NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Pickin' and Praying at Talladega

So this is where I'm supposed to give you sage advice on final fantasy picks for Talladega Superspeedway for the Good Sam Club 500 Sprint Cup race. Well, that is pretty much an oxymoron. Anything can and usually does happen at 'Dega.

The strategy here is picking drivers who know how to draft, who are relatively patient and even tempered, and who, more times than not, actually finish races at this crazy track. So check out the DNFs.

When it comes between Jimmie Johnson vs. Kevin Harvick, in the last 5 years it is Harvick 0, Johnson 1. If you are maxing out on Johnson as a pick, I'd go with Harvick since Johnson is dominate at Martinsville and Phoenix.

The Toyotas aren't looking so hot this weekend, but if they are hooked up with a solid partner then all bets are off. Brad Keselowski would be safer than Joey Logano since he didn't look so secure with Kyle Busch who is now in a backup car. If you have Mark Martin on your team, I'd activate him especially since he runs well with teammate Jeff Gordon.

David Ragan or Paul Menard would be my last two-some to pick from. Both will have great drafting partners: Ragan with Matt Kenseth and Menard with Kevin Harvick. In this case I'd go with Ragan with 1 DNF vs. Menard's 3.

So start practicing the Talladega fantasy mantra now ... please don't crash, please don't crash, please don't crash ...

Enjoy the race!

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