Daytona Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Chase Elliott
Daytona Fantasy Spin – At Daytona, Chase Elliott will be a contender. If anyone has the Next Gen car figured out at superspeedways it’s Elliott, and for the season he has a series best 6.0 average finish and he’s the only driver who’s 4 for 4 at finishing in the top ten. At Atlanta the most recent superspeedway visited, Elliott put on a display of domination en route to victory lane. At Daytona in recent races, Elliott without question ranks among the best. On Saturday night, Elliott will only be racing for more Playoff points, so look for him to race hard without abandon.
Daytona Track History – At Daytona, Elliott has never raced his way to victory lane, but he’s come close and over the last four races, Elliott has 2-runner-ups, a series best 5.5 average finish and he’s the only driver who’s 4 for 4 at finishing in the top ten. In this year’s Daytona 500, Elliott didn’t have an incident free race, but he finished 10th when the checkered flag waved. In the race, Elliott finished 10th in Stage #1, but then at some point in Stage #2 he had contact with Larson which led to a long pit stop during that Stage caution to do some suspension repair. With 10 to go, Elliott was even collected in a multi-car wreck, but he still managed to finish 10th. Last summer, Elliott had a great performance. In the race he won Stage #1, finished just outside the top ten in Stage #2, was the leader with 5 laps to go, but then near the end he was involved in an accident. Elliott was able to continue, and he finished 8th when the checkered flag waved. Additionally, Elliott earned the best driver rating, led the 2nd most laps (36) and had the best average running position (8.0). In last year’s Daytona 500, Elliott had a great car and finished 2nd. Additionally, Elliott finished 4th in Stage #2, had an 8.1 average running position and was running in 5th at the start of the final lap. In summer 2020, Elliott pushed Byron to victory lane and of course finished 2nd. It was a pretty quiet race for Elliott overall, but you can’t argue with the result. In the 2020 Daytona 500, Elliott had a great car and was a contender to win but crashed and finished a misleading 17th. In the race, Elliott led 23 laps, won Stage #1, finished 7th in Stage #2 and was running in the top ten late before being involved in a wreck.

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Bubba Wallace
Daytona Fantasy Spin – At Daytona, look for Bubba Wallace to be a factor. The #23 will be fast, and this race will be checkers or wreckers for him, but regardless, I expect Wallace to be at the front at the end. Wallace is a strong superspeedway performer, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has some dedicated wingman pushing him to the front. This year at superspeedways, Wallace has been one of the better performers in the series despite having quite a few misleading results. In 2021 on this track type, Wallace’s 9.75 average finish ranked as the 2nd best.
Daytona Track History – At Daytona, Bubba Wallace has performed at a high-level throughout his career and minus last year’s 500 where he had a misleading result and the 2019 500, Wallace has finished in the top 15 every race and has an 8.9 average finish. Over the last four races, Wallace’s 6.8 average finish ranks as the 2nd best. Currently, Wallace has back-to-back runner-up’s at Daytona. In this year’s Daytona 500, the #23 was fast and Wallace raced his way to the front at the end. In the race, Wallace finished 3rd in Stage #2, finished 2nd overall, led 12 laps and had a 10.2 average running position. Last summer, Wallace had a great evening and once again finished runner-up. Additionally, Wallace finished 9th in Stage #2, led 8 laps, had a 14th place average running position and was running in 9th at the start of “Over-time.” In last year’s Daytona 500, Wallace had a great car and had standout speed but finished an asterisk mark 17th. In the race, Wallace started in the rear of the field, finished 7th in Stage #1, 3rd in Stage #2 and was running in 10th on lap 175 before he made an unexpected pit stop on lap 179 for having a loose wheel. Leading up to the Daytona 500, Wallace finished 2nd in his Duel 150. In summer 2020, Wallace had a great car and finished 5th.

Denny Hamlin
Daytona Fantasy Spin – Denny Hamlin is the premiere performer at Daytona and on Saturday night, look for him to be a factor. At Daytona, Hamlin’s a three-time winner and he’s had numerous dominating performances in the past. This year at superspeedways, Hamlin’s yet to have an incident free race, but he’s certainly shown potential. That said, this is the regular season finale and Hamlin is now a “Toyota Man” thru and thru so I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes on wingman duties for either Wallace or Truex helping them race their way into the post-season. The #11 team is one of the hottest in NASCAR heading into the Playoffs and on Saturday night, I think Hamlin has a great chance of racing his way to victory lane.
Daytona Track History – At Daytona, Denny Hamlin is always tough to beat. Hamlin’s traditionally been at his best in the Daytona 500, but in the summer, he’s been no slouch, but he seems to have adversity more often. In this year’s Daytona 500, Hamlin looked great but finished an asterisk mark 37th. In the race, Hamlin started 30th, was up to 5th on lap 62, but then the very next lap, Keselowski caused a “Big One” which marked the end of Hamlin’s afternoon. Last summer, Hamlin was strong, but was involved in multiple accidents which led to him finishing a misleading 13th. In the race, Hamlin led 7 laps and finished 2nd in Stage #1. Then in Stage #2 on lap 77, Hamlin was involved in a multi-car accident and got damage to his nose. Hamlin rebounded and was up to 2nd on lap 156 (4 to go), but then on lap 157 he was involved in another multi-car accident. In last year’s Daytona 500, Hamlin was the class of the field. In the race, Hamlin won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led a race high 98 laps but finished a misleading 5th. The final pit cycle which was manufacturer driven cost him the race. Just prior to the final pit cycle, Hamlin was the leader. In 2020 at Daytona, nobody was better. In summer 2020, Hamlin had a great car and finished 3rd. In the race, Hamlin was the leader at the start of over-time, but Byron and Elliott hooked up together and powered past him. In the 2020 Daytona 500, Hamlin finished 1st, won Stage #2 and led a race high 79 laps. When it was closing time, Hamlin was clutch and led the final 12 laps.

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