Daytona Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Alex Bowman
Daytona Fantasy Spin – Alex Bowman is an extremely capable performer at superspeedways who needs to start building up momentum for the post-season. Bowman runs well at superspeedways, and the #48 should be fast. In 4 of the last 8 races at Daytona, Bowman has finished between 7th to 11th, and in the four he didn’t, Bowman’s races weren’t incident free. On Saturday night, I would view Bowman as a coin flip.
Daytona Track History – As you read above, Alex Bowman has been respectable at Daytona, but over the last four years, Bowman’s had one good finish a year (11th or better), and then one poor finish a year (21st or worse). In February he finished 24th, so in theory he’s due for a good finish. En route to his 24th, Bowman was damaged in the lap 62 “Big One.” The #48 was wounded, but he continued logging laps and was aided by attrition. On the very lap before his car was damaged, he was running in 11th. Last year, Bowman had his good race for the year in the summer and finished 7th. It was a quiet evening for Bowman, and his average running position was 15.2. In last year’s Daytona 500, Bowman started in the back and then on lap 13 he was caught up in the “Big One” which marked the end of his race (35th). In summer 2020, Bowman had a solid showing and finished 7th after dodging the late attrition. I’ll note, with 11 laps to go which was before two late cautions came out, Bowman was running near the mid 20’s.

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Christopher Bell
Daytona Fantasy Spin – At Daytona, Christopher Bell runs well, but something always happens. In the results column he’s 5 for 5 in terms of coming home with a misleading result and his average finish is 18.3. That said, Bell’s been great in the “Performance Department” and over the last five races his driver rating is the 11th best, despite a lot of problems along the way. In 2022 on this track type, Bell has only cracked the top 20 once and that result was a 19th at Atlanta at Atlanta #2 (Did cross the finish line in 2nd at Atlanta #1 but was penalized). Over the four combined 2022 races on this track type his average finish is 24.5.
Daytona Track History – Christopher Bell has been solid at Daytona and his track record doesn’t do him justice. In this year’s Daytona 500, Bell looked strong and showed potential, but he was a lap 62 “Big One” crash victim which led to his 34th. On that very lap at the time of his demise, Bell was running in 7th. Last summer, Bell ran well but crashed late and finished 32nd. In the race he finished 10th in Stage #2, led 8 laps and was running in 8th with 10 laps to go until the schedule distance. A few laps later though he was caught up in the carnage which led to his poor result. In last year’s Daytona 500, Bell had a great car but finished a misleading 16th. In the race, Bell finished 6th in Stage #1, led 32 laps, but then in the second half of the race adversity surfaced. On lap 111 shortly after a pit cycle, Bell had contact with Stenhouse and got quite a bit of damage. Just prior to that he was in 7th. Then later on lap 180, Bell made an unexpected pit stop for “Fuel issues.” On lap 175 just prior to that he was running in 15th. In his Duel 150 leading up to the Daytona 500, Bell finished 2nd.

William Byron
Daytona Fantasy Spin – At Daytona, William Byron could definitely be a factor. Byron’s a strong superspeedway performer, and he’s also reached victory lane here in the past in summer 2020, and in his 2020 Duel 150. At Atlanta which is a new superspeedway, Byron raced his way to victory lane there in dominant fashion in the spring. At Talladega, the other big superspeedway on the schedule, Byron’s come close to victory lane and in 2 of the last 4 races there he’s finished in the top 4. If Byron can avoid bad luck, I think he has a lot of upside here.
Daytona Track History – William Byron’s been strong at Daytona and when he avoids trouble, he’s been money in the bank with his last two “incident free” results being 1st and 2nd. That said, Byron’s had problems in 4 of the last 5 races. This February at Daytona, Byron looked great, but he was caught up in the “Keselowski Caused Big One” which led to his 38th. On the very lap of his demise, Byron was running in 2nd. Last summer, Byron was sporty, but he crashed late. In the race, Byron led 12 laps, finished 3rd in Stage #2 but then crashed with 15 laps to go which led to his 37th. In last year’s Daytona 500, I think Byron likely had a great car, but he crashed in the lap 13 “Big One.” He was able to continue, but the #24 was severely wounded and it led to his 26th place finish. In summer 2020, Byron had a great car and raced his way to victory lane following a late restart. In the race, Byron finished 7th in Stage #1, led the 3rd most laps (24) and was legitimately running in 3rd with 18 laps to go before all the late cautions started. In the 2020 Daytona 500, Byron was strong. Byron won his Duel 150 that year and was running in 4th until Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wrecked him on lap 58 which led to his 40th. In summer 2019, Byron finished 2nd.

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