Fantasy NASCAR Asterisk Mark Report – Darlington #3 2020

Ryan Blaney – Ryan Blaney made a first round exit in the 2020 Playoffs, and his post-season demise started at Darlington. In the race, Blaney’s car failed inspection multiple times which led to him starting in the rear of the field and his crew chief getting ejected from the track. In the race, Blaney showed promise early and at the conclusion of Stage #1 he had driven up to 13th after starting in the back. Then right when Stage #2 was starting, Blaney came to pit road when the race went green to change tires and his team had an extremely slow stop that dropped him off the lead lap back to 31st. That was a demoralizing blow, and he never bounced back. When the race reached its conclusion he finished 24th.

Martin Truex Jr. – Last fall at Darlington, Truex Jr. was the class of the field but he finished an asterisk mark 22nd. In the race, Truex won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 196 laps, ran the most fastest laps, had a 2.7 average running position and had the best Total Speed Ranking. During a late caution, Chase Elliott won the race off pit road, but there’s no question Truex had the best car. Truex then chased him down but then with 15 laps to go while he was in the process of passing him he wasn’t clear of the #9 and it led to both of them slamming into the wall hard. With 13 laps to go while leading, Truex had to come to pit road which led to his disappointing 22nd place finish.