Posted on by RJ Kraft

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Austin Dillon will start from the Busch Pole in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Does he merit a spot in your Fantasy Live lineup. We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2. One the final stage starts, your roster is locked in.

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Talladega:
1. Aric Almirola
2. Clint Bowyer
3. Kurt Busch
4. Alex Bowman
5. Ty Dillon
Garage: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Cars to the rear: Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Reed Sorenson and Cody Ware (all for unapproved adjustments); Brendan Gaughan (driver change after qualifying, Tyler Reddick qualified the No. 62 on Saturday).

RELATED: Odds for Talladega | 10-lap averages | Podcast: Fantasy Fastlane

Analysis: Superspeedway racing is unpredictable and because of that aspect I am looking to mostly use drivers that I have barely played this season. Stenhouse, Bowman and Ty Dillon have been used only once or not at all by me. That trio also have good records on superspeedways — Stenhouse and Dillon have been particularly solid at Talladega. I haven’t used Kurt Busch much and I think this is a good spot to plug him in. I’m taking Almirola on the strength on his five straight top 10s here — he’s the only driver with six or less uses that is in my lineup. With Stenhouse moving to the rear, though, for unapproved adjustments I am shifting him to the garage.

Bowyer slots in for Menard thanks to four things: I wanted another Ford starting in the top 10, that Ford needed to not be a Team Penske car because I want to save all of them, Bowyer has a solid history with two wins, 13 top 10s in 26 starts here and I’m not sure I’ll use him 10 times so I feel comfortable with the use here. I still like Menard as a play, but I just like Bowyer a bit more. Austin Dillon also merited a lot of consideration from me as did David Ragan and Daniel Suarez.

For the bonus picks, I’m going with this arrangement: Brad Keselowski in Stages 1 and 2 and Joey Logano for the win with Ford for the manufacturer.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Play the Props Challenge today

1. O/U Ford will have 5.5 drivers finish in the top 10 at Talladega. I am in big time on the Over for this. Ford has won seven straight at Talladega. They had six in the top seven last spring at this race. I view this prop as figuring that two Penske cars, two SHR cars and two of Stenhouse, Newman, Menard, Ragan and McDowell find their way into the top 10 at day’s end.

2. Will Sunday’s race winner start outside the top 15? Usually, when Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are outside the top 15 you would say yes. However, with superspeedway stalwarts like the Team Penske trio, Bowyer, Almirola, both Dillon brothers plus Elliott, Kurt Busch and more, it’s hard to say no to that group. So I won’t.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Picking up significant speed from the first round of knockout qualifying to the second, Austin Dillon won the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Covering the 2.66-mile distance in 49.734 seconds (192.544 mph) in his No. 3 Chevrolet, Dillon edged first-round leader Aric Almirola (192.131 mph) for the top starting spot by .107 seconds. In Saturday’s first round, Dillon had run 192.108 mph to Almirola’s 192.324 mph.

The Busch Pole Award was Dillon’s first at Talladega, his second of the season and the fifth of his career.

RELATED: Qualifying results | Every car in the GEICO 500 field

Clint Bowyer qualified third at 191.723 mph, followed by Brad Keselowski and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Daniel Hemric, Dillon’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing.

The final round featured six Chevrolet drivers and six Ford drivers. Martin Truex Jr. will start 20th in the fastest-qualifying Toyota. Ford drivers have won the last seven Talladega races.

Dillon’s pole run came on his 29th birthday. It was the first Talladega pole for the No. 3 car since Dale Earnhardt, a 10-time winner at the track, claimed the top starting spot in 1994. Richard Childress Racing is celebrating its 50th year in the sport and Talladega its 50th year as a NASCAR track.

“It’s RCR’s 50th Anniversary, and my grandfather (team owner Richard Childress) takes a lot of pride in these speedway races,” Dillon said. “To come here and get a pole, we felt like we had a car capable of doing that… And, man, it’s all of these guys (the team).

“I didn’t do nothing. Just holding the wheel straight. I did hold the wheel straight. I guess I did that. Fun times. Sunday is when it matters, though. We’d love to get a win and lock ourselves in the Playoffs, because these races are ones that you can really take advantage of because there’s a lot of points to get out there. And that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

Almirola thought his final-round run might have been affected by a gust of wind.

