J.J. Yeley Too Slow to Be a Solid Underdog Play

Despite never being a very successful driver in NASCAR, J.J. Yeley has had a surprisingly long career in the NASCAR Cup Series and it has continued this year with the underfunded and wildly off the pace New York Racing Team. How far off the pace? He qualified 40th and last for today's Talladega race and […]

Daniel Suarez Unlikely to Repeat Atlanta Triumph at Talladega

Daniel Suarez was pretty lucky to advance to the playoffs while his teammate Ross Chastain didn't even though Chastain has arguably outrun Suarez even worse this year than in 2022 and 2023, so it shouldn't be surprising that Suarez now sits 14 points below the cutline and is unlikely to advance to the Round of […]

Spire Motorsports Too Far Off the Pace for Zane Smith to Contend

Zane Smith has definitely had a significant uptick in performance in the second half of 2024, particularly as he sees tracks a second time, although this is overstated to some extent as he is usually finishing better than he is running of late and that is not necessarily sustainable. However, all three Spire cars were […]

Ryan Preece Will Probably Be an Afterthought at Talladega

Ryan Preece qualified 18th for what might be his last NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega. Although he is in a Ford and the Fords have had a significant speed advantage, the Stewart-Haas Fords have been nowhere near as fast as the Penske-affiliated Fords and it seems likely the team will be focused on trying […]

Michael McDowell Consistently Fails to Get Finishes After Drafting Track Poles

Michael McDowell's qualifying dominance on drafting tracks continued as he won the pole for this afternoon's YellaWood 500 at Talladega, his fifth straight pole on this track type and sixth this season, the most of any driver. However, he has struggled to maintain his position in those races as his average finish after winning the […]

Despite Inconsistent Record, Joey Logano a Likely Favorite at Talladega

Joey Logano qualified 6th for this afternoon's Talladega race and sits four points above the playoff cutline in a tie with Chase Elliott. Although he has not run very well at most tracks this season relative to his usual standard, he has been very strong on drafting tracks as he led the most laps at […]

Erik Jones's Season Struggles Will Probably Override Talladega Record

Erik Jones's season has been one to forget after suffering a fractured vertebra in the spring race at Talladega when his teammate John Hunter Nemechek triggered a multi-car crash. Despite looking like a playoff contender as recently as 2022, Jones has not led a lap this season nor has he finished in the top ten […]

Ty Gibbs Might Overcome Joe Gibbs Racing's Questionable Drafting Track Speed

Although Ty Gibbs was eliminated from the playoffs, he can still salvage his season with a win at Talladega, but the Joe Gibbs Racing cars have been slower than you'd expect on drafting tracks lately. Although his teammates Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin have been two of this season's most dominant drivers, three out of […]

Chase Elliott Should Finish Well at Talladega Without Seriously Contending

Chase Elliott starts 11th at Talladega and enters the race in a tie with Joey Logano four points above the playoff cutline to reach the Round of 8. Elliott has consistently had speed at Talladega from the beginning as he won the pole for his first race there and won there twice in 2019 and […]

Ross Chastain Looks to Become First Back-to-Back Winner in Over a Year

After winning at Kansas, Ross Chastain looks to become the first back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series winner since Chris Buescher over a year ago at Talladega today. Although he only starts 27th, Chastain has been strong at drafting tracks in the past as he won the spring 2022 Talladega race, but that was mostly because Erik […]

Harrison Burton Looks to Repeat Improbable Daytona Victory

After improbably winning the summer Daytona race in August, Harrison Burton looks to duplicate that performance at Talladega. Since his Wood Brothers car is prepared by Team Penske and Penske and its satellites have been dominating on drafting tracks all season, there is a slight possibility that Burton could win again and his 9th place […]

Stewart-Haas Racing Likely Not Fast Enough for Chase Briscoe to Advance

After his dismal run at Kansas last week, Chase Briscoe is probably doomed in terms of making into the Round of 8 on speed as he sits 25 points below the cutline and qualified 36th, worst of all the Ford drivers on a track type where Fords tend to dominate both in qualifying and in […]

Kaulig Racing Has Some Speed, but Probably Not Enough for A.J. Allmendinger to Contend

Although Kaulig Racing has not had much speed on most tracks other than road courses this year with any driver in either the NASCAR Cup Series or the Xfinity Series, they have been decent on the drafting tracks in both series as A.J. Allmendinger did finish 6th in the Daytona 500 where he made a […]

Is Noah Gragson Worth Rostering For Talladega In DFS This week?

In qualifying for Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Stewart-Haas Racing driver Noah Gragson nabbed a starting position of 22nd. This is the highest starting position for Gragson at Talladega since October 2022, when he filled in for an injured Alex Bowman at Hendrick Motorsports. In four previous races at the site, Gragson obtained positive […]

Austin Dillon Is A Huge DFS Risk Not Worth Rostering At Talladega

Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing qualified seventh in this week's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. It will be the sixth race this season where Dillon will start a race inside the Top 10. In 22 starts at Talladega, Dillon has five top-10 finishes, with only one acquired since 2022. In 30 races completed so […]