NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: 2024 Season Finale at Phoenix

 

As William Byron took the checkered flag last weekend in Martinsville, the season's final four drivers emerged. The mild- mannered Byron showed lots of emotion as he celebrated his third win of the season, but does he have what it takes to be a champion? We will find out together in the final laps of today's race.

Despite all the backlash for the Playoff process, it has come down to two drivers from each of the strongest racing teams all season long -- Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. Byron and his teammate, 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, face off against Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe. 

 

This Week's Pick Strategy: While there are no Team Penske drivers in the final four, I believe we could see a spoiler come from the Penske camp today. I am going heavy on all four final four drivers and will be adding Ryan Blaney to the mix in addition to drivers who have traditionally run well in Phoenix, like Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, and Christopher Bell. 

Good luck with your roster and thanks for joining me in the 14th year of NASCAR Fantasy Fusion.

 

Drivers with Most Top 10s at Phoenix Raceway (Last 5 Years):
By Race  

Ryan Blaney - 5

All with 4 - Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin

All with 3- Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, and Christopher Bell

 

By Track
Ryan Blaney - 9

Both with 7 - Kyle Larson and William Byron
Both with 6 - Joey Logano and Christopher Bell

All with 5 - Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch

Last Year's Race Winner: Joey Logano

The Likely Suspects: My Phoenix go-tos are Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, and Tyler Reddick.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick is Denny Hamlin. My next picks are Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Joey Logano, and Christopher Bell.  I will round out my team with Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott.

My Fabulous 5 (Drivers most likely to finish in the Top 5):
Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Joey Logano, and Chase Elliott
 

NASCAR Fantasy Live Line-up: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Austin Cindric, and Ryan Blaney, with Chase Briscoe in the garage. Hamlin over Briscoe, Byron over Larson, Logano over Chastain, and Blaney over Bell.

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Chris Buescher. Chris has a decent record at Phoenix. The No. 17 team has earned four consecutive Top 10s and three Top 5s. The four consecutive Top 10s is Chris' longest active streak at any track. In the Gen 7 era (since 2022), the No.17 team has earned the fourth highest average finish with 9.6.

Points to Ponder:

• The first and third starting positions are tied for the most proficient starting position in the field producing more winners than any other starting positions (eight each) – the most recent was William Byron’s win in 2023 from the third starting position.
• In total 14 different organizations have won at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series, led by Hendrick Motorsports with 13 victories. Rounding out the top five organizations with multiple wins are Joe Gibbs Racing with nine, Stewart-Haas Racing and RFK Racing with seven each, and Richard Childress Racing with six.
• This weekend,10 of the 31 NASCAR Cup Series Phoenix Raceway winners are active, and each of the Championship 4 Round drivers is former Cup Series winners at the 1-mile track –  Denny Hamlin with two (2012, 2019), Chase Briscoe (2022), William Byron (2023), and Kyle Larson (2021) each with one. 
• Of the nine active Phoenix winners this weekend, four are current Championship 4 contenders – Denny Hamlin (2012, 2019), William Byron (2023), Chase Briscoe (2022) and Kyle Larson (2021).
•  Joey Logano leads all active Cup drivers this weekend in wins at Phoenix Raceway with four (2016, 2020, 2022, 2024). 
• Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney lead all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in runner-up finishes at Phoenix with four second-place finishes each. 
• Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in Top 5 finishes at Phoenix Raceway with 17.
• Kyle Busch leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in Top 10s at Phoenix with 27 as well as in laps led at Phoenix Raceway with 1,190 laps led in 40 starts.
• Of this season’s Championship 4 drivers, Denny Hamlin has the best average finish at Phoenix Raceway with a 10.6, followed by Kyle Larson with a 10.68, William Byron with a 10.8 and Chase Briscoe with an 18.4. 
• Of the Championship 4 drivers this season, Denny Hamlin has led the most laps at Phoenix Raceway with 939 in 40 starts.   
  

Remember, if you're playing NASCAR Fantasy Live, make your final picks by 2:55 p.m. EST TODAY! Don't forget to select your bonus match-ups.

 

Enjoy the race, and thank you for joining me on this year's Fantasy racing journey!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 18 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 she may be executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland's Eastern Shore.