“I think we got pretty close to backing up what we ran in the first round there, but I felt like the wind picked up a little bit more,” Almirola said. “I don’t know if that was it, or what the case was. All in all, it was a great run for us. I’m happy about starting on the front row with good track position to start the race and a good pit stall. All those things matter.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start sixth, followed by Ryan Blaney, three-time Talladega winner and reigning series champion Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Michael McDowell.

Kevin Harvick earned the 19th pot on the grid, and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson qualified 21st.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

TALLADEGA, Ala. – It may not have been a victory for Gray Gaulding but the runner-up finish in the MoneyLion 300 at Talladega Superspeedway sure was sweet. Emotion poured out with plenty of jubilation from his family and friends.

“This is Talladega man. This is frickin’ awesome,” Gaulding said after his career-best finish in a NASCAR national series race. “This is what every driver wants to have is a last-lap chance to win a race and we did.”

RELATED: Full results from MoneyLion 300 | Reddick wins at Talladega

The biggest key for Gaulding was going into the race with an aggressive, no-holds-barred mindset.

“I told myself today I’m going to act like today’s the last race I got,” Gaulding said. “I was going to lay it all out on the table and I’m going to play offense and attack all day. I feel like the more times you play defense here at Daytona or Talladega you get yourself in trouble.”

The 21-year-old surged in the closing laps to finish 0.127 seconds off the pace of race winner Tyler Reddick.

“I tried every single trick in the handbook to get it done,” Gaulding said. “The 98 (Chase Briscoe, who finished fourth) got a huge run and went up to block me and then I slingshotted by him. I’ll tell you, it was pretty close … I was at least trying to hope to get to (Reddick’s) bumper — move him out of the way or do something.”

The strong run was far from lost on his fellow competitors — fifth-place finisher Austin Cindric noted how others “underestimated the 08 car” and that Gaulding was a “great helper” — as he and others gave plenty of congratulations to Gaulding after he got out of the car.

“I feel like I earned a lot of respect today,” Gaulding said. “At the beginning of the race, I had nobody. I was a lone ranger on an island with no one out there. I felt like I cut my teeth and showed these guys I could hang in there with the best of them.”

Gaulding has 84 starts across all three national series and the last few seasons have seen him bounce around the garage until landing at SS Green Light Racing to drive the No. 08 Chevrolet for team owner Bobby Dotter.

“We’re the underdogs everywhere we go,” Gaulding said. “Now, I like it like that. The beginning of the year people didn’t really pay attention to us. Now it just seems like every week with the cars we’re building and the way I’m driving and the way my crew chief Patrick (Donahue) and guys are setting my cars up, we’re going to have a shot at it one of these days.”

A bigger prize may be in the offing for Gaulding as his runner-up finish and status as a Xfinity Series regular made him one of four drivers (with Reddick, Briscoe and Christopher Bell) eligible for the $100,000 prize in the Dash 4 Cash finale next Saturday — May 4 — in the Allied Steel Buildings 200 (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover International Speedway.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Tyler Reddick overcame a pit road speeding penalty and damage to the right side of his No. 2 Chevrolet to win Saturday’s MoneyLion 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

With the right side of his Richard Childress Racing Chevy heavily taped after a brush with the outside wall, Reddick crossed the finish line at the end of a two-lap closing dash .127 seconds ahead of runner-up Gray Gaulding, who drove his No. 08 Chevrolet to the first top-10 finish of his career.

The reigning series champion, who moved from JR Motorsports to RCR during the offseason, won for the first time this year, the first time at Talladega and the fourth time in his career, extending his series lead to 32 points over third-place finisher Christopher Bell.

Reddick also won the $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus that goes to the highest finisher among four eligible drivers.

RELATED: Official race results

“I tried to take us out of this race so many times, and somehow we got back into the mix and got back to the lead,” said Reddick, who blocked for all he was worth on the final two laps after a seven-car incident on Lap 109 forced NASCAR to red-flag the event for track clean-up.

In fact, Reddick had luck on his side, too. After contact with the wall, he was roughly 200 yards from going a lap down when NASCAR called the third caution of the race on Lap 66 for debris in Turn 1. Twenty laps later, Reddick escaped contact with Noah Gragson’s Chevy without significant damage.

But it was dodging a Lap 95 wreck involving pole winner Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer that finally gave Reddick the sense that it might be his day.

