Charlotte Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson will be a driver to watch at Charlotte. He’s an 8-time winner who’s finished in the top five 47% percent of the time and in the top ten 62% percent of the time. In recent races at Charlotte, Johnson has performed at a high-level. Over the last five races he has 1 win, a 6.6 average finish, a 6.0 average running position and has only once finished outside the top 7. Last year spring at Charlotte, Johnson had a great performance. He started 23rd, finished 5th, earned the 5th best driver rating and had a 10th place average running position. In fall 2017, Johnson had a solid showing. He started in 25th and raced his way to a 7th place finish. Additionally, he earned the 7th best driver rating and had a 9th place average running position. In spring 2017, he had a fast car and was likely top five good but finished 17th after using poor fuel mileage strategy at the end. Additionally it should be noted he earned the 5th best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position and led 35 laps. In 2016, Johnson led 155 laps and raced his way to victory lane in the fall and in the spring he finished 3rd. In the last two races held at 1.5 mile tracks, Johnson has results of 5th (Texas) and 6th (Kansas). On Sunday, look for Johnson to compete for a top ten.

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Alex Bowman – Alex Bowman will be a driver to watch at Charlotte. Entering the weekend he has three straight results of 2nd. Nobody saw that coming and his recent 2nd at Kansas is very encouraging. Last year at Charlotte he ran well, but in his other five races in less competitive equipment he finished 26th or worse every race. On Sunday, I think it would be wise to view him as low-double digits driver who has a great chance to finish in the top ten. Last spring at Charlotte, Bowman ran well. He started in 27th, finished 9th, had a 12th place average running position and earned the 13th best driver rating. I wouldn’t view any of his other Charlotte races as relevant.

Ryan Blaney – Ryan Blaney is a good out of sync option at Charlotte. Over seven races he has a 25.0 average finish and only has two results in the top 20. That should do a good job scaring people away. At Charlotte, Blaney’s shown speed, but he’s frequently had problems. Last spring, Blaney showed top ten potential but his race wasn’t incident free. On lap 184 while he was running in 6th engine issues started to develop and he was down a cylinder. That later led to his engine exploding into a fireball on lap 278. In Stage #1 which was the only Stage completed before his engine issues he finished 2nd. In fall 2017, he had his lone Charlotte top ten and finished 8th. Additionally, he earned the 10th best driver rating and had a 12th place average running position. In spring 2017 he had a strong car but finished 24th after braking his axle on pit road around lap 175 which dropped him multiple laps down. Just prior to that pit stop he was running in 5th, so I think it’s clear he was pretty good. At the end of Stage #1, Blaney finished 7th, in Stage #2 is when he had his problems. This year at intermediate tracks, Blaney’s shown a lot of speed, but he’s had a lot of problems. On Sunday I’m going to view him as a risky top ten contender.

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