On Sunday, buckle up and get out your good luck charm, because NASCAR will be racing at Talladega for the Jack Links 500! Talladega is NASCAR’s biggest (2.66-miles), wildest and most chaotic track. Drivers can get wrecked while leading, just as easily as they can be while running in the pack.

All of that said, educated decisions can be made, and strategies do exist to help you navigate this treacherous track.

No practices were held for Talladega, but they did qualify. Here’s the Talladega Starting Lineup. 9 of the last 12 Talladega winners have started between 9th to 19th. Last fall, the top 4 DraftKings scoring drivers started in the 30’s. The bottom six scorers started in the top ten.

Talladega Full Field Fantasy Rankings

1) Ryan Blaney
Start 9th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Talladega Outlook – Ryan Blaney’s arguably the premiere big superspeedway racer in NASCAR and in the Jack Links 500, there’s no debate he’ll be a favorite. At Talladega, Blaney’s been a standout performer. He’s a 3-time winner, he’s finished in the top 2 in 3 of the last 5 races and in the Next Gen era, Blaney has the 2nd best Driver Rating and a 7.2 average finish minus last fall. Last October, Blaney looked great, but finished an asterisk mark 39th. In the race, Blaney finished 10th in Stage #1, consistently ran near the front in Stage #2 but then coming to the finish line to end Stage #2 while running in the top five, Blaney was wrecked. “Performance Wise”, I have no doubt he was poised to be a factor to win. Last spring, Blaney had a tough race and finished 20th but I wouldn’t read into his afternoon too much. Blaney finished 4th in Stage #1, but then in Stage #2 during green flag pit stops he got a speeding penalty. Then early in the last Stage, Blaney was damaged in a multi-car wreck. In 2023, Blaney swept the top 2 and earned the best Driver Rating in both races. In fall 2023, Blaney came up clutch and made a last lap pass for the win. Additionally, Blaney earned the best Driver Rating, won Stage #1 and led 8 laps. In spring 2023, Blaney finished 2nd, led a race high 47-laps, earned the best driver rating and was the leader at the start of both overtimes. In fall 2022, Blaney was passed on the last lap while leading and then finished 2nd.
DraftKings $10,500/ FanDuel $14,000

Further Recommended Reading = Talladega Projected Finish Ranges, DraftKings Talladega Scoring Projections, FanDuel Talladega Scoring Projections, Talladega Quick Rankings

2) William Byron
Start 16th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Talladega Outlook – Back-to-back Daytona 500 champ, William Byron will be a factor at Talladega in the Jack Links 500. Byron’s never won here, but he’s finished runner-up twice and in the Next Gen, Byron has a series best 7.7 average finish and the 3rd best Driver Rating. Over the last four Dega races, Byron’s the only driver who’s swept the top ten and his average finish is a series best 5.0. Byron’s also been good here for an extended period of time and since 2020 minus a crash in fall 2021, Byron has a 7.1 average finish. Last fall, Byron had a great performance and consistently ran near the front. In the race, Byron finished 3rd in Stage #1, finished 4th in Stage #2 and then finished 3rd overall. Last spring, Byron had a solid race and finished 7th. I’ll note, he was in 17th with two to go. In fall 2023, Byron finished 2nd in Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2 and then finished 2nd when the checkered flag waved. Additionally, Byron earned the 2nd best Driver Rating, had the 2nd best average running position (8.5) and led 12 laps. In spring 2023, Byron finished 7th. In 2022, Byron finished 12th in the fall and then in the spring he was arguably the best but finished 15th (Led the most laps (38), 4.9 average running position, in 5th at the start of the final lap).
DraftKings $10,000/ FanDuel $11,000

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3) Joey Logano
Start 3rd / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Talladega Outlook – Three-time Talladega winner, Joey Logano is one of the premiere big superspeedway racers in NASCAR who’ll be a factor in the Jack Links 500. Logano will have a fast Ford Darkhorse #22 and there’s no disputing his knack for the draft. In the season opening Daytona 500, Logano looked to be the class of the field (standout performer, led 43 laps) but ended up crashing late. Since 2024 at big superspeedways, Logano has a series worst 30.0 average finish (among drivers who competed in every race), but he hasn’t lacked when it comes to “Performance” and despite all of those bad results, he still has the 3rd best average running position and the 3rd best Driver Rating over that stretch. In the Next Gen at Dega, Logano’s 6 for 6 at finishing 19th or worse and has a 27.5 average finish, so he’ll be risky but he’s also due for a little good luck. Last fall, Logano looked great but crashed and finished 33rd. In the race, Logano led 19 laps, was running in 5th with 5 to go but then that very lap he crashed in the “Cindric Big One.” Last spring, the #22 was stout but Logano finished 19th. In the race, Logano won Stage #2, led the 2nd most laps (22) but was then just a non-factor late. In almost all of the recent races prior to that, the story line is the same that Logano looked great and was poised to be a contender but ended up having some sort of issue.
DraftKings $10,200/ FanDuel $13,500