Talladega Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Denny Hamlin
Talladega Fantasy Spin – Denny Hamlin’s the premiere superspeedway racer in NASCAR and at Talladega, he’ll be tough to beat. Hamlin’s knack for the draft is second to none, and he knows how to race his way to the front. Once Hamlin gets there, he’s always tough to get around. Hamlin’s results haven’t been good on paper in 2022 at big superspeedways (26.7 average finish) but he hasn’t been lacking when it comes to performance. If anything, Hamlin’s due for a lucky break. At Talladega, Hamlin’s a recent winner (fall 2020), and in 5 of the last 8 races he’s finished in the top 7. Over that stretch minus the three races he had major problems, Hamlin’s average finish is an impressive 3.8.
Talladega Track History – Denny Hamlin is a two-time Talladega winner who’s proven to be one of the best in the business. In 4 of the last 6 Talladega races, he’s finished in the top 7, and in the two he didn’t, those races weren’t incident free. This spring, Hamlin was strong in the final quarter of the race. He was the leader with 20 to go (led 9 laps) but then with 4 laps to go while running in 8th, Hamlin had some apparent fuel situation and slowed on the track which led to his 18th. “Performance wise”, I have no doubt he likely had one of the best cars. Last fall in the rain shortened event which had an abrupt ending, Hamlin finished 7th, led 6 laps and had a 13.1 average running position. In spring 2021, Hamlin had a great car and, in our member, exclusive PROS Rankings he ranked #1 despite his asterisk mark 32nd. In the race, Hamlin led a race high 43 laps (all before lap 92 where he had problems), finished 4th in Stage #1 and was the leader shortly before “Manufacturer pit stops” in Stage #2 where his downfall began. Around lap 92 when he came to pit road, Hamlin was caught speeding. Then when he was serving his penalty, Hamlin was caught speeding again. Then on the last lap of Stage #2, Hamlin crashed which marked the end of his race. In fall 2020, Hamlin had a stellar showing and raced his way to victory lane after making a last lap pass for the win. In addition to finishing 1st, Hamlin led 26 laps. In spring 2020, Hamlin finished 4th and led 18 laps. In fall 2019, Hamlin finished 3rd.

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Brad Keselowski
Talladega Fantasy Spin – At Talladega, Brad Keselowski will be dangerous, seriously! He’s a super-elite performer at Talladega and you can be confident he’ll leave nothing on the table and race aggressively. Keselowski has already shown speed on this track type in 2022 in the #6 (won his Duel 150, in the Daytona 500 he led 67 laps, earned the best driver rating and finished 9th) so I have no doubt he’ll have a capable car underneath him. Also with RFK’s recent uptick in performance, I think he’s primed to have a great showing.
Talladega Track History – Brad Keselowski is a super-elite performer at Talladega, but outside of last year he’s fallen on hard times recently. At this big 2.66-mile superspeedway, he’s a six-time winner who’s finished in the top five 33.3% of the time and in the top ten 48% of the time. This spring, I think the #6 was primed to run well, but Keselowski got two speeding penalties and you can’t overcome that, and it led to his 23rd. One was early and the other was late. In 2021 at Dega, nobody was better than Keselowski. Last fall, Keselowski finished 3rd in Stage #1, led 13 laps and then finished 2nd when the checkered flag waved. In spring 2021, Keselowski finished 2nd in Stage #2 and for the afternoon he only led 1 lap, but it was the final one. Also in the race, Keselowski had the best driver rating and the best average running position (8.5). In fall 2020, Keselowski finished 4th in Stage #1, 2nd in Stage #2, led 6 laps and was running in 2nd with 10 to go before all the late mayhem ensued. Then during overtime, Keselowski was caught up in not one, but two accidents. On the final lap while he was running in the top ten he crashed which led to his 18th place finish. In summer 2020, Keselowski had a great car but finished 19th. In the race he finished 7th in Stage #1, 4th in Stage #2 and was in 6th with 3 laps to go but the end played out horribly for him and he dropped like a rock during the late restart.

Ryan Blaney
Talladega Fantasy Spin – Ryan Blaney’s a super-elite performer at superspeedways who’s always a favorite at Talladega. His “knack for the draft” is on par with the best, and he’s more than proven he can get the job done. Over the last 12 races at big superspeedways, Blaney has 3-wins, 7 top tens, he’s tied for the best average finish (10.0) and his driver rating is the 3rd best. This year at big superspeedways over the three races, Blaney has a 10.0 average finish and he’s one of just 3 drivers who are 3 for 3 at finishing in the top 15. In terms of results, Blaney finished 4th in the Daytona 500 (led 36 laps), 11th at Dega (led 23 laps) and then 15th at Daytona #2.
Talladega Track History – Ryan Blaney is a two-time winner at Talladega who’s always a factor. Since 2019 minus fall 2020 where he crashed late, Blaney has both of his wins and an 8.7 average finish. This spring, Blaney was strong. In the race, Blaney led 23 laps, had a 12.1 average running position and then finished 11th. I’ll note, the last Stage went green without a caution and prior to the final pit cycle starting he was running in 2nd. It just kind of shuffled him back about 10 spots. Last fall, Blaney had a strong showing and was better than his 15th. In the race, Blaney finished 6th in Stage #1 and had a 9.8 average running position. Blaney was just back in mid-pack when the race reached its early conclusion. In spring 2021, Blaney was strong. In the race he finished 2nd in Stage #1, 6th in Stage #2, led 11 laps and then finished 9th overall. With 5 laps to go until the scheduled distance he was running in 2nd. In fall 2020, Blaney was fast but finished a misleading 25th after getting caught up in late carnage. In the race, Blaney led 10 laps, finished 7th in Stage #2, was running in 9th with 2 to go (scheduled distance) but was caught up in a late crash. In spring 2020, Blaney was the class of the field and raced his way to victory lane. In the race he finished 6th in Stage #1, 2nd in Stage #2 and led 63 laps. In fall 2019 en route to victory lane, Blaney finished 10th in Stage #1, 6th in Stage #2 and led 35 laps. What makes his win a little more impressive is that on lap 34 while leading coming to pit road he spun and got a speeding penalty.

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