Talladega Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Joey Logano – Joey Logano is a super-elite performer at Talladega who’ll likely be the driver to beat. He’s run extremely well here and he’s absolutely owned recent fall races. Over the last four fall races he’s won twice, he’s finished in the top five every race and his average finish is 2.8. In recent Talladega races altogether, nobody has been better than him. Over the last four combined races he has the best driver rating, the best average finish (3.5), the best average running position (8.0) and he’s led the most laps (166). Earlier this year, Logano had a great car and finished 4th. That’s a great result, but I think he should’ve won. He was the leader with 4 laps to go but he made a bad block in the outside groove and that maneuver led to Chase Elliott passing him. In addition to finishing 4th he earned the 3rd best driver rating, led 37 laps and had an 8th place average running position. Last fall at Talladega, Logano had a strong showing. He finished 5th, finished 5th in Stage #1, 9th in Stage #2, had an 8th place average running position and earned the 4th best driver rating. In spring 2018, Logano had a great car and raced his way to victory lane. In the race he earned the best driver rating, had a 6th place average running position and led 70 laps. Additionally, he finished 2nd in Stage #1 and 2nd in Stage #2. In fall 2017, Logano had a strong showing and finished 4th despite being involved in a wreck that damaged his car. Additionally, he earned the best driver rating and led a race high 59 laps. In spring 2017 he wrecked while running in the top five late. In both fall 2016 and fall 2015 Logano raced his way to victory lane.

[themify_box]Don’t be a pretender, become a contender and get the ifantasyrace advantage! Join now and read all of our full exclusive content. [/themify_box]

Chase Elliott – Chase Elliott will be a popular pick at Talladega. He’s one of the hottest drivers in NASCAR and earlier this year at Talladega he raced his way to victory lane. At Talladega, he’s been very competitive and in 4 of the last 5 races he’s been a top five contender, despite what some of his results show. Earlier this year at Talladega, Elliott had a great performance. He finished 1st, led a race high 44 laps, earned the 2nd best driver rating, finished 4th in Stage #1 and won Stage #2. I will note if Logano didn’t make poor lane decisions at the end he likely wouldn’t have won. Last fall at Talladega he was competitive, but finished a misleading 31st. On the final lap while he was back in the pack he wrecked. In the race he had a 12th place average running position, finished 7th in Stage #1 and was running in 12th with 13 laps to go. In spring 2018, he had a great race. He finished 3rd and earned the 7th best driver rating. When it was time to run up front, he was there. In fall 2017 he wrecked while battling three wide for the lead with 6 laps to go which led to his 16th place finish. In spring 2017 he ran well but was collected in the late “Big One.” Two laps prior to the accident he was running in 3rd.

Brad Keselowski – Brad Keselowski is an elite performer at Talladega who’ll likely be the man to beat. He knows how to race his way to the front, and once he gets there he’s hard to get around. At Talladega, he’s a five-time winner who’s finished in the top five 33% percent of the time and in the top ten 52% percent of the time. Earlier this year at Talladega, Keselowski had one of the best cars but finished an asterisk mark 13th. Late in the race during green flag pit stops he spun on pit road and he just never fully recovered from that. Five laps prior to spinning on lap 145 he was running in 2nd. Also from the race I’ll note he led 10 laps, had a 10th place average running position and earned the 3rd best driver rating. Last fall he had a great car, but had nothing for the Stewart-Haas Racing entries. If the race would’ve stayed green at the end he would’ve likely in the top seven. Unfortunately, a late caution came out and as the race was going back to green he had to come to pit road for fuel which led to his 27th place finish. With 6 laps to go before the final caution came out he was running in 8th. In the race he led 21 laps, had a 12th place average running position, earned the 11th best driver rating and finished 10th in Stage #2. In spring 2018, he had a great car, but finished 33rd after getting collected in a wreck with 23 laps to go. From the race it should be noted he won Stage #1, finished just outside the top ten in Stage #2 and led 21 laps. In Stage #2 on lap 68 he was caught speeding on pit road under green. In fall 2017, he had a great car and raced his way to victory lane. In the race he won Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2 and led 7 laps. In the four races prior to that he had results of 7th, 38th (led 90 laps but his engine blew up), 1st and 4th.

Make sure you read the full spectrum of our Talladega Fantasy NASCAR Rankings

Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > The Low Tier