualifying is important for the races on the superspeedways because we want to target the drivers who start in the back with the best chance to score place differential points.
STRATEGY FOR TALLADEGA
For some reason the Xfinity Series races at Talladega are not as wild as the Cup and Truck Series races. There is typically a good blend of drivers who start up front and drivers who start in the middle of the pack who finish in the top-10. The last three races have all played out the same. Here are the top-10 results from last year’s race at Talladega…
I still plan to play some of the drivers who start in the back with the best chance to score place differential points, but I will not be fading the playoff drivers. Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and AJ Allmendinger are really good on the Superspeedways. I will be playing these three drivers and stacking the Kaulig Racing drivers (AJ Allmendinger, Landon Cassill and Daniel Hemric) in some lineups. Kaulig Racing is the best team at controlling the superspeedway races.
Do not be afraid to leave some of the salary cap on the table this week. Our goal is to score the most points, not to spend the most salary.
DRIVER RANKINGS FOR TALLADEGA
CORE DRIVERS FOR TALLADEGA
TOP-TIER DRIVERS: Noah Gragson ($10,100), Ty Gibbs ($9,900), AJ Allmendinger ($9,500), Trevor Bayne ($9,300), Riley Herbst ($9,100)
VALUE DRIVERS: Austin Hill ($8,800), Daniel Hemric ($8,600), Landon Cassill ($8,400), Myatt Snider ($8,200), Ryan Sieg ($7,900), Jeffrey Earnhardt ($7,700), Jeremy Clements ($7,500), Brandon Brown ($7,300), Anthony Alfredo ($7,200), Jeb Burton ($7,000), Timmy Hill ($6,900), Josh Williams ($6,700), Joey Gase ($6,200)
PUNT PLAYS: J.J. Yeley ($5,900), Bayley Currey ($5,500), B.J. McLeod ($4,900), David Starr ($4,800)
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST LINEUP
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
Good Luck This Weekend!
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