The NASCAR Cup Series travels to Talladega Superspeedway this week for another drafting track race. The picks last week were nearly perfect (again), until they weren’t. All of the drivers were running in the top-five with five laps left in the race at Kansas Speedway. Cody Ware caused a caution flag. Christopher Bell got into Tyler Reddick on the restart, causing a tire to go down on the No. 20 car. Bell went from 3rd to 20th and cost us a lot of points. The picks are still climbing in the rankings. They are now outscoring 97.5% of the entries. We will need some better luck this week at Talladega.
STRATEGY FOR TALLADEGA
The popular strategy at Talladega is to save your top drivers for the more predictable races. That is true for most of your lineup, but it is OK to take a chance with some of your top drivers who have a history of finishing up front at Talladega.
Ryan Blaney is one of the best Superspeedway drivers in the Cup Series. He is off limits because he is too good at the smaller tracks. Tyler Reddick won the first two races on the drafting tracks. He is off limits because you will need Reddick at the intermediate tracks this year. Chase Elliott often finds Victory Lane at Talladega. You can use Elliott if you have 8 or more allocations left with the No. 9 car. The other drivers who are off limits include Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell. The rest of the field is in play this week.
Here are the picks for the race at Talladega Superspeedway…
WILLIAM BYRON (8): I was planning to use Byron a lot early in the season, but the No. 24 car either looked slow in practice or qualified in the back of the field. Now I have some extra allocations with Byron. I will burn one of them Sunday. The two-time Daytona 500 winner is also good at Talladega. Byron finished 25th, 3rd, 3rd, 7th, 2nd, 7th,12th and 15th in his eight races in the Gen-7 car at Talladega. His 9.25 average finishing position in the Gen-7 car is the best in the field at Talladega. Byron has a good chance to finish in the top-10 Sunday.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (9): Keselowski has the most wins in the Cup Series on the Superspeedway tracks (9). Six of those wins came at Talladega. Keselowski finished 5th in the Daytona 500 earlier this year and he finished 2nd in two of his last four races at Talladega. Keselowski is a bit of a “boom or bust” driver at the Superspeedway tracks, but that is what the Garage pick is for. At least we know the No. 6 car will be running up front, scoring Stage Points and Keselowski should have a good chance to finish in the top-10 Sunday.
BUBBA WALLACE (7): Wallace has proven to be one of the best drivers in the Cup Series on the Superspeedway tracks. He finished 10th in the Daytona 500 earlier this season and 8th at Atlanta. Wallace has also been good at Talladega. He finished 4th, 8th and 9th in his last three races at this track. Wallace knows how to run up front, score Stage Points and finish in the top-10 at the Superspeedway tracks so he gets a spot in my lineup this week.
CARSON HOCEVAR (9): Drivers have to be a bit crazy and willing to take some chances that could cause them to end up crashing if the move doesn’t work out at Talladega. It is hard to find a driver as crazy and as willing to put it all on the line as Hocevar. He finished 6th in both of the races at Talladega last year. He also finished 4th at Atlanta earlier this season. Hocevar is far from a safe pick, but he has proven to be a good pick at the Superspeedway tracks so I will use an allocation with the No. 77 car Sunday.
TODD GILLILAND (10): I like to use some drivers that the rest of the players in our leagues will not have in their lineups. These drivers have to have some upside to finish in the top-10 at Talladega. That driver this week is Gilliland. He finished 2nd in his last race at Talladega and Gilliland has an average finishing position of 12.3 over the last two seasons at this track (fourth-best in the field). He is a good driver to take a chance with to save your top drivers for more predictable races.
(GARAGE PICK) JOEY LOGANO (7): I sure hate clicking on Logano’s name, but I have to do it. He is the best in the field at running up front and scoring Stage Points at Talladega. His finishes at this track absolutely suck, but the upside is huge. Logano will be the top pick in the field if he can simply finish the race. I will have the No. 22 car in the Garage and if he has 15+ Stage Points heading into the final Stage, I will cross my fingers, rub my lucky rabbit’s foot and hope he makes it to the checkered flag.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.