Are you ready to “shake and bake” at the Talladega Superspeedway this coming weekend? Rubbers will burn and cars will whiz by like a blur at the track on Sunday, as the high-speed track will host the best of the best in NASCAR. Read on for a preview of the 71st edition of the Geico 500 race.
Don’t act like you’re surprised. Busch will come into Talladega seeking to get his fourth win of the season. He is coming off a relatively letdown performance in Richmond, where he finished eighth last week, though, he didn’t help himself with a pit road speeding violation. Busch is on an amazing streak, as he hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in any of his last nine races. He has a win in 27 career races in Talladega. While Busch is a favorite to win, it’s worth nothing that he only has seven top 10s in ‘Dega. Going into the race, Busch has +250 odds to claim the 2019 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Championship.
Joey Logano
Logano nearly snatched his second win in a row (and of the season) last week, when he finished second in Richmond. Nevertheless, he should definitely be one of the most attractive drivers to bet on ahead of the Talladega race. After all, he is the race’s defending champion. Furthermore, he’s also been hot of late. Prior to placing second in Richmond, he was third in the race in Bristol. Logano has four wins in 41 career races at Talladega, with 13 top fives and 18 top 10s along with an average finish of 17.05. Going into the race, Logano has +600 odds to win the 2019 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Championship.
SLEEPERS
Paul Menard
Menard hasn’t won anything in his racing career in Talladega, but he seems to be closing in on success at the track. While he only had a single top 10 finish in his first 14 races in Talladega, he appears to be righting his ship (or car) of late, with six finishes inside the top 10 over his last appearances at the track. That stretch includes the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500, where he placed ninth. Menard also has two top-10 campaigns in his last pair of races, placing sixth in Bristol and 10th in Richmond. Going into the race, this sleeper has +15,000 odds to win the 2019 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Championship.
Austin Dillon
Dillon had his best finish of the season since Daytona last weekend, when he went sixth in Richmond. That could be enough momentum for the Team Richard Childress Racing driver to put up a great performance at Talladega, where Dillon has been silent of late. Dillon had back-to-back top 10 finishes in ‘Dega in 2016, which was followed by four races in which his best finish was a 17th in last year’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 race. Dillon, who is currently 14th in the NASCAR Cup standings, has a win (2018 Daytona) and a 17.17 average finish in 23 races in restrictor plate tracks. Going into the race, this sleeper has +8000 odds to win the 2019 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Championship.
LONG SHOT
William Byron
Byron only has two races thus far in his career in Talladega, and both have been mostly forgettable ones. He finished 29th in his Talladega debut during last year’s Geico 500 and just 20th in 2018’s staging of the 1000Bulbs.com 500. Having said that, there’s some positives in those starts for Byron, including the fact that he’s had 19 laps led in those two races. Sounds promising for a driver with long odds to win this weekend in ‘Dega. Going into the Geico 500, this long shot has +8,000 odds to win the 2019 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series Championship.
