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Toyota Owners 400: Power Rankings

Sticking with some recent good drivers

By Mark Abell
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images

The rule 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 City 400
Laps: 400
Date: April 14th
Venue: Richmond Raceway
2018 Winner: Kyle Busch (3:08:0`)
Broadcast: Fox

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.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Power Rankings

The Favorites

Denny Hamlin 1st selection this year) – Five consecutive top seven finishes from Denny who might be the 2nd or third best driver on the circuit right now. He also has top six finishes in two of the last three years at Richmond.

Joey Logano (2nd selection this year) – Top ten finishes in three of the last four years at Richmond from Joey who was very dominant both in racing and with his car last week.

High Risk / High Reward

Aric Almirola (2nd selection this year) – Up until his 37th place finish last week he had top ten finishes in six consecutive races.

Daniel Suarez (2nd selection this year) – Riding a hot hand here with three consecutive top 10 finishes.

The Dark Horse

Matt Dibenedetto (1st selection this year) – He has finished inside the top 25 just as many times as outside the top 25. He’s racing very well and could be a sneaky top 20 finisher at Richmond.

2019 Results

Favorite: Avg Finish 10th (28th Percent)
High Risk/High Reward: Avg Finish 14th (38th Percent)
Dark Horse: Avg Finish 22nd (54th Percent)