Chicagoland Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Erik Jones – Erik Jones will be a driver to watch at Chicagoland, if he has an incident free race. All to often in 2019 trouble has struck him and cost him a good finish. This year at 1.5 mile tracks he’s been fast and ranks as one of the better drivers. At tracks of this length this season minus Charlotte he has a 6.8 average finish. At Chicagoland, Jones has two starts under his belt. Last year he ran well. When the checkered flag waved he finished 6th, earned the 10th best driver rating and had an 11th place average running position. In 2017, Jones had a disastrous debut and it’s hard to think it could’ve gone worse. He started in the rear of the field, got caught speeding on pit road on lap 44 while running in 19th, made an unexpected pit stop on lap 98, had his cool box start to fail him on lap 157 and then lastly on lap 210 while he two laps down in 21st he spun into the grass and damaged his right rear quarter panel because of a flat tire. When the checkered flag waved he finished 33rd. If he can avoid problems, I would look for him to compete for a top ten.

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Ryan Blaney – At Chicagoland, I would look for Ryan Blaney to be a low-double digits driver who’ll compete for a top ten. I think it’s best to play it safe with him because he’s been a really disappointing driver in 2019. At Chicagoland, Blaney has three starts under his belt and has an 11.0 average finish. I’ll note he’s finished worse by 7 positions in each new race of his so lets hope that trend ends. Last year at Chicagoland, Blaney started 2nd, led 19 laps, had an 11th place average running position and finished a misleading 18th. Additionally, he finished 7th in Stage #1 and 5th in Stage #2. Unfortunately, his race wasn’t incident free. On lap 194 he made an unexpected pit stop which dropped him a lap down. In 2017 he had a respectable showing. He finished 11th, earned the 13th best driver rating and had a 14th place average running position. In 2016 at Chicagoland he used pit strategy by staying out during a late caution and held on for a 4th place finish. Additionally, he earned the 9th best driver rating and had a 13th place average running position.

Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson has never won at Chicagoland, and I wouldn’t look for it to happen on Sunday. Realistically, I would look for him to be a low-double digits driver who has potential to sneak in a top ten. Over the last five races at this worn out 1.5 mile track he’s finished between 8th to 14th. In those combined races he sports an 11.4 average finish and a 9.6 average running position. Last year, Johnson started in 38th and raced his way up to a 14th place finish. His average running position for the afternoon was 17th. In 2017, Johnson had a solid showing. He finished 8th and earned the 10th best driver rating. In 2016 he had one of the best cars but finished 12th. That’s a misleading result. With 31 laps to go while he was running in 2nd he was caught speeding on pit road. In 2015, Johnson showed top five speed but finished 11th. After he cut Kevin Harvick’s tire while battling for the lead he seemed to ease up and never ran as well. Also from the race it should be noted he earned the 8th best driver rating and had a 9th place average running position.

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