The Cup Series had their Group Practice followed by Group Qualifying Saturday. The teams were broken down into two groups and were allowed to practice for 20 minutes. That is not a lot of time, but many of the teams were able to make some long runs. The field is now set and it is time to set our starting lineups for the Driver Group Game.
Here is my starting lineup for the Toyota Owners 400…
Driver Group Game Team
GROUP A DRIVER
MARTIN TRUEX JR. (9): Truex has a history of running well at Richmond and he looks fast again this week. Truex has an average finishing position of second in his last six races at Richmond. The No. 19 car posted the fourth-fastest speed in practice on the 10-lap average speed chart and he qualified sixth for the race. I will use my first allocation with the No. 19 car at Richmond.
GROUP A DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) Ryan Blaney 2) Martin Truex Jr. 3) Kyle Busch 4) Kevin Harvick 5) Kyle Larson 6) Chase Elliott 7) Denny Hamlin
GROUP B DRIVERS
ROSS CHASTAIN (9): I may be late to the party but I am hoping there is still a spark left in Chastain’s hot streak. He has finished every race over the last month in the top-three. Chastain finished seventh in this race last year and his car is a lot faster in 2022. Chastain posted the ninth-fastest speed in practice and he qualified eighth. I will play the hot hand and use an allocation with Chastain Sunday.
CHASE BRISCOE (7): Briscoe won the last race on a short, flat track (Phoenix last month). Has also led laps in four of the six races and scored 33 Stage Points this year. Briscoe should have a good chance to score more Stage Points and finish up front Sunday. Briscoe posted the fifth-fastest speed in practice and qualified fourth. I will use another allocation with Briscoe Sunday.
GROUP B DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) Joey Logano 2) Ross Chastain 3) William Byron 4) Christopher Bell 5) Chase Briscoe 6) Alex Bowman 7) Aric Almirola 8) Tyler Reddick9) Kurt Busch 10) Austin Dillon
GROUP C DRIVER
DANIEL SUAREZ (8): I really like the speed that Trackhouse Racing has right now. Every week their drivers (Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez) are up front leading laps. I expect the same Sunday. Suarez posted the 11th– fastest speed in practice and the No. 99 car qualified 14th for the race. I will use another allocation with Suarez Sunday.
GROUP C DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) Daniel Suarez 2) Erik Jones 3) Cole Custer 4) Austin Cindric 5) AJ Allmendinger
*Stats from Driveraverages.com and career stats from Racing-Reference.Info…
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