NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway

 

 

 

Chicagoland made its return to the NASCAR Cup schedule last weekend after a seven-year hiatus and it didn't disappoint. Christopher Bell, who finished second to Chase Briscoe, may not agree, though. 

Pit strategy, fresher tires and a fast car made all the difference for Briscoe and the No.19 team. The victory was Chase's first this season and his sixth Cup Series win.

 

As we head into the action-packed EchoPark Speedway at Atlanta, will a push-goes-wrong move make the difference for unlucky drivers? Or will the difference-maker be a super-fast car wheeled by a veteran driver who knows how to stay out of other drivers' messes? Stay tuned. 

 

This Week's Pick Strategy:    
This week I'm stacking my roster with veteran drivers, leaning heavily on drivers who do well on drafting tracks, then I'll fine tune for Atlanta/EchoPark elites.

 

Active Cup Series Drivers with Most Top 10s 

By Race & Track 
From 2022 to 2026; Includes 9 races 

Ryan Blaney - 7

Daniel Suarez - 6
Ross Chastain - 5

All with 4 - Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

 

Active Cup Series Drivers with Most Top 5s 
Daniel Suarez - 5
Ryan Blaney - 4
All with 3 - Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell

Top 10 Active Cup Series Drivers with Best Average Finish Since 2023

Carson Hocevar            10.2  
Ryan Blaney                 10.7  

Chase Elliott                 11.3
AJ Allmendinger          11.4

Tyler Reddick               13.1

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.      13.4

Daniel Suarez               15.1
Michael McDowell      15.1
Ross Chastain              16.0

Joey Logano                16.1
SOURCE: frcs.pro
 

Last Year's Pole Winner: Joey Logano

 

Last Year's Race Winner: Chase Elliott

The Likely Suspects: My EchoPark elite drivers include Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is a tie between Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. My next picks are Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Alex Bowman. I will complete my roster with Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

 

My Final Four: Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Carson Hocevar.

 

Second-Look Driver: This week's sleeper pick is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ricky is a wheelman who has a knack for drafting tracks. In the last seven races here at EchoPark, he earned one Top 5 and four Top 10s for an average finish of 13.4 for the sixth-best average finish among active Cup Series drivers — just three-tenths of a point behind Tyler Reddick.

Points to Ponder:

• Team Penske leads the NASCAR Cup Series in poles at EchoPark Speedway with 12.
• Ford has won the last seven consecutive poles at EchoPark Speedway (2019, 2023-2025, Spring 2026. Note: No qualifying was held from 2020-2022.) The blue ovals are looking for their eighth this weekend. 
• The most proficient starting position in the field at EchoPark Speedway is the first starting position – producing more wins than any other starting position at 17 victories.
• Brad Keselowski (2017, 2019), William Byron (2022, 2023), Joey Logano (2023, 2024), and Chase Elliott (2022, 2025) lead all active NASCAR Cup Series winners at EchoPark Speedway with two victories each. 
• Brad Keselowski (2018, 2023, 2025) leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers with three runner-up finishes at EchoPark Speedway as well as Top 10s finishes with 12.
• Ryan Blaney leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in Top 5 finishes at Atlanta with seven.   
• Hendrick Motorsports organization has the most wins here of any organization in the NASCAR Cup Series with 18 victories, followed by Wood Brothers Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing tied with 12.
  
• Nine different manufacturers have won in the Cup Series at EchoPark led by Chevrolet with 46 victories, followed by Ford with 36.
• Carson Hocevar leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in average finishing position at EchoPark Speedway with a 10.200 in five starts.

If you're playing Driver Group Game, remember to make your initial picks by Saturday, July 11th at 4:30 p.m. ET (Hurry!) and your final picks by 7 p.m. ET on race day Sunday, July 12th.

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 19 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.