The Low Tier – Talladega
Brendan Gaughan – Brendan Gaughan is a popular low-tier pick at super-speedways. This year he’s been in all three races on this track type and his combined average finish is 16.7. At Talladega, Gaughan has been good the last two races. Earlier this year, Gaughan snuck in an 8th place finish. Last year, he finished 12th in the fall and 22nd in the spring. Gaughan’s results at Daytona this year are 19th (summer) and 23rd (Daytona 500).
Parker Kligerman – Parker Kligerman has been a consistent performer this season and in 9 of his 11 races he’s finished between 26th to 31st. On Sunday, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him finish within that range again. This spring at Talladega when he made his track debut he finished within that range and came home with a 27th place result. At Daytona, the other super-speedway on the schedule he has results of 15th and 31st for the season.
Michael McDowell – Michael McDowell is a good dark horse option at Daytona, at Talladega he’s consistently been a fantasy anchor and has five straight DNF’s due to crashing. Over the last five Talladega races he’s finished 30th or worse and has a 35.2 average finish. Currently at this wild card venue, McDowell has back to back 40th place results. Earlier this year en route to his last place finish he was collected in the early “Big One” which marked the end of his race. I will note at the time of his demise he was running near the front of the pack. Last year he crashed in both races and had results of 40th and 32nd. In 2017 he also crashed in both races and had results of 30th and 34th. With all of his recent crashes, one would think he’s due for some good luck, but do so at your own risk. At Daytona, the other plate track on the schedule he’s finished 15th or better in 7 of the last 8 races.
Ross Chastain – Ross Chastain has been consistent at Talladega and over his three races he’s finished between 24th to 26th. Also over his combined events he has a 25.0 average finish and a 30.3 average running position. Earlier this year he finished 26th. Last year he had results of 24th and 25th.
Matt Tifft – At super-speedways, Matt Tifft has one top ten to his name, and he’s wrecked in his other two races. In his one incident free race he finished 9th at Daytona this summer. When you consider how high the attrition rate was and factor in Justin Haley won the race, then there’s no fantasy takeaways. At Talladega this spring in his track debut, Tifft had a short race and finished 37th after completing just 11 laps and then being taken out in a wreck.
Landon Cassill – Landon Cassill may seem like an appealing low-tier option, but I’ll assure you there’s better picks out there. Since 2015 he’s only once finished in the top 20. Over the last five combined Talladega races he has a 28.3 average finish and a 27.8 average running position. Earlier this year, Cassill had problems and finished 34th. In the four races prior to that he finished in the 20’s and had results of 22nd, 28th, 29th and 21st.
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