Bristol Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Denny Hamlin
Bristol Fantasy Spin – At Bristol, Denny Hamlin is always tough to beat. Hamlin’s a three-time winner and most importantly, he raced his way to victory lane last fall in convincing fashion “Beating you’re favorite driver”, despite his race not being incident free. “Performance Wise” at “Thunder Valley”, Hamlin’s been a factor to win 4 of the last 7 races, so you can be confident he’ll show up and be stout. On Sunday, look for Hamlin to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win.
Bristol Track History – Denny Hamlin ranks among the premiere performers at Bristol. Since 2019 minus a pair of misleading results in 2020, Hamlin has a 5.0 average finish. In the Next Gen over the combined races, Hamlin has a 5.0 average finish, a 7.1 average running position, the 3rd best Driver Rating and his Next Gen Speed Ranking ranks as the 3rd best. Last summer under the lights, Hamlin was impressive and raced his way to victory lane. In the race, Hamlin started 2nd, was caught speeding on pit road during Stage #1 around lap 70 while running in 2nd, rallied to finish 4th in Stage #2, led 142 laps, earned the 2nd best Driver Rating and then of course took home the trophy. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Hamlin was tied for being the 2nd fastest, but take note over the 3rd and 4th segments of the race he ranked as having the fastest car on the track. In terms of Speed Late In A Run, Hamlin ranked #1. In 2022, Hamlin had a strong showing and finished 9th, despite multiple problems. In the race, Hamlin had a flat tire and got into the wall while running in 3rd on lap 235, and then later around lap 435 he had a slow pit stop while running in 6th. When the checkered flag waved, Hamlin finished 9th, had an 8.7 average running position and earned the 7th best driver rating. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin ranked 6th for Total Speed Rankings and for Green Flag Speed. In 2021, Hamlin was one of the best, but finished an asterisk mark 9th. In the race, Hamlin won Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2, led 65 laps but then in the final Stage on lap 399 while he was running in 2nd, Hamlin had a flat tire. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin ranked 2nd for Total Speed Rankings and Speed Late In A Run.

Kyle Larson
Bristol Fantasy Spin – Kyle Larson’s a super-elite performer at Bristol who should be near the top of your fantasy NASCAR radar. Larson won this race in 2021 and “Performance Wise”, Larson should have another couple W’s on his resume. The high-line is the fast line, and nobody is better than Larson at running that groove. On Sunday, look for Larson to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win.
Bristol Track History – Kyle Larson has thrived at “Thunder Valley” and since 2017 minus spring 2019 where he had multiple problems, Larson has a 4.0 average finish, a 4.8 average running position and he’s averaged leading 106.6 laps per race. Over the two races in the Next Gen, Larson has the 2nd best Speed Ranking and he’s tied for having the 2nd best average finish (3.5). Last summer, Larson started 36th but that wasn’t a problem. Larson quickly climbed up thru the field, finished 8th in Stage #1, 3rd in Stage #2 and then finished runner-up when the checkered flag waved. Additionally, Larson led 20 laps and earned the 4th best Driver Rating. In terms of speed stats, Larson was the 2nd Fastest Driver Late In A Run and his Total Speed Ranking ranked 4th but take note in segments #3 and #4 he ranked 2nd in terms of speed. In 2022, Larson finished 5th in Stage #1, 9th in Stage #2, led 34 laps and then finished 5th overall. In terms of speed stats, Larson ranked 2nd for Green Flag Speed, 2nd for Speed Late In A Run and then 3rd for Total Speed Rankings. In 2021, Larson had a stellar showing and raced his way to victory lane after a late assist from Chase Elliott (held up Harvick). In the race, Larson finished 2nd in Stage #1, won Stage #2, had a 2.5 average running position, led a race high 175 laps and earned the best driver rating by a wide margin.

Christopher Bell 
Bristol Fantasy Spin – Christopher Bell has been a super-elite performer at Bristol in the Next Gen and on Sunday, pencil him in as a top five performer who’ll be a factor to win. At “Thunder Valley”, Bell has been stout and over the combined races in the Next Gen, Bell has the best Next Gen Speed Ranking, the best Driver Rating, the best average running position (3.9), he’s averaged leading the most laps per race (165), he’s won 3 of the 4 opening Stages and he boasts the 2nd best average finish (3.5).
Bristol Track History – In the Next Gen at Bristol, Christopher Bell’s been elite and been a factor to win both races. Last year at “Thunder Valley”, Bell started on the pole, won the two opening Stages, led the most laps (187), earned the best driver rating, had the best average running position (2.7) and then finished 3rd overall. In terms of speed analytics, Bell ranked #1 for Total Speed Rankings, #1 for Green Flag Speed and then 3rd for Speed Late In A Run. In 2022 in Next Gen race #1 at Bristol, Bell was a standout performer and ranked among the best. In the race, Bell finished 2nd in Stage #1, won Stage #2, led 143 laps, had a 5.7 average running position and then finished 4th when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed stats, the #20 had the best Green Flag Speed, was the Fastest Car Late In A Run and had the best Total Speed Ranking.

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Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions & The Low Tier