NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Coca-Cola 600

 

To say that the last two weeks have been memorable is quite the understatement. Darlington gave Ford their first win of the season and the race winner Brad Keselowki finally broke his 100 race winless streak. It was Brad's 36th Cup career win and his first driving for RFK Racing, a team he co-owns.

While the All-Star Race is usually fun to watch, it typically doesn't have many notable story lines or penalties afterwards. Not this year. The Ricky Stenhouse Jr./Kyle Busch brawl in the garage definitely gave us something to talk about. But let's not forget that the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing crew that won the Pit Crew Challenge for 2024. That was impressive. This is actually the second consecutive win for the crew who won the challenge last year with the No. 54 of Ty Gibbs.

Now on to the longest race of the year, where it's a track-versus-driver battle royale. Speed, driver comfort, and paying attention to the details can really make the difference. Oh, and Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished sixth and seventh last year in this race. Should be a fun one!

This Week's Pick Strategy: I think the race is going to come down to Hendrick Motorsports versus the fastest Ford, but I'll add in some Toyota Charlotte elites like Tyler Reddick. Since the race is so long, we'll see a lot of pit stops, so that first or second pit box is really going to matter. I'll finalize my roster based on qualifying.

Drivers with Most Top 10s (Last 5 Years):

By Race

Kyle Busch - 5

Both with 4 - Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher

All with 3 - Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron, and Chase Elliott

By Track (Last 6 Points Races)

Kyle Busch- 5 

All with 4 -  Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, and Chris Buescher

All with 3 - Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, and Austin Dillon

Recent Pole Winners: 
2023 Cancelled due to weather line up set by metrics (William Byron)
2022 Denny Hamlin
2021 Kyle Larson

2020 Kurt Busch

Last Year's Race Winner: Ryan Blaney

The Likely Suspects: My Coca Cola 600 elite drivers are Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, and Alex Bowman.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is a tie between Kyle Busch and Tyler Reddick. My next picks are Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. I will complete my team with Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe.

My Final Four: Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher, and Chase Briscoe

Second-Look Driver: This week's sleeper pick is Chris Buescher. Chris was in contention for the win in the last two points races at Darlington and Kansas, so he has redemption as a motivator. Plus he runs decent at Charlotte. In his previous 11 starts at Charlotte, Chris earned four Top 10s with a best finish of sixth in the 2019 Coke 600. In 2020, he finished 10th, and eighth in 2021.

Points to Ponder:

• The first starting position is the most prolific starting position in the field, producing more winners (19) than any other starting position at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 
• Jimmie Johnson leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in poles at Charlotte Motor Speedway with four (2002, 2004, 2009, 2014); followed by Denny Hamlin (2013, 2017, 2023) and Kyle Busch (2008, 2014, 2018) with three each. 
• The first starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (19) than any other starting position at Charlotte Motor Speedway – a winning percentage of 15.2%; the most recent was Denny Hamlin in the 2022 Coca-Cola 600.
• Eight different manufacturers have won in the NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte, led by Chevrolet with 47 victories, followed by Ford (32)
• Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 21 victories. 
• A total of 10 of the 55 NASCAR Cup Series Charlotte Motor Speedway race winners are entered this weekend. Those with multiple wins are Jimmie Johnson with 8, Martin Truex Jr. with 3 and Brad Keselowski with 3.
  
• Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in Coca-Cola 600 wins with four (2003, 2004, 2005, 2014); followed by Kevin Harvick (2011, 2013) and Martin Truex Jr. (2016, 2019) with two victories each.
• Kyle Busch leads all active drivers in runner-up finishes at Charlotte with four (2010, 2011, 2017, 2022).
  
• Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson lead all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers with 16 Top 5 finishes at Charlotte Motor Speedway each. This duo are also tied in Top 10s with 22 each. 
• Tyler Reddick (five starts) leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position at Charlotte with an 8.4.
• Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in laps led at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 1,936 laps led in 38 starts. 
  

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your initial picks by 4:50 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 25th and your final picks by 6 p.m. ET on race day, Sunday, May 26th.

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 17 years. She launched  NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet.

When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.