Yahoo C List Fantasy NASCAR Preview – Richmond
Chase Elliott – Don’t overlook Chase Elliott at Richmond. He’s a very capable performer at shorter flat tracks. This year at the two tracks that correlate to success he’s run well. He finished 8th at Phoenix and was top ten strong at New Hampshire until he was collected in a wreck. At Richmond Chase Elliott has two starts under his belt. This spring at Richmond he started in 23rd and his car was a little off early which led to him getting lapped when the first +150 laps were run under green. Once his car got tuned to his liking he started working his way forward. When the checkered flag waved he finished 12th and earned the 15th best driver rating. In spring 2015 Chase Elliott made a pre-rookie start and had a respectable showing. In that race he started 16th, finished 16th, had a 17th place average running position and earned the 17th best driver rating. Last year in the Xfinity Series at Richmond Elliott had results of 1st and 5th.
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Jeff Gordon – Jeff Gordon will return behind the wheel of the #88 at Richmond. In terms of allocations it should be noted we now know his schedule for the remainder of the year. His other starts will be at Chicagoland, Dover and Martinsville. From a performance perspective at RIR I would write Jeff Gordon down to be low double digits good again. In 4 of his 5 races this season he’s had a result between 11th and 14th. Richmond has been a good track for Jeff Gordon. He has five straight top tens and in 2015 he came home with results of 7th and 8th. In 2014 he finished 2nd in both events. Since fall 2012 at RIR he hasn’t finished worse than 11th.
Ryan Blaney – At Richmond I think Ryan Blaney has low double digit finish potential. During his rookie campaign he’s proven himself to be a capable performer on this track type. At the two tracks that are the most similar to Richmond he has results of 10th (Phoenix) and 11th (New Hampshire) for the season. This spring at Richmond Blaney didn’t have a good race. He started in 28th and his car was a little off early in the race. The first 157 laps were caution free which led to him getting lapped. When he was going to finally get his lap back NASCAR penalized him for restarting improperly which kept him off the lead lap. When the checkered flag waved he finished 29th and had a 25th place average running position. Look for Blaney to run much better on Saturday night.
Chris Buescher – Now that Chris Buescher is in Roush equipment at Richmond I think he has far more upside than he did this spring. On Saturday night I think he’ll likely be a high-teens to low-twenties driver. Performance wise that’s pretty close to how the Roush cars stacked up against the competition earlier this year. This spring at Richmond Buescher didn’t run well. He finished 34th, had a 35th place average running position and earned the 35th best driver rating. In 2015 in the Xfinity Series at Richmond Buescher had results of 10th and 20th.
Regan Smith – Regan Smith has some dark horse fantasy value at Richmond. Outside of the big three Yahoo C drivers he’s been one of the best recently. Over the last six races he has a 22.7 average finish. At Richmond this spring he struggled and finished 32nd. In his four RIR races prior to that he had a 21.5 average finish. At similar tracks that correlate to success he hasn’t performed that well. He finished 28th at Phoenix and 32nd at New Hampshire.
David Ragan – Given the super low tier David Ragan is associated with I think he has decent fantasy value. In the last three Richmond races he’s finished between 17th and 23rd. Also over that three race stretch he has a 21.0 average finish and a 21.3 average running position. This spring he ran well finishing 23rd and having a 20th place average running position. In the two RIR races prior to that he had results of 17th and 23rd.
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