Charlotte Coca Cola 600 Fantasy NASCAR Mid Pack Predictions / The Low Tier

Erik Jones
Charlotte Fantasy Outlook – In the Coca Cola 600, I think Erik Jones is a mid-tier driver who’ll have marginal upside. Jones has had some recent success here (pair of top 14’s in the Next Gen), and he hasn’t been bad at high-speed 1.5’s this year given his tier. In 2025 at high-speed 1.5’s, Jones recently finished 12th at Texas and over the combined races his average finish is 18.3 and he ranks 23rd for Speed.
Charlotte Track History – In the Next Gen at Charlotte, Jones ranks 17th for Driver Rating, ranks 23rd for Speed and his average finish minus 2023 is 15.3. Last year, Jones had a good performance. In the race, Jones finished 13th, had a 13.8 average running position and ranked 11th for Total Speed Rankings. In 2024, Jones had a mid-pack evening. In the race, Jones finished 19th, had a 21.9 average running position and ranked 23rd in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2023, Jones looked good, but his race wasn’t incident free and he finished an asterisk mark 32nd. On lap 98, Jones was in 12th but then during the Stage #1 caution he was pushed to the garage after hitting debris and damaging his radiator. Over the first segment of the race, Jones ranked 12th for Speed. In 2022, Jones looked poised to finish in the top ten for much of the final Stage but ended up finishing 14th. On lap 391 before Briscoe’s “Failed Hail Mary” which was followed by a lot of chaos, Jones was running in 8th. For the evening his average running position was 12.7.

Connor Zilisch
Charlotte Fantasy Outlook – At Charlotte, I think expecting a bottom half of the field finish is the smart play with Connor Zilisch. He recently finished 16th at Texas, which is some hope, but the young rookie will be risky in this 600-mile marathon where track conditions will change throughout the evening. This year at high-speed 1.5’s, Zilisch has a 25.7 average finish and ranks 31st in terms of Track Type Total Speed Rankings.
Charlotte Track History – Last year at Charlotte, Connor Zilisch finished 23rd but I have a hard time saying he was even that good. In the race, Zilisch started 33rd, had a 30.3 average running position, got a pit penalty and was involved in a multi-car wreck. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Zilisch ranked 37th with his speed over the segments being 36thm 35th, 35th and 23rd.

Riley Herbst
Charlotte Fantasy Outlook – Riley Herbst might have dark horse upside at Charlotte for the risk takers but in a long race, he feel’s risky to me. That said, Herbst has shown a ton of improvement in 2026 at high-speed 1.5’s and over the last two visited, he’s come home with results of 11th (Texas) and 14th (Kansas) with a 12.0 average Speed Ranking over the two. Heading into the weekend, I would view him as a mid-pack driver who’ll have upside.
Charlotte Track History – Last year at Charlotte, Riley Herbst finished 28th, had a 33.1 average running position and ranked 32nd for Total Speed Rankings. I’ll note, Herbst did spin out coming to pit road in Stage #2 on lap 157, but he was back in the low 30’s when it happened anyways, so I can’t say it hurt him too much.

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