On Sunday, get out your good luck charm, because NASCAR will be racing at Talladega for the YellaWood 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.

No practices were held for Talladega, but they did qualify. Here’s the Talladega Starting Lineup. 11 of the last 13 Talladega winners have started between 7th to 19th.

Talladega Full Field Fantasy Rankings

1) Ryan Blaney
Start 8th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Talladega Outlook – Ryan Blaney’s a super-elite big superspeedway racer who’ll be a favorite in the YellaWood 500. Blaney’s arguably the premiere performer on this track type with 5-wins, and he’s more than proven he can get the job done, most recently highlighted by him winning Daytona #2. At Talladega, Blaney’s a 3-time winner and in 3 of the last 6 races he’s finished in the top 2. In the Next Gen minus the last two races which have been DNF’s his average finish is 7.2. This spring, Blaney finished 37th after crashing during the opening round of green flag pit stops when Keselowski lost control of the #2. Last fall, 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. Last spring, Blaney had another tough race 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.
DraftKings $10,500/ FanDuel $13,500

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

2) William Byron
Start 13th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
Talladega Outlook – 3-time big superspeedway winner, William Byron is an elite superspeedway racer who’ll be looking to come up big 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. Since 2023, Byron’s average finish is 4.4 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. At big superspeedways over all the combined races since 2024, Byron has 2-wins and a series best 8.7 average finish.
DraftKings $10,000/ FanDuel $13,000

3) Joey Logano
Start 16th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Talladega Outlook – 3-time Talladega winner, Joey Logano will need to come up big if he’s going to battle it out for the championship at Phoenix. When it comes to superspeedway racing prowess, Logano’s the perfect combination of “Smart and aggressive.” That said, things have gone south for Logano on this track type when it comes to the results column with him having a series worst 30.9 average finish since 2024, but he hasn’t lacked when it comes to performance and over that same stretch of races, Logano has the best Driver Rating and the best Average Running Position. In the Next Gen at Talladega, 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 disqualified, leading 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 once again 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, Logano was strong but 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.
DraftKings $10,200/ FanDuel $14,000