April 20, 2024

Ty Gibbs will start P15 in Sunday's Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Since starting out the season with an impressive five top-10 finishes in the first six races, Gibbs has finished 13th or worse over the last three weeks. Since we know a driver the caliber of Gibbs won't stay down long, it is generally a good idea to load up on someone going through a slump like the No. 54 currently is. With this said, even though we know that a bounce-back race is coming, don't expect that bounce-back to happen this weekend at Talladega. In his three Cup starts in eastern Alabama, the second-generation star has an average finish of 34th and an average DraftKings score of -13.50. While some may dismiss these results and chalk it up to inexperience at the Cup level, his Xfinity data is unimpressive as well. Despite finishing seventh in the 2022 fall Xfinity race here, his average place differential at this track in the Xfinity Series is -19 positions, a drop that suggests he has an overall weakness on this course rather than just Cup inexperience. Although you cannot fade anyone on a restrictor plate track, you still need to use good judgment and discretion when dealing with drivers who struggle on superspeedways, which in this case is Ty Gibbs. --Adam Erhardt - RotoBaller
Source: Racing-Reference.info