This weekend the Cup series heads to Talladega for the second race in the second round of the playoffs. Kurt Busch won last week in Vegas and both Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have a nice point cushion heading into this weekend. Everyone else could get a real boost or take a huge hit if they are unable to stay out of trouble this weekend at Talladega. If you are new to NASCAR DFS this season, Talladega is a superspeedway where all the cars are running close together and we tend to get multiple big accidents taking out a lot of drivers in the field. Don’t be surprised if you have a lineup that has at least two cars out of the race. Since this is the case, my approach to Cup racing at superspeedways is to play the place differential strategy and construct lineups that are more about protecting you from the inevitable instead of trying to predict it. We don’t have dominators here because fastest laps come throughout the field and we see multiple drivers lead laps here. With Kurt Busch winning last weekend, I think we see a more chaotic Talladega then if Harvick or Hamlin won last week. Kurt was on the outside of advancing looking in before his win. Now multiple drivers are now closer to the bubble and stage points will be very important causing intense racing leading to the stage breaks. As with any superspeedway race, do not be afraid to leave a lot of salary on the table, not just a couple hundred, I am talking thousands.
Brendan Gaughan (DK $9,500 FD $5,000)
Brendan has been a must play in NASCAR dfs over the years as that is all he runs and he does it well. This will be his last race of his career as he announced earlier this year that he was retiring after this season. With him only running the superspeedway races and the qualifying order format the way it is, Gaughan will start last on Sunday. He should be the chalkiest driver on the slate Sunday. He finished 7th and 8th at Daytona this year and 21st at Talladega. He has an average finish of about 19th in his career at Talladega and if he is able to keep out of trouble I think he has top 15 upside on Sunday. He is a must play on all sites: Draftkings, Fanduel and SuperDraft
Ricky Stenhouse Jr (DK $8,800 FD $11,000)
Two weeks in a row now I have written up Ricky, what a world we live in. This week Ricky starts 26th and provides great place differential upside and honestly has a decent floor. He finished 2nd here earlier this season and has a career average finish here of 10th. Ricky will be aggressive there is no doubt about that but he has proven that he can finish races here as he has only dnf’d twice in 14 starts. If he is able to stay out of trouble I have no doubts that he will collect another top 10 and could even be a playoff spoiler and win this race.
Bubba Wallace (DK $7,700 FD $6,600)
Well his average finish isn’t as impressive as Ricky’s at superspeedways it is still worth taking a deeper look into. This season alone, Bubba has finishes of 15th and 5th at Daytona and 14th at Talladega. He has three career top 20s at Talladega in five races and two of them are top 15s. I am also a big believer in momentum in NASCAR and with all the good media and news that has come out about Bubba’s future next season I think that plays a part as well in another solid performance on a superspeedway. He starts 27th and as long as he keeps the car clean, he should be competing for another top 15 finish on Sunday.
Justin Haley (DK $5,400 FD $5,500)
Haley is once again in a Cup car for a superspeedway race and starts 35th presenting another driver with great place differential upside and a really safe floor. Well it was a rain shortened race, Haley’s only career Cup win did come at Daytona last season. This season he finished 13th at the Daytona 500. He is coming off an Xfinity win at Talladega on Saturday and will most likely hang back on Sunday only to make his move near the end of the race and avoid as much carnage as possible.
Tyler Reddick (DK $7,900 FD $9,600)
Reddick is an interesting option on Sunday. Typically when using the strategy, you are looking for drivers you know will hang back and let the mess happen in front of them. However, I don’t expect Tyler to do that on Sunday. He starts 30th so he has the floor that is important at a superspeedway. He won at Talladega last season in the Xfinity series and finished 20th here earlier this season in the Cup series. At Daytona, Reddick crashed out of both of those races this season. I do like Reddick’s upside that I am going to be willing to take a few shots with him but also going to understand the risk in playing him.
Ryan Blaney (DK $9,100 FD $12,000)
Blaney has become somewhat of a superspeedway ace as of late. He has won the last two Talladega races and finished 2nd and 6th at the two Daytona races this season. Blaney starts 14th so he presents an option kind of similar to that of Ross Chastain in the Xfinity race on Saturday. He has the ability to get to the front and win this race and has some place differential upside as well. Blaney is no longer in the playoffs so he will not care about stage points and his main concern will be getting that trophy at the end of the day. He makes for a great tournament play and I will have my shares of Blaney on both Draftkings and Fanduel.
Any questions message me on twitter @davidjr831 and subscribe below for access to final thoughts, core and prop plays. Good luck everyone and remember don’t be afraid to leave lots of salary on the table!
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