NASCAR Cup Series joins the O’Reilly Series at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. This will be the third race in 2026 on a drafting track. Tyler Reddick won the Daytona 500 and then he won the race at Atlanta. Can Reddick make it a three-peat to start the season on the Superspeedways? I wouldn’t bet against the No. 45 team this week. Reddick wonat Talladega in 2024 and a Toyota (Chase Briscoe) won the last race at Talladega. It should be fun to see how it all plays out at this wild tack this weekend.
TALLADEGA SCHEDULE
The Cup Series and O’Reilly Series will not have any track time to shake down their cars for the races this weekend. The O’Reilly Series will qualify for the Ag-Pro 300 Friday evening and then they will race Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Channel.
The Cup Series will qualify for the Jack Link’s 500 Saturday morning and then they will race Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
FANTASY STATS FOR TALLADEGA
There are three drafting tracks on the schedule and they are not created equal. Drivers have a lot more room to move around at Talladega than they do at Daytona or Atlanta. There is an art to using the draft to manipulate the air to make a pass at these tracks. I will use the stats from the last six races at Talladega (2023-2025) and combine it with the stats from the two races on the drafting tracks this year (Daytona and Atlanta). This should give us a good idea of which drivers are good at missing “The Big” and finding their way to the end of the races on the drafting tracks.
Here are the stats from the last six races at Talladega Speedway and the race at Daytona and Atlanta this year, sorted by *NASCAR Points…
* NASCAR Points are a combination of Stage Points and Finishing Points a driver earned in the race.
TALLADEGA RACE REWIND
This is the portion of the article where I typically break down the previous race at the track. The races at Talladega never play out the way they do in the past. This race comes down to being in the right place at the right time. That requires a lot of luck. I posted the 2025 Jack Link’s 500 Race Rewind below. You can watch it, but I would not recommend selecting your Fantasy NASCAR Drivers solely off of what happened last year at Talladega.
You can watch the highlights of last year’s race here: 2025 JACK LINK’S 500
EARLY WEEK DRIVER RANKINGS
It is impossible to predict the finishing order for the races at Talladega. We can look at the past races at this track to see which driver finish up front the most. These are the drivers we will want on our team and then hope for the best in Sunday’s race.
Here are the early week Driver Rankings for the Jack Link’s 500….
* Chad Finchum is also entered into the race. I doubt he will qualify for the race, so I did not include him. If he does qualify for the Jack Link’s 500, Finchum will be ranked No. 40.
STRATEGY FOR TALLADEGA
SEASON-LONG GAME STRATEGY: The race Sunday is all about saving allocations. I do not mind using one driver from Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing, but I do not recommend filling your lineups with the drivers from these teams. Save them for the larger tracks…. Team Penske and 23XI Racing are a bit different. The drivers from these teams are very good too at Talladega. I would save Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick for more predictable races, but Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and Bubba Wallace are all in play this week. Do not be afraid to use some drivers from Front Row Racing and Spire Motorsports. Todd Gilliland and Michael McDowell are very good on the Superspeedway tracks.
DFS GAME STRATEGY: The strategy for the race Sunday at Talladega is the same as it is for Daytona and Atlanta… We must focus on place differential points. We can cover up the names on the windshield and simply select the drivers who start outside the top-25 for our Cash Contest lineups. Sometimes it ever pays off to select six drivers who start outside the top-30 for Cash Contests. That is how important place differential points are this week.
Tournament Contests are a bit different. The strategy for selecting the winning Tournament Contest lineups comes down to ownership. We need to find the drivers who start in the back-half of the field (outside the top-15) who will have low ownership and the best luck to finish up front. It you can hit on that, you will likely take home a lot of money after the race Sunday.
EARLY WEEK BEST BETS FOR TALLADEGA
Each week I like to look at the odds early in the week and see if there are any drivers who are miss-priced and worth betting on. The odds will not change much after qualifying because the driver’s starting position does not matter much after the race. For that reason, I am posting my Best Bets now and I will not be adding any drivers to the card after qualifying Saturday morning.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (16-1): Keselowski has a series-high nine wins on the Superspeedway tracks. Six of those wins came at Talladega. He has not won at Talladega in the Gen-7 car, but he has been knocking on the door. Keselowski finished 2nd in both races at Talladega in 2024, 5th in 2023 and 10th last year. The No. 6 car has looked pretty fast this year. I will take a chance with the driver with the most wins at Talladega on my card this week.
BUBBA WALLACE (16-1): People say that you never forget your first. Wallace won his first race in the Cup Series at Talladega in 2021. He has been really good at this track even since that race. Wallace finished 4th, 8th and 9th in his last three races at Talladega. He also finished 8th at Atlanta and 10th in the Daytona 500. Wallace has proven to be one of the best Superspeedway drivers in the Cup Series, so I will bet him at 16-1 odds Sunday.
CHRIS BUESCHER (20-1): Buescher has a win at Daytona on his resume, but he is still looking for his first win at Talladega. The RFK Racing drivers work well together on the drafting tracks. I bet Brad Keselowski at 16-1, so why not bet Buescher at 20-1. You know they are going to be running together throughout the race. I like the Ford horsepower on the Superspeedway tracks, so Buescher gets a spot in my lineup.
CARSON HOCEVAR (28-1): Could Talladega be the track where Hocevar gets his first win in the Cup Series? I will bet that it is. Drivers need to be aggressive, through caution to the wind and hope for a little luck in order to win at Talladega. Hocevar checks the first two boxes. We just need some luck to go his way. Hocevar finished 6th in both races at Talladega last year and he finished 4th at Atlanta. He has proven that he can finish up front on the Superspeedway tracks. I like his chances to win the Jack Link’s 500.
RYAN PREECE (35-1): I have two RFK Racing drivers on my card and I would feel like an idiot if Preece went to Victory Lane and I faded him. He is going to be running with Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher in the race. He is a little more of a “boom or bust” driver than Keselowski and Buescher, but that is why his odds at 35-1. Preece finished 8th in the last drafting track race (Atlanta). I will take a chance with the No. 60 car at 35-1 odds Sunday.
TODD GILLILAND (50-1): Gilliland will be my dart throw this week. He nearly hit the Bulls-eye in the last race at Talladega. Gilliland started 27th and finished 2nd. Front Row Motorsports has a history of running well at the Superspeedway tracks. I do not need to bet a lot of money in order to win a lot of money with Gilliland Sunday. He is worth putting some pizza money on to win the race.
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