Richmond Toyota Owners 400 Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Ranking Picks

1) Kevin Harvick (Starting – 5th) (Odds To Win – 9/2)
Richmond Fantasy Spin – Kevin Harvick will be a good fantasy NASCAR pick to win the Richmond Toyota Owners 400. From a career perspective Richmond has proven to be one of his best tracks. One sign of positive things to come on Saturday night is how well he performed at Phoenix this spring. Phoenix is essentially a reverse Richmond and at that venue in March he went to victory lane, led 224 laps and earned a perfect driver rating. In the Toyota Owners 400 he’ll be driving that very chassis again. In practice Kevin Harvick had a good car over long runs. In happy hour his ten lap average ranked as the best. In practice #1 it ranked as the 4th best. One attribute that should be noted about his car is that it rotated well through the center of the corner.
Richmond History – Richmond has been a great track for Kevin Harvick. He’s won here three-times and has finished in the top twelve 75% percent of the time. Only once in the last eleven races has he finished outside the top twelve. In 2014 at Richmond he was fast. Between the combined events he earned the 4th best driver rating and had a 4th place average running position. Last fall he had a strong showing. Besides Brad Keselowski he was the only other driver who led any laps. In the event he paced the field for 17 laps, earned the 3rd best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position and finished 5th. His strength in the race was also his weaknesses. He was extremely strong in the high-line but when he had to move to the low-line he wasn’t as good. In spring 2014 he was better than his 11th place finish. In that event he earned the 5th best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position and led 23 laps. Through the first 3/4ths of the race he looked like a lock for a top five finish but he faded late. In fall 2013 at Richmond he had a car that was good enough to win but he got burned by a caution during the pit cycle while he was running in 2nd with 58 laps to go. In spring 2013 at Richmond he had a clutch performance and raced his way to victory lane.
Momentum – At Bristol Kevin Harvick had the car to beat but while he was leading he couldn’t avoid a wreck. Prior to Bristol in 2015 he had a 2.6 average finish and a 3.7 average running position. This season Harvick has led 808 laps. The next highest laps leader is Joey Logano at 277.

Get the ifantasyrace advantage and read all of our full exclusive content. Join Now!

2) Brad Keselowski (Starting –7th) (Odds To Win – 6/1)
Richmond Fantasy Spin – Brad Keselowski put a thumping on the competition last fall at Richmond. He had the best car and nobody had anything for him. In the spring race last season he was also pretty impressive. In addition to how well he performed last year you can’t overlook the fact that he recently tested here. Going back to last season at shorter flat tracks Keselowski has been the class of the field. Last season on this track type he scored the most points, won twice and had a 3.3 average finish. I don’t think he’s lost s step because earlier this season at Phoenix he looked strong. At that venue he finished 6th and led 52 laps. In practice Keselowski was happy with his car and said that his speed from the test session carried over.
Richmond History – In the combined events at Richmond last season nobody was better than Keselowski. In 2015 he had the best driver rating, a 2nd place average running position, 2.5 average finish and led 497 laps. Last fall he was dominant. He started 1st, finished 1st and led all but 17 laps. He was simply untouchable and came up .1 short of having a perfect driver rating. Last spring at Bristol he was also good. He could’ve potentially won the race but Kenseth held him up at the end and allowed the field to catch up to them. When the checkered flag waved he finished 4th, had a 3rd place average running position, earned the 2nd best driver rating and led 114 laps. In fall 2013 at Richmond he was also fast but walked away with a misleading 17th place finish. Performance wise he was top 6 good. In that race he led 142 laps but was burned by caution during the pit cycle while running in 6th with 58 laps to go.
Momentum – At Bristol Brad Keselowski wrecked early while running in 2nd. Prior to Bristol he had six straight top tens.

Recommended Reading – Richmond Speed Cheat Sheet, Richmond Starting Lineup, Happy Hour Notes, Happy Hour Speeds, Practice #1 Notes, Practice #1 Speeds, Scouting Report, PROS Rankings, Odds To Win, Chassis Selections

 3) Joey Logano (Starting – 1st) (Odds To Win – 6/1)
Richmond Fantasy Spin – Joey Logano is a driver who you can count on to perform well at Richmond. He’s the defending champion of this particular event and in three of the last four Richmond races he’s finished in the top six. One attribute I really like about Logano is how well he’s run this season. Last week at Bristol he crashed while running in 3rd. Prior to that he had a perfect top ten record for the season. In 2014 on shorter flat tracks Logano was a fantasy ace and was unquestionably one of the best drivers. He was wrecked by a “senior driver” in July at New Hampshire but in the other five races he had two wins, a 3.6 average finish and a 5.2 average running position. At Phoenix earlier this year he finished 8th and led 35 laps. On Saturday night Joey Logano will start on the pole. Last fall Richmond was won from this starting position.
Richmond History – Recently Joey Logano has been one of the strongest drivers at Richmond. Last fall he ran well throughout the event and the magic number you need to know about him is 6. He finished 6th, had a 6th place average running position and earned the 6th best driver rating. Last spring at Richmond he didn’t have the best car but the race ended favorably for him. In the event his car was at its best over short runs so the late caution played into his hands. Also in that event he earned the 3rd best driver rating, had a 4th place average running position and led 46 laps. In fall 2013 when his Chase hopes were on the line he had a stinker of a performance and finished 22nd. In spring 2013 Joey Logano performed well. He had a 3rd place average running position, finished 3th and earned the 4th best driver rating.
Momentum – At Bristol Joey Logano wrecked early while running in 3rd. Prior to that race he was a perfect 7 for 7 in terms of finishing in the top ten in 2015.