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Zane Smith
Talladega Fantasy Outlook – Talladega has been a tough track for Zane Smith. Smith has an ugly 26.5 average finish over his four starts, and he’s only cracked the top 20 once, which was a 19th. That said, Smith has finished better in each new race, so there’s some hope. The draft/attrition are great equalizers, so I certainly wouldn’t count him out from sneaking in a good finish.
Talladega History – Close your eyes when you look at Zane Smith’s Talladega Cup track record. His average finish is 26.5 and he’s 4 for 4 at finishing 19th or worse. This spring, Smith had a pretty good race but finished 19th. In the race, Smith started on the pole, led 5 laps, had the 4th best average running position and earned the 7th best Driver Rating. With just 3 laps to go he was running in 8th so the closing laps certainly didn’t go well for him. Last fall, Smith finished 21st. I’ll note, he is listed as being involved in the “Blaney Big One”, but he was running around 20th at that time, and I don’t think it caused too much damage. Last spring, Smith finished 29th, had a 29.6 average running position and had the 34th best Driver Rating. It was kind of a triple whammy race for Smith. He got a speeding penalty; made an unexpected pit stop and he was involved in a wreck. In spring 2023 in the #38, Smith had a short race and finished 37th after crashing.

Riley Herbst
Talladega Fantasy Outlook – If Riley Herbst is going to sneak in a good finish anywhere, it will likely come at Talladega. At Dega, Herbst has a 17.0 average finish and he’s 1 for 3 at finishing in the top ten. In his two non-top 10’s, he finished in the 20’s. Since 2024 at big superspeedways over all the combined races, Herbst has a 25.8 average finish.
Talladega History – In Cup at Talladega over his three starts, Riley Herbst has a 17.0 average finish. This spring, Herbst finished a pedestrian 22nd. Back in 2023, Herbst had finishes of 9th and 20th. In the Xfinity series at Talladega, Herbst had finishes of 2nd and 3rd last year and in 4 of his last 5 lower series starts he’s finished in the top 11.

Shane van Gisbergen
Talladega Fantasy Outlook – The draft/attrition are great equalizers, so Shane van Gisbergen might just sneak in a good result. In Cup at big superspeedways over his six combined starts, SVG has a 26.3 average finish, so it’s wise to keep expectations low.
Talladega History – SVG has three starts at Talladega under his belt and his average finish is 24th. This spring, SVG finished 29th and had a 27.3 average running position. I’ll note, he did get a speeding penalty during Stage #2 green flag pit stops when he was running just outside the top ten, but he had time to bounce back. Last fall, SVG escaped with a 15th. Additionally, SVG had an 18.8 average running position and earned the 18th best Driver Rating. Last spring, SVG finished 28th.

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