NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro

Well, Mother Nature struck again last race weekend, triggering a three-hour weather delay. Fortunately,  (or unfortunately, depending on your bedtime) the race resumed and the full race was completed. At about 2 a.m. on Monday, Ryan Blaney proved once again why he is a NASCAR Cup Series champion. 
 

With some luck, we'll send Mother Nature packing this weekend as NASCAR hosts the first Cup Series points-paying race at North Wilkesboro Speedway since September 29, 1996. We'll also get our first glimpse of the new rule change announced June 24 regarding the front bumper for short-track races.

Teams can no longer use energy-absorbing foam in the front or rear bumper structure of the race cars and must modify the front bumper struts. The changes are intended to create crumple zones that offset the stiffness of the Next Gen car during crashes, softening the impact drivers feel. The new rules also apply at Richmond Raceway (Aug. 15), Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 19), and Martinsville Speedway (Nov. 1).

 

This Week's Pick Strategy: Well, this race could get real interesting. We have a handful of drivers hungry for a win and another group just fighting to stay above the cutline for the Chase. Among these two groups are short-track elites who could really make some noise on Sunday. I have my eye on drivers with dirt track experience and other wheelmen who excel at driving loose cars like, say, Ryan Blaney. Car control, versatility, dealing with tire wear, and going where others aren't will be the name of the game. 

 

NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race Winners:
2025 Christopher Bell

2024 Joey Logano  

2023 Kyle Larson  

 

NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race Runner-Ups: 

2025 Joey Logano  

2024 Denny Hamlin
2023 Bubba Wallace
 

Active Cup Series Drivers with Most Top 10s in the All-Star Race 
at North Wilkesboro (2023-2025)

Both with 3 - Joey Logano and Chase Elliott
All with 2 - Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace

Most Top 5s in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (2023-2025)
All with 2 - Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Elliott
All with 1 - Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, and Ross Chastain

Active Cup Series Drivers with Most Top 5s at Short Tracks* 

2022-2026 (16 races)

Denny Hamlin -10
Kyle Larson - 9
All with 7 - Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano
William Byron - 6

Christopher Bell - 5

Active Cup Series Drivers with Most Top 3s at Short Tracks* 

2022-2026 (16 races)

Denny Hamlin - 7
Kyle Larson - 6 
Ryan Blaney - 5

All with 4 -  Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and William Byron
Both with 3 - Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon

 

* Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway

 SOURCE: frcs.pro

 

Pole Winner in 2025 All-Star Race: Alex Bowman

 

Race Winner in 2025 All-Star Race: Kyle Larson

The Likely Suspects: Look for these drivers to run well on race day: Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, and William Byron.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick is Ryan Blaney. My next picks are Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Preece. I will complete my roster with Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

My Final Four: Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, and Carson Hocevar.

 

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Ross Chastain. Ross is mighty hungry and has been running better as of late. Ross earned two Top 10s in the three All-Star races, placing third last season. He also has six Top 10s in the last 11 short-track races.  

 

Points to Ponder:

• North Wilkesboro Speedway opened as a dirt track in 1947, founded by Enoch Staley, Lawson Curry, Jacob Combs, and Charlie Combs, with Bill France assisting with promotion. 
• From 1951 to 1996, the track hosted two NASCAR Cup Series races per year (except for 1956, when the track was busy with converting the track to pavement). 
• North Wilkesboro Speedway hosted the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race from 2023-2025. This season marks the first year the track has hosted a point-paying Cup race since 1996.

If you are playing Driver Group Game, remember to make your final picks by 7 p.m. ET on race day Sunday, July 19th.

 

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.