Fantasy NASCAR Asterisk Mark Report – Nashville (2021)

Chase Elliott – Last year at Nashville, you won’t find a more misleading result than Chase Elliott’s 39th. That asterisk mark result can be attributed to a post-race DQ for having 5 loose lug nuts. When the checkered flag waved, Elliott finished 13th. I’ll note, that doesn’t represent how Elliott performed either. Elliott was stripped of Stage finishes too, but technically he won Stage #1, finished 5th in Stage #2 and was running in 4th on lap 240 which was the beginning of the last long green flag run to the finish line where the fuel situation was questionable for many across the board. I’m speculating, Elliott had to save fuel in order to make it to the finish. Elliott’s Total Speed Ranking over the segments tells that story (5th, 9th, 3rd and then 17th). Overall, Elliott had the 4th best average running position (7.7) and the 5th best Total Speed Ranking.

Ryan Blaney – Ryan Blaney had a tough race last year at Nashville. In the race, Blaney started in the rear of the field (repaired damage), radioed his team he lost his brakes during the opening round of green flag pit stops on lap 39 while he was in 27th, and then on lap 55, he officially lost his brakes and slammed into the wall hard which led to his 37th place finish. For fantasy purposes, I wouldn’t read into Blaney’s afternoon at all from last year.

Denny Hamlin – Denny Hamlin ran well last year at Nashville and was easily a top ten contender, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at his 21st. In the race, Hamlin finished 10th in Stage #1, 6th in Stage #2, had the 7th best Total Speed Ranking and had a 9.5 average running position. Hamlin was short on fuel at the end and was in 10th with 10 to go, but then right at the end he had to come in for a “splash and go.”