Pocono 400 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Tony Stewart – Tony Stewart has been a strong performer on the new surface at Pocono. Since the track was repaved he’s the only driver who has 3 top fives and 4 top tens. Also in the races over this stretch he has a series best 5.3 average finish. Some of his recent stats over this span of races is a little underwhelming though. In these four races he’s only led 3 laps, has only ran 3 fastest laps and his driver rating ranks as the 9th best. Last August this race marked Tony Stewart’s last of the 2013 season before his injury. In the race Stewart started in 20th, had an 11th place average running position, earned the 10th best driver rating and finished 9th. In June 2013 he had a strong performance. He started in 19th and drove up to a 4th place finish. Tony Stewart was particularly strong in two segments of the race. He was at his best in the beginning and the end of the race. When the green flag waved it only took him about 20 laps to crack the top ten. During the middle segment of the race he spent a lot of time driving between 10th and 15th. Then when it came time to get on the gas in the last 20 laps he rallied from 10th up to his eventual finish position. In 2012 at Pocono he had results of 3rd and 5th. (Yahoo B Driver)

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Denny Hamlin – Denny Hamlin is always a popular fantasy option at Pocono but it’s been a while since he was the dominant Denny Hamlin people are basing his fantasy value off of. Last August at Pocono his race was extremely short and disappointing for people who had him on their fantasy team. In the race on lap 12 he was running in 12th but got loose and got into the wall. As a result of that he went to the garage and finished 43rd. In the race he started in 9th. In June 2013 he had a slightly de-tuned car but he still looked competitive. In the race he started in 17th, had a 10th place average running position and finished 8th. In the first race of 2012 he had a solid performance. In that race he started in 5th, finished 6th and led 21 laps. In August 2012 he wasn’t nearly as competitive. In that race he started in 2nd, led 3 laps and finished 29th. His poor finish is due to him getting collected in a late restart wreck while he was running in 15th. At Pocono Hamlin is a qualifying machine. Last spring the starting order was set by points but in the other races since 2009 he’s started in the top nine every race. In 16 races at Pocono Hamlin has 4 wins, 8 top fives and 10 top tens. His last Pocono win was in 2010, since then he has 3 top tens and 3 finishes of 19th or worse. (Yahoo B Driver)

Recommended Reading : Pocono Top Tier Elite Picks, Pocono Mid Pack Predictions, Yahoo C List Preview, Pocono Scouting Report August 2013, Pocono Scouting Report June 2013, Who will win the Pocono 400

Clint Bowyer – Last season at Pocono Clint Bowyer finished mid-teens twice. In August 2013 he started in 16th, had a 13th place average running position and finished 14th. In the race he performed slightly better than his result. He was a driver who was impacted by others who used better pit strategy. Performance wise he likely had about a 10th place car. I think the #15 car was significantly tuned down in June 2013, or at least I would like to believe that. Bowyer wasn’t competitive at all in that race. He started in 3rd but fell back to the mid-teens in the first 30 laps. Also in the race he had a 14th place average running position, finished 15th and earned the 16th best driver rating. In 2012 in the first two races on the new surface he had results of 6th and 8th. One of Bowyer’s strengths at Pocono is avoiding really bad finishes. Since August of 2008 he hasn’t had a result worse than 18th. (Yahoo A Driver)

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