NASCAR Finish Line, a free-to-play gaming app from Penn National Gaming, is back with the resumption of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. Each week, there will be six groups of five drivers for the upcoming race. Users will predict which driver will finish first among each of the six groups and then the overall race winner and second-place finisher for a chance to win $25,000 if all eight scenarios are correctly selected.
RELATED: Download NASCAR Finish Line
The third of six groups for Monday’s 188-lap race at Talladega Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET on FOX/FOX Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) consists of Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer. Everyone but Newman has won at the 2.66-mile track in Alabama. Stenhouse and Almirola each have one win, while Johnson and Bowyer have two victories apiece.
For a stats look at each driver, NASCAR.com has compiled the last six results at Talladega, the career average finish at Talladega, the 2020 results from Daytona International Speedway (the only other superspeedway on the current NASCAR Cup Series schedule) and the career average finish at Daytona. All this has been done to see who is the best play to make in Group 3.
A point system has been assigned, starting with one point for the best finisher and counting up to five points for the worst finisher. Those numbers were then added up. The lowest total signifies the strongest driver (green), and the highest total represents the weakest driver (red).
| Driver | Las six ‘Dega races‘1 | Career ‘Dega average finish | 2020 Daytona final result | Career Daytona average finish |
Total |
| Ryan Newman | 11.7 (3) | 18.7 (5) | 9 (2) | 18.2 (2) | 12 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 11.5 (2) | 11.6 (1) | 20 (3) | 18.8 (3) | 9 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 20.3 (4) | 17.8 (4) | 35 (5) | 18.4 (4) | 17 |
| Aric Almirola | 5.0 (1) | 15.3 (2) | 22 (4) | 20.7 (5) | 12 |
| Clint Bowyer | 22.3 (5) | 16.3 (3) | 6 (1) | 16.4 (1) | 10 |
Stenhouse looks like the Group 3 favorite heading into Talladega due to his history at both superspeedways. Though there will be no qualifying in Alabama, it is worth remembering the driver of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet also won the Daytona 500 pole earlier this season. Stenhouse has the ability to speed off.
Otherwise, if wanting to go strictly off of Talladega performances, Almirola would be a solid choice considering he has an incredible six-race average finish — the only driver in single digits. Newman ties Almirola at 12 points, but Newman’s Talladega stats aren’t worth reporting home about compared to Almirola’s marks. Bowyer has the second-best total, but a lot of that is due to his Daytona numbers. Johnson seems to be the one to clearly stay away from, though.
Make sure to get your picks for all the groups as well as the first- and second-place finishers in the NASCAR Finish Line App before Sunday’s race at Talladega.