NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway

 

Here we are at Week 19 already, and we are seeing championship contenders emerge. Christopher Bell not only swept the weekend at New Hampshire, winning both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series races, but he joined Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin in the Three Wins Club. I'm sure we'll see that multiple win number increase, but how soon? Perhaps this weekend as all three drivers are pretty strong here. Stay tuned!

This Week's Pick Strategy: Loose is fast here at Nashville. Drivers who run well here are elite wheelmen who are super comfortable with driving loose cars and sliding around a bit. I will be doing a mix of drivers with dirt racing backgrounds first, then go heavy on Chevys, and cross reference with concrete track masters.

 

Most Cup Driver Top 10s at Nashville (2021 to 2023)
By Race and Track
All with 3 - Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, and Christopher Bell
All with 2 - Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, William, Byron, and Joey Logano

Top 10 Cup Driver Averages at Concrete Tracks (2021 to 2023) 

Bristol: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, William Byron, and Michael McDowell.
Dover: Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Hemric, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, and Tyler Reddick.
Martinsville: Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, and Ross Chastain.

 

Pole Winners:

2023 Ross Chastain
2022 Ryan Preece
2021 Aric Almirola
 

Race Winners:

2023 Ross Chastain
2022 Ryan Preece
2021 Kyle Larson

The Likely Suspects: I expect these drivers to be very competitive this week: Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Preece.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is a tie between Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain. My next picks are Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, and Erik Jones. I will complete my team with AJ Allmendinger, and Ryan Preece.

My Final Four: Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, and AJ Allmendinger.

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Erik Jones. Since 2021, Nashville has been Erik's third best track in average finishes behind Auto Club (11.0) and Michigan (12.0). His average finish at Nashville is 12.7. Last year Erik finished in eighth place. He finished 11th in 2022, and in the inaugural year he finished 19th. This track favors drivers who are comfortable with driving loose cars. With Erik Jones' dirt track racing experience, it's no wonder he excels at Nashville.

 

Points to Ponder:

• A total of 10 different drivers have finished in the Top 5 in the three NASCAR Cup Series races at Nashville Superspeedway – Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain are the only two drivers to finish inside the Top 5 in all three races.
• A total of 18 different drivers have finished in the Top 10 in the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville Superspeedway, and only those same three drivers finished inside the Top 10 in all three races – Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and Ross Chastain.
• Kyle Larson leads the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishes at Nashville Superspeedway with a 2.5 in three starts, as well as in laps led with 264. 
  

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, you should make your initial picks by 1:50 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 29th and make your final picks by 3:30 p.m. ET on race day, Sunday, June 30th.
 

Enjoy the race!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.