Indianapolis Brickyard 400 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Corey Heim
Indianapolis Fantasy Outlook – Corey Heim is returning to Cup action at Indy in his #67 23XI Toyota and I would view him as a top ten contender. Heim has never raced here but he’ll have a more than capable car underneath him and over his last two Cup starts this season he’s had results of 1st (San Diego) and 9th (Chicago).
Indianapolis Track History – Corey Heim has never raced at Indy.

Austin Cindric
Indianapolis Fantasy Outlook – At Indy, look for Austin Cindric to be a low double-digit driver who’ll flirt with a top ten. Cindric’s run well here, he ran well at Pocono recently and that baseline finish range also matches up with his weekly level of performance. In the Next Gen at “The Brickyard”, Cindric ranks 6th for average finish (11.0), 10th for Driver Rating but 18th for Speed. At Pocono in June, Cindric finished 14th and ranked 15th for Total Speed Rankings.
Indianapolis Track History – Austin Cindric has run well at Indy, being 2 for 2 at finishing in the top 15 with an 11.0 average finish. Last year, the #2 was aggressive with pit strategy and Cindric parlayed that into a 15th. Additionally, Cindric had a 14.7 average running position, led 40 laps (pit strategy) and ranked 8th for Total Speed Rankings. I’ll also note, Cindric’s race wasn’t incident free, and he did have a flat tire on lap 84 while leading, which was a pretty big setback, but it was also shortly before green flag pit stops. To begin overtime, Cindric was in 20th so late mayhem was a boost. In 2024, Cindric started in the back, got a speeding penalty on lap 40 but then finished 7th when the checkered flag waved. Over the final Stage, Cindric used some pit strategy but he also did run well to close out. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Cindric ranked 28th with his speed over the segments being 29th, 30th, 23rd and then 13th.

Brad Keselowski
Indianapolis Fantasy Outlook – Brad Keselowski will be a quality dark horse option in the Brickyard 400. Keselowski’s a former winner (2018), he ran great last summer (5th), was a contender to win in 2024 and over his last four incident free races he’s finished in the top 5. I view Pocono to be the best comp track and the #6 is often stout there. He wasn’t so great a few weeks ago (38th, crashed) but he might’ve just been the best in 2024. I can’t say I love his recent form (finished good at North Wilkesboro but a lot of ugly results before that) and as a result heading into the weekend, I would just view him as a teen’s driver who’ll have a good bit of upside.
Indianapolis Track History – Brad Keselowski is a former Brickyard 400 winner who’s performed at a high-level. Keselowski raced his way to victory lane here in 2018 and in 4 of the last 6, he’s finished in the top 5. Also for his career, Keselowski has finished in the top ten 53.8% of the time. In the Next Gen, Keselowski ranks 9th for average finish (13.0), 9th for Driver Rating and then 12th for Speed. Last year, Keselowski had a good performance and used aggressive pit strategy throughout. In the race, Keselowski started 14th, had a 13.6 average running position, was in 10th to begin overtime and then finished 5th when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed stats, Keselowski ranked 9th for Speed Late In A Run and 14th for Total Speed Rankings. In 2024, Keselowski nearly notched another win but in overtime while leading, he ducked down pit road for fuel which led to his 21st. I’ll note, his fuel mileage was questionable at best but I wouldn’t count him out from making it since it seemed like he was saving. Pit strategy had Keselowski positioned at the front but he did pace the field for 35 laps late. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Keselowski ranked 14th but take note in the 4th segment he ranked 4th for speed. In 2020 in the next most recent race, Keselowski finished 4th, had the 6th best Total Speed Ranking and had an 8.5 average running position. In 2019, Keselowski was fast but crashed with 2 laps to go in Stage #1 which led to a 38th place finish. With 5 laps to go in Stage #1 he was running in 8th. In 2018, Keselowski raced his way to victory lane. In addition to winning, he earned the 4th best driver rating, had a 9th place average running position and led 9 laps. I will note if there wasn’t a late caution he wasn’t going to win and was likely poised to finish in 3rd. In 2017, Keselowski finished 2nd and led 23 laps.

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