COTA Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Chase Briscoe
COTA Fantasy Outlook – Chase Briscoe is a capable road course racer and with the #14 on the rise, don’t overlook him. Briscoe’s shown potential here in the past and “Performance Wise” he’s been a top ten contender in 2 of the 3 races. On Sunday, I would view Briscoe as a dark horse top ten contender.
COTA Track History – At COTA, Chase Briscoe has been pretty solid over all three races. Last year when SHR was down in the dumps, Briscoe was a mid-teens performer. In the race, Briscoe finished 15th and had a 16.6 average running position. On lap 57 which is my favorite reference point before late mayhem ensued, Briscoe was running in 13th. In 2022, Briscoe was a top ten contender but finished an asterisk mark 30th. In the race, Briscoe often ran up front (led 2 laps) but his afternoon went south late. On lap 56 he pitted from 8th during a caution after flat spotting his tires, and then on the last lap it was mentioned he had a flat tire while running in 17th. In 2021, Briscoe started way back in 27th, finished 7th in Stage #1, 9th in Stage #2, finished 6th overall, had a 12.4 average running position and was the 9th fastest driver late in a run.

Joey Logano 
COTA Fantasy Outlook – Joey Logano is a capable road course racer but with the return of Stage points racing, picking the driver of the #22 is a little less attractive to me. When it comes to going after Stage points, Logano will likely go all out for those, even if it is to his detriment in terms of his end result. Last year at road courses, Logano had a great season and minus COTA & Indy RC where he had problems, Logano was 4 for 4 at finishing in the top ten and had a 6.5 average finish. At COTA, I think Logano is a top ten contender, but you need to be wary he might very well burn you in pursuit of Stage points.
COTA Track History – COTA under dry conditions hasn’t been kind to Logano and over the last two races, he’s 2 for 2 at finishing 28th or worse and has a 29.5 average finish. Last spring, Logano was a top ten contender but didn’t have an incident free race and finished an asterisk mark 28th. In the race, Logano was penalized for short cutting the esses on lap 7 while running in 16th, was running in 10th at lap 57 (my favorite lap count reference point before late wildness ensued) and was actually running in 10th at the start of overtime #3, but then something really bad not shown in the telecast happened which led to his poor result. In 2022, Logano started 6th, finished 4th in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2 but then finished 31st when the checkered flag waved. In the final Stage, Logano’s evening went south and right at the restart while leading due to pit strategy he locked up his brakes in turn #1 and that dropped him back to 12th. Then on lap 45 while running in 12th, Logano spun. Then to cap off his afternoon, Logano was involved in an accident on lap 65 which broke his toe link which doomed him to a 31st. In the first two segments prior to things going south, Logano had speed rankings of 8th and 13th. In 2021, Logano had a great performance and consistently ran near the front. In the race, Logano won Stage #1, finished 3rd overall, led a race high 14 laps, had a race best 6.6 average running position and ranked as the 3rd fastest driver late in a run.

Bubba Wallace
COTA Fantasy Outlook – At COTA, close your eyes when you look at Bubba Wallace’s resume. Wallace is 3 for 3 at DNF’ing and has a 38th place average finish. With a track record like that, there’s no doubt he’ll be flying well below the radar and have a lot of “Out of sync” potential. That said, Wallace has improved as a road course racer. In 2023 on this track type minus COTA and Chicago (problems in both races), Wallace was 4 for 4 at finishing between 12th to 18th and had a 15.8 average finish. In terms of Road Course Track Type Total Speed Rankings last year, Wallace ranked 17th. At COTA, I think Wallace has teens upside if he can avoid trouble, which of course he’s never managed to dodge yet.
COTA Track History – COTA has been an absolute buzz saw for Bubba Wallace in the results department and over the three races, he’s 3 for 3 at finishing between 37th to 39th. Last year, Wallace showed potential but on lap 10 while running in 11th, he got into the back of Kyle Larson hard and that marked the end of his race leading to his 37th. Although his race was short, Wallace did rank 9th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2022, Wallace’s afternoon was cut short, and he finished 38th due to “suspension issues.” On lap 44 at the time of his demise when he lost a tire and then stopped on the track, Wallace was running in 20th. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Wallace ranked 19th which I view as reflective of his performance. In 2021, Wallace had a short race and finished 39th after crashing on lap 19 in the rain. On lap 18, one lap before his demise he was running in 21st.

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