Richmond Fantasy NASCAR – The Low Tier
Danica Patrick – In three of the last five Richmond races Danica Patrick has finished in the teens. The bad news is that all of those teens results came in the fall events. Last fall at RIR Danica Patrick had her best result. When the checkered flag waved she finished 15th and had a 20th place average running position. From a performance perspective I think her average running position is more representative for how she ran. Attrition definitely helped her. Spring 2016 wasn’t a good afternoon for her. She finished 24th, had a 24th place average running position and earned the 25th best driver rating. In fall 2015 she dropped like a rock in the running order early (14th to the low thirties) but with about 100 laps to go she rebounded and worked her way up to a 19th place result. In spring 2015 she finished 25th and had a 25th place average running position. This spring at Phoenix Patrick finished 22nd. (Yahoo B Driver)
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Michael McDowell – At Richmond Michael McDowell has a 35.8 average finish but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a lot of “fantasy love” because last fall he finished 12th. I wouldn’t read into that result very much. His average running position was 25th and if there wasn’t a late caution he was poised to finish around 19th, and that was after a fair amount of attrition. In spring 2016 he finished 31st. In the 8 Richmond races prior to that he finished 39th or worse every race. This spring at Phoenix McDowell finished 24th. (Yahoo C Driver)
Chris Buescher – Chris Buescher may be a driver to watch at Richmond in his new ride. His teammate AJ Allmendinger often has dark horse fantasy value at shorter flat tracks like RIR so I wouldn’t overlook him. From a baseline fantasy value perspective I think he’s likely a low-twenties driver who might finish better than that with the aid of attrition. Last fall at Richmond his team played the race ultra safe because of Chase implications and when the checkered flag waved he finished 24th and had a 24th place average running position. Last spring when he had near “field filler quality equipment” he finished 34th, had a 35th place average running position and earned the 35th best driver rating. (Yahoo C Driver)
David Ragan – Richmond might be one of David Ragan’s better weekends. I’m not setting the bar too high but I wouldn’t be surprised if he can sneak in a low-twenties result. In 3 of the last 4 Richmond races he’s finished between 17th and 23rd. Last fall he finished outside of that range and finished 34th after wrecking. He had a few problems in the race and before trouble struck he looked like a high-twenties performer. In the three Richmond races prior to that he had a 21.0 average finish and a 21.3 average running position. His results over that stretch were 23rd (spring 2016), 17th (fall 2015) and 23rd (spring 2015). (Yahoo C Driver)
Landon Cassill – At Richmond look for Landon Cassill to be a high-twenties to low-thirties performer. In the last 9 RIR races he’s finished between 25th and 36th. Last year at Richmond he looked high-twenties good in both events. Last fall he had brake issues that sent him to the garage which led to his misleading 36th. I think their might’ve been some funny business involved (helping Buescher) so I wouldn’t read into his result too much. In spring 2016 he started 28th, finished 27th and had a 29th place average running position. In 2015 his RIR results were 26th and 30th. (Yahoo C Driver)
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