May 3, 2025
The NASCAR Cup Series is at an intermediate track this weekend (Texas Motor Speedway), which means you should temper your expectations with Todd Gilliland. Looking back at the Las Vegas race earlier this year, Gilliland never found any speed in the desert and ended up finishing 29th after qualifying 32nd. This weekend at Texas, the No. 38 Ford ended up 27th-fastest in practice but was just 32nd-fastest in qualifying. In three career starts at this track, Gilliland has never finished better than 28th, and he's ended up outside of the top 30 entirely in two of those three events. Even though he is a cheap DFS option on DraftKings this weekend ($5,900), it's going to take a lot of luck for Gilliland to end up with even a halfway decent fantasy score on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
May 3, 2025
Ty Dillon isn't going to contend for the race win in this weekend's Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, but don't be surprised if the Kaulig Racing driver challenges for a mid-teens result at the end of the day on Sunday. Dillon has actually been quite consistent at Texas Motor Speedway in the Next Gen era, as he has finished either 16th or 19th in all three races despite driving for a different team each time (Petty GMS, Spire, and Kaulig). This season at intermediate tracks, Dillon has finished 21st at Las Vegas, 27th at homestead, and 16th at Darlington. The Cup Series teams are using the same tire combination this weekend at Texas as they did for those three races. At $5,100 on DraftKings, Ty Dillon makes for a very interesting low-dollar, cap-saving option in tournament formats. If he can move up to the mid-teens from his 23rd-place starting spot on Sunday, he very well could end up in the optimal DFS lineup.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
May 3, 2025
Cody Ware will roll off the starting grid from 36th place for the Würth 400 on Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway after posting a qualifying lap of 186.580 mph. Ware's No. 51 Ford was equally as slow in practice on Saturday, as he was 35th-fastest out of the 38 drivers in the field. As a low-tier driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, the expectations are already quite low for a guy like Ware. With that being said, with the increased potential for wrecks at Texas Motor Speedway, there is a little bit more opportunity for him to move up during the race due to attrition this weekend. Still, even a top-30 finish is unlikely for Ware on Sunday. He has finished 33rd and 38th in his two other Cup Series starts at this track. Unless you absolutely need the cap room on DraftKings and are hoping for a race with a ton of attrition, it's probably best to stay away from Ware ($4,800) in DFS this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: On3
April
28,
2025
William
Byron
of
Hendrick
Motorsports
had
an
up-and-down
day
during
the
Jack
Link's
500
at
Talladega
Superspeedway.
Beginning
the
race
from
the
16th
position,
Byron
quietly
rode
with
the
pack
during
the
race's
first
stage
until
the
first
set
of
pit
read more...
April 28, 2025
Team Penske's Ryan Blaney looked to have a quality finish for the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, but left the race early after unfortunate circumstances. In the first stage, Blaney started from the ninth position, but quickly shuffled back to the middle part of the pack as other racers passed him. The No. 12 Ford driver then rode around until pit stops were occurring around laps 41-43. On lap 43, Kyle Busch tried merging onto pit road but lost control of his car, making contact with Brad Keselowski, who went up the track and in front of Blaney. With no place to go to avoid crashing, Blaney suffered damage and had to be towed back to the garage. Although his team attempted to repair the damage on Blaney's car, they decided the damage was too severe to repair, leaving Blaney out of the race. Blaney would end up placing 37th with a DNF due to an accident for the second consecutive Talladega race.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
April
28,
2025
Hendrick
Motorsports
driver
Kyle
Larson
finished
Sunday's
Jack
Link's
500
at
Talladega
Superspeedway
in
the
second
position.
Starting
from
the
25th
position,
Larson
quietly
kept
up
with
the
pack
for
most
of
the
first
stage
and
kept
his
car
clean.
After
read more...
