2 months agoRicky Stenhouse, Jr. has had a startling collapse since the middle of last year and this year he has been shockingly slow with a speed percentile of 30.83, which is slower than he was in any of his previous full-time seasons. However, if there is any track where he could turn it around, Talladega might be it. Stenhouse has become the millennial version of Michael Waltrip, a driver whose seasons live or die based on his drafting performances. All three of his NASCAR Cup wins have come on drafting tracks, and his Daytona 500 win did come with the NextGen car. Stenhouse has made an on-track pass for the lead in seven of the fourteen NextGen drafting races but didn't do so in either race this season. Regardless, he contends often enough that he is probably undervalued by oddsmakers, likely making him a solid dark horse for the GEICO 500.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoAfter selling his Live Fast Motorsports charter to Spire Motorsports last year, BJ McLeod has dropped back to a partial schedule but he continues to enter the races on drafting tracks because those are the only tracks where he realistically could get a decent finish with his team's underfunded equipment. McLeod has been generally good at avoiding crashes, but whether he can get a decent finish is almost entirely dependent on whether most of the field crashes out or not, and that is difficult to predict. Signs point to no because fewer cars tend to crash out at Talladega than Daytona. In the four Talladega NextGen races, there were only 26 crash or DVP DNFs for an average of 6.5 per race. Given that trend, probably too many cars will finish for McLeod to get a top twenty in this weekend's GEICO 500.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoCarson Hocevar starts way back in 35th for his first Talladega race as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, but he did start the second Talladega race last year in the Legacy Motor Club No. 42 car. In that race, he crashed after never really significantly factoring. In his Craftsman Truck Series starts at Talladega, he did a little better. Although he crashed in all three of those races, he still finished two of them and led 17 laps, including impressively leading for 12 laps after he crashed in the 2022 truck race. Hocevar is still very young and inexperienced and this is not his best track type, but he has generally outperformed Corey LaJoie this year and LaJoie has led drafting races before including battling for the win at Atlanta in 2022, so don't be shocked if Hocevar contends. He makes a very safe DFS play because of his deep starting position.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoShane van Gisbergen makes his NASCAR Cup Series debut on a drafting track today at Talladega, but he's already shown something of a proclivity in drafting in his Xfinity Series starts, finishing 3rd at Atlanta and running in the top five for large portions of this weekend's Xfinity race, including passing Sammy Smith for the lead before running out of fuel and not getting the finish he deserved. While he'll obviously face more competition in the Cup race and the Kaulig cars usually aren't as strong in Cup races as they are in Xfinity races, the NextGen cars are more similar to the Supercars that SVG previously raced. His 17th-place qualifying run for the GEICO 500 is actually better than his qualifying run for the Xfinity race. When considering his teammate A.J. Allmendinger has led the last three Daytona races on track in that car, SVG might do better than you expect.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoRoss Chastain qualified 32nd for this weekend's GEICO 500 at Talladega, but starting positions don't really matter here as long as you miss the wrecks. Chastain has been a solid performer on drafting tracks as he has made an on-track pass for the lead in eight of the fourteen NextGen drafting races to date including a win at this race two years ago, but he isn't likely one of the favorites either as this isn't his best track type. His only win at Talladega was rather lucky as he took over the lead almost by accident when Erik Jones's drafting help crashed behind him and this year his teammate Daniel Suárez has essentially matched him if not bettered him in performance on the drafting tracks in what has not been a good year for him other than his win. Chastain's odds of winning are probably less than you think, but he makes a strong DFS play.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2
months
agoMartin
Truex
Jr.,
who
currently
sits
second
in
the
NASCAR
playoff
standings,
will
start
sixth
in
Sunday's
Geico
500
at
Talladega
Superspeedway.
Heading
into
a
weekend
with
so
much
uncertainty
given
the
unpredictable
nature
of
superspeedway
racing,
Truex
is
perhaps
the
biggest
question
mark
on
the
slate.
Although
read more...
