Pocono Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Jimmie Johnson – Don’t overlook Jimmie Johnson at Pocono. He’s had a tremendous amount of bad luck here recently (finished 35th or worse in 3 of the last 5 races) but on Sunday I think he’ll compete for a top ten. In his career at Pocono, Johnson is a three-time winner who’s finished in the top ten 61% percent of the time. This spring at Pocono, Johnson had a solid race. He finished 8th, earned the 9th best driver rating and had a 10th place average running position. In both Stage #1 and #2 he finished 9th. Last summer, Johnson had a short race and on lap 58 he backed his car into the wall which led to his 35th place finish. At the time of the incident he was running in the low-teens. If he didn’t have problems its very reasonable to think he was low-teens good. In spring 2017 he had a strong car and was top ten good but careened into the wall which led to his 36th place finish. At the time of his problem he was running in 7th. On Sunday I would look for Jimmie Johnson to finish somewhere around 10th.

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Alex Bowman – Alex Bowman should be on your fantasy NASCAR radar at Pocono. He had a misleading result this spring and his appalling track record should allow him to fly below the radar. Earlier this year at “The Tricky Triangle” he didn’t have a bad race but finished an asterisk mark 27th. With 14 laps to go while he was battling Denny Hamlin for 11th they had contact and he got a good amount of damage which ruined his afternoon. Prior to that race at Pocono I would view his other starts as not relevant since he wasn’t in a competitive situation. On Sunday I would view him as a mid-teens driver who has potential to finish marginally better.

Ryan Newman – Pocono has been a pretty solid track for Ryan Newman. He’s finished in the top ten 42% percent of the time and in the top fifteen 76% percent of the time. In recent races he’s been very respectable. In 4 of the last 5 he’s finished between 12th to 14th. Some bad news is that his one result not in the range just mentioned was this spring at Pocono when he finished 25th. I will note he wasn’t as bad as his result. With 11 laps to go he was running in 11th and then with 10 laps to go he got some damage from contact, and after that he nosed dived in the running order. Last year he finished 14th both races. Last summer in addition to finishing 14th he earned the 12th best driver rating and had a 15th place average running position. In spring 2017 he didn’t have a great race but once again finished 14th. In that race it should be noted he earned the 19th best driver rating and had a 20th place average running position. In 2016 he had a consistent season and finished 12th both races. On Sunday I would view Newman as a mid-teens driver who has potential to finish marginally better.

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