Top NASCAR Cup Series Championship Fantasy Live Picks

Picks for your Fantasy Live and Head-to-Head for the Phoenix Championship race.

Ryan Blaney punches his ticket to the Final Four for the second season by winning at Martinsville. This weekend is the Finale of the cup series, with four drivers and one champion. Phoenix is a combination of a short track and a one-mile flat oval. Phoenix tends to have a lot of green flag runs, so pay attention to the drivers who were fast in the long run. They did run a 50-minute practice session, so use that as your primary source of data, as well as the past Spring Phoenix race. Using other tracks as a secondary data source, like Loudon, Nashville, and Richmond, could work, but don’t base all your picks on comp tracks.

Drivers

Martin Truex Jr.

In his final race, MTJ is looking to go out in style in a throwback to his first-ever cup scheme from 2001. Truex had pretty good stats in the Fall, with the sixth fastest car in both fall races, a fifteenth, and a sixth, but in both races, he scored more than 35 points. Martin had the second-fastest car in the Spring but finished seventh with 37 points. This weekend, he practiced well with the top five fastest lap times and then qualified on the pole. Martin should be fast in the long run today and finish somewhere in the top ten.

Christopher Bell

Your Spring Phoenix winner comes into the finale, not making the championship four by one or two spots because of the Martinsville shenanigans. Anyways, Bell comes in this weekend with the fifth-fastest car in Phoenix, and even though his average finish is mid-pack, he has shown the most speed on other short or flat tracks. Christopher did not look great in practice but qualified well in seventh.

Sleepers

My favorite sleepers are Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe. Both drivers showed speed in practice, finishing in the top twelve times and qualifying well with a sixth and twelfth. Both drivers have had a top-five finish, with Briscoe winning in 2022 and Gibbs having a second in the spring. Both drivers will be teammates next year; Briscoe moves to the nineteen for Joe Gibbs Racing. The other driver who showed speed was Austin Cindric, who had the top ten fastest times and qualified in eleventh. Team Penske seems to have brought the quickest cars, and Cindric is driving one. Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, and Bubba Wallace are guys I look to come from back in the field to maybe finish in the top ten.

Lineup

Riskier Lineup

Tier List

Head-to-Head Matchups

Ryan Blaney vs Joey Logano

The battle between the top two Penske Fords is the first matchup on hand. I will take Ryan Blaney, given how dominant he is at Phoenix. Although he didn’t qualify well, he has enough pace to move from mid-pack to be the top championship 4 contender or win. Logano has an equal pace to Blaney, but if you think Blaney does not come from behind, pick Joey. Both should be in your fantasy live lineup.

William Byron vs Tyler Reddick

Byron is taking his past and putting it behind him. On the long run, he ran top three lap times and backed that up with an eight-place starting spot. For Reddick, he did not show much in practice with the bottom half of the top ten times, but he showed some life as he qualified p 10. Given his speed and decent history, I will take Byron here, and he should be in your lineup. I am unsure if Reddick needs to be in your fantasy live lineup, but you can if you think he finds something in the race.

Denny Hamlin vs Kyle Larson

Denny looked to have a bit more speed in practice for this lineup but had a slip-up. Larson's pace was behind Hamlin for a little bit, but he qualified better. I will take Larson here, given how well he has run in the Fall, and he would like to show that he can win another race. Larson should be in your lineup, while Hamlin can be in some of your lineups, given I do not know if he comes from mid-pack to a top-ten finish.

Ross Chastain vs Chase Elliott

I will go a bit bold here and go with Chase Elliott. Unlike Chastain, Chase does not have the most incredible history here in the fall. Although Chastain liked his car in practice, Chase had the faster car, and I think he can outrun Chastain this time around. If you believe Chastain beats Chase because of how great he is at Phoenix, then pick Chastain. Both can be in your lineup and should run in the top ten.