2 months agoFresh off a second-place finish at Texas, Brad Keselowski will start 22nd in Sunday's Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Despite being a former series champion, a perennial title contender, and a future hall of famer, Brad Keselowski has not won since the 2021 Talladega spring race, a drought that has now reached 107 races. While 107 races is a long time, the RFK Racing driver-owner has remained relevant and competitive, earning 39 top-10s, including four second-place finishes. Interestingly, aside from last week's race at Texas, Keselowski's other three second-place finishes over this drought occurred at Atlanta, Daytona, and Talladega, NASCAR's three restrictor plate tracks. With six wins and 14 top-10s in 30 Cup starts at this track, as a driver that is competitive on superspeedways, and given that he has finished in the top-five in 33% of his starts this season, the No. 6 looks like a solid play this weekend in DFS.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
2 months agoOn Saturday afternoon, Erik Jones qualified 28th for Sunday's Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. On a slate with so much uncertainty, Jones looks to be one of the more reliable plays heading into the weekend. In his four starts in the Next Gen car at Talladega, the Legacy Motor Club star has finished in sixth place three times , has two appearances in the DraftKings optimal lineup, and is averaging 45.79 DraftKings points, which is the third-highest average among full-time drivers in the series. It is also worth noting that while 2024 is not off to a hot start for the 27-year-old, his one top-10 finish this season came at Daytona, NASCAR's other true superspeedway. Because racing on this style of track is so unpredictable, there are no true "core" plays this weekend as you do not want to go overweight on any driver. Having said this, given his past performances on this track, Erik Jones is a driver that you will want to be deliberate about targeting when building your DFS lineups on Sunday.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
2
months
agoDaniel
Hemric
will
start
19th
in
Sunday's
Geico
500
at
Talladega
Superspeedway.
Despite
2024
being
a
largely
disappointing
season
for
Hemric,
he
did
have
a
solid
fantasy
performance
last
weekend
at
Texas.
After
starting
38th,
the
33-year-old
ended
the
day
with
a
20th-place
finish,
earning
41
DraftKings
points
read more...
2
months
agoNoah
Gragson
qualified
36th
for
Sunday's
Geico
500
at
Talladega
Superspeedway
in
what
will
be
just
his
fourth
Cup
start
at
the
famed
track.
While
his
three
previous
Cup
starts
here
have
been
largely
disappointing,
averaging
23.7
for
his
finishing
position,
his
Xfinity
results
are
much
more
impressive.
read more...
2
months
agoTy
Gibbs
will
start
P15
in
Sunday's
Geico
500
at
Talladega
Superspeedway.
Since
starting
out
the
season
with
an
impressive
five
top-10
finishes
in
the
first
six
races,
Gibbs
has
finished
13th
or
worse
over
the
last
three
weeks.
Since
we
know
a
driver
the
caliber
of
Gibbs
read more...
2
months
agoOn
Saturday
afternoon,
Austin
Dillon
qualified
fifth
for
the
Geico
500
at
Talladega
Superspeedway.
Because
of
his
two
Cup
wins
and
his
nine
top
10
finishes
at
Daytona,
Dillon
has
earned
a
reputation
for
being
a
solid
restrictor
plate
racer.
Despite
his
impressive
performances
at
The
World
Center
read more...
2 months agoDon't be afraid to roll the dice with Alex Bowman in your DFS contests this weekend. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has posted top-10 finishes in four of his last eleven starts at this track along with 13th- and 14th-place finishes during that same span. He will roll off the grid from 12th in this weekend's GEICO 500, so there is some place differential upside for Bowman in this weekend's race, which is what you should be targeting with your DraftKings lineups. Priced at $7,800 for this slate, Bowman is by no means a core driver pick at Talladega, but he can be sprinkled in for large-field tournaments. Remember, Bowman finished second in this year's Daytona 500, another superspeedway race.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2 months agoLook for Chris Buescher to potentially be a factor in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. He ended up with a third-place result in this race last season and has finished sixth or better in three of the last eight races at this track. Additionally, Buescher's No. 17 Ford has been strong at superspeedways overall, as he has the fifth-best average running position at Daytona and Talladega since the start of the 2023 season. With a starting position of eighth this weekend, Buescher becomes a relatively risky DFS pick, and his $8,500 salary on DraftKings will likely keep his ownership level low as well. Use Buescher sparingly in your lineups this weekend, but don't avoid him entirely.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2 months agoLast week's NASCAR Cup Series race winner, Chase Elliott, is looking to go back-to-back this weekend in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway--and it wouldn't be surprising if NASCAR's most popular driver pulled it off. Chase is a two-time winner at Talladega (2019 and 2022) and has finished seventh or better in three of the four races there over the last two seasons. His career average driver rating of 90.6 is second-best to only Ryan Blaney when it comes to Talladega specifically, and when you look at both Daytona and Talladega (the two big superspeedways on the schedule), Elliott has the sixth-best average running position on them since the start of the 2023 season. This weekend, Chase qualified ninth for the GEICO 500 race, making him a relatively risky DFS option due to his limited place differential potential. However, if he can pull off a third win at Talladega, he will most likely make it into the optimal DraftKings lineup, so he shouldn't be avoided by any means.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Win The Race
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