Fantasy NASCAR Toyota Owners 400: Power Rankings

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: Toyota Owners 400

Laps: 400

Date: April 21^st

Venue: Richmond Raceway

2017 Winner: Joey Logano (3:12:08)

Broadcast: Fox (Darrel Waltrip & Jeff Gordon)

Course: Richmond International Raceway. At 0.75 miles this asphalt track is among the older on the circuit (1946). It runs on the shorter side (much like Bristol) meaning there will be trading paint and anyone can emerge. It is interesting amongst the many oval shaped courses as this one is more of a “D”. It’s banks run 14 degrees at the highest with an 8 degree tilt on the front and 2 degrees on the back.

Power Rankings

Favorites

1) Denny Hamlin (4^th selection this year). 3^rd here last year and 6^th in 2016. He’s had a mixed season with early starts in the top 10’s but the last 3 weeks have all been worse than 10^th. I think he bounces back this week at Richmond where he’s comfortable.

2) Joey Logano (3^rd selection this year). Three consecutive years with top 10 finishes (including a win last year) at Richmond meets top 10 finishes in 7 out of 8 starts this year.

High Risk/High Reward

3) Jamie McMurray (1^st selection this year). After a rough start this year with 5 finishes outside the top 15, he finished 3^rd at Texas and then regressed to 19^th last week at Bristol. This week he goes to Richmond where he was 4^th in 2015 and 6^th last year.

4) Erik Jones (2^nd selection this year). He was 38^thhere last year after an accident. He finished 26^thlast week and he rebounds strong after sub 20 finishes. He has finished in the top 12 four out of the last five times he finished above 20 during the regular season.

Dark Horse

5) Aric Almora (2^nd selection this year). He finished 9^th here last year with two finishes worse than 20^thin 2016 and 2015. He top 15 finishes in 8 out of 9 races this year and he looks like a revitalized driver so far this year.

2018 Stats

Favorites: Avg Finish 11th (28th percentile)

High Risk/High Reward 17th (47th percentile)

Dark Horse: 17th (18th percentile)