Talladega Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

William Byron – At Talladega, William Byron needs to come up big to have a chance to advance to the next round. Currently he’s tied with Logano for 8th in points so he’ll need to race hard, because we know Logano will. At Talladega, Byron has three starts under his belt and he’s 3 for 3 in terms of finishing in the 20’s. Earlier this year, Byron had a fast car, but finished a misleading 21st. In the race he finished 7th in Stage #1, 3rd in Stage #2 and was running in 9th with 4 laps to go until he wrecked on the last lap. Last fall, he finished 20th, but I’ll note he legitimately led 5 laps. In a race that was dominated by Stewart-Haas cars that deserves some praise. In the race his average running position was 16th and he earned the 18th best driver rating. With 3 laps to go he was involved in an accident, but I don’t think that really impacted his result too much. In spring 2018 at Talladega he crashed and finished 29th. He led 14 laps, but those were through pit strategy. 5 laps prior to crashing he was running in 15th. At Daytona, Byron has run well this year. He finished 2nd in July and in the season opening Daytona 500 he led 44 laps but finished 21st after wrecking.

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Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson is a good dark horse option at Talladega. His team is starting to click off good finishes and he’s been pretty respectable in recent Talladega races. In 3 of the last 5 at this “Wild Card” venue he’s finished in the top 12. In the two races he finished outside of that range he didn’t have an incident free race. Earlier this year, Johnson didn’t have an incident free race and finished 33rd. Around lap 28 he hit a piece of debris which blew out a tire and led to him slamming into the wall hard. He was no longer competitive after this and was quite a few laps down. Last fall he finished 7th, but it wasn’t pretty. On lap 63 he spun and hit the inside wall which brought out a caution. Johnson was running around 10th at that time and it dropped him a lap down. In spring 2018 he had a respectable performance at Talladega. He finished 12th, had a 10th place average running position and earned the 4th best driver rating. Additionally, he finished 10th in Stage #1 and 7th in Stage #2.

Ryan Newman – Ryan Newman has been one of the safer drivers at Talladega. Over the last 10 Talladega races he’s finished in the top ten 50% percent of the time and in the top fourteen 70% percent of the time. In recent races he’s been especially good and in 3 of the last 4 he’s finished in the top ten. Earlier this year, Newman escaped with a 7th place finish. I’ll note his average running position was 19th and with 4 laps to go before late mayhem ensued he was running in 15th. Last fall he didn’t have a race to brag about and he finished 25th when the checkered flag waved. I’ll note at some point in the first half of the race I believe he made an unexpected pit stop which dropped him a lap down. In spring 2018 at Talladega, Newman finished 9th. Late in the race when the checkered flag was in sight he consistently ran in the top ten. In fall 2017 he had a strong showing and raced his way to a 2nd place finish. Late in the race he teamed up with Denny Hamlin and they drove up to the front of the pack.

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