Fantasy NASCAR: Coke Zero Sugar 400

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: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (race 18 of 26 regular season races)
Laps: 160
Date: July 7^th
Venue: Daytona International Speedway
2017 Winner: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (3:17:12)
Broadcast: NBSCN (Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Letarte, Jeff Burton)
Most Wins: David Pearson (5)

Course: Daytona International Speedway. This track was built in 1959 by William France Sr, it is more open allowing drivers to really open up as the inaugural Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of 2017. Lights were introduced in 1998 and the track was most recently repaved in 2010. The track runs 31 degree high banks and is 2.5 miles long. At courses that open up like this and Talladega look for racers who do best under the restrictor plate races.

Power Rankings

Favorites
1) Joey Logano (5^th selection this year). I maintain he’s the par for course at Daytona. He was 4^th earlier this year and has a good track record here. Kevin Harvick has been better as of late but this race should right Joey’s stretch of five races without a top 5 finish.

2) Martin Truex Jr. (4th selection this year) Martin’s last seven races: 4^th, 2^nd, 2^nd, 1^st, 18^th, 1^st and 4^th. He might be racing better than Kyle Busch as of late.

High Risk/High Reward
3) Aric Almora (3^rd selection this year) Finished 4^th on average here last year. He was 11^th here at the start of this year. Until his 25^th place finish last week he had 8 consecutive finishes inside the top 15.

4) Paul Menard (2^nd selection this year). Average Daytona finish of 4^th last year and he was 6^th earlier this year at the Daytona 500. Five finishes inside the top 15 in his last six races.

Dark Horse
5) Michael McDowell (2^nd selection this year). His last two years here have showcased an average finish of 9.5. He’s a great sleeper for the course. He hasn’t been the flashiest but he’s ridding 7 consecutive finishes inside the top 25.

Average Finish:
Favorites: avg finish 10th (27th percentile)
High Risk/High Reward: avg finish 16th (44thpercentile)
Dark Horse: avg finish 20th (52nd percentile)