ISM Raceway Fantasy Racing Preview

Driver Averages | Laps Led Leaders | Driver Ratings | Past Winners

Detailed driver notes and statistics to help set your fantasy racing lineup for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway.

Who’s HOT at ISM Raceway

• Kevin Harvick has won five of the last nine races and has a 2.4 average finish in that span.
• Kyle Busch, who led 114 laps in this event last year, has finished seventh or better in his last five starts.
• Joey Logano has finished in the top 10 in six of the last nine races, including a win in the 2016 fall race.
• Denny Hamlin, who led 193 laps last fall, has finished in the top 10 in four of his last five starts.
• Chase Elliott, who combined to lead 140 laps in the two races last year, has posted a 7.8 average finish in his four starts.
• Kyle Larson, who had an engine failure last fall, finished third and second, respectively, in his two previous starts.

Keep an Eye On at ISM Raceway

• Brad Keselowski has finished in the top 10 in five of his last eight starts at ISM.
• Jamie McMurray (12.0), Kurt Busch (14.2), Ryan Blaney (14.5) and Aric Almirola (15.2) each rank in the top 10 in average finish among all drivers that have competed in all four races at ISM with the current tire combination.
• Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. each finished in the top 10 in both races last season at ISM.
• Alex Bowman led 194 laps from the pole en route to a sixth-place finish in 2016 when he subbed for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet.
• Defending race winner Ryan Newman has three top 10s in the spring race with crew chief Luke Lambert.
• Martin Truex Jr. posted a 7.0 average finish in both races at ISM last season.
• Jimmie Johnson has finished 11th or better in the six spring races since ISM was reconfigured.

*Best Average Finish at ISM Raceway

* – The best average finish is based off a driver entered in the race who has competed in every race during that time span.

Laps Led Leaders at ISM Raceway

Click Here to view all laps led leaders at ISM Raceway over the past 10 races.

ISM Raceway Loop Data Stat Leaders (2005-2017, 26 Races)

Top 10 Stage 1 &2 Points Earned at ISM Raceway (Spring and Fall Race)

2017 Spring ISM Raceway Stage Finishes

Rookie Report
Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates William Byron and Darrell Wallace Jr. each will be making their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at ISM Raceway. Both have made starts in the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series with Byron having the best results. Byron finished in the top five in both Xfinity races last season, including a win in the fall. He also led 112 laps in the Truck Series the previous year before an engine failure on lap 141 of 150. Wallace, who currently leads the rookie standings by 25 points, finished 11th last spring in the Xfinity Series and sixth in Trucks in 2014.

MRN.com Staff Picks

Jeff Wackerlin: Joey Logano 
Pete Pistone: Kevin Harvick
Robbie Mays: Kevin Harvick
Tyler Burnett: Kyle Busch

Driver Notes – Ordered by Average Finish (Top 15) in the Last Five Races at ISM

Kevin Harvick has finished sixth or better in the last nine races at ISM, which includes five wins in that span. Harvick has not led a lap in the last three races, but led 1,064 in the previous seven races. This weekend, Harvick will be going for his third straight win of the season.

Kyle Busch finished seventh last fall to snap a streak of four consecutive top fives at ISM. He’s combined to lead 189 laps and has a 3.5 average finish in the last two spring races. Busch, who ranked third in stage points earned in 2017 at ISM, is tied for first in average finish (4.0) and is third in laps led in the four races with the current tire combination. Busch also ranks second in laps led (479) since ISM was repaved and reconfigured.

Chase Elliott has finished in the top 10 in three of his four starts at ISM, including a runner-up finish last fall. Last year in this event, Elliott led 106 laps but finished 12th after pitting and being behind cars with older tires on the final restart. Elliott ranks second in laps led (140) and stage points (27) in the last two races at ISM.

Erik Jones finished in the top 10 in both races last season at ISM to give him an average finish of 6.0, which is tied for third-best in that span. Jones, who has yet to lead a lap at ISM, is coming off his best finish of the season last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, eighth.

Daniel Suarez has posted a 12.5 average finish in his two Cup Series starts at ISM. He started 27th and finished 10th last year in this event.

Denny Hamlin dominated the race last fall, leading 93 laps, but his day ended on lap 275 after a tire went down following contact with Chase Elliott in a side-by-side battle. His 35th-place finish snapped a streak of four consecutive top 10s. Hamlin’s lone win at ISM came in this event in 2012 – the second race since the track was repaved and reconfigured.

Jamie McMurray finished sixth last fall at ISM for his third top 10 in 13 starts. His 12.0 average finish in the four races with the current tire combination ranks fourth among all driver that competed in all races in that span.

Kurt Busch has finished in the top 10 in five of his eight starts with Stewart-Haas Racing at ISM. Busch does have one win at ISM but that came in 2005 on the old configuration. Since the track was reconfigured and repaved, Busch has posted seven top 10s in the 13 races.

Joey Logano scored his first win at ISM in the fall 2016 race after leading 58 laps. Logano has qualified in the top 10 in eight of the last nine races, including a pole in this event last year. He led 82 laps last March, but finished 31 after a tire went down late in the race. Logano finished 12th last fall for his third finish outside the top 10 in the last nine races.

Ty Dillon finished 11th last fall for his best finish in three starts at ISM. He’s finished 16th last year in this event to give him an average finish of 14.0.

Aric Almirola is coming off his second top 10 in 14 starts at ISM. This weekend, Almirola will make his first track start with Stewart-Haas Racing. So far in 2018, Almirola has yet to finish worse than 13th and has an 11.3 in the three races.

Ryan Blaney has posted a 14.5 average finish in his four starts at ISM. His first two starts resulted in top 10 finishes. Last fall he won the pole and led 11 laps but finished 17th after staying on track during late-race cautions, which put him at a disadvantage to drivers behind him with fresher tires.

Brad Keselowski finished fifth last year in this event for his eighth top 10 in the 13 races wince ISM was repaved and reconfigured. Keselowski has yet to lead a lap in his last four starts and his spring finish last year is his only top 10 in the four races with the current tire combination used at ISM.

Kyle Larson led 12 laps last fall but finished 40th after an engine failure. The result snapped a streak of two consecutive top-three finishes. Larson has qualified eighth or better in seven of his eight starts. He posted the most stage points at ISM in 2017.

Martin Truex Jr. posted a 7.0 average finish in both races last season at ISM. Truex finished third last fall for his best finish and second top 10 at ISM with crew chief Cole Pearn.

Be sure to watch the “Inside Line” fantasy racing show at MRN.com on Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET hosted by Tyler Burnett and Robbie Mays.