Fantasy NASCAR Asterisk Mark Report – Phoenix

Every week in NASCAR there’s drivers who have problems in the race and walk away with an asterisk mark result. Understanding misleading finishes and knowing how good drivers truly were can help give you the edge on your competition. Many fantasy racers just look at results and assume that’s how good drivers were. This post explains who had a misleading result last fall at Phoenix, and how good they truly were.

Denny Hamlin – Denny Hamlin had a great car last fall at Phoenix. In our PROS Rankings he was ranked as having the strongest car. In the race he finished 2nd in Stage #1, Won Stage #2, earned the best driver rating, led a race high 193 laps but finished a misleading 35th. With 42 laps to go while he was running in 3rd Chase Elliott had contact with him which sent Denny Hamlin into the wall. Then with 38 laps to go he had a flat tire and careened into the wall which marked the end of his race.

Kyle Larson – Kyle Larson had an extremely fast car last fall at Phoenix, if you just looked at his last place finish you would never know it. In the race Larson won Stage #1 and was running in 2nd on lap 104 when he had a sudden engine failure. In a post DNF interview Larson said he thought he had the best car. In our PROS Rankings he’s ranked as having the second strongest car.

Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson had a solid showing last fall at Phoenix, but finished a misleading 39th. On lap 149 while running in 11th he had a blown tire and got into the wall hard which marked the end of his race. Shortly before his problem Johnson finished 10th in Stage #1. If his race would’ve been incident free I think it’s clear he would’ve been a top ten contender.