Bristol Food City 500 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Jamie McMurray – If you’re looking for a dark horse fantasy NASCAR option at Bristol it’s hard to do any better than picking Jamie McMurray. It’s a great track for him and over the last six races minus an accident in spring 2014 he has a 12.4 average finish and an 11.8 average running position. Last August he had a strong showing. He finished 11th, had an 11th place average running position and earned the 10th best driver rating. In spring 2015 he was very competitive but walked away with a misleading 14th place result. With 28 laps to go he was running in 5th but blew out a tire and wrecked. Even with that issue he still had a 7th place average running position and earned the 7th best driver rating. In August 2014 I would argue he had the best car. In the race he could run the bottom lane with speed and make passes when others could only run the high-lane. When the checkered flag waved he finished 8th, had a 7th place average running position, earned the 3rd best driver rating and led a race high 148 laps. The turning point for him in the race was when a caution came out on lap 432. At that time he was the leader and pitted but others choose not to pit. As a side effect of him losing positions in that manner he had to restart on the inside of row three and it cost him a few more positions. In spring 2014 at Bristol McMurray had a good car. He had top ten potential but his day ended after he was involved in an accident with about 50 laps to go after Kevin Harvick’s engine blew up. At the time of the incident he was running around the top five. (Yahoo B Driver)

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Austin Dillon – Austin Dillon has been pretty solid at Bristol. In 3 of his 4 races he’s finished between 10th and 13th. Last August he had a solid showing and was a low-teens to mid-teens performer. When the checkered flag waved he finished 13th, had a 16th place average running position and earned the 15th best driver rating. Over the second half of the event he essentially ran between 11th and 15th. In spring 2015 he was on pace to have a great finish but while he was running in 3rd in the closing laps he was forced to pit for fuel because the race went longer than its advertised distance. When the checkered flag waved he finished 10th. Also in the race it should be noted he had a 9th place average running position and earned the 9th best driver rating. It’s hard to tell how good Austin Dillon was in August 2014 at Bristol. He started in 26th and before lap 9 he had problems off turn 2 which dropped him back to 39th. What exactly happened to him was never shown on TV but I’ll speculate he got into the wall because after that he was never competitive. When the checkered flag waved he finished 28th, had a 32nd place average running position and earned the 39th best driver rating. In spring 2014 he had one of his better finishes of the season and finished 11th. It should be noted however that he really wasn’t that good. He started in 26th, had a 22nd place average running position and earned the 23rd best driver rating. (Yahoo B Driver)

Further Recommended Reading – Bristol Top Tier Elite Picks, Bristol Scouting Report, Bristol DraftKing Points August 2015, Bristol DraftKings Points April 2015

Ryan Newman – Ryan Newman has been a respectable performer at Bristol. Over the last three races he has a 9.3 average finish, 12.0 average running position, the 10th best driver rating and has run 73.9% percent of the laps inside the top fifteen. Last fall Newman finished 10th, had a 13th place average running position and earned the 12th best driver rating. Last spring he didn’t have a great car but finished 5th when the checkered flag waved. He only ran well over the last 150 laps. Over the first 350 laps he probably had an average running position around 17th. As long as drivers dodged carnage they were all about assured a good finish. In August 2014 Newman was a quality performer and essentially ran between 7th and 14th for the entirety of the event. In the race he earned the 9th best driver rating, had a 10th place average running position and finished 13th. One aspect from that race that should be noted is that he drove very cautiously because of his point’s situation. In spring 2014 he didn’t have a great race and finished 16th. In that race he had an unexpected tire problem that dropped him multiple laps down. In August 2013 Newman had a good car but he got swept up in the late carnage. If he didn’t crash he looked like a lock for a top ten. Despite his wreck he still had a 10th place average running position and earned the 12th best driver rating. In March 2013 he finished 7th with a car that ran much of the race in the teens. In the first race on the current Bristol track configuration Newman was running in 10th around lap 170 but was involved in a wreck. (Yahoo B Driver)

Make sure you read the full spectrum of our 2016 Bristol Food City 500 Fantasy NASCAR Rankings

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