Pocono Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Aric Almirola – Pocono ranks among Aric Almirola worst tracks, but don’t overlook him on Sunday. In the 10 car he’s been strong here and in his two incident free races he’s finished in the top ten. He would be a perfect 3 for 3 in terms of finishing in the top ten, but he had problems last summer. Earlier this year at Pocono, Almirola had a strong showing. He finished 10th, earned the 11th best driver rating and had a 14th place average running position. In 2018, Almirola had a good season at Pocono and was a top ten contender in both races. Last summer, Almirola was a top ten contender but finished an asterisk mark 25th. In the race he started in the rear of the field but had no trouble moving up through the running order. On lap 46 which was shortly before the ending of Stage #1 he was in 13th. Unfortunately, his race wasn’t incident free. While he was running in the top ten with about 40 laps to go he had contact with Kevin Harvick on pit road which did some damage and led to second pit stop. Then right at the end with 2 laps to go he spun and brought out the caution. In spring 2018, he had his best Pocono result by a wide margin and crossed the finish line in 7th. His driver rating ranked as the 10th best. For fantasy purposes, I wouldn’t read into any of his other Pocono finishes.

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William Byron – William Byron shouldn’t get overlooked at Pocono. He’s been running really well lately and if you want to pick a dark horse driver who’s capable of coming up big, consider him. In the last two races at Pocono he’s run extremely well and he currently has back to back top tens. This spring at Pocono, William Byron had a great performance. He started on the pole, led 25 laps, earned the 4th best driver rating, had an 8th place average running position and finished 9th. Last summer, Byron had a strong performance. When the checkered flag waved he finished 6th, earned the 12th best driver rating and had a 14th place average running position. In spring 2018 he finished 18th, but I thought he was better than his result. His average running position was 14th and he also earned the 14th best driver rating. Realistically I would say he was likely around 12th place good. Some late mayhem from restarts dropped him back a little in the running order. With 15 laps to go he was running in 10th. On Sunday, I would look for Byron to compete for a top ten.

Daniel Suarez – Daniel Suarez has been a strong performer at Pocono. He’s finished in the top ten in 3 of the last 4 races and his overall average finish is 11.2. Currently, Suarez has back to back top tens at “The Tricky Triangle.” Earlier this year, Suarez had a very solid showing. He finished 8th, had a 12th place average running position and earned the 12th best driver rating. Last summer at Pocono, Suarez had a great performance. He started on the pole, finished 2nd, had a 6th place average running position and led 29 laps. In spring 2018 I thought he was mid-teens good, but he finished a misleading 24th. During a restart with 32 laps to go he sustained a pretty good amount of damage to his left rear fender which hampered his level of competitiveness. In 2017 during his rookie year, Suarez had results of 7th and 15th.

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