NAS $111K Talladega Drive [$25K to 1st] (Cup)<\/a><\/p>\nFantasy NASCAR Driver Rankings: Jack Link\u2019s 500 at Talladega<\/p>\n
1. Ryan Blaney ($10,500)\u00a0\u2014 A wreck at Las Vegas has turned Blaney from favorite to long shot. The good news is that Talladega and Martinsville are two of his best tracks. The bad news is that most of the remaining playoff drivers are also strong at Talladega and Martinsville. Blaney needs a top-5 finish at Talladega.<\/p>\n
2. Denny Hamlin ($9,100)\u00a0\u2014 The No. 11 JGR Toyota is focused on the championship at Phoenix. Hamlin won the crucial opening race of the Round of 8, so he\u2019s playing with house money after his win at Las Vegas. The typically methodical and conservative plate racer can afford to be aggressive at Talladega.<\/p>\n
3. William Byron ($10,000)\u00a0\u2014 He\u2019s on the outside looking in, but Byron is only 15 points out. With stage points and wrecks taking out contenders, Byron could be in second in the standings by Sunday evening. The concern is that racing for stage points at a super speedway is a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n
4. Joey Logano ($10,200)\u00a0\u2014 A 24-point deficit isn\u2019t much. It\u2019s almost irrelevant with Talladega being a race in the Round of 8. Any of the seven remaining drivers could wreck at Talladega. It\u2019s likely that at least three earn a DNF. Logano just needs to finish \u2014 and that\u2019s not hard for a Team Penske Ford at a super speedway.<\/p>\n
5. Chase Elliott ($9,800)\u00a0\u2014 The strategy is simple for the No. 9 Hendrick Chevy: don\u2019t wreck \u2014 win. Elliott could point his way to the championship, but it\u2019s going to be tough. The playoff contenders are as good as it gets. His best route to the championship is a Talladega win.<\/p>\n
6. Kyle Larson ($9,500)\u00a0\u2014 It\u2019s better to be 35 points to the good than not. That 35-point cushion could disappear in a split second. Larson lacks luck at super speedways. If he ever needed a safe top-10 finish, it\u2019s at Talladega on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
7. Christopher Bell ($9,000)\u00a0\u2014 Talladega has not been kind to Bell. He needs an uneventful day. A top-20 finish will do. It\u2019s likely that Bell runs passively in this race. He could lack upside, but it\u2019s a super speedway \u2014 and passivity could result in a win if everyone else wrecks.<\/p>\n
8. Chase Briscoe ($7,900)\u00a0\u2014 Hamlin is in, and Ty Gibbs is out. JGR could use Hamlin and Gibbs to protect Briscoe at Talladega. Briscoe isn\u2019t the greatest plate racer, but a little help from his friends could go a long way.<\/p>\n
9. Justin Haley ($6,500)\u00a0\u2014 The Spire Motorsports driver has Xfinity and Cup Series wins at super speedways. He\u2019s finished seventh in two of the last three races at Talladega.<\/p>\n
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($8,500)\u00a0\u2014 The numbers don\u2019t lie. Stenhouse is one of the best super speedway drivers in the Cup Series. He has a top-10 finish in four of the last five races at Atlanta, with his worst finish being 14th. In the last three races at Talladega, he\u2019s finished 14th, first, and fourth.<\/p>\n
11. Noah Gragson ($6,400)\u00a0\u2014 It\u2019s a super speedway; everyone\u2019s on the table. Gragson has won multiple plate races in the Xfinity Series. He hasn\u2019t yet won a Cup Series plate race, but he\u2019s earned impressive finishes driving inferior equipment (Beard Motorsports). Front Row Motorsports has always had a strong plate-track program. Gragson finished sixth at Talladega in the spring and third for SHR in the spring of 2024.<\/p>\n
12. Erik Jones ($6,300)\u00a0\u2014 In the last 10 Talladega races, Jones has seven top-10 finishes. He finished fifth in the second race at Atlanta and at Daytona.<\/p>\n
13. Chris Buescher ($8,000)\u00a0\u2014 Are Daytona and Talladega different? Yes \u2014 but are they really? For whatever reason, some drivers are successful at one but not the other. Buescher is better at Daytona, but is that just luck?<\/p>\n
14. Cody Ware ($5,300)\u00a0\u2014 There are plenty of sub-6K options. They\u2019re all in play and two or three could be optimal with their assumed starting position being in the back of the field. Ware finished 13th in the summer race at Atlanta and 20th at Daytona.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
15. Austin Dillon ($7,000)\u00a0\u2014 In the last 20 races at Talladega, Dillon has 13 top-20 finishes. It doesn\u2019t sound great, but that\u2019s great. Spreadsheets and results drive ownership. Dillon isn\u2019t good enough to be popular, but he\u2019s good enough to earn a top-5 finish.<\/p>\n