NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: GEICO 500 at Talladega

 

Last weekend at Richmond was a definite heart-breaker for Denny Hamlin, but boy was it a great feel-good story for Alex Bowman who took the race lead on a restart with only 10 laps to go. The win is Alex's third career victory and his first ever on a short track. Bowman is the eighth different race winner in nine NASCAR Cup Series races this season. Could Denny finally get his win this week? Stay tuned.

 

This Week's Pick Strategy:
Talladega racing can wreak havoc on fantasy rosters. Stick with drivers who have demonstrated results on superspeedways. These masters know how to navigate competitive, fast tracks while simultaneously drafting. When it comes to race teams that excel at Talladega no one does it better than Team Penske. In the last 11 races at Talladega a Team Penske driver has walked away with a win seven times: Joey Logano has three wins. Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney have two wins each.

Drivers with Most Top 10s (Last 5 Years):
By Race
Chase Elliott -3
All with 2 - Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Blaney

By Track
Denny Hamlin - 6

Joey Logano - 5
Chase Elliott - 4
All with 4 - Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney

Last Year's Race Winner: Ryan Blaney

Top 12 Driver Ratings at Talladega

Joey Logano............................... 91.7
Chase Elliott .............................. 90.7
Ryan Blaney............................... 90.6
Kurt Busch.................................. 90.0
Brad Keselowski......................... 89.9
Denny Hamlin............................. 83.6
William Byron.............................. 83.4
Ricky Stenhouse Jr..................... 82.2
Cole Custer................................ 81.7
Kyle Busch................................. 81.1
Kevin Harvick.............................. 80.1
Tyler Reddick.............................. 79.9

Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2020 races (32 total) among active drivers at Talladega Superspeedway.
SOURCE: NASCAR Media

My No-Brainer Pick: Ryan Blaney

My Final Four: Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell

Second-look driver: This week's second-look driver is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ricky has the third-best average finish at Talladega with 12.733. His Talladega record includes one win in 2017, six Top 5s and nine Top 10s.

Last week's second-look driver, Christopher Bell, had a great race last weekend at Richmond. Christopher started eighth on the grid and finished in fourth, earning his second Top 5 finish of the season. Christopher is currently 10th in the Cup Standings 12 points behind Brad Keselowski and 12 points ahead of Kyle Busch.

 

My Final Four: Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell.

 

Points to Ponder:

• The outside front row (second-place) starting position is the most prolific starting position in the field, producing more winners (20) than any other starting position at Talladega (19.8%).
• Brad Keselowski leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in wins at Talladega Superspeedway with five victories (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017).
• Kevin Harvick leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers with three runners-up finishes at Talladega (2003, 2004, 2010).
• Denny Hamlin leads all active series drivers in Top 5s at Talladega with nine.
• Kurt Busch leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in Top 10s at Talladega with 21.
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (11 starts) leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position at Talladega with a 12.7.
• Joey Logano leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in laps led at Talladega with 397 in 24 starts. 
  
• All eight of the drivers currently in the run for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs without a win this season have won at Daytona or Talladega previously. Brad Keselowski (five Talladega wins), Denny Hamlin (two Talladega wins), Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (each have one Talladega win) have all won at Talladega and are looking for their first win this season. Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch have each won at Daytona.

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your picks by 2 p.m. ET on race day Sunday, April 25th.

 

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 15 years. She launched  NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet.

 
When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat, or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.