We are in the desert this weekend, and now that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has completed qualifying as well as three practice sessions in Phoenix, it’s time to turn to the Fantasy Racing Online algorithm and see which drivers it likes the best for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway.
There are quite a few statistics that go into the Power Index formula, including recent performance both overall and at Phoenix specifically, similar track performance, projected strength of the car, practice speeds, and a few other variables.
Here’s a quick overview of the Power Index number: essentially, zero (0) is considered average; the more negative a number is in the Power Index, the stronger that driver is considered in the Fantasy NASCAR world. The opposite holds true as well: the more above zero a driver is, the worse he is considered for Fantasy NASCAR that week.
Phoenix Fantasy NASCAR Power Rankings
| 1. | Busch, Kyle | -44.4 |
| 2. | Harvick, Kevin | -43.1 |
| 3. | Keselowski, Brad | -29.1 |
| 4. | Larson, Kyle | -23.9 |
| 5. | Elliott, Chase | -22.6 |
| 6. | Hamlin, Denny | -21.3 |
| 7. | Truex, Jr., Martin | -21.1 |
| 8. | Almirola, Aric | -20.3 |
| 9. | Jones, Erik | -19.4 |
| 10. | Logano, Joey | -15.4 |
| 11. | Busch, Kurt | -13.4 |
| 12. | Byron, William | -13.1 |
| 13. | Newman, Ryan | -7.5 |
| 14. | Dillon, Austin | -6.6 |
| 15. | Bowman, Alex | -4.8 |
| 16. | Johnson, Jimmie | -1.4 |
| 17. | Bowyer, Clint | -1.2 |
| 18. | Blaney, Ryan | -0.2 |
| 19. | Stenhouse, Jr., Ricky | 1.4 |
| 20. | Suarez, Daniel | 6.7 |
| 21. | Dillon, Ty | 9.3 |
| 22. | Hemric, Daniel | 10.9 |
| 23. | Wallace, Bubba | 14.8 |
| 24. | Menard, Paul | 15.0 |
| 25. | Preece, Ryan | 17.7 |
| 26. | Buescher, Chris | 22.4 |
| 27. | McDowell, Michael | 25.0 |
| 28. | DiBenedetto, Matt | 25.4 |
| 29. | Ragan, David | 27.6 |
| 30. | Chastain, Ross | 33.6 |
| 31. | Tifft, Matt | 34.2 |
| 32. | Cassill, Landon | 38.5 |
| 33. | LaJoie, Corey | 47.4 |
| 34. | Ware, Cody | 62.0 |
| 35. | Currey, Bayley | 66.8 |
| 36. | Houff, Quin | 67.3 |
