Talladega Aaron’s 499 Six Fantasy NASCAR Darkhorse Sleeper Options

Talladega is perhaps the most unpredictable “Wild Card” track on the schedule. Unusual things happen here and dark horse drivers who you typically wouldn’t consider are capable of getting a good finish. They know that this is their best chance and they go all out. One example of how wild this track type can be is the fact that in the Daytona 500 Regan Smith, Danica Patrick, Michael McDowell and JJ Yeley finished in the top ten.

Here’s a few Dark Horse Sleeper options you might want to consider:

David Gilliland – David Gilliland is really good at the art of drafting. When he was employed by Yates Racing he was really good on this track type. Now that tandem drafting is gone it’s returned to that style of racing. Also recently Gilliland hasn’t been bad here. In the last four Talladega races his 14.8 average finish is tied for 8th best in the series. In these races he’s recorded finishes of 9th, 14th, 15th and 22nd.

Casey Mears – Casey Mears was very good at Talladega last fall. He ran near the front of the pack as much as anybody. He led 10 laps and had a 9th place average running position. With a few laps remaining he was running as high as second. In the race there was a late caution and Mears elected to come down pit road. After his pit stop was completed he was blocked in his pit stall by Greg Biffle. That got him back in the pack and led to him getting wrecked in the big one. His next two most recent finishes here are 17th and 18th. From a career perspective this ranks as one of his better tracks. He has a 21.5 average finish and has had four results in the top ten.

David Ragan – David Ragan’s fantasy value won’t be any higher than it is this week. Restrictor plate tracks are a historical strength of his. His one career win came at Daytona in summer 2011. Last season Ragan only had two finishes in the top twenty and they both came here. His 2012 finishes were 4th and 7th. From a career perspective Talladega is arguably his best track because his best average finish at a specific venue is here (16.0).