This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
Talladega Superspeedway lived up to its reputation as one of NASCAR's wildest tracks Sunday. The YellaWood 500 was an unpredictable and chaotic race with 13 cautions and many more storylines. Denny Hamlin barely edged out Matt DiBenedetto at the finish after multiple overtime restart attempts, which earned him the win and a spot alongside Kurt Busch in the next round of playoff eliminations. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver spent most of the afternoon being careful at the back of the field before the opportunity arose for him to make an attempt for the win. That gamble paid off in a wild final lap when the top three cars ahead of him collided and he slipped past to cross the finish line first.
The crazy race left its impression on the playoff battle, too. With just one more race to set the field of eight playoff contenders still eligible to win the season championship Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Aric Almirola sit below the cut line with Joey Logano holding a 21-point advantage over Dillon. All of those drivers encountered some kind of trouble in the race and will now have to approach this week's cutoff race with points being the objective.
UPGRADE
Denny Hamlin – While Hamlin had speed to race at the front early on, he drifted to the back and simply stayed out of trouble for the vast majority of the race. Even with less than 10 scheduled laps remaining he was still
Talladega Superspeedway lived up to its reputation as one of NASCAR's wildest tracks Sunday. The YellaWood 500 was an unpredictable and chaotic race with 13 cautions and many more storylines. Denny Hamlin barely edged out Matt DiBenedetto at the finish after multiple overtime restart attempts, which earned him the win and a spot alongside Kurt Busch in the next round of playoff eliminations. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver spent most of the afternoon being careful at the back of the field before the opportunity arose for him to make an attempt for the win. That gamble paid off in a wild final lap when the top three cars ahead of him collided and he slipped past to cross the finish line first.
The crazy race left its impression on the playoff battle, too. With just one more race to set the field of eight playoff contenders still eligible to win the season championship Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Aric Almirola sit below the cut line with Joey Logano holding a 21-point advantage over Dillon. All of those drivers encountered some kind of trouble in the race and will now have to approach this week's cutoff race with points being the objective.
UPGRADE
Denny Hamlin – While Hamlin had speed to race at the front early on, he drifted to the back and simply stayed out of trouble for the vast majority of the race. Even with less than 10 scheduled laps remaining he was still hanging out at the rear of the field. As other playoff contenders encountered problems the door opened for Hamlin to take the risk to move forward and go for the win. With an unscathed car he pushed his way to the front for multiple overtime restarts and a squabble among the top three on the final lap left him to squeeze by on the apron and edge out Matt DiBenedetto for his seventh win of the season. He is now safely in the next playoff round and will aim to better his top Charlotte road course finish of 12th.
Chase Elliott – Elliott leveraged significant Hendrick Motorsports horsepower to be a factor in Sunday's YellaWood 500 again at Talladega. He has spent the past few seasons earning a reputation as an excellent fantasy option for superspeedway races, including a win at Talladega in the spring of 2019. Unfortunately, a last-lap penalty for forcing a car below the yellow line left him with an official finish that was not what he truly earned. However, Elliott also made his mark on the road courses, and that is the type of challenge he faces this week. He is the defending winner of this week's race, leading 35 laps from the 19th starting position. Elliott is a driver fantasy owners will certainly be considering for selection this week and this past week's Talladega performance should add some momentum as well.
Martin Truex Jr. – Truex won the second stage of Sunday's race at Talladega, surviving multiple early wrecks and a hectic final few laps of the segment to collect an extra playoff point. Truex is in comfortable position to advance to the penultimate round of the playoffs and should feel very confident heading into this week's race. It was his fifth stage win of the season. The afternoon didn't end as well as Truex was one of the many cars at the front of the field that was caught in a late overtime wreck leaving him crawling to complete the last two laps. Truex is one of the best drivers in the series on road courses and led at least one lap in each of the two visits to Charlotte's version. He finished seventh there last season after starting eighth.
