Phoenix (ISM Raceway) Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Ryan Blaney – Ryan Blaney is a good “out of sync option” at ISM Raceway (Phoenix). Over the last four races he’s finished 16th or worse (22.5 avg. finish), and that should scare people away. On Sunday I would look for Blaney to compete for a top ten. Last fall, Blaney had a great car but finished an asterisk mark 34th after having radiator problems on lap 237 while running in the top five that marked the end of his race. If his race would’ve been incident free he would’ve finished very well. He finished 2nd in Stage #1 and 8th in Stage #2. Last spring he was a mid-teens driver. He finished 16th and had a 15th place average running position. In fall 2017, Blaney started on the pole and was around 10th place good but finished 17th when the checkered flag waved. For whatever reason he just faded back at the end. With 19 laps to go he was running in 10th. It should also be noted he had a 10th place average running position and earned the 10th best driver rating. In spring 2017, Blaney had a fast car but finished a misleading 23rd. During late pit stops with about 54 laps to go he was caught speeding on pit road. At the time of that incident he was running around 13th. Additionally it should be noted he finished 7th in Stage #1, 8th in Stage #2 and had a 10th place average running position. In 2016 during his rookie year he had results of 8th and 10th.

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Alex Bowman – Alex Bowman should be viewed as a solid option at ISM Raceway. He ran well in both races last year and he’s been a solid performer at shorter flat tracks. In 2018 on this sub-track type minus the fall Phoenix race he had a 13.5 average finish. Last fall, Bowman had a solid performance and was a top ten contender but finished an asterisk mark 30th after crashing. In the race he finished 9th in Stage #1, would’ve finished in the top ten in Stage #2 until he got a late penalty and then with about 50 laps to go while he was running in the top ten he was caught up in a multi-car wreck. He later wrecked again with 27 laps to go while he was running in 15th which marked the end of his race. Last spring he had a solid performance and finished 13th. His race also wasn’t incident free. Around the mid-point while he was running in 11th he was caught speeding on pit road. In fall 2016 when he drove the #88 he had a great performance. In that race he started on the pole, earned the best driver rating, had a 2nd place average running position, finished 6th, led a race high 194 laps and recorded the most fastest laps (58).

William Byron – William Byron should be viewed as a good dark horse option at ISM Raceway. He ran well in both races last year, and shorter flat tracks have been a strength for him. In 2018 at shorter flat tracks in 4 of the 5 races he finished between 9th to 14th. Last year at Phoenix, Byron had a great season. In fall 2018 he started 19th and finished 9th. It was a strong performance for him. He finished 9th in Stage #2, had a 12th place average running position and earned the 12th best driver rating. Last spring he had a very respectable debut. He finished 12th, had a 13th place average running position and earned the 13th best driver rating. On Sunday I would look for him to likely be a mid to high-teens driver.

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