Charlotte Coca Cola 600 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Ty Gibbs
Charlotte Fantasy Spin – The Charlotte Coca Cola 600 can often be a “Young Man’s Race” where young stars shine and have reached victory lane for the first time, so don’t overlook Ty Gibbs. The #54 team has been performing at a high-level for a few months now and after his strong showing at Kansas (looked like a top five contender, 6th best Total Speed Ranking but crashed) there’s definitely reason for optimism. That said, I would just view Gibbs as a low-double digit driver who has top ten upside heading into the weekend.
Charlotte Track History – In the Cup series, Ty Gibbs has never raced at Charlotte. In the Xfinity series, Gibbs has been stellar. He finished 2nd last year, and then in 2021 he raced his way to victory lane.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Charlotte Fantasy Spin – At Charlotte, look for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to come home with a solid finish, and by that I’m leaning towards a low double-digit to mid-teens result. The #47 team continues to click off good finishes and avoid trouble on the track, so there’s reason to expect the good times to continue. Over the last six races heading into the weekend, Stenhouse has finished in the top 15 every race and his 11.3 average finish ranks as the 5th best in the series. Over the last four, he’s finished between 12th to 15th. At Kansas, the most recent high-speed 1.5-mile track visited, Stenhouse finished 12th and over the last quarter of the race when the trophy was on the line, his Total Speed Ranking was the 12th best.
Charlotte Track History – At Charlotte, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has an impressive track record, seriously. Over the last six races, Stenhouse has four top tens, five results in the top 12 and his 10.5 average finish ranks as the 5th best over that stretch among drivers who competed in every race. Going back to 2015 race #2, Stenhouse has finished in the top fifteen in 9 of the 11 races! Last year, Stenhouse started 29th, finished 7th in Stage #1, 5th in Stage #2, about 14th in Stage #3 and then finished 7th when the checkered flag waved. On lap 387 before late “Mega Mayhem” broke out he was running in 13th. Additionally, Stenhouse had a 14.1 average running position and the 17th best Total Speed Ranking. In 2021, Stenhouse was respectable. In the race he finished 12th, had a 12.2 average running position and had the 14th best Total Speed Ranking. In 2020 Race #2, Stenhouse was stellar. In the race he started 24th but finished 4th legitimately. Additionally, Stenhouse had the 6th best Total Speed Ranking and an 11.3 average running position. In the 2020 Coca Cola 600, Stenhouse finished a dud 24th. In the three Charlotte races prior to that, Stenhouse had results of 5th, 5th and 10th.

Daniel Suarez
Charlotte Fantasy Spin – Don’t overlook Daniel Suarez at Charlotte. It’s been a good track for him, he was one of the best last year, and in 2023 at high-speed 1.5-mile tracks, Suarez has a 12.5 average finish, a 13.3 average running position and he’s tied for having the 12th best Total Speed Ranking. At the venues he finished 10th at Las Vegas and 15th at Kansas. I’ll note, he was likely better at Kansas than his result, but he damaged his nose at one point. That said, Suarez does make me nervous when we talk about what he’s done in the results column. Since Phoenix he’s cracked the top ten just once, and the top 15 just twice, and one of them was a 15th.
Charlotte Track History – Daniel Suarez has been pretty good at Charlotte. For his career minus last year where he had one of the best cars and wrecked and 2020 where he drove the junk #96, Suarez has a 13.0 average finish. Last year, Suarez had a rocket that was one of the best, but he crashed in the last Stage and finished 25th. In the race, Suarez won Stage #2, finished 5th in Stage #3, led 36 laps and was running in 5th on lap 345 at the time of his demise. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Suarez ranked 4th. In 2021, Suarez had a solid showing, despite his race not being incident free. On lap 93 while he was running in 11th, Suarez had a flat tire which led to an unexpected pit stop which dropped him two laps down. When the checkered flag waved, Suarez finished 15th. In 2020 when he drove the junk #96, Suarez had results of 28th in both races. In his Charlotte races prior to that, Suarez had results of 18th, 15th, 6th and 11th.

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