Fantasy NASCAR Food City 500: Power Rankings

I unintentionally went Ford heavy with my picks today.

The rules I have implemented for myself are:

1.I will not pick a driver more than 10 times this season.

2.Due to #1 these are “Power Rankings” (in quotations) I’m looking for value here.

My general format for my power rankings:

•Top 2 picks will generally be the favorites, the ones who should be top 5 or top 10 finishes.

• #3 and #4 will be your riskier picks, could be top 5 or bottom 15.

• Pick #5 is the dark horse.

Race Information

Race: Food City 500

Laps: 500

Date: April 15th

Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway

2017 Winner: Jimmie Johnson (3:04:29)

Broadcast: Fox (Darrel Waltrip & Jeff Gordon)

Course: Bristol Motor Speedway constructed in 1960, the Last Great Colosseum has its roots in authentic racing. This all concrete surfaced oval track features turns at 26-30 degrees with straightaways at 6-10 degrees. It’s short at just over half a mile (0.533) and be prepared for some bumping to occur here. This makes it both amazing to watch and tough to predict as many racers get knocked out mid-race. The sound that emits from this course is amazing.

Power Rankings

Favorites

1) Kevin Harvick (3^rd selection this year). He finished 3^rd at Bristol last year and 7^th in 2016. He now has a top 5 finish in 5 of the 7 races this season. It’s Kevin and Kyle Busch neck and neck at each race but Kyle has not finished at Bristol the last two years, his aggressive style does not bode well in tight confines.

2) Clint Bowyer (3^rd selection this year). That’s right, Clint Bowyer is now with the big dogs. He has 4 top 10 finishes in his last 6 races, he finished 2^ndat Bristol last year, 8^th in 2016 and 12^th in 2015. This race produces some mercurial outcomes and somehow Clint has learned how to best circumnavigate this situation.

High Risk/High Reward

3) Ryan Blaney (2^nd selection this year). He wrecked here last year finishing 33^rd; however, in 2016 he was 11^th and he’s been on fire lately with 3 straight top 10 finishes.

4) Ty Dillon (1^st selection this year). 15^th here last year in his rookie year, he finally broke a top 20 finish last week at Texas Motor Speedway. He’s (pardon the pun) firing on all cylinders with a notable finish and a lot of ideas on how to embrace social media to decrease the average age of NASCAR fans down from 58 to a more relevancy among a younger population.

Dark Horse

5) Trevor Bayne (2nd selection this year). He finished 12^th last week and now he comes to Bristol where he finished 11^th last season and 5^th in 2016. Roush Fenway drivers Trevor and Ricky Stenhouse are seemingly taking turns where one is in the teens and the other in the 30’s in each race. It would be nice if they could get closer to each other and actually be able to work together.

2018 Stats

Favorites: Avg Finish 11th (29th percentile)

High Risk/High Reward 15th (42^nd percentile)

Dark Horse: 17th (47th percentile)