Race No. 2 of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is here and it’s time to set those Fantasy Live lineups for Sunday’s Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). What six drivers should comprise your lineup? Does Kurt Busch’s pass-through penalty change things if you were thinking about using him? Let’s answer that and offer up my race-day lineup and bonus picks below.
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RJ Kraft’s race-day lineup for Auto Club:
1-Austin Cindric (one use already)
2-Ryan Blaney
3-Chase Elliott
4-Tyler Reddick
5-William Byron
Garage: Kyle Busch
Next in line: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski.
Analysis: Multiple incidents in practice and qualifying plus Kurt Busch’s pass-through penalty had me rethinking how I wanted to position my lineup and trying to decide how many max-use plays I wanted to slot in. And the conclusion I came to was that I didn’t want to use more than three-to-four of those plays.
I was set to play Logano, even though I used him at Daytona. However, he did scrub the wall in the final round of qualifying and indicated during his role as an analyst for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on FS1 that he would be going to the back, a point that was later confirmed by NASCAR.
Why did I slot in Byron? I like the 10-lap average he had (better than Hamlin and Keselowski) and he had less fall off in his 5- to 10-lap average than others (h/t @P2Inc). Busch also talked about a transmission issue during qualifying — if he does go to the rear — I’d be inclined to leave him as a garage play given his strong Auto Club history.
I’ve had Blaney and Reddick as part of my lineup from the outset this week and nothing I saw Saturday changed my thoughts there. Blaney qualified well and I expect Reddick to find speed on the high line.
Cindric earns a spot in my lineup thanks to his pole run as well as not wanting to carry a roster full of max-use drivers and wanting to take advantage of the run he’s currently on. Penske has a strong history at this track, so I like throwing him in here. Elliott replaces Larson in my lineup based on his stout 10-lap average that was best in practice and if it wasn’t for a spin in final round qualifying, he’d likely be on the front row with Cindric. By playing the 2020 Cup Series champ, I’m electing to sit the reigning champ, who has a win here, but I just feel a little bit better about other opportunities with him moving forward.
Jones was also a consideration, but I’d rather be a day late to that party without having a feel for how the tire fall off would be over a 10-lap run for him. He has a good history at this track from his Joe Gibbs Racing days and there is an upshot to trying to steal a use here if you are feeling bold, but I’m not there on the No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports car just yet.
Featured Matchup bonus picks
Austin Cindric vs. Ryan Blaney: Cindric is on the pole but I’ve been on Blaney as a play all week and I think he’ll finish better than the rookie. My pick: Blaney.
William Byron vs. Alex Bowman: Bowman did win the last race here, but Byron posted a solid 10-lap average and I think he’d due for a good run here. My pick: Byron.
Bubba Wallace vs. Chase Briscoe: Before a practice incident, Wallace laid down some solid lap times and the Toyotas as a whole ran well in practice. The Stewart-Haas Racing cars weren’t impressive in practice or qualifying, so I’ll take my chances with Wallace starting 34th against Briscoe starting 24th. My pick: Wallace.
Erik Jones vs. Daniel Suarez: Jones earned a primo starting spot (second) and showed some speed in practice, while Suarez was 29th in practice and posted a decent qualifying effort (15th). My pick: Jones.