Richmond 2 Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions (UPDATED)

The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continue with the final Saturday night race of the season, the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway. We’re only set to run 300 miles here this weekend, but that equates to 400 laps around this 0.75-mile D-shaped oval, meaning long-run speed is going to be very important.

Brad Keselowski is *tentatively* on the pole for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400, and you can view the entire starting lineup by clicking here. There were two practice sessions held on Friday, and the speeds from those can be found here: Practice #1 — Happy Hour. You should also read our in-depth notes for those sessions: Practice #1 — Happy Hour.

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Final Top 25 Fantasy NASCAR Rankings for Richmond 2

1. Martin Truex, Jr. – Starts 8th – DraftKings Price: $11,100 – FanDuel Price: $13,500 – Slingshot Price: $13,500

The #19 team is already locked into the second round of the Playoffs thanks to their win at Las Vegas last weekend, but don’t be surprised if they’re in victory lane once again here at Richmond on Saturday night. Truex is the most recent race winner here at Richmond Raceway, as he started 5th and led 186 of the 400 laps here back in April. Surprisingly enough, that is Martin’s only victory at this track (thus far), even though he’s lead at least 121 laps in five of the last six races here. Three of those races ended in top 3 finishes for Truex. This weekend, the #19 Toyota looked solid on Friday, which should have the rest of the garage worried a bit. When this team unloads fast, more often than not, they tend to be unstoppable on race day–and let’s not forget how Truex always seems to turn it up a notch during night races. He ranked 6th-best in ten-lap average during the final practice on Friday and had the 2nd-best 30-lap average in that session as well, right behind his teammate, Denny Hamlin.

2. Kevin Harvick – Starts 2nd – DraftKings Price: $11,500 – FanDuel Price: $14,500 – Slingshot Price: $13,000

This #4 team keeps chugging along, posting a 2nd-place finish at Las Vegas last weekend to give Kevin Harvick seven finishes of 7th or better in the last eight Cup Series races overall, with four of those seven being top 2 finishes as well. Here at Richmond, Harvick is a three-time winner and constant contender, as he has posted a top 5 finish in six of his last seven starts here. The last time we were here (in April), Harvick started on the pole and only led 30 laps but was still able to finish 3rd when it was all said and done. That’s actually good news for Harvick in my mind because no one can argue that this #4 team is running much better now than they were five months ago. “Happy” was 6th in ten-lap average during Practice #1 on Friday and ranked 5th on that chart in Happy Hour. He was 4th-best in 30-lap average in that final session. He has a front row starting spot heading into Saturday night’s race and I think we’ll see the #4 Ford lead quite a few laps this time around.

3. Kyle Busch – Starts 4th – DraftKings Price: $12,000 – FanDuel Price: $14,500 – Slingshot Price: $13,300

It’s not smart to bet against Kyle Busch at Richmond Raceway. The guy has six career Cup Series wins at this track (at least double the amount of everyone else in the garage) and a career average finish of 6.96 (nice) over the course of 28 starts. That kind of average is incredibly impressive, for the record. This weekend, Rowdy has a super fast car, as he had the best ten-lap average in the opening session and then ended up 12th-best on that chart in Happy Hour, although he made his run much later than most other people so that could be why he was a little slower. Looking at 30-lap average, Kyle was 6th-best on that chart. Busch finished 8th here back in April and won back-to-back Richmond races before that. He’s definite top 5 potential this weekend. My only main concern is Kyle’s somewhat bad luck over the last couple of months–he has just two top 5 finishes in the last eight Cup Series races overall.