Fantasy NASCAR Geico 500: 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: Geico 500

Laps: 500

Date: April 29th

Venue: Talladega Superspeedway

2017 Winner: Ricky Stenhouse (3:29:16)

Broadcast: Fox (Darrel Waltrip & Jeff Gordon)

Course: Talladega Superspeedway. There is a great USA article out this week which basically states: “Talladega, a guaranteed thrill machine”. When you hear the words Talladega, everyone immediately thinks of the history and excitement of this track. Opened in 1969 this tri-oval 2.5 mile asphalt track is the longest on the circuit. It has turns ranging from 32 – 33 degrees with the straights being around 3 degrees. Trust in the quicker cars.

Power Rankings

Favorites

1) Kyle Busch (3^rd selection this year). 3 straight wins going into Talladega where he has top 5 finishes the last 2 years. Please don’t let me down Kyle!

2) Jamie McMurray (2^nd selection this year). 4^th in 2016 and 2^nd last year, Jamie might be a favorite over Kyle Busch here despite the grand disparity in their 2018 finishes thus far. (1 has one top three finish, the other has seven)

High Risk/High Reward

3) Chase Elliott (2^nd selection this year). He’s back! A solid 2^nd place finish last week and a despite his 30^th place finish here last year (DNF) he was 5^th in 2016.

4) Aric Almora (3^rd selections this year). Clint Bowyer and Aric are really having quite the season. Aric comes to Talladega where he was 4^th last year fresh off a lot of above average finishes this season.

Dark Horse

5) Cole Whitt (1^st selection this year). He finished in the teens each of the last 2 years here. He is quite comfortable at Talladega despite less than admirable finishes elsewhere.

2018 Stats

Favorites: average finish 10^th (26^th percentile)

High Risk/Reward: average finish 17^th (46^thpercentile)

Dark Horse: average finish 18^th (49^th percentile)