The NASCAR Cup Series season continues Sunday at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The green flag drops at approximately 3:00 PM ET on FOX, with 188 laps at 500.08 miles. Let’s get into our Jack Link’s 500 Talladega Superspeedway best bets for today, April 26.
Weather cancelled qualification on Saturday morning, so — due to NASCAR’s rule book — the starting grid will be set on the standings. As such, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick will be on the pole for Sunday’s race. Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson will be on the outside of Row 1, with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin going off 3rd and 23XI’s Bubba Wallace right next to his team’s co-owner in Row 2.
Front Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland is a sleeper to watch, starting in the 19th position. He leads all active drivers (minimum 2 starts) with an Average-Finish Position (AFP) of 13.1, while posting a top-5 finish, 4 top-10 results and 14 laps led with 1 DNF. Gilliland was a runner-up in the October race at ‘Dega, as he heads into Sunday’s race with consecutive top-20 finishes, placing 6th in Bristol and 17th last week at Kansas.
We often don’t pay much mind to HYAK Motorsports driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at this stage of his career, but he is always a threat on the superspeedway. He has 2 career victories at Talladega, while posting 8 top-5 runs, 11 top-10 finishes, 137 laps led and a stellar 15.4 AFP in 25 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the track.
Back to the top of the grid, Reddick has a win at Talladega but a mediocre 17.8 AFP, while Hamlin has 2 wins, 11 top-5 finishes and 448 laps led with a 16.9 AFP in 40 career Cup starts. Wallace is also tremendous on superspeedways, and the Alabama native has a win, 2 top-5 finishes and 104 laps led with an 18.6 AFP in 16 career Cup starts at the track.
Now that the table is set, let’s get into my best bets for the Jack Link’s 500, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing.
NASCAR best bet: Bubba Wallace Top 10 Finish (-140)
As mentioned above, Wallace is a fabulous driver on the superspeedway. He goes off from the 4th position on Sunday, and he is looking for his 2nd career win at Talladega. It’s been hit or miss, as he also has 4 DNFs in 16 career Cup starts at the track, so he has been the definition of “checkers and wreckers.” However, he has really been strong lately, and the 23XI Racing program is running hot. We’ll simply target a Top 10 finish for Wallace, which is very reasonably priced.
NASCAR best bet: Todd Gilliland Top 10 Finish (+235)
Gilliland comes into Talladega with a head of steam, posting a pair of top-20 finishes in the past 2 weekends. The “Toddfather” is still aiming for his first-ever Cup series win, and Talladega has been, statistically, his best track — including that runner-up finish last October. Before you get too crazy and consider a possible bet to win or even finish top-5, remember that he had a DNF in Daytona because he was collected in a wreck. While he is running hot, fates can change in the blink of an eye at ‘Dega, so pump the brakes and don’t get too carried away. Still, for an opportunity to more than double up, Gilliland is worth a roll of the dice.
NASCAR best bet: Ryan Blaney over Tyler Reddick (-110)
I’m a huge fan of matchup bets, and this one takes a bit of a leap of faith. Team Penske’s Blaney rolls into this one with 3 career Talladega checkered flags, while posting 6 top-5 finishes and 8 top-10 runs — in addition to leading the pack for 293 laps. He has a 17.1 AFP, too. Reddick has won 5 times in 10 races this season, leading 199 laps with 457 points and 7 finishes into the Top 10. However, Talladega statistically hasn’t been one of his better tracks. The 23XI driver has a mediocre 17.8 AFP with just 54 laps led and a pair of DNFs. Blaney has seen his Ford on the hook many times, too, with 6 DNFs, so tread lightly. Still, Blaney should finish higher than Reddick when the dust clears.
NASCAR best bet: Ford – Winning Manufacturer (+180)
Looking to the manufacturer props, there isn’t a ton to glean from recent results. Ford was the winner in the spring race with Team Penske’s Austin Cindric coming away with checkers in 2025, while Chase Briscoe brought Toyota back to Victory Lane in the fall — just ahead of Gilliland. Prior to that, Stenhouse won in a Chevy in the fall race in 2024. In the past 6 Talladega races, Chevy has 2 wins, Ford has 2 wins, and, yep, Toyota has 2 wins. We’ve also had 11 different winners in the past 11 races dating back to Aug. 4, 2020. The drivers with the shortest odds for an outright win, Penske’s Blaney and Joey Logano, are each behind the wheel of a Ford, so we’ll lean Ford to win.
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