April 27, 2025
One interesting driver for this weekend's Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is AJ Allmendinger. The Kaulig Racing Chevrolets are known for their superspeedway speed in both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series, but Allmendinger doesn't have the best reputation on drafting tracks. With that being said, the numbers actually aren't too bad for Dinger at NASCAR's biggest tracks. Over his seven starts at superspeedways in the Next Gen era, AJ has posted two top-10 finishes, and he's wound up inside that mark in eight of his last 16 starts at this track type overall. The interesting part this weekend is that he qualified in 19th-place. In DFS contests, most players are going to simply overlook Allmendinger and go with some bigger names with high Place Differential upside. However, another top-10 finish will easily get AJ inside that coveted 40+ FPTS range on DraftKings on Sunday. In tournaments, it's worth being overweight on the field with Allmendinger, but nothing too excessive.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Kickin the Tires
April 27, 2025
It's not very often that we're talking about BJ McLeod as a usable pick in DFS, but when Talladega rolls around, he usually ends up in the conversation. The nature of superspeedway racing is a great equalizer and allows bottom-tier drivers and teams (like McLeod and his No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet) to challenge for respectable finishes (comparative to their normal results). Just last season, McLeod finished 22nd at Talladega and 19th at Daytona despite starting back in 38th-place for both races. That Place Differential upside is what makes him a possible pick at these tracks. This weekend in the Jack Link's 500, McLeod will once again roll off the starting grid from 38th-place. Although he is by no means a slam-dunk fantasy pick, the potential for him to move up in the finishing order due to wrecks during the race make BJ McLeod a low-tier option in DFS this weekend--just don't go too crazy on ownership. Between five and 10 percent is sufficient.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
April 27, 2025
Haas Factory Team's Cole Custer will start 12th for this week's race at Talladega Superspeedway, the Jack Link's 400. This starting position is a new career-best in the Cup Series for Custer at the Alabama track. In six previous races at Talladega, Custer has one top-10 finish, but also gained positive or neutral Place Differential five times. With the first nine races completed this season, Custer has an average finish of 27.8 and has yet to finish a race higher than 21st. Considering his starting position and 2025 performance so far this year, despite his overall favorable history of nabbing upside at Talladega, Custer is a huge DFS risk who is not recommended to add to rosters this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 26, 2025
Ty Dillon of Kailig Racing obtained a starting position of 21st after qualifying for the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Dillon's starting position for this week's race is the highest at the site for him since 2019. In 12 races at Talladega in the Cup Series, Dillon has nine top-20 finishes and collected positive Place Differential 10 times overall. After nine races completed this season, Dillon has four top-20 finishes, an average finish of 22.0, and has nabbed positive PD five times. Considering his overall history at Talladega of placing in the top 20 and obtaining positive PD, Dillon is a value option worth rostering in all formats, especially considering how the 2025 season is shaping up to be one of Dillon's better Cup seasons so far.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 26, 2025
Cody Ware of Rick Ware Racing will start 33rd for this week's Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. This is tied for the second-highest ever starting position of his Cup career to date at Talladega. In nine previous races at the site, Ware has two top-20 finishes, but also scored positive Place Differential in all of his starts. Through the first nine races this season, Ware has four top-30 finishes and never finished higher than 24th. Ware is one of the safest and cheapest DFS options of the week, who works as a punt play, and can simply survive and finish the race. Ware's equipment is still overall inferior and slower compared to most of the field, however, so do not expect him to compete for the win unless his competitors crash out.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April
17,
2025
Team
Penske's
Ryan
Blaney
finished
Sunday's
Food
City
500
in
fifth
position
at
Bristol
Motor
Speedway.
Beginning
the
race
from
the
same
position,
Blaney
quietly
ran
inside
the
top
10
and
avoided
any
incidents
and
damage
during
the
first
stage.
He
read more...
April 16, 2025
Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon placed 10th at the end of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Beginning the race from the 17th position, Dillon did not do much during the first stage. He spent the whole stage fighting to maintain a top-20 running position; by the end of it, he was 19th. In the second stage, Dillon did take a contrarian pit strategy by pitting for tires on lap 182, getting him off-sequence with the leaders. However, this would not do much in the context of his overall running position as, by the end of stage two, he placed 18th and failed to score stage points throughout the day. In the final stage, Dillon executed on his pit stops and finally made up ground. The No. 3 Chevrolet driver kept his car clean and then finished in the 10th position by the end of the race. This was Dillon's first top-10 finish at Bristol since 2020 and his first top-10 finish of the 2025 season.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
April
14,
2025
Christopher
Bell
of
Joe
Gibbs
Racing
placed
eighth
at
the
end
of
the
Food
City
500
at
Bristol
Motor
Speedway
on
Sunday.