April 28, 2025
Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing had high hopes for a strong performance at Talladega Superspeedway, but ended with disappointment through a finish of 36th during Sunday's Jack Link's 500. Beginning the race from the 22nd position, Keselowski quickly made his way up through the field at the start of the first stage. The No. 6 Ford driver made it as high as the top three, but never made it to the lead. After riding with the pack for most of the first stage, the first round of pit stops came up, and Keselowski looked to pit with other Ford drivers on lap 43. Unfortunately, Kyle Busch got up to the side of Keselowski and lost control of his car, colliding with the No. 6 Ford and causing a multi-car crash. Keselowski sustained too much damage from this incident and was unable to continue, settling for a 36th-place finish, his worst result at Talladega since October 2016, when he failed to finish due to an engine failure.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
April 28, 2025
Chase Elliott had another typically quiet finish at Talladega yesterday, finishing 7th on track but being promoted to 5th after Ryan Preece and Joey Logano's disqualifications. Although his pass differential of 52 was the second-highest in the race behind only his teammate Kyle Larson, Elliott only factored for the lead a couple times and only led a single lap under caution while his teammates all looked faster. Elliott was the highest-ranked Chevy in the race a couple times, but he usually did better while in fuel-saving mode than going full rich. His comeback to fifth was nonetheless very impressive as he had a speeding penalty on a pit stop late in Stage 2 in a race where it was difficult to make passes through the pack. His inconsistency has allowed him to pass Christopher Bell for fourth in points and he sits 107 points above the cutline, but his relative lack of speed this year is still worrisome.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 28, 2025
Arguable pre-race favorite Joey Logano had arguably the best run at Talladega, leading 24 laps, posting the race's best average running position of 7, and finishing fifth on track before being disqualified for a missing spoiler brace. Although Logano ran in the top ten for most of Stage 1, he burned more fuel while running out front and did not earn any stage points, but finished second in Stage 2 before he was stripped of his points post-race. He embarrassed himself thoroughly by lashing out at his teammate Austin Cindric for costing him the stage "win" and got his comeuppance when Cindric won the race while Logano was relegated to a last-place finish. Nonetheless, despite only one top ten finish in the first nine races, Logano has still collected enough stage points to be sitting in a tie for 10th with Ross Chastain 36 points above the playoff cutline.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 28, 2025
In a race where Ryan Preece's two RFK Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher both crashed early, it was left to Preece to carry the mantle for the organization, Preece took the lead four times and lost to Austin Cindric by a mere .022 second on track before being disqualified for a rear spoiler infraction. Preece ran in the top ten for most of the first and second stages but fell back because he burnt more fuel than his pursuers before he saved fuel in Stage 3 to jump the early leaders of that stage. After the pit stops, he was elevated to fifth and for all the backlash about how it was supposedly impossible to pass, he did move from the third row in the last ten laps to battle Cindric for the lead before the DQ. However, the resulting 38th place finish dropped him out of the playoffs and 19 points below the cutline.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April
28,
2025
Although
Bubba
Wallace
only
finished
eighth
at
Talladega
and
led
only
five
laps,
he
had
one
of
the
best
drives
in
a
lowkey
way.
After
finishing
fourth
in
Stage
1,
Wallace
then
outdueled
Joey
Logano's
illegal
car
on
the
last
lap
read more...
April 28, 2025
After winning the previous drafting track race at Atlanta, Christopher Bell was unable to repeat the feat at Talladega after a hard crash on lap 52. Bell had driven from his 11th starting position to second behind Chase Briscoe for most of the first stage when the Toyotas worked together to drive from the field. The caution came out for a pit road crash after Bell had pitted but before many of the leaders did, allowing Bell to reinherit the second position after the drivers who stayed out pitted. Restarting alongside Chris Buescher, Bell received a bad bump draft from his teammate Denny Hamlin, which sent him into Buescher and then head on into the inside retaining wall. While this wreck would have likely caused a significant injury in the '90s, he was unhurt but dropped to 82 points behind the points leader William Byron for the regular season championship.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 27, 2025
Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports will start 30th after qualifying for Sunday's Jack Link's 500. This marks the lowest-ever Cup Series starting position for the No. 9 Chevrolet driver at the Alabama track. In 18 Cup starts in his career at Talladega, Elliott has 13 top-20 finishes, with eight inside the top 10, and two wins. Through nine races so far this year, Elliott has five top-10 finishes, an average finish of 11.6, and remains the only driver to place in the top 20 in all Cup events. Elliott has incredible upside from his starting position, and with Talladega being one of his more favorable tracks historically, he should be one of the first drivers to consider rostering in all formats this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 27, 2025
Team Penske's Joey Logano will start third for the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. This marks the fifth consecutive race where Logano has a top-10 starting position at the site. In 32 starts at Talladega, Logano has three wins, 11 top-10 finishes, and 509 laps led, which is the most of all active drivers in the field. With nine races completed so far this season, Logano has one top-10 finish, despite leading multiple laps in five different events. Logano will likely find his way to the front at some point and lead laps based on his overall speed in the past at drafting tracks. However, Joey has yet to finish inside the top 10 with the Next-Gen car at Talladega. DFS players should only consider rostering Logano for tournament games, but even then, he is a massive Place Differential risk and should not be rostered due to his finishing history at Talladega.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 27, 2025
Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing obtained a starting position of 20th for Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway. This will be the third time since 2022 that Wallace will start a race 20th or lower at the Alabama track. In 14 starts at Talladega in his Cup career, Wallace has eight top-20 finishes, including a win in 2021, and a top-10 in his last appearance at the site in October 2024. Through nine races so far this season, Wallace has five top-20 finishes and an average finish of 17.9. Bubba has solid upside based on his starting position, and he is typically very fast at drafting-based tracks. DFS players should utilize the No. 23 Toyota driver in all DFS formats, as he is a quality driver capable of placing in the top 10.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
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