Talladega Superspeedway
Race Recap
Unintentional hiatus last week, apologies, but not like anyone cares. The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway fell by the wayside with all of the Masters prep and the 9-5 I still begrudgingly have. Hot off another demoralizing loss at Martinsville, where Willy B secured the W, we saw Chase Elliott take down the race in Texas. No recap or breakdown this week since I opted to instead watch that robot Scottie Scheffler torch all of my Masters bet slips into Bolivian.
This Week’s Race Preview
DEGAAAAA BABY! WOOO! Nuff Said
Track
2.66 mile, Paved, Tri-Oval, Superspeedway
Betting Intro & Stats
Previously Dominated by the likes of our Lorde & Savior Dale Earnhardt, who had a historic track record here, Talladega of recent has been a mixed bag of high pedigree drivers with multiple wins. In the last 10 years you have Brad Keselowski with 4, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney with 3, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin each with 2. Your remaining single winners are Dale Jr (2015), Ricky Stenhouse (2017), Aric Almirola (2018), Bubba Wallace (2021), Ross Chastain (2022), and Kyle Busch (2023).
It’s Talladega, it’s a restrictor plate superspeedway, so the only true comp is Daytona. We know the Big One is coming, we know its chaos, but we also know there are plate guys and there aren’t. We’ll only be taking a look at Daytona and Talladega history (aka history at plate races) and we’ll see what we see, but given the expected chaos, there’s a million outcomes that could happen Sunday.
Let’s take a look at some recent stats from www.driveraverages.com.
Picks
Last Week’s Recap: – 0U
Season Results: – 19.55U
After a week off, trying to comeback big at a Super does not give me the highest of hopes. But chaos means we could see a nice number take it down.
Chalk: Ryan Blaney 11-1 2.5U
As consistent of a driver as there is at Daytona, Blaney has the best average finish, most Laps Lead, and highest Average Rating in the last 6 races here. Getting him outside of 10-1 is a mortal lock.
Mid-Range: Ricky Stenhouse 35-1 0.75U
Friendly number for a guy who has won both here and Daytona. He seems to have become a less reckless driver compared to his earlier years, and given his comfortability at Superspeedways, I like this among an overall condensed line.
Tingle du Jour: Todd Gilliland 50-1 0.55U
Not the friendliest number here, but this is a race the ToddFather could stumble his way into. He has shown that he doesn’t yet have the equipment and skill at the cup level to win on standard tracks. But plate races are the great equalizer. I think he is a really good driver that is still figuring things out but, in generally uniform equipment setups, this could be an opportunity to sneak one if he can avoid the big one late and end up in a good track position.
Other Notables:
Michael McDowell 40-1
DFS Strategy
STACK THE BACK AND PRAY! We are back for another edition of get 6/6 to the checkered and you probably cashed. Another superspeedway race calls for another bankroll management week. Its a good idea to target guys that excel at these races regardless of starting position, but outside of that, its time to go to the bottom on the DK page (within reason – there’s no reason to start Zane Smith regardless of starting position). A few guys I’m targeting early Bubba Wallace $9200, McDowell $6700, LaJoie $6600, Preece $6400, Fast Pasta! (Anthony Alfredo) $5200.
Raise Hell Praise Dale
The Weekend Heater 
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