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AustYn

I am not going to lie, the strategy for Talladega is a free-for-all. I don’t think there is a correct strategy here, you just have to predict how chaotic the race will be and go from there. Kyle Busch sneaked his way into victory lane Alex Bowman style last week and got the Bristol Dirt win helping his playoff hopes. There probably will be another surprise victor this week or at least that is what I am predicting.

Christopher Bell will be the polesitter for the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, with Martin Truex Jr right beside him in P2. Ford’s are traditionally strong at the superspeedway’s but don’t be shocked to see Toyota lead the beginning of the race. There are 5 Toyota’s and 5 Chevrolet’s in the starting top-10 with the first Ford in 13th. Bubba Wallace is the returning winner here and Brad Keselowski won the 1st ‘Dega race in 2021. I always go very conservative at the superspeedway’s and pick a mid-field shocker to help my ownership odds. I cannot say that there aren’t great superspeedway racers, because there are and there is strategy to picking them, but only one stands out to me in wreck avoidance and I’ll make him my top-pick. My advice is pick horsepower, but pick a driver who can be patient even in the most chaotic points of the race.

Top Pick: Ty Dillon Starting 20th ($6,1000)

Yes, you eyes are not deceiving you…Ty Dillon is my top-choice. In 8 Cup starts at Talladega, Ty has never finished outside of the top-20 with 17th being his worst and always finished on the lead lap. You cannot argue with that. Maybe he is due for a bad one, but I really like Ty Dillon to come away with a shocking victory today. At 125/1 to win according to CBS Sports, I like those odds.

Supporting Cast: Corey Lajoie Starting 33rd ($5,200) & Landon Cassill Starting 39th ($4,900)

I like the Spire Motorsports camp as my supporting cast. I do believe that they have the speed to come away with a solid finish and I think they will be driving very conservative to start this one. Hopefully we can get some wreck avoidance and get both inside the top-20. Cassill came away with a top-5 in the Xfinity race yesterday, so hopefully that continues here.

FanDuel Preview

Yacs

Super Speedway racing is on its way today from Talladega and these races are always tense and have you on the edge of your seat, especially in the final laps. With that being said, your lineup will be boom or bust this week, spoiler alert. In DFS, salaries do not matter. All that matters is picking the right drivers that have four on the floor. In some cases, you can survive with one driver out of commission, but in other cases, that may be the end of your lineup. Laps led are going to be virtually worthless, because there will be a lot of lead changes and even if there is a driver that leads a good number of laps, that boost likely will not amount to many bonus points. Last week was similar in the aspect of unpredictability at Bristol Dirt, but obviously the track is totally different. Tyler Reddick looked poised to claim his first career Cup Series victory but was taken out on an aggressive move from Chase Briscoe on the last lap. Kyle Busch won the race and it appears that all was forgiven. We’ll see if the drivers are more forgiving this week.

My FanDuel strategy for this week is not necessarily based on past results, but it will definitely have an element of that. I’m looking at drivers that can stay on the track and have proven that they can do so today at Talladega. More specifically, lead lap finishes. You are basically golden at a track like this if you can have all 5 drivers remaining on the track when the checkered flag waves. Like I said earlier, it’s possible to have one driver not finish the race with the possibility of your lineup winning, but if you have more than one, you’re likely done. There wasn’t a practice session this week, but in all honesty, it wouldn’t help you that much anyway. This is a tough race to watch for DFS players, but without further ado, let’s get it rolling.

First off the Board: Denny Hamlin ($13,000) Starting 7th

Hamlin is one of the most successful drivers on the big tracks and there is a reason for that. He can stay out of trouble. 7th starting spot isn’t very attractive, but you only want guys that can finish the race on the lead lap. Denny can do that. He may be picked a lot just because he is really good at Super Speedways, but I think fading Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott starting in the 20s will leave a lot of people overlooking Denny. I hope that’s the case anyway.

The Climbers: Kevin Harvick ($9,500) Starting 24th; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,500) Starting 26th

At a track like this, you definitely need some climbers. You need guys that will start towards the back and will climb their way to the top and at this track. That happens pretty easily here, almost too easily. Both drivers have a good history here, but more importantly, they have a good history of finishing races. Harvick has 42 career starts at Talladega and has only had 4 DNFs. That’s incredible. Obviously, the odds are in his favor to still be standing in the end. As for Stenhouse, he is 14/17 finishing the race. You want guys that can finish the race, these guys can do it.

Party Like It’s the Year 2000: William Byron ($10,500) Starting 8th; Austin Dillon ($6,300) Starting 14th

To round out our lineup, we’re gonna take a trip all the way back to Talladega in the year 2000. October 15th to be exact. This was the final Talladega race for The Intimidator and it happened to be the final win of his career. Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon share 16 wins at the track and in this particular race, Gordon finished 4th. Will we see another classic battle from the 3 car and the 24 car? I certainly hope so, just as long as they keep their cars in one piece. Neither Dillon nor Byron have won here, but both have wins at Daytona, so they definitely have it in them to be successful today.

NASCAR Geico 500 DFS Preview