Fantasy Update: Heavyweight battle continues at Indianapolis

It‘s been a welcoming sight to have Cup Series cars back on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval this weekend. All 39 teams entered the race knowing the importance of track position before cars getting on track this weekend.

Tyler Reddick has done it better than everybody this weekend, winning his second pole of the season. In the tightest regular season championship battle of all time, the top five drivers in points filled the top five in qualifying for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live lineups

Dustin Albino‘s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: Tyler Reddick

Starter 2: William Byron

Starter 3: Chase Elliott

Starter 4: Ryan Blaney

Starter 5: Joey Logano

Garage pick: Brad Keselowski

NEXT IN LINE: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell

RISING: This feels like a Reddick weekend. Multiple drivers stated over the weekend that the No. 45 car is in its own zip code. Bubba Wallace was left pondering why he was two mph off his teammate in the opening round of qualifying. Reddick backed those theories up, being the fastest in practice on one and 10-lap averages, as well as claiming the pole. Reddick is front and center in my lineup this weekend.

In the early portion of practice on Friday, Stenhouse jumped to fourth on the scoring pylon and remained near the top for quite some time. While other drivers made mock-up qualifying runs, the No. 47 Chevrolet dropped to 17th. Stenhouse was pleased with his car and felt if he could get track position during the race that he could contend for the victory. He ended up qualifying ninth, his best starting position of the 2024 season.

FALLING: Knowing how valuable track position could be on Sunday, it stings knowing that my 36 for 36 pick Brad Keselowski will start the Brickyard 400 from the 26th spot. Both RFK cars lacked speed in qualifying, turning laps outside the top 20. Race trim looked much better, however, with Keselowski cracking the top 10 on single-lap speed and having the fourth-quickest 10-lap average. Keselowski is known to think differently from much of the field, so it wouldn‘t be surprising to see the No. 6 car pull out a unique strategy to get track position.

It‘s always concerning when a driver describes their practice session as having a death grip on the steering wheel and bleeding a lot of speed. Yet that sums up Ross Chastain‘s weekend thus far at Indianapolis. The No. 1 car ranked 30th in practice on Friday and, despite his crew chief Phil Surgen making infinite changes overnight, he will start 28th on Sunday. It would be foolish to count out Chastain, as the No. 1 team could have an outside-the-box strategy, but the speed just isn‘t there.

FEATURED MATCHUPS:

Ryan Blaney vs. Martin Truex Jr.: It‘s no surprise that Blaney has been the best Team Penske car in town this weekend. The No. 12 team is on a heater, winning two of the last five races this season, most recently at a track that is akin to IMS. Truex was disappointing in practice at 20th fastest but improved to 14th in qualifying. Still leaning towards Blaney in this encounter.

Brad Keselowski vs. Alex Bowman: With a lackluster qualifying effort, Keselowski will be mired at the start of the race. But as noted earlier, strategy is going to be all over the place, and not many drivers are better at formulating a strategy plan than the 2012 Cup champion. Bowman was the slowest of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers in qualifying but had a solid showing in practice. I‘m leaving Keselowski in my lineup for the same reason I think he will finish ahead of Bowman: he thinks outside the box.

Chase Elliott vs. Tyler Reddick: These two drivers put on a show in qualifying, one-upping each other as the final two cars take time. Reddick barely clipped Elliott‘s lap to win his second pole of the season. The No. 9 car made vast improvements from practice to qualifying, but Reddick has been the top guy all weekend.

Joey Logano vs. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs looks to have the faster car, but experience could pay off. Logano has experienced the closest taste of defeat twice at IMS, finishing runner-up in two of the last six Brickyard 400s. Team Penske has taken noticeable steps over the last month-and-a-half, winning four of the last seven races. It would be hard to consider Logano among the favorites for the wins, but if he can sniff the lead, he will be tough to beat.