Texas Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – I think Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is an excellent dark horse fantasy NASCAR option at Texas. This year at 1.5 mile tracks he’s been very competitive with the new rules package. At Las Vegas where the level of correlation is the highest he finished 6th and had an 8th place average running position. At Texas, Stenhouse Jr. has been a pretty solid performer and in 3 of the 4 races on the new configuration he’s finished between 11th to 14th. Last fall he had a very solid performance. He finished 11th, earned the 11th best driver rating and had a 14th place average running position. What makes that even more impressive is that around lap 155 he had to serve a pass thru penalty when equipment left his pit box. Last spring he had a tough race and finished 19 laps down in 25th because of suspension issues. I’ll note he didn’t run bad at all. With 77 laps to go he was running in 7th, later that lap he slapped the wall hard but he kept on going. His average running position for the afternoon was 12th. In 2017 at Texas, Stenhouse Jr. was a respectable performer in both races. In fall 2017 he finished 12th. Additionally, he earned the 12th best driver rating and had a 13th place average running position. In spring 2017, Stenhouse Jr. had a solid performance and was a low double digits driver. When the checkered flag waved he finished 14th, earned the 13th best driver rating and had a 12th place average running position.

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Austin Dillon – Austin Dillon shouldn’t be overlooked at Texas. Since the reconfiguration he’s had major problems in both spring races, but in both fall races he’s finished well. Last fall he had his best performance in the “Lone Star State.” When the checkered flag waved he finished 10th, had a 12th place average running position and earned the 14th best driver rating. It was a very solid showing from him. Last spring he didn’t have a good race and finished 30 laps down in 26th. Realistically he was likely high-teens good but on lap 227 his car was smoking and he came down pit road. He was also involved in a lap #2 wreck. In fall 2017, Dillon had a solid afternoon. He finished 13th, had an 11th place average running position and earned the 11th best driver rating. He also finished 9th in Stage #1 and 10th in Stage #2. In spring 2017 there’s no fantasy takeaways from his race. When the green flag waved Austin Dillon was in his garage area for repair because of a trailing arm failure. It caused him to miss the first 12 laps which led to his 33rd place finish. This year at 1.5 mile tracks he’s shown speed at times, but his results are 20th and 21st. On Sunday I’ll play it safe and view him as a mid to high-teens driver.

Alex Bowman – Alex Bowman should be solid at Texas. This year at 1.5 mile tracks he’s been respectable and has results of 15th (Atlanta) and 11th (Las Vegas). Between the two, Las Vegas has a higher level of correlation. Last fall at Texas he ran well. He finished 14th, had an 11th place average running position and earned the 13th best driver rating. Last spring there’s no real fantasy takeways from his race. He was involved in a wreck on lap #2 and then later on lap 56 he went to the garage because of a mechanical problem which led to his 28th place finish. None of his other starts should be viewed as relevant. On Sunday I would look for him to be about mid-teens good.

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