2026 Jack Link’s 500 Betting Race Picks

Date/Time: Sunday April 26th, 2026. 3:00PM (EST)
Where: Talladega Superspeedway
TV: FOX

Last week, Tyler Reddick flexed his muscles yet again by winning the AdventHealth 400 on a late-race restart. Reddick passed Kyle Larson on the final lap to earn his 5th victory of the season and joined elite company in the record books for the Cup Series. With the win, Reddick became the first driver since Dale Earnhardt (Sr.) to win 5 of the first 9 races of the season since the 1987 season. In fact, Reddick joined the likes of Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, and Richard Petty which are the only drivers in Cup Series history to win 5 of the first 9 races of the season. On Sunday, Reddick will have the opportunity to make history if he can somehow earn another victory at Talladega Superspeedway with the running of the Jack Link’s 500.

Over the last several weeks, we have clearly seen that the Toyota drivers have held an advantage in speed at the intermediate layouts. Reddick’s historic start to the season combined with wins from Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs are a testament to the Toyota speed. With that stated, Toyota will not have that same advantage on Sunday. The superspeedway package in the Cup Series has been very strong at keeping parity among all competitors. Granted, Reddick did win the Daytona 500 to begin the year so it’s not like it could not happen again. However, I think we can all agree that there are numerous drivers that should have a good opportunity to contend for a victory on Sunday!

Obviously from a betting perspective, handicapping races at Talladega is leveraged by luck as much as it is skill, at least in the short-term. Since these races are unpredictable by nature and extremely volatile, we must put together a betting card that is focused on producing strong ROI. Bettors should realize that we will cash winning tickets at a far less percentage on the superspeedways which means maximizing ROI is crucial to sustain long-term profits. Needless to say, our betting selections will be strongly focused on betting value which will be equally important as other handicapping metrics like prior superspeedway performance, track stats, and other similar performance metrics!

Talladega – Cup Notes

• Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers with 6 career wins at Talladega.
• Ryan Blaney (3), Joey Logano (3), Chase Elliott (2), Kyle Busch (2), Denny Hamlin (2), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (2), Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, and Ross Chastain are all former winners at Talladega.
• Brad Keselowski has finished runner-up in 2 of the last 4 races at Talladega.
• William Byron has finished 3rd in 3 of the last 5 races at Talladega.
• Kyle Larson has finished 4th or better in 2 of the last 3 races at Talladega.
• Noah Gragson has finished 4th or better in 2 of the last 4 races at Talladega.
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr has finished 4th or better in 2 of the last 4 races at Talladega.
• Carson Hocevar has finished 6th in the last two races at Talladega.
• Tyler Reddick has finished 7th or better in 2 of the last 4 races at Talladega.
• Christopher Bell has finished 8th or better in 2 of the last 3 races at Talladega.
• Bubba Wallace has finished 9th or better in the last 3 races at Talladega.
• Joey Logano has finished 16th or worse in the last 8 races at Talladega.
• Chris Buescher has finished 17th or worse in the last 5 races at Talladega.
• Denny Hamlin has finished 21st or worse in 3 of the last 4 races at Talladega.
• Joey Logano (94.0), Bubba Wallace (88.9), Todd Gilliland (88.4), Ryan Preece (85.3), and Austin Cindric (84.8) have produced the Top 5 highest average driver ratings over the last 4 races at Talladega.
• The eventual race winner has started from 10th or worse in 8 of the last 10 races at Talladega.
• There have been 4 cautions or less in 4 of the last 5 races at Talladega.

Dynamic Averages

While I have mentioned some trends related to finishing positions above, I would encourage bettors to review our dynamic averages at the superspeedways which highlights how drivers have performed over the last 5 races at all superspeedway venues. Personally, I pay closest attention to the “average running position” category because it may shed some light on drivers that are consistently running towards the front of the field in these races as opposed to simply where they finished. After all, our major focus from a betting perspective is to pick drivers that are hopefully going to be able to put themselves in position to battle for a win in the closing laps. All we can ask is to be in the mix in the final moments and hopefully the chaos unfolds in our favor.

Betting Targets

If you look at the varying performance metrics which includes prior races at Talladega and prior superspeedway races in general, Joey Logano leads all drivers in both categories. Logano has not always got the finishes to show for his recent performance in those races but he has consistently been the highest rated driver over the course of those events. Personally, I believe Logano and Ryan Blaney are the best two drivers in the Cup Series with the current superspeedway package. As a result, I am always looking for ways to have those drivers in my betting card and I would rate them the top 2 favorites going into Sunday’s race. With that being said, there are several names that have produced high-quality results at the superspeedways in this package and many others that are certainly capable of winning.

Tyler Reddick (3) and William Byron (2) are the only drivers with multiple superspeedway wins since the 2024 season. Reddick won the 2024 GEICO 500 at Talladega and is on a historic hot-streak. Meanwhile, Byron has yet to find victory lane at Talladega despite consistently being in contention. As a result, I really like both Byron and Reddick as potential pivots against the outright betting favorites with better value. In terms of betting value, Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson are two drivers that seem to have enough value for consideration at 20-1 odds. Larson has never won a superspeedway race but has been running really well in recent superspeedway races. Meanwhile, Buescher is a very underrated superspeedway talent that checks off many handicapping boxes.

If you are looking for even better value, Ryan Preece, Josh Berry, and Todd Gilliland are dark horse options that are getting really good value. All 3 of those drivers have shown success at the superspeedways and are definitely capable of winning if things fall their way. Preece and Gilliland actually rank 3rd and 4th in terms of average driver rating over the last 4 races at Talladega. While past results and trends do not guarantee anything for Sunday, I don’t think many would even consider Preece or Gilliland as legitimate dark horses yet the metrics tell a different story. For even bigger lottery tickets, I would draw attention to the names like Shane Van Gisbergen and Noah Gragson. Both drivers are receiving huge numbers on their price tag yet both drivers have flashed some really strong performance at prior superspeedway races. Gragson has a pair of top 5 finishes over the last 4 races. As a result, both drivers may be worth a look especially in prop bet formats.

2026 Draftkings Jack Link’s 500 Optimal Lineup

2026 Jack Link’s 500 Race Picks

*FINAL* Joey Logano +1200 (.75 unit)
William Byron +1400 (.75 unit)
Chris Buescher +2000 (.5 unit)
Kyle Larson +2000 (.5 unit)
Ryan Preece +3000 (.5 unit)
Todd Gilliland +5000 (.25 unit)
Noah Gragson +6000 (.25 unit)

H2H Match-Ups and Prop Bets

Todd Gilliland +1400 finishes Top Ford (.5 unit)
Noah Gragson +2000 finishes Top Ford (.5 unit)
John Hunter Nemechek +1600 finishes Top Toyota (.25 unit)
Riley Herbst +1600 finishes Top Toyota (.25 unit)