From the shortest track on the schedule to the longest — Talladega. Have to love the dichotomy of the NASCAR schedule going from a half-mile track to a 2.66-mile plate track one week later. Of course there’s a lot more chaos expected at Talladega in the aptly named GEICO 500 which makes this race more of a wild card for not only the standings but also for DFS. While it’s true that a lot of drivers are in play this week, there is still a bona fide strategy to winning here in DFS that we’ll break down now.

GEICO 500 NASCAR DFS Strategy

“Stack the Back”! Well, not quite folks. A lot of people use that strategy these races and that can be solid enough for cash. That won’t win you tournaments though. How do you win tournaments at Talladega? That’s what we’re rolling into now. Historically, we expect chaos here but if we’re talking about getting the winner of the race in the lineup that’s not terribly chaotic to sort out. If we go back to 2014, or the last 16 races at Talladega, only once has the winner come from outside the top-20 starting spots and nearly 70-percent of winners have started in the top-10. Now nabbing drivers finishing in the top-10 is the key to winning DFS right? So where are those drivers coming from then? Over the last 10 races at ‘Dega, more than half of the top-10 finishers started P13 or worse per race. That’s where the chaos comes in given literally anyone can finish in the top-10. In order to nail down the guys with the best chances for those strong finishes, we want to look at the drivers who have the best records at Talladega and then plate tracks in general. If a driver is consistently good at these tracks, it’s not just luck playing into it but more skill.

Talladega DFS History

For the most part we want to leave money on the table this week, like quite a bit. Typically here, the winning lineups have at least $2,000 to $9,000 left on the table when building. We’re not hunting laps led, they’re nice but not a key, and so we don’t have to spend up for drivers starting close to the front. We’ve seen over the last few races here that builds who target one driver starting in the top-10, one starting 11-20, and the rest starting 21-30 are typically the best in DFS. Sure playing the last 5-6 drivers in the starting grid and then hoping they avoid wrecks can work, and does for cash, it doesn’t for GPPs. So looking at the drivers with the most laps completed in the last several plate races are also what historically has helped win in DFS at Talladega.

Stacks

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