“As soon as I missed that wreck when the 00 (Custer) and the 1 (Annett) got caught up, and I somehow missed it, and the 23 (John Hunter Nemechek) did a great job weaving his way out of it, too, I thought, ‘There must be a reason why I wasn’t in that wreck,’” Reddick said. “It was just a lot of fun to work my way back to the front.”

Chase Briscoe finished fourth, as he Reddick, Bell and Gaulding earned the four qualifying positions for next Saturday’s Dash4Cash race at Dover.

Austin Cindric was fifth, followed by Nemecheck, Justin Haley, Josh Williams, Landon Cassill and Chris Cockrum, who, like Gaulding, scored his first career top 10.

Gaulding had a run on the backstretch on the final lap, but a block from Briscoe slowed his momentum.

“I was kind of the lone ranger out there,” Gaulding said. “I think I just had to earn a lot of people’s respect. I did as much as I could to get beside him (Reddick), but when the 98 (Briscoe) came up, he kind of blocked my run.

“Man, it was so, so close. Man, what a day, baby. Talladega—let’s go!”

Posted on by Jonathan Merryman

TALLADEGA, Ala. — You don’t often find a mixture of self-deprecation and confidence in the NASCAR garage. The ability to point out your faults and also know you can win at NASCAR’s highest level is rare. It’s a quality Chase Elliott has mastered when it comes to his approach to superspeedway racing.

In six Talladega Superspeedway starts, Elliott has never qualified outside of the top 10 but only has two top-five finishes. Elliott said it’s not because the cars aren’t fast, it’s mostly on him.

“I think the lack of good finishes is probably more just poor decisions on my part or being in a bad spot,” Elliott told NASCAR.com on Friday at the 2.66-mile track. “Whatever it is, it’s been different.  Sometimes there have been days that I probably could have done something different to have a better result, other days maybe not. It’s definitely not for the lack of a fast car.”

RELATED: Talladega schedule

This weekend, Elliott knows that to contend, he will need a strategy to team up and take on the fleet of Ford Performance, which has won the last seven Talladega events. In Daytona, the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets worked with Joe Gibbs Racing in an effort to thwart the Ford contingent.

Heading into this weekend, Elliott is tight-lipped when it comes to strategy, but said the superspeedway “stampede” of Mustangs has his attention.

“I think for us, we obviously as a group at Chevrolet, we want to break that up and do a better job,” Elliott said. “I look forward to the challenge. I certainly respect them and what they have done and being able to stick together. I don’t necessary like it.”

On top of it all, Elliott and the rest will use a new aero package this weekend. The cars have shed the long-running restrictor plates, adding more drag and more horsepower. Even with the changes, Elliott said the way the race will play out ultimately falls into the drivers’ hands.

“I think the attitudes and aggression levels of how people want to act on Sunday is probably going to decide how the race unfolds,” Elliott said. “I think that is up to us and how we wake up on Sunday and want to be. That’s just kind of part of it.”

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR ejected Ryan Bergenty, the car chief for Kurt Busch in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, after the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet failed OSS (Optical Scanning Station) inspection twice on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. The team will also incur a 15-minute hold in practice next weekend at Dover International Speedway.

RELATED: Full schedule for Talladega | NASCAR confiscates No. 3 deck lid

The No. 1 passed inspection on the third time through as cars will be impounded after Saturday’s Busch Pole Qualifying and released before Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Busch is seventh in the Monster Energy Series standings entering Sunday’s race. He has six top-10 finishes and three top-five finishes in the first nine races.

Posted on by Staff Report

TALLADEGA, Ala. — NASCAR officials confiscated the rear deck lid of the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet for driver Austin Dillon on Friday, taking the offending part into the Monster Energy Series hauler in the Talladega Superspeedway garage.

RELATED: Full schedule for Talladega

Officials found the No. 3’s rear deck to be out of compliance with the NASCAR Rule Book. They took the piece of sheet metal — black with sanded edges — to the officials’ hauler for further review.

A NASCAR spokesperson indicated that any potential penalties for either crew chief Danny Stockman or the team would come after this Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).

With a new deck lid in place on the No. 3 Chevy for Saturday’s qualifying, Dillon claimed the Busch Pole Award for the second time this year.

