Talladega YellaWood 500 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Ryan Blaney 
Talladega Fantasy Outlook – Ryan Blaney’s a super-elite performer at Talladega who’ll be going all out for the win. Blaney’s arguably the premiere big superspeedway racer in NASCAR, and he’s more than proven he can get the job done, most recently highlighted by him winning at Daytona #2 to cap off the regular season. At big superspeedways, Blaney’s a 5-time winner and has the 4th best Next Gen Driver Rating.
Talladega History – Ryan Blaney is one of the premier performers at Talladega. Blaney’s a 3-time winner and in 3 of the last 6 races he’s finished in the top two. Overall in the Next Gen at Dega, Blaney is 4 for 7 at finishing in the top 11, has the 8th best Driver Rating and the 9th best average finish (16.0). In the Next Gen minus the last two races his average finish is 7.2. This spring, Blaney finished 37th but I have no real takeaways for his race. During green flag pit stops in Stage #1, Keselowski crashed him coming to pit road, leading to his DNF 37th. Last October, Blaney looked great, but he 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 crashed. “Performance Wise”, there’s every reason to think he was a top five contender/factor to win. Last spring, Blaney had an afternoon to forget and finished 20th. In the race, 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 and went on to finish 20th. In 2023, Blaney went 2 for 2 at earning the best Driver Rating and finishing in the top 2. In fall 2023 en route to victory lane, Blaney came up clutch and made a last lap pass for the win. Additionally, Blaney earned the best Driver Rating, won Stage #1, led 8 laps and had an 8.7 average running position. In spring 2023, Blaney finished 2nd, led a race high 47-laps, earned the best driver rating and he was also the race leader at the start of both overtimes, but he came up short. In fall 2022, Blaney was passed on the last lap while leading and then finished 2nd.

William Byron
Talladega Fantasy Outlook – 3-time big superspeedway winner, William Byron is an elite superspeedway racer who’ll be a factor at Talladega. Byron’s never won here but in 3 of the last 4 races, he’s finished in the top 3. In the Next Gen, Byron has a series best 7.0 average finish and he’s tied for the best Driver Rating. When it comes to pure big superspeedway racing prowess, Byron ranks among the premiere performers and since 2024 at these venues over the combined races, Byron has 2-wins and a series best 8.7 average finish.
Talladega History – William Byron has been strong at Talladega and if there’s such a thing as a “Safe pick”, he’s it. Since 2023, Byron has a series best 4.4 average finish and he’s had a result in the top 7 every race. This spring, Byron had a strong showing. In the race, Byron finished 2nd in Stage #1, finished 3rd overall, led 10 laps, earned the 9th best Driver Rating and had the 9th best average running position (15.5). Last fall, Byron dodged the mayhem, finishing 3rd in Stage #1, 4th in Stage #2 and then finished 3rd overall. Last spring, Byron had a solid race and finished 7th, after making a mad dash to the front with two to go from 17th. In fall 2023, Byron finished 2nd in the two opening Stages and then finished 2nd overall. Additionally, Byron earned the 2nd best Driver Rating, had the 2nd best average running position (8.5) and led 12 laps. Over the three races prior to that, Byron had results of 7th (spring 2023), 12th (fall 2022) and 15th (spring 2022, 4.9 average running position, led 38 laps, in 3rd with 5 to go).

Joey Logano
Talladega Fantasy Outlook – Three-time Talladega winner, Joey Logano is one of the premiere big superspeedway performers who’ll be tough to beat. When it comes to superspeedway racing, I’ve long viewed Logano as the perfect combination of “Smart and aggressive.” That said, things have gone completely south for Logano at big superspeedways when it comes to the results column and since 2024, Logano has a series worst 30.9 average finish. Logano hasn’t lacked when it comes to “Performance” and despite all of those bad results, he has the best Driver Rating and the best Average Running Position. If Logano can avoid trouble which is a big if, look for him to finish near the front and be a top contender.
Talladega History – Joey Logano has been elite at Talladega, but times have been tough and in 10 of the last 11 races he’s finished 17th or worse. In the Next Gen, Logano’s 7 for 7 at finishing 19th or worse and has a 29.1 average finish. This spring, Logano looked great and actually avoided trouble for once but in post-race inspection, he was DQ’ed which led to his 39th. In the race, Logano crossed the finish line in 5th, had the best average running position (7th), led the 2nd most laps (24) and earned the 2nd best Driver Rating. 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 fall 2023, Logano was once again strong but finished 24th. In the race, Logano finished 8th in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, led the most laps (48), was in 8th with 14 to go, in 12th with 6 to go but then he just made bad lane decisions or something which led to him walking away with his 24th. In spring 2023, Logano was a top five contender but finished an asterisk mark 30th after having multiple problems (speeding penalty and a late crash).

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