Fantasy NASCAR Asterisk Mark Report – COTA 2025

AJ Allmendinger – AJ Allmendinger was a top five contender last year at COTA but his race went south late, and in dramatic fashion. In the race, Allmendinger finished 10th in Stage #1, finished 6th in Stage #2, had the 5th best average running position (6.2), was in 5th with 7 to go but then over the closing laps, he just had a rapid free fall in the running order, leading to his 30th. Late in the race Allmendinger complained about being on a bad set of tires, and I’m attributing his late free fall to that. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Allmendinger ranked 9th and his speed over the segments of 8th > 2nd > 4th and then 32nd (reflects him being slow when he had his problem).

Connor Zilisch – Connor Zilisch finished 37th last year at COTA but don’t read into that result. In the race, Zilisch started 14th but then on lap 1 in turn 1, he was damaged in some of the wildness that ensued which led to a cut tire and then an unexpected pit stop on lap 2. That put Zilisch behind for the rest of the opening Stage. On lap 25 for the Stage #2 restart, Zilisch was in 30th and he climbed up to about 14th when Stage #2 ended. On lap 49 before the restart for the final Stage, Zilisch was in 14th but then on lap 50, Daniel Suarez spun out and then Zilisch ran into him and then into a tire barrier which marked the end of his race. Over the first segment of the race that was incident free for Zilisch, he ranked as having the 3rd fastest car on the track.

Kyle Larson – Kyle Larson has been a bit of an asterisk mark machine in recent races at COTA and last year, I would argue he was a top ten performer, but he finished a misleading 32nd since his race wasn’t incident free. In the race, Larson started 7th, finished 7th in Stage #1, got a track limits penalty in Stage #2 on lap 33 while running in 8th that dropped him back to 16th, was in 16th on lap 40 but then a few laps later, Larson had a lengthy pit stop because of a tire issue and then the next lap (44) he completely lost a wheel under green. Over the first segment of the race which was incident free for him, Larson ranked as having the 5th fastest car on the track.

Daniel Suarez – Last year, Daniel Suarez was a top ten contender but crashed and finished 36th. In the race, Suarez finished 8th in Stage #1, 10th in Stage #2 but then during the opening green flag lap to begin the last Stage, he spun and then Zilisch crashed into him. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Suarez ranked 6th.

Ty Gibbs – Ty Gibbs was a low double-digit performer last year at COTA but he finished an asterisk mark 34th. Late in the race on lap 82 while running in 13th, Gibbs was spun and damaged which led to his poor result.

Austin Dillon – Last year at COTA, Austin Dillon was around 20th place good, but he finished an asterisk mark 35th. Late in the race on lap 76 while battling for 20th, he collided with Hamlin, slid into a sand trap and his race was ruined after that, leading to his poor result.

Ryan Preece – Last year, Preece finished 33rd but that’s a misleading result. In the race, Preece started 28th, finished about 20th in Stage #1, was up to 12th on lap 40, won Stage #2 after others did pit strategy, ran around the mid-teens for a good portion of the last Stage but then in the last Stage, it appears he pitted during the last caution which dropped him back to the mid 20’s and from that point on, he just seemed to drop back more which led to his 33rd. In terms of speed stats, Preece ranked 13th for both Total Speed Rankings and Speed Late In A Run.