Here we are back Cup Series racing after a one week break. Talladega is a far cry from Bristol, so the real question is will the Fords be able to put a complete race together? Will they finally show the Chevy and Toyota teams that Josh Berry's win was just the beginning for Ford victories? There are three Fords in the top five starting positions tomorrow, but the two Chevys, Kyle Busch in P2 and Austin Dillon in P5, looked pretty stout in qualifying on Saturday. Should be fun!
This Week's Pick Strategy:
Think drafting partners this week. Drafting takes elite pushers like Joey Logano and drivers with great car control who can receive pushes. I'll go heavy with Fords, lots of Chevy and one or two Toyotas. And then, I'll pray a lot! Good luck with your roster.
Think drafting partners this week. Drafting takes elite pushers like Joey Logano and drivers with great car control who can receive pushes. I'll go heavy with Fords, lots of Chevy and one or two Toyotas. And then, I'll pray a lot! Good luck with your roster.
Drivers with Most Top 10s (Last 5 Years):
By Race
All with 3 - Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, and Erik Jones
By Race
All with 3 - Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, and Erik Jones
All with 2 - Kyle Busch, Todd Gilliland, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, and Austin Dillon.
By Track
Erik Jones - 7
Both with 6 - William Byron and Denny Hamlin
Both with 5- Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski
Chase Elliott - 4
All with 3 - Todd Gilliland, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, and Austin Dillon
Last Year's Pole Winner: Michael McDowell
Last Year's Race Winner: Tyler Reddick
My 2 Cents: This
week's no-brainer pick is Ryan Blaney. My next picks are William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Erik Jones, and Kyle Busch. and I will round out my roster with Ryan Preece and Todd Gilliland.
My Fabulous 5 (Drivers most likely to finish in the Top 5): Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch.
NASCAR Fantasy Live Line Up:. Brad Keselowski; Kyle Busch; Austin Cindric; Erik Jones; and Ryan Preece. And in the garage Kyle Busch.
Featured Match Ups: Cindric over Bowman, Chastain over Larson. Busch over Logano, and Dillon over Gragson.
Second-Look Driver: This
week's second-look driver is Erik Jones. While you might think of Erik as a back of the pack racer, he is a skilled wheelman who has a knack for Talladega. In the past six races at Talladega, Erik earned the fourth-best average finish among active Cup Series drivers with a 14.0, right below Ryan Blaney with a 12.5. He has one Top 5 and four Top 10s, but his finishes don't tell the whole story. His numbers don't tell the whole story. If the No.43 team can put together a full race, you just may see that iconic No. 43 contending for the win.
Points to Ponder:
- The outside front row (second-place) starting position is the most productive starting position in the field, producing more winners (20) than any other starting position at Talladega (18.02%).
- Brad Keselowski leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in victories at Talladega Superspeedway with six (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2021). Other active Cup drivers with multiple wins at Talladega include Ryan Blaney (2023, 2020, 2019); Joey Logano with three each (2018, 2016, 2015); and Kyle Busch (2023, 2008), Chase Elliott (2022, 2019), and Denny Hamlin (2020, 2014) with two wins each.
- Brad Keselowski (2021, 2024 sweep) leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in runner-up finishes at Talladega Superspeedway with three, followed by Kyle Busch (2012, 2016), Ryan Blaney (2022, 2023) and William Byron (2021, 2023) with two each.
- Brad Keselowski leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in top fives at Talladega with 12, followed by Denny Hamlin with 11, who also leads active drivers in Top 10s with 17.
- Anthony Alfredo, who is running double-duty this weekend, is piloting the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, and leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position at Talladega Superspeedway with a 13.0 in four career starts.
- Joey Logano leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in laps led at Talladega Superspeedway with 509 in 32 career starts.
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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 18
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.