The 2022 NASCAR Cup Season has been the wildest I have ever seen, but they made it to Phoenix and now it is time to crown a championship. Before I get into the Fantasy Live picks for the championship race, I want to say THANK YOU!!! My goal every year is to provide you the best picks and teach you a little bit about how to be a better Fantasy NASCAR player. I appreciate you giving me the chance to be your “Fantasy NASCAR Crew Chief.” The 2022 season is almost complete and I already cannot wait for the 2023 season. Now onto Phoenix….
My goal every year is first to help you win your league and second to outscore 99% of the entries in the Fantasy Live game. The picks have been able to do that in every season since 2011. The picks are currently outscoring 99% of the entries, but not by much. We need a good race at Phoenix to extend the streak.
STRATEGY FOR PHOENIX
This is not going to be an easy week for the Fantasy Live game. The four drivers competing for the championship do not earn Stage Point for this race. These drivers are almost a lock to run up front and finish up front though, because the Championship Four tend to get a lot of room on the track to race. So what do we do? Do we select the playoff drivers and forfeit the Stage Points or do we take the non-playoff drivers and hope they score a lot of Stage Points and finish up front?
The Cup Series had a 50-minute practice Friday evening and then they qualified for the race Saturday afternoon. There are a few non-playoff drivers who posted fast laps in practice and will be good picks for your Fantasy Live teams. These drivers include Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola. I am out of allocations of Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and William Byron so I have no choice but to use some of the playoff drivers. Here is how I would rank the drivers for the Fantasy Live Game Sunday…
Here are the picks for the Championship 500 …
BONUS PICKS
Fantasy Live has a new Bonus Picks section this year. Instead of selecting the winning team or manufacturer, we will earn 10 bonus points for selecting the driver who finishes the best in a Head-to-Head matchup. Here are my picks for the matchups…
CHASE ELLIOTT vs. ROSS CHASTAIN (My Pick: CHASE ELLIOTT)
JOEY LOGANO vs. CHRISTOPHER BELL (My pick is JOEY LOGANO)
RYAN BLANEY vs. DENNY HAMLIN (My pick is RYAN BLANEY)
KYLE LARSON vs. KYLE BUSCH (My pick is KYLE LARSON)
Good luck and be sure to follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.
If you like Fantasy NASCAR, LIKE my Fantasy NASCAR Tips Page on Facebook