We are going to be back racing at the track that Big Bill France designed to be bigger and faster than Daytona. While it is hard to pick any one to watch at tracks like Talladega I’ll do my best. So, after a week off from racing lets go over the drivers to watch at Talladega.
Team Chevy
This camp alone hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to restrictor plate racing as of late. Luckily for the Chevy camp a wild old veteran in Kurt Busch joined the team. Kurt in the last four races has led a combine one hundred and sixteen laps. While he hasn’t been able to win here in his career since the 2014 fall race he has only finished outside the top twenty once. Kurt has been a driver to watch for multiple races this year, and should have an eye kept on him this Sunday.
The second driver to watch this weekend is Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie as of late has been clicking with his new crew chief and consistently been fast. While he hasn’t won a race here since 2011 he does have an average finishing position of twelfth. The seven time champ is on a win less streak the longest of his career if he’s able to keep his nose clean he could have a solid chance of snapping it this weekend.
Ford Camp
Talladega has been a play ground of sorts for Ford as of late with all of the previous four races being won by a Ford driver. My first driver to watch is going to be the active driver with the most wins at the super speedway: Brad Keselowski. Brad’s most recent win came in the fall of 2017, but he has led eighty laps in the last four races. Another stat I thought that was impressive was this, Brad has led at least one lap at Talladega in every race since 2016. That’s is a pretty impressive feat in itself and that’s why he is my first driver to watch for the Ford camp.
The second driver to watch is going to the driver of the sometimes forgotten number ten Stewart Haas car. Aric Almirola has the highest average finishing position in the last four races. Also, he is the winner of the most recent fall race here where he led only the most important lap the final one. Since the fall race of 2016 as well this man has not finished outside of the top ten. That shows me as of late he has been able to keep his nose clean and grab good finishes becoming my second Ford Driver to watch.
Team Toyota
As of late Toyota drivers haven’t really been the best at Talladega. With the highest average finisher in the last four being Denny Hamlin. That and well his season all together are why he is my first Toyota driver to watch. Denny in the last four races here has an average finishing position of eighth and has led a combined fifty eight laps. Denny has for sure picked up the momentum this season from last year having won at Daytona. While he only has one career win here in twenty six stars keep an eye on the Fed-Ex driver.
So the next driver to watch on this list has had a great season thus far going this year. With that being said his stats at the Alabama super speedway are not the best. Kyle Busch has only seen victory lane here once in his career, and that was way back in 2008. Honestly his average career finishing position is 20th which kind of depending on how you take it is shocking. However, you can not count out the “Candy man” any weekend regardless of his record because if he keeps his nose clean he will be a contender.
Underdogs
Every week this is always my favorite section to write, because who doesn’t like an underdog? I mean even the people in Vegas love an underdog, especially if they win because that normally means big money pay outs. Either way my first underdog as of late at tracks like this has become one most fans don’t like at the super speedways.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. since February 2017 has the second highest average finishing position of active drivers. He was able to win in May of 2017, and has been able to finish in the top ten in the previous two races. Ricky for some reason seems to have knack for racing at tracks like this, with his only wins being at Talladega and Daytona. His ability to be aggressive can propel him to a win, but it can also put him in the wall. The Roush racing driver is huge underdog most weeks and that’s why he is my Ford underdog driver to watch.
The Chevrolet driver to watch for underdogs has zero career wins, and drives what one would say is a super unlucky number. My Belly up partner recently put him in the Vegas odds article as a Big Risk, and bigger reward for this weekend. Ty Dillon for some reason has been able to keep his nose clean, and finish consistently at restrictor plate tracks again and again. In his cup career at Talladega he has never finished outside of the top fifteen. I would for sure keep an eye on this man this week he could be en route to shock some people.
This final driver to watch is the epitome of underdog. Matt DiBenedetto moved to Levine Family racing to start this year. While he is also a win less in his career he has showed some promise as of late. Especially the first race of the year at Daytona. Matt winded up leading forty nine laps before getting caught up in the “big one” and being took out of the race. With that being said though he has been able to finish in the top twenty three times. I think this goes without saying though, with everyone if Matt can keep his nose clean he will and should have a chance.
Conclusion
This is arguably the most unpredictable track beside Daytona to pick drivers to watch. I know my fellow Belly Up racing contributor wrote recently about the Las Vegas odds, but honestly picking anyone at this track is a wild card pick. It is known for big crashes, high speeds, and surprise winners. Which either makes it a fan favorite or a fans nightmare. Either way guys this is my best shot at picking winners or at least solid finishers. Guys and gals if you want more racing news keep up @bellyupracing. For anything and everything sports keep an eye on us at Belly Up Sports.
