Xfinity Series Talladega DFS Picks

NASCAR heads to the superspeedway of Talladega this weekend for racing in the Xfinity and Cup series. This is a drafting track so there will be pack racing while laps led and fastest laps will be spread throughout the field making place differential the most important aspect for DFS lineups. Drivers starting up front will carry big risk and using up all your salary in your lineups in not a concern. Chaos is always expected at drafting tracks with pack racing and lineups can change in an instant all race long.

Fades

Jesse Love

Austin Hill

Justin Allgaier

Taylor Gray

Josh Williams

Daniel Dye

Joey Gase

Ryan Ellis

Jeremy Clements

With Place differential being so important at Talladega for DFS, avoiding the drivers starting towards the very front is usually a better strategy when constructing your lineups. All these drivers start too close to the front for my liking and I prefer to completely fade them. Even though Love and Hill are the top superspeedway drivers in the series, I think there are too many good drivers starting outside the top 10 that have place differential upside that would outscore the pair even if they finish behind them. We also saw a handful of the lower tier drivers qualify towards the front and they will have a very low chance to finish anywhere close to where they are starting so I would fade those drivers as well.

Top Place Differential Plays

Sam Mayer

Ryan Sieg

Aric Almirola

Nick Sanchez

Carson Kvapil

Harrison Burton

Parker Retzlaff

We saw some good drivers and teams qualify towards the back this week giving them huge place differential potential for the race. Mayer and Sieg are going to be the two most popular plays as they start way in the back and have the biggest upside in the race as they will likely race their way to the front if they can stay out of trouble. Almirola, Kvapil, and Sanchez are all solid options as well as they start mid pack and have a good amount of place differential and should have the cars to finish towards the front and run top 10. Burton and Retzlaff start a little farther back but I still expect them to try to race all day and could have a chance at a good finish. Missing the wrecks is going to be one of the biggest factors of the race so getting lucky and having the right few that keep their cars clean and finish towards the front is what is important this week. Other top drivers starting outside the top 10 like Zilisch, Smith, Eckes, Jones, etc. are usable options as well.

Cheap Options

Brennan Poole

Caesar Bacarella

Jeffrey Earnhardt

Blaine Perkins

Kyle Sieg

There are a little less cheap options this week with several of them qualifying pretty well in the top half of the field. The Alpha Prime cars did not qualify well so they start way in the back with Poole and Bacarella. I would not be surprised to see them run more conservative and ride in the back until the end of the race to try to avoid the wrecks. It can be a good strategy depending how the race plays out. Earnhardt, Perkins, and Sieg have a lot of place differential potential as well and Earnhardt is more likely of the three to be more aggressive and race hard the entire race.