RADIO
Let's get ready for some more NASCAR action! These daily fantasy NASCAR rankings for Saturday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway were determined by a combination of DraftKings and FanDuel prices, and the projected DFS points each driver is expected to earn in this week’s race.
Each week, we'll present you the weekly rankings, followed by some key analysis of those rankings.
Be sure to also check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles and analysis to help you set your optimal DFS lineups.
Holiday Special! Save 50% on any Premium Pass using discount code THANKS. Win more with our DFS, Betting and Season-Long Premium Pass, get expert tools and advice from proven winners! GAIN ACCESS
Fantasy NASCAR Driver Rankings
| Driver Name | DraftKings Rank | FanDuel Rank |
| Brad Keselowski | 1 | 1 |
| Chase Elliott | 2 | 2 |
| Kevin Harvick | 3 | 4 |
| Denny Hamlin | 4 | 3 |
| Ryan Newman | 5 | 7 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 6 | 8 |
| Aric Almirola | 7 | 5 |
| Ryan Blaney | 8 | 6 |
| Joey Logano | 9 | 9 |
| Bubba Wallace | 10 | 13 |
| Kyle Larson | 11 | 12 |
| Ryan Preece | 12 | 14 |
| Harrison Burton | 13 | 10 |
| Kyle Busch | 14 | 11 |
| Tyler Reddick | 15 | 16 |
| Kurt Busch | 16 | 15 |
| Erik Jones | 17 | 17 |
| Alex Bowman | 18 | 19 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | 20 |
| William Byron | 20 | 18 |
| Michael McDowell | 21 | 22 |
| Cole Custer | 22 | 21 |
| Kaz Grala | 23 | 23 |
| Chris Buescher | 24 | 24 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | 25 | 26 |
| Austin Dillon | 26 | 25 |
| Justin Haley | 27 | 29 |
| Christopher Bell | 28 | 27 |
| Chase Briscoe | 29 | 28 |
| Daniel Suarez | 30 | 31 |
| Ross Chastain | 31 | 30 |
| JJ Yeley | 32 | 33 |
| Anthony Alfredo | 33 | 32 |
| Corey LaJoie | 34 | 34 |
| Timmy Hill | 35 | 35 |
| Joey Gase | 36 | 36 |
| Josh Bilicki | 37 | 37 |
| Cody Ware | 38 | 38 |
| Quin Houff | 39 | 39 |
| BJ McLeod | 40 | 40 |
Did you know RotoBaller has a Premium DFS NASCAR subscription?
Like what you read today? You can show your support for Justin by using promo code CARTER when purchasing a NASCAR Premium Pass. You get 10% off and full access to all of our Premium NASCAR articles, DFS tools, and Lineup Optimizer!
NASCAR Rankings Analysis
It's Dega time, y'all!
The biggest thing to know about this week: CHAOS REIGNS. Anything can happen, and drivers at the bottom of the pricing you might usually avoid become solid plays.
Normally I'd talk about the top and bottom plays in this piece, but instead let's take a more holistic view of things.
For drivers starting near the front, I need to be REALLY sure that someone is a good superspeedway race or a potential dominator pick to play them. For example, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano start on the front row. Those are guys who could lead some laps and finish well, so I mostly trust them.
But Martin Truex Jr. starting third? Or the rest of the top six really? I'm less confident. Truex, for example, has run 32 races here and has just eight top 10s. That's not someone I can trust this week, because he hasn't shown that his past performance here makes up for the risk he has for negative place differential points.
Fast drivers starting further back are some of my favorite plays. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is a strong superspeedway driver who starts 17th. Kevin Harvick starts 16th. Aric Almirola starts 14th. These are some of my top targets, because they have some solid place differential upside.
Ryan Newman is someone I'm super high on. Starts 28th, so plenty of PD points available. 16 top 10s here in his Cup career, so we can trust him at this place.
As for value guys, two names stand out. One I have ranked high is Harrison Burton, a top 15 play in his Cup debut. He starts 39th, so a LOT of PD upside. He finished 10th in Saturday's Xfinity race here, plus has three Xfinity top fives at Daytona. He'll be too chalky, but I still want to play him a good bit.
Kaz Grala is my other big value play. I ranked him lower just because I don't trust the Kaulig equipment as much, but he starts 38th in the 16 car. Kaulig has a great Xfinity superspeedway program and while that doesn't necessarily translate to Cup, I think we're going to see a solid run from this team. Grala knows how to navigate the traffic as this kind of track, making him a strong play, even if I was a little hesitant in ranking him.
Otherwise, basically everyone starting 30th or worse has some punt appeal, because everyone could wreck here! This is a wild track. Anything can happen. Just go with your gut this week. Even us fantasy people struggle at superspeedways to make the right lineup decisions. Time to make some guesses!
NASCAR DFS News and Driver Outlooks
More Fantasy NASCAR Analysis
The Keys to Weekly NASCAR Success
NASCAR is back, and it's time for you to win more with RotoBaller! Our NASCAR Premium Package for DFS and betting features several heavy hitters and proven winners.
Jordan McAbee anchors the team with his exclusive NASCAR DFS and betting picks, DFS projections and algorithm-predicted finishing order! Jordan had a 60+ unit betting profit in 2024 NASCAR, and a 25% average annual profit since 2018. He won the FSWA Racing Writer Of The Year award in 2023, and has been nominated for DFS Writer Of The Year in 2024.
Five-time NASCAR Racing Writer of the Year finalist and fantasy industry legend Scott "The King" Engel is also in the crew, bringing you his weekly strategies and lineup picks. Set your winning DFS lineups with our award-winning team. He has been nominated once again in 2024 for this award.
