NASCAR returns to a superspeedway for the third time this season. DraftKings is rewarding the winner of the featured fantasy NASCAR contest with a $100K grand prize. Check out the DFS NASCAR rankings below and make your fantasy racing picks for the GEICO 500 at Talladega.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $400K Engineer [$100K to 1st] (Cup)
1. William Byron ($10,800) — Two superspeedway races are in the books. Byron won both (Daytona and Atlanta). He’s won at both twice. He has not won at Talladega, but he finished third last fall.
2. Ryan Blaney ($11,000) — Statistically, Blaney is the best Cup Series superspeedway driver. Statistically, Blaney is the best Talladega driver. Blaney won at Talladega last fall. That was his third win at the plate track since 2019. He also has two runner-up finishes in the last three Talladega races.
3. Denny Hamlin ($10,500) — Blaney’s been better lately, but Denny has been doing it longer. Hamlin’s career superspeedway stats are comparable to Blaney’s. He just hasn’t won a drafting race since 2022.
4. Bubba Wallace ($9,200) — Before Bubba was an all-around above-average Cup Series driver, he was considered a superspeedway stud. He’s still a stud at the superspeedways. Daytona has been his best plate track, but Bubba earned his first Cup Series win at Talladega in 2021.
5. Chase Elliott ($10,000) — NASCAR’s most popular driver is streaky. When he wins, he wins in bunches. The NASCAR executives should be giddy. Elliott won last week, and he’s won at Talladega twice before.
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6. Todd Gilliland ($6,100) — Front Row Motorsports has always built strong superspeedway cars. Gilliland has finished inside the top 15 in the last three Talladega races and twice inside the top 10. Gilly was an optimal DFS NASCAR pick in his top-10 finishes.
7. Corey LaJoie ($6,600) — Superspeedway stats are great. Some drivers survive the chaos more than others. Some earn more top 10s. That doesn’t matter at DraftKings. Fantasy NASCAR optimal lineup stats matter. LaJoie has been the optimal NASCAR DFS pick the most (10).
8. Erik Jones ($7,000) — In the last eight Talladega races, Jones has six top-10 finishes. Most of that success has come since he parted ways with Joe Gibbs Racing. He’s been an optimal NASCAR DFS pick nine times.
9. Chase Briscoe ($6,900) — To finish first, first one must finish. Briscoe has earned a top-15 finish in five of his six Cup Series Talladega races. Atlanta and Daytona haven’t been as kind. Is Talladega that different? It is for Briscoe.
10. Joey Logano ($9,800) — He’s due. Logano has finished 25th or worse in the last four superspeedway races at Talladega. He has not won the Alabama plate race since 2018, but he did win and that was his third Talladega win between 2015 and 2018.
11. Brad Keselowski ($10,200) — Since the inception of NASCAR DFS at DraftKings (2015), Keselowski has won three Talladega races. Over the last six Talladega races, he has three top-5 finishes. A 50% top-5 rate at Talladega is exceptional.
12. Alex Bowman ($7,800) — Wrecks happen at Talladega. Pack racing happens, too. It doesn’t take chaos for chaos to happen. Bowman was leading the final laps at Talladega last fall. A win was just laps away. The pack had other ideas. The lines split and Bowman got left hanging in the middle. He dropped from first place to the last car on the lead lap (29th).
13. Ross Chastain ($8,700) — Super Speedway stats are squeaky. Pack racing is relatively unpredictable. Throwing out the stats is acceptable. Winning NASCAR DFS picks finish inside the top 10. Aggressive drivers earn top-10 finishes. They wreck, too. Chastain fits this archetype.
14. Anthony Alfredo ($5,200) — This pick is the exemplar of Talladega NASCAR DFS picks. The Beard Motorsports driver in the Dude Wipes No. 62 may not be the driver, but he’s the model. The rule of thumb for superspeedway contests at DraftKings is “stack in the back.” Several drivers will start in the rear, survive the chaos and find their way into the optimal lineup by maximizing place differential points.
15. B.J. McLeod ($5,100) — Let’s have some fun. Let’s root for absolute chaos on Sunday. If Talladega is tame, B.J. won’t work. If cars are flipping, then B.J. is cashing.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $400K Engineer [$100K to 1st] (Cup)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
