RADIO
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Talladega this weekend for some superspeedway action.
Christopher Bell will lead the field to green, with teammate Martin Truex Jr. beside him on the front row. Daniel Hemric qualified the Kaulig 16 car third, with Daniel Suarez and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.
Below are some drivers to consider for DFS purposes this week. If you have any questions or want to talk NASCAR, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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Ryan Blaney
Starts 22nd - DraftKings $10,500 | FanDuel $14,000
You'll notice a theme in today's picks: place differential. This is a track where huge wrecks are likely to occur and where anyone can be involved, so we like grabbing guys who start closer to the back because 1) they don't kill you as much if they get caught in an accident and 2) there's way more movement in the field than usual, so the PD points are where you really make your money.
Blaney starts 22nd. He's a two-time Talladega winner who has led laps in six of the last seven races here. His teammate Austin Cindric won at Daytona, so we've seen Penske cars perform well with the new car at superspeedways. This is a chalky play, but Blaney has a great track record here.
Chase Elliott
Starts 28th - DraftKings $9,900| FanDuel $12,500
Hendrick had two cars run well in qualifying and two cars run poorly in qualifying. But hey, it's Talladega, so let's target those two drivers who don't start up front.
Chase Elliott is a former Talladega winner, as he led 45 laps here in 2019 on his way to victory lane. His results have been down lately, with one top 10 in his last four 'Dega starts, but he did run top 10 at Daytona this year. Elliott isn't a lock to run well just because of how unpredictable Talladega can be, but you've got to have some exposure to this car, even if he winds up being chalky.
Alex Bowman
Starts 27th - DraftKings $9,200 | FanDuel $8,000
Hendrick had two cars run well in qualifying and two cars run poorly in qualifying. But hey, it's Talladega, so let's target those two drivers who don't start up front.
Yes, you just read that first paragraph twice, but it was worth reiterating. Teammates starting beside each other back in the pack is noteworthy because of how much cooperation matters at a track like this. Those two can get hooked up early and either drive to the front or drop back, avoid trouble and then work together later in the race to move to the front.
Bowman hasn't won here and has just three top 10s ever at Talladega. He was 38th in both of the last two races here. But he's shown he can get up front, including when he led 26 laps here in 2018.
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Starts 26th - DraftKings $7,600 | FanDuel $7,500
Stenhouse is a former Talladega winner, taking victory in this race in 2017. He also has six top fives and nine top 10s here.
His recent results haven't been at that same level, with two finishes of 33rd or worse in his last three Talladega starts. He did lead 10 laps the last time we were here before finishing 16th.
Stenhouse is always in contention at superspeedways. He's also always in contention to crash out, but so is everyone here. Top five potential for a driver starting 26th.
Chris Buescher
Starts 30th - DraftKings $6,900 | FanDuel $7,000
Ton of PD upside for Buescher. Of all the drivers starting 30th or worse, Buescher is the one you want to play, though you should also have exposure to Noah Gragson, who won yesterday's Xfinity race, and Todd Gilliland. Everyone behind them on the grid is a carnage play and while there will be carnage, it's so hard to predict which of those guys is worth playing.
Anyway, back to Buescher. He has just two top 10s at Talladega in 13 starts, but he's led laps in four of the last five races here. Both top 10s have come in the last four races here, which coincides with him joining Roush. Top 10 upside for Buescher on Sunday at a really, really cheap cost.
Cole Custer
Starts 29th - DraftKings $5,600 | FanDuel $5,500
Last week's polesitter at Bristol Dirt won't start nearly as high this week, as he rolls off the grid in 29th.
Custer has made nine Cup starts on superspeedways, with his only top 10 coming here at Talladega last year, when he finished 10th. He was also 13th in the second race here, leading seven laps.
His Xfinity superspeedway results aren't much better, but I do think there's been some progression here for Custer, who has gone from "yikes" to "hmm, okay!" on these kind of tracks. He'll have decent speed and he's dirt cheap on both sites, but especially on DraftKings, where he's cheaper than Todd Gilliland and David Ragan, for some reason.
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