“I knew it wasn’t going to hurt our performance. From a speed penalty-wise, it wasn’t,” Dillon said after qualifying. “We were just fixing a problem and it turned out we didn’t need to do that. I’m sure Stockman was spun out about it, but speed-wise, I knew it wasn’t going to hurt us. Moving forward, I hope that NASCAR takes into effect the entire story of it, and whatever is dealt our way, we’ll handle it and go on from there. I’m just happy that RCR has brought a lot of speed to the track this year. We’re running toward the front more where I feel like as a driver, as a team, we can compete with these guys.”

Dillon sits in a tie for 14th place with Ryan Newman in the Monster Energy Series standings. He has two top-10 finishes this year and now two pole positions, the first coming at Auto Club Speedway in March.

Posted on by Staff Report

STAFFORD, Conn. — Due to the expected heavy rain, Sunday, May 5th‘s NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzleru00ae Whelen Modified Tour 200 has been moved to Friday, May 10th, under the lights. Racing will still take place this Saturday, May 4th as Stafford‘s 5 Weekly divisions and the Vintage Modifieds will run a full schedule in an afternoon racing format for Stafford‘s first event of 2019.

All tickets purchased for the NAPA Spring Sizzleru00ae will be honored Friday, May 10th. NAPA Auto Parts ticket holder buffet will be held from 5:30pm to 7:30pm Friday May, 10th. Stafford‘s five weekly divisions will also be on hand Friday, May 10th in a feature only format. The Top-18 cars in points will be locked into their respective feature events.

Saturday, May 4th will play host to Opening Day at Stafford. Pit gates will open at 10:00AM and General Admission gates at 11:00AM. Qualifying races will kick-off at 1:30PM with feature racing slated to begin at 2:30PM. See full schedule below. General Admission ticket pricing for Saturday‘s event will be $18.50 for adults, kids 6-14 $5, and 5 & under free. Reserved seating is $20 for all ages and paddock passes will be $30 for NASCAR members and $35 for non-NASCAR members.

The Open Modified 80 event scheduled for May 10th has been moved to May 24th in conjunction with Dunleavy‘s Truck and Trailer Repair Modifiedz Night.

“We appreciate all of our teams working with us,” explained Stafford GM Mark Arute. “This weather has been tough but we want to get a race in for all the teams, drivers, and fans. It made the most sense to bring the Modified Tour back next Friday for a one day show. Hopefully we can put the bad weather behind us.”

For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783, visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com, or contact us on social media.

STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT - APRIL 27: A general view of the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour NAPA Spring Sizzler 200 at Stafford Motor Speedway on April 27, 2019 in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

Posted on by Staff Report
Order Car Driver Team
1 51 Cody Ware(i) JACOB Companies Ford
2 27 * Reed Sorenson Low-T Centers Chevrolet
3 32 Corey LaJoie Schuler Systems Ford
4 52 Stanton Barrett HUSKI CHOCOLATE Chevrolet
5 77 Justin Haley(i) Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet
6 96 * Parker Kligerman(i) TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota
7 81 * Jeffrey Earnhardt(i) Xtreme Concepts Toyota
8 00 Landon Cassill(i) Home Town Lenders Chevrolet
9 15 Ross Chastain(i) Chevrolet
10 37 Chris Buescher Tide Pods Chevrolet
11 2 Brad Keselowski Snap On Ford
12 22 Joey Logano MoneyLion Ford
13 14 Clint Bowyer Toco Warranty Ford
14 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Knauf Ford
15 62 * Brendan Gaughan(i) Beard Oil Distributing/South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
16 43 Bubba Wallace World Wide Technology Chevrolet
17 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet
18 41 Daniel Suarez Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla Ford
19 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Flannel Ford
20 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet
21 3 Austin Dillon Dow Chevrolet
22 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet
23 42 Kyle Larson Clover Chevrolet
24 8 Daniel Hemric # Caterpillar Chevrolet
25 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet
26 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
27 95 Matt DiBenedetto Procore Toyota
28 21 Paul Menard Quick Land Tire & Auto Center Ford
29 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford
30 24 William Byron Hertz Chevrolet
31 9 Chase Elliott Mountain Dew/Little Caesar’s Chevrolet
32 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford
33 38 David Ragan Shriners Hospital for Children Ford
34 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet
35 20 Erik Jones STANLEY Toyota
36 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Chocolate Bar Toyota
37 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Suncreen/Tunity Ford
38 19 Martin Truex Jr Bass Pro Shops Toyota
39 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Fifth Third Bank Ford
40 6 Ryan Newman Acorns Ford

* Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series