Fantasy Fastlane: Added emphasis on Ford going to Talladega

Through the opening quarter of the NASCAR Cup Series season, Ford is still looking for its first victory. The manufacturer debuted its new Mustang Dark Horse body this year. Ford puts added emphasis on its superspeedway program, which will be the case once again at Talladega Superspeedway.

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MUST START: 

Brad Keselowski | View stats

RFK Racing, No. 6 Ford

Odds: 10-1

The three-year anniversary of Keselowski's most recent Cup Series victory is quickly approaching. It came in the spring Talladega race in 2021 while driving for Team Penske. The 2012 Cup champion is in rarified air at Talladega, tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second on the all-time wins list with six victories a piece. He's also triggered massive incidents multiple times in the Next Gen car by being quite aggressive while pushing. Should he steer clear of trouble this weekend, he has a chance to snap his 107-race winless drought.

MUST START: 

Joey Logano | View stats

Team Penske, No. 22 Ford

Odds: 11-1

With how much time Logano spends at the front of superspeedway races, he's due for another win. Logano is on a long winless streak, too, going 41 races without visiting Victory Lane. The No. 22 car could have won the two prior superspeedway races this season at Daytona and Atlanta, leading the most laps in "The Great American Race." It's been six years since Logano has won at Talladega and he enters the race with four straight finishes outside the top 20 at NASCAR's largest oval, but he has led 202 laps here over those six years.

MUST START: 

Chris Buescher | View stats

RFK Racing, No. 17 Ford

Odds: 19-1

Buescher has flown under the radar through the opening nine races of 2024, but he has an admirable five top-10 finishes. Many drivers within the Cup garage consider Buescher to be among the elite superspeedway competitors in the field. While he's never won at Talladega, he scored his lone top-five finish in 17 starts last spring before winning his first superspeedway race at Daytona last summer. 

MUST START: 

Ryan Blaney | View stats

Team Penske, No. 12 Ford

Odds: 10-1

It would be risky for me to have Blaney in my lineup at Talladega -- having used Blaney five times already this season -- when so much is out of the driver's control. Blaney could easily be caught up in a vicious incident like he has at Daytona multiple times in recent years. He's stronger at Talladega, though, winning three of the last nine races at the 2.66-mile track. It's even more incredible that he enters this race with three consecutive top-two finishes in which he entered the track's Hall of Fame last spring. So maybe it's more of a risk to not have Blaney in my lineup this weekend?

SLEEPER PICK:

Austin Cindric | View stats

Team Penske, No. 2 Ford

Odds: 30-1

We've already broken down the other two Team Penske drivers' chances at Talladega, so we might as well discuss Cindric's outlook. Ever since he entered the Cup Series, he's been a factor at superspeedways, winning in his second attempt at the Daytona 500. He was in the mix of winning the 500 again this season before a last-lap crash. The No. 2 team followed that performance up with a top-five outing at Atlanta. Cindric is a sneaky pick this weekend.

SLEEPER PICK: 

Austin Dillon | View stats

Richard Childress Racing, No. 3 Chevrolet

Odds: 30-1

With how brutal the first nine races have been for Dillon, I'm almost scared to mention him here. But like it is with all Fords, this is a prime race for Dillon to capitalize on his superspeedway fundamentals and steal a playoff berth. He is another former Daytona 500 winner and has a pair of top-five results at Talladega.

SLEEPER PICK: 

Erik Jones | View stats

Legacy Motor Club, No. 43 Toyota

Odds: 30-1

Jones is still looking for his first victory at Talladega, but he has defined consistency here over the past few seasons. Over the last eight races, he has six finishes of ninth or better, including a trio of sixth-place results. One of those was in this race two years ago, when he was leading coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap but missed a block and dropped outside the top five.

STAY AWAY FROM: 

Martin Truex Jr. | View stats

Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 19 Toyota

Odds: 22-1

Eighty-one superspeedway races have come and gone and Truex remains winless. He has just six top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in those races. Most of his success has come at Talladega, though, with nine top-10 efforts. The bad news: just one of those has come in the last 16 starts.  

STAY AWAY FROM: 

Kyle Larson | View stats

Hendrick Motorsports, No. 5 Chevrolet

Odds: 20-1

You can probably copy and paste what I wrote about Larson ahead of the Daytona 500 and the next week at Atlanta and it still applies for Talladega. Similarly to Truex, Larson has not found ideal success on superspeedways and has DNF'd in eight of the 14 superspeedway races in the Next Gen era. His skill set has improved at superspeedways, but the results have not.  

STAY AWAY FROM: 

Tyler Reddick | View stats

23XI Racing, No. 45 Toyota

Odds: 22-1

Reddick doesn't have as many starts at Talladega as Truex or Larson, but he shares similar disappointment. He has collected a pair of seventh-place finishes, but has placed outside the top 15 -- three times outside the top 25 -- in each of the last five races. There will be ample opportunities to use the No. 45 car with how fast Reddick has been on intermediate tracks this season. 

FEATURED MATCHUPS: 

Ryan Blaney vs. Chase Elliott

This is a rare occurrence where I'm not going to take my own advice for fantasy. While I won’t have Blaney available for my lineup and Elliott is in my lineup, I still believe the No. 12 car will perform better than the No. 9 Chevrolet at Talladega. Both are multi-time winners at the famed track, but Blaney is always in the mix to win. 

Corey LaJoie vs. Austin Dillon

It seems like LaJoie will win on a superspeedway sooner rather than later. He hasn't had nearly the amount of success at Talladega that he's shown at Daytona and Atlanta, but the No. 7 car still finished fourth last fall. Dillon has already won twice on superspeedways -- both at Daytona -- and RCR puts added emphasis to its superspeedway program.  

Daniel Suárez vs. Erik Jones

Despite Suárez having three consecutive top-10 finishes at Talladega, the safe bet lies with Jones’ No. 43 team. Jones is typically at the front of these races, and we noted his success over the last four seasons at Talladega earlier. It wouldn't be surprising if, like Suárez at Atlanta, Jones won his way into the playoffs at Talladega.

Noah Gragson vs. Ty Gibbs

One of the few bright spots for Gragson in his rookie Cup season last year was his battle for the lead late in the spring race at Talladega. He ended up getting involved in a wreck. Gibbs' forte isn't superspeedways, where Gragson's daring traits pay dividends at tracks such as Talladega.

MY LINEUP: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon

GARAGE: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.