Following the off weekend for Easter, NASCAR heads to Talladega, Alabama for the first of two trips to the track this season, for the GEICO 500. Its time for some high-speed side-by-side racing at one of the sports fastest tracks. This race will be a little different as it is the first at a Superspeedway without the use of a restrictor-plate. That could make this race interesting in itself. Talladega has always been the track where a driver who is a longshot coming into the race seems to get the job done, including last fall when Aric Almirola was able to grab the checkered flag. Coming off the break, we will have to wait and see if Martin Truex Jr can check-off another first-time win by winning at a restrictor-plate track after nabbing the win at Richmond two weeks ago. Who can survive the carnage that Talladega always seems to bring out in the race? Let’s dive into the Geico 500 Free Racing Picks for this Sunday.
Here are five drivers to back in Talladega
Brad Keselowski +800
The odds are typically higher than usual when NASCAR heads to Talladega and to no surprise we have some high numbers this week, but one driver to definitely keep an eye on is Brad Keselowski. It should come to no surprise that Keselowski should be the favorite heading into this race as he is the active wins leader at the track with five wins in his career at Talladega. Team Penske has had great success at the track winning six of the last nine races at Talladega. Brad has won the Spring Talladega race three times and will look to tie Jeff Gordon as the only four-time winners of the Spring Talladega race.
Joey Logano +800
Like his teammate Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano is a proven winner at Superspeedways as he has three wins in the last seven races at Talladega. Logano won at Las Vegas earlier this season and given his success at Talladega, he could be one to keep an eye on especially late in the race. Logano is the defending winner of the GEICO 500 and will look to continue Team Penske’s success at the track. He has been really strong at the track with no worse than 5th in five of the last seven races at the track. Add in three wins in the Xfinity Series and Logano is definitely a favorite come Sunday.
Denny Hamlin +1000
A bit of a stretch for Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin, but given his success on superspeedways it’s hard to not back him. Hamlin is a former winner at Talladega back in 2014 and has three top 10s in the last five races at the track. Denny became a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 this season, and also picked up his second win of the season at Texas. It has been tough for the whole Joe Gibbs team at Talladega as Hamlin 2014 victory was the last win at the track for the whole organization.
Aric Almirola +1300
A bit of a long shot, but not much since he was able to get to victory lane at Talladega last fall. Almirola has proven he can get it done at Talladega. Aric has really been strong at both superspeedways with a win at both Daytona and Talladega in his career. The Fords have been the class of the field at Talladega having won the last seven races at the track. Almirola has done really good at the track as well with a top 10 in each of the last five races there, along with three top-five finishes.
Chase Elliott +1600
A legacy that will one day be continued, as Chase Elliott has a lot of work to do to get to the level his dad Bill was able to accomplish at Talladega. In his six starts at the track, Chase has only posted two top 10s, but luckily for him, they were both top-five finishes, including a 3rd place finish in last seasons GEICO 500. He has been a strong qualifier at the track starting no worse than 8th in his six tries so far. He has one career pole at the track and could have a strong shot at the pole for Sunday. Chase is a bit of an underdog and or longshot at Talladega, but he has led more than 20 laps in two of his six starts at the track. Elliott could have something to say on Sunday
