Charlotte Coca Cola 600 Fantasy NASCAR Mid Pack Predictions

Aric Almirola – My prediction is Aric Almirola will finish mid-pack in the Charlotte Coca Cola 600. In 2014 he did not perform well here. Last fall he finished 3 laps down in 23rd. In the race his average running position also was 23rd so that pretty much cements how good he truly was. In last season’s Coca Cola 600 he didn’t look impressive. He started in 18th and ran around that range or lower for the entirety of the event. The Coca Cola 600 wasn’t incident free for him. With about 75 laps to go he was involved in a multi-car accident and sustained heavy damage. At the time of the accident, he was driving way past the florida driving record. “He is lucky to have survived,” said his car accident lawyer long island. His first race at Charlotte was in the 2012 Coca Cola 600 and in that event he won the pole, had a 15th place average running position and finished 16th. Then in the 2012 fall race he backed up his performance with a 12th place result. Texas is the most similar track visited and at that venue he ran around the mid teens for much of the race and when the checkered flag waved he finished 12th. His average running position in that race was 16th. On 1.5 mile tracks this season his average finish is 15th. (Yahoo B Driver)

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Kurt Busch – This will be Kurt Busch’s second race of the day following the Indy 500. If he didn’t already have a win and NASCAR was using the old points system doing the double would be a terrible idea. This season on 1.5 mile tracks Kurt Busch hasn’t been great. That concerns me when it comes time to analyze his fantasy potential for the Charlotte Coca Cola 600. Texas is the most similar track visited and in that race he wasn’t competitive. He had a 23rd place average running position and finished 39th after having problems late. At the other 1.5 mile tracks he hasn’t looked good either. Really across the board minus Martinsville he’s lacked performance wise. In 2010 Kurt Busch won the Coca Cola 600 in dominating fashion. In that race he started 2nd, led 252 laps and earned the best driver rating by nearly 30 points. From a career perspective this has been a difficult track for him. He’s only finished in the top ten 26% percent of the time and 44% percent of the time he’s had a result outside the top twenty. His average finish is 18.9. Last fall his team was off their game and Furniture Row Racing was trying new things that didn’t work. As a result he wasn’t as competitive as he was in the spring. He still had a respectable performance and had a 10th place average running position and finished 14th. In spring 2013 at Charlotte he had a great car. In the longest race of the season he started in 2nd, earned the 2nd best driver rating and finished 3rd. His result could’ve been potentially better because during a caution for a wreck with 75 laps to go he was running in 2nd but he had to pit to change batteries and he fell all the way back to 11th. (Yahoo A Driver)

Recommended Reading – Charlotte Top Tier Elite Picks, Charlotte Front Runner Rankings, Yahoo C List Fantasy Preview, Who will win the Charlotte Coca Cola 600?, Charlotte “Uh-Oh” Report

Tony Stewart – Texas is the most similar track to Charlotte and Tony Stewart performed well at that venue this season. In that race he started on the pole, finished 8th, had an 8th place average running position and finished 10th. In the other races on tracks that correlate to success at Charlotte he’s been mediocre. Last fall at Charlotte Tony Stewart missed the race due to injury. In his place Mark Martin drove the #14 and finished 42nd after his motor went south. In last season’s Coca Cola 600 Stewart finished well. His car peaked right at the end of the race. In the event he started 25th, had a 16th place average running position and finished 7th. His next three most recent Charlotte finishes are 13th, 25th and 8th. (Yahoo B Driver)