Chris Buescher – Fantasy players who know Chris Buescher were confident selecting him this past week at Talladega, and he lived up to those expectations by driving to the lead in the first stage. He missed the crash in the closing laps of that segment and cruised to his first stage victory in the series. He drove a tremendous race and was in position to win in the final miles of a wild race. The top-10 finish was Buescher's third of the season and one of his most convincing. Fantasy players shouldn't carry the same confidence forward to this week's race in Charlotte, though. Buescher's average finish from the two Charlotte road course races is 17.5. However, Buescher's race on Sunday makes him a go-to fantasy option whenever superspeedways are the venue.
DOWNGRADE
Kyle Busch - Busch is facing playoff elimination after a dismal visit to Talladega. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver not only remains shut out of Victory Lane, but he was caught up in a first stage crash. That damage caused further problems when a tire went down and further damaged the car after returning to start the second segment. Not all hope was lost after he and the team continued circulating in the pack to pick up more points for his championship hopes, but Busch has sounded defeated after the past few weeks of continued bad luck. He is an excellent road course racer but hasn't gotten the job done at Charlotte. He failed to finish both races at the track, dropping out due to a crash and suspension trouble.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – A heavy push through Talladega's tri-oval even before the competition caution sent Stenhouse spinning and into the inside wall. The early contact was a big missed opportunity for him. Superspeedway races are a highlight of the season for Stenhouse and the fantasy players that choose him, but this past Sunday it was too much aggression too soon for the JTG Daugherty Racing driver. Last week could have been the best opportunity for him to win a race this season but now all focus will be on improving for 2021. He isn't a driver fantasy players will want to gamble on this week either. Stenhouse isn't the best road course racer and has a best finish of 17th from the two races held on the Charlotte road course.
Aric Almirola – Almirola was racing Sunday for what might have been his best shot at advancing further in the playoffs at Talladega. He moved himself into position to come up with the stage 1 victory, but a rough push from behind by Alex Bowman sent Almirola spinning into the wall, triggering a multi-car crash. The damage was too much for Almirola to overcome and after pulling into the pits he got out of the car and may have said goodbye to any chance of advancing to the next round. He has one more chance to do so, though. However, his best finish at the Charlotte road course came last season when he finished 14th. He isn't known as one of the best drivers on the road courses and faces an uphill battle this week.
Joey Logano – As has come to be expected from Logano on the superspeedways he was an aggressive pusher all afternoon. The aggression earned him some minor front damage early in the race, but that didn't stop him from being at the sharp end of the field in the final miles of the race, fighting for the victory. Ultimately, two blocks led to NASCAR penalties and the second of those put Logano in a position where he was caught up in an overtime crash. That crash ended his day after looking like it could have ended in a victory for him, having an extremely fast car that was capable of maintaining the lead most of the afternoon. Logano finished 10th in both Charlotte road course visits and has a 21-point gap to the playoff cut line. He will be racing for points this week.
Bubba Wallace - Sunday's race at Talladega could have been Wallace's best opportunity to earn a win for Richard Petty Motorsports before moving on to the new team being fielded by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan next season. Wallace proved his mettle in the draft throughout Sunday's race distance, fighting for the lead and what might have been the win on a day with fewer late cautions. Instead, Wallace was the cause of one of those cautions as he collided with Ryan Preece and spun into the outside wall. That contact ended his fine run for the afternoon. Wallace has just five races remaining with the team that gave him his best opportunity to date before moving to what will hopefully be greener pastures next season.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Matt DiBenedetto – After a penalty, DiBenedetto's official 21st-place finish from Sunday's race at Talladega does not serve justice to his effort. At the checkered flag he was in second place, just inches behind Denny Hamlin's nose leaving him with another runner-up finish. It had been a difficult week for DiBenedetto with Wood Brothers Racing due to pick up his option by the end of September. That hasn't happened, and he finds himself knocking on Victory Lane's door with an uncertain future ahead of him for the second season in a row. DiBenedetto can be a reliable fantasy option on many types of tracks. The Charlotte road course could be one, too. He has an average finish of 12.0 from the two races there and will be driving for his future again this week.