Starting
the
race
from
the
seventh
position,
Bell's
race
was
up
and
down,
but
he
ran
inside
the
top
read more...
April
14,
2025
Ty
Gibbs
of
Joe
Gibbs
Racing
obtained
a
finish
of
third
in
Sunday's
Food
City
500
at
Bristol
Motor
Speedway.
It
is
the
first
top-5
of
2025
for
the
driver
of
the
No.
54
Toyota
after
struggling
throughout
the
year
so
read more...
April 14, 2025
Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe finished fourth in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Beginning the race from the 14th position, Briscoe quietly and steadily made his way through the field throughout the entire race. By the end of the first stage, Briscoe made it up to 11th and fell short of earning stage points. In the second stage, Briscoe cracked the top 10 and finished the stage in ninth, earning two stage points. In the final stage, Briscoe and his team executed on their pit stops, navigated traffic efficiently, and raced up to the fourth position, scoring his third top-5 result of the 2025 season. This finish also was a new career best for Briscoe at Bristol and the first top-5 ever in his Cup career at the site.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
April 14, 2025
When Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin started on the second row in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol, most people expected one or the other to dominate and overtake front-row starters Alex Bowman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It turned out to be Larson, who led over 400 laps for the second consecutive Bristol race, but Hamlin ran in the top five for the entire race (except for pit stop exchanges) and eventually finished second. He never had anything for Larson but was also never really challenged for second in the second half of the race after Bowman's engine failure. Although he failed to win his third race in a row, he gained 19 points on William Byron in the championship and now trails him by a mere 30 points.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 14, 2025
Despite blowing his qualifying lap after expecting to win the pole, William Byron recovered from 26th to finish sixth at Bristol, which would've been called a good points day in the Latford points system era. It doesn't matter as much in today's playoff points system where wins and stage wins are vastly more important, but making the most out of bad situations will help him in his quest to win the regular season championship and max out the regular season playoff points. Since Byron tends to have a history of being hot in the first third of the season before fading in the second third, having a strong cushion now will likely help him in the summer races at tracks where he doesn't tend to run as well.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 14, 2025
In a virtual repeat of last year's Bristol Night Race, Alex Bowman won the pole for Sunday's race at Bristol before Kyle Larson passed him early in Stage 1 and led the rest of the race, with the exception of pit-stop exchanges. The difference is Bowman had an engine failure in Sunday's race. However, Bowman's race was still very strong, as he ran in the top five for nearly the entirety of the first 285 laps and was running third when his engine went sour. He tried to nurse it home but eventually retired from the race after 343 laps. Although Bowman has now had a pretty unlucky season, he still sits 46 points above the playoff cut line and he's shown more speed this year than he has at any point since his injury at Texas in 2022. He's already passed his laps-led total from each of the past two years.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 14, 2025
Although A.J. Allmendinger famously won an Xfinity race at Bristol in 2021 while crashing across the finish line with Austin Cindric, his Cup Series performances there had never been too strong until Sunday. Allmendinger quietly earned a ninth-place finish at a track where he had only ever earned two top-10s in his previous 25 starts. Although he started eighth, he fell out of the top 10 early in Stage 1 and ran just outside the top 10 for most of the event (with the exception of earning one stage point in Stage 1). He didn't finally break into the top 10 until Lap 432, but he remained there for the rest of the race and was one of only two drivers along with Ross Chastain to finish on the lead lap without driving for a top-tier team. The finish moves him into unexpected playoff contention, as he sits a mere two points behind Kyle Busch for the final transfer spot.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
April 13, 2025
Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports will start third for Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Larson has a top-5 starting position at Bristol for the eighth time in his Cup Series career. In 17 races at the Tennessee short track, Larson has two wins, 12 top-10 finishes, and an average finish of 11.0. Through eight races so far this season, Larson has one win and five top-10 finishes with an average finish of 13.8. In practice, Larson was fastest in the overall, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 consecutive lap average categories. With top-notch practice speeds, a high starting position that makes him a favorite to lead laps early, and great equipment, Larson is expected to compete for the win and is a core DFS option this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
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