Fantasy NASCAR: Coca-Cola 600

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: Coca-Cola 600

Laps: 400

Date: May 27th

Venue: Charlotte Motor Speedway

2017 Winner: Austin Dillon (4:19:22)

Broadcast: Fox (Darrel Waltrip & Jeff Gordon)

Course: Charlotte Motor Speedway. Opened in 1960 by Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner, this 1.5 mile quad oval asphalt track is home to two races each year. The turns are at 24 degrees and the straights bank at 5 degrees. This track was the first modern superspeedway to host night racing.

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Power Rankings

Favorites

1) Martin Truex Jr (2^nd selection this year). His AVERAGE finish at Charlotte last year was 1.5. That’s the only stat I need to work off to select him this week.

2) Kurt Busch (3^rd selection this year). In the FIRST race at Charlotte the past two years he has finished 6^th both times, later in the season during the playoffs is a different story. Currently sitting in the top five in standings, he has top 12 finishes in each of the last four races.

High Risk/High Reward

3) Daniel Suarez (2^nd selection this year). Daniel is coming off a 28^th place finish at Kansas but prior to that he had four consecutive finishes inside the top 12. In addition to this he averaged a 8^th place finish in two tours here last year.

4) Kyle Larson (3^rd selection this year). He defeinitely has an all or nothing approach, especially this season where it seems to be a wreck or top five finish. His last six races have included two wrecks, two top five finishes a seventh place finish and a 10^th place finish. Last year here he wrecked the first pass and finished 10^th in the playoffs.

Dark Horse

5) Kasey Kahne (2nd selection this season) He has an up and down track record here with a few wrecks, a few 20^th place finishes and a few top 10 finishes. It’s his track record this year that has me more piqued. After a stretch earlier where he five out of six finishes were above 20^th place, he has since gone three out of four inside the top 20. I’m not anticipating a top ten finish here but for cheap he is a good chance at top fifteen.

2018 Stats

Favorites: average finish 11th (29th percentile)

High Risk/Reward: average finish 16th (43rd percentile)

Dark Horse: average finish 19th (50th percentile)