The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway this weekend, the fastest track on the schedule. This 2-mile oval requires top notch horsepower to run well at, and typically when we see someone get the lead here, they’re impossible to pass, so restarts are really important. There are two races scheduled–one on Saturday and one on Sunday–with the starting order for the former being determined by the random draw, and then Sunday’s starting lineup being set by a top 20 inverse of Saturday’s results.
There are quite a few statistics that go into the Power Index formula, including recent performance both overall and at Michigan specifically, similar track performance, projected strength of the car, practice speeds, starting position, 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.
Michigan Saturday Fantasy NASCAR Power Rankings
| Rank | Driver | Power Index |
| 1. | Harvick, Kevin | -44.8 |
| 2. | Hamlin, Denny | -40.0 |
| 3. | Keselowski, Brad | -38.8 |
| 4. | Logano, Joey | -34.1 |
| 5. | Almirola, Aric | -33.9 |
| 6. | Truex, Jr., Martin | -33.5 |
| 7. | Blaney, Ryan | -33.4 |
| 8. | Busch, Kurt | -32.8 |
| 9. | Busch, Kyle | -29.6 |
| 10. | Elliott, Chase | -22.8 |
| 11. | Reddick, Tyler | -20.4 |
| 12. | Bowman, Alex | -14.6 |
| 13. | Jones, Erik | -10.2 |
| 14. | Custer, Cole | -7.7 |
| 15. | DiBenedetto, Matt | -6.6 |
| 16. | Dillon, Austin | -3.2 |
| 17. | Bowyer, Clint | 1.1 |
| 18. | Byron, William | 4.1 |
| 19. | Johnson, Jimmie | 4.5 |
| 20. | Newman, Ryan | 7.8 |
| 21. | Bell, Christopher | 12.4 |
| 22. | Buescher, Chris | 14.2 |
| 23. | McDowell, Michael | 18.4 |
| 24. | Kenseth, Matt | 22.9 |
| 25. | Nemechek, John H | 23.6 |
| 26. | Stenhouse, Jr., Ricky | 23.7 |
| 27. | Wallace, Bubba | 27.5 |
| 28. | LaJoie, Corey | 29.4 |
| 29. | Dillon, Ty | 31.3 |
| 30. | Suarez, Daniel | 39.8 |
| 31. | Preece, Ryan | 40.6 |
| 32. | Poole, Brennan | 48.8 |
| 33. | Sorenson, Reed | 51.2 |
| 34. | Gase, Joey | 52.0 |
| 35. | Houff, Quin | 53.7 |
| 36. | Yeley, JJ | 54.6 |
| 37. | Smithley, Garrett | 55.5 |
| 38. | Davison, James | 59.2 |
| 39. | Hill, Timmy | 61.0 |
