COTA Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Rankings / Post Practice Predictions
On Sunday, NASCAR is racing at COTA for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and COTA is a 20-turn, 3.426-mile beast which ranks as NASCAR’s biggest track.
This weekend, Road Course Stage Breaks are returning. Some teams will go for Stage points, but the ones who are going for the win will be pitting right before the Stage breaks. The race format in terms of Stages is 15/30/68.
On Saturday, NASCAR held an extended practice, with each team getting 40-minutes overall to work on their car. Here’s a look at COTA Practice Notes and COTA 5 Lap Average Speed Cheat Sheet.
Here’s the COTA qualifying results/ starting lineup.
If you’re in a hurry, check out our COTA Quick Rankings!
COTA Full Field Fantasy Rankings
1) Tyler Reddick
Start 3rd / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
COTA Outlook – Tyler Reddick put on a display of domination last spring at COTA en route to victory lane and on Sunday, I think the road to victory lane goes thru him again. In the Next Gen at road courses, Tyler Reddick has been the premiere performer and in the new car, Reddick has 3-wins, the best Next Gen Speed Ranking and in 7 of the 11 races (Chicago omitted) he’s ranked in the top 4 in terms of speed. Last year on this track type, Reddick had the 2nd best Speed Ranking and for the season minus Chicago and Sonoma his average finish was 4.8.
COTA Track Record Breakdown – Tyler Reddick has been a standout performer at COTA. Reddick was the class of the field last year and overall, his COTA average finish stands at 5.0. Over the combined COTA races in the Next Gen, Reddick has the best Speed Ranking and a 3.0 average finish. Last spring, Reddick smoked the field en route to victory lane, despite doing a three pit stop strategy which turned out to be inferior to others who did two. In the race, Reddick earned the best Driver Rating, led the most laps (41), ran the most fastest laps and had a 3.7 average running position, despite pitting an extra time compared to much of the field. In terms of speed stats, Reddick ranked #1 for Total Speed Rankings, #1 for Green Flag Speed and then ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A Run. In 2022, Reddick was one of the best. In the race, Reddick started 4th, had a 4.6 average running position, led 2 laps and then finished 5th. Take note, those 2 laps led were laps 66 and 67 of the 69-lap race. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Reddick ranked 2nd. In 2021 in the rain, Reddick finished 9th.
DraftKings $10,500 / FanDuel $14,000
Further Recommended Reading = COTA Finish Projections, DraftKings COTA Scoring Projection, FanDuel COTA Scoring Projections
2) William Byron
Start 1st / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
COTA Outlook – At COTA, put William Byron on your short list of favorites. Last year, Tyler Reddick was the class of the field, but William Byron was the “Best Of The Rest.” In 2023 at road courses, Byron ranked as one of the premiere performers and over the last two races, Byron raced his way to victory lane at Watkins Glen in dominant fashion and then finished 2nd at the Charlotte Roval. Also for the season on this track type, Byron had the 2nd best Road Course Average Finish (8.2) and the 3rd best Road Course Total Speed Ranking. At COTA, look for Byron to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win.
COTA Track Record Breakdown – At COTA, William Byron has been strong. Byron was a standout performer last year en route to a 5th and over the combined COTA races his average finish is 9.3. Last year, Tyler Reddick had the field covered but William Byron gave him a run for his money. In the race, Byron won the pole, had a race best 3.0 average running position, earned the 2nd best Driver Rating, led the 2nd most laps (28) and then finished 5th when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed stats, Byron had the 2nd best Total Speed Ranking, the 3rd best Green Flag Speed and then ranked 4th for Speed Late In A Run. In the two races prior to that, Byron had respectable results of 12th (2022) and 11th (2021).
DraftKings $9,700 / FanDuel $12,500
3) Ty Gibbs
Start 2nd / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
COTA Outlook – At COTA, put Ty Gibbs high on your radar. Gibbs is a strong road course racer and in 2023 on this track type, Gibbs had the 4th best Road Course Total Speed Ranking and a 9.5 average finish. Over the last four races held on this track type, Gibbs had a 7.5 average finish which was tied with William Byron for being a series best. Over the last two races at these venues, Gibbs had a pair of top 5’s and ranked 2nd & 2nd in terms of speed. In practice, the #54 was fast and Gibbs had the best 5-lap average.
COTA Track Record Breakdown – Last spring at COTA, Ty Gibbs was impressive and finished 9th, despite him short cutting the esses and being down a cylinder supposedly (not sure if true but telecast said it). Late “Mega Mayhem” certainly boosted Gibbs at the end. On lap 57 before late mayhem ensued, Gibbs was back in 20th. In terms of speed stats, Gibbs ranked 13th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. Last year in the Xfinity series at COTA, Gibbs finished 3rd.
DraftKings $8,700 / FanDuel $11,500
