Talladega Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Ranking Picks/ Driver Breakdowns
1) Joey Logano (Starting – 9th) Joey Logano is a super-elite performer at Talladega who’ll likely be the driver to beat. He’s a three-time winner and over the last five races he has the best average finish (5.0), the best average running position (7.9) and the best driver rating. When it comes to superspeedway racing, I view Logano as the perfect combination of smart and aggressive. Also when Logano gets to the front, he’s very hard to get around. Last fall at Talladega, Logano had a great car but finished a misleading 11th. In the race he finished 2nd in Stage #1, 2nd in Stage #2, led 16 laps but was involved in two accidents. At the time of his first one on lap 108 he was running in the top five. He didn’t get much damage from that but later on lap 164 when he was once again racing in the top five, William Byron spun into him and he got a lot of damage. In spring 2019, 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. In fall 2018, 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. (DraftKings $ / FanDuel $13,000 )
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2) Chase Elliott (Starting – 11th) Chase Elliott should be on your short list of favorites at Talladega. He’s the defending champion and ranks as one of the premiere performers at superspeedways. In many of the recent races on this track type he’s typically been a top five contender, “Performance Wise.” Since 2018 at Talladega minus fall 2018 where he crashed his average finish is 4th. Last year at Talladega, Elliott had a great season and was one of three drivers who swept the top ten. In fall 2019, Elliott started on the pole, led 19 laps and finished 8th. In spring 2019, 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. In fall 2019, Elliott 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, Elliott 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, Elliott ran well but was collected in the late “Big One.” Two laps prior to the accident he was running in 3rd. (DraftKings $ / FanDuel $13,300 )
3) Denny Hamlin (Starting – 2nd) Daytona 500 winner, Denny Hamlin is one of the premiere superspeedway racers in NASCAR and at Talladega he’ll be a contender. He’s a former champion and since 2017 minus the race last spring his average finish is 7.6. Last fall at Talladega, Hamlin had a great car and made a hard charge for the win late, but came up short. When the race reached its conclusion he finished 3rd. In spring 2019, Hamlin was involved in an early wreck just after lap 10 and that pretty much so doomed his afternoon and led to his 36th place finish. In fall 2018, Hamlin had a strong showing and finished 4th. Additionally, he finished 8th in Stage #1 and 5th in Stage #2. In spring 2018, Hamlin had a solid showing despite being involved in the “Big One” with 23 laps to go, getting a speeding penalty, and also getting a penalty while serving his penalty. When the checkered flag waved he earned the 8th best driver rating, had a 12th place average running position and finished 14th. In the three races prior to that he had results of 3rd, 6th and 11th. (DraftKings $ / FanDuel $12,700 )
