Early Week Driver Rankings for Richmond

The Cup Series will once again race on a short, flat track when they travel to Richmond Raceway this week. Richmond is a .75-mile D-shaped oval. It is flat, just like Phoenix and New Hampshire. The secret to running well at Phoenix has been to run the outside lane, up against the wall. NASCAR will use the new short-track aero package this week. It is the same package that was used at Phoenix. It will be interesting to see how this lower down-force package changes the racing at Richmond. Will the drivers be able to pass on the bottom this year, or will the high lane still be the preferred lane at the track? We will find out Sunday at 3:30 pm ET on FS1.

The picks this week will be based on what happened at Phoenix this year. The two tracks are similar in size (Phoenix is 1-mile in length and Richmond is .75-mile, but both are D-shaped, short, flat tracks) and NASCAR will use the same aero package. I will be looking at the Driver Rating and Average Green Flag Speed from the race at Phoenix. I will also sprinkle in the Driver Rankings from the short, flat tracks last year (Phoenix, New Hampshire and Richmond) and the Driver Ratings from the last three seasons at Richmond. 70% of the rankings will be from Phoenix this year though.

The new aero package is a game changer for the Cup Series. Hendrick Motorsports knocked it out of the park when William Byron and Kyle Larson led 265 of 317 laps at Phoenix. Alex Bowman and Josh Berry also finished in the top-10 at Phoenix, so it is obvious that HMS has the advantage with this new aero package.

Here are my early week driver rankings for the Toyota Owner 400 …

The updated rankings will be posted Saturday after qualifying.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR

If you like Fantasy NASCAR, LIKE my Fantasy NASCAR Tips Page on Facebook