NASCAR survivor pool: NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 picks for COTA

NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 continues at Circuit of The Americas. With 36 races and 36 full-time Charter cars, our players select one car per race, but there’s a simple twist: Once they’ve made the pick, they can’t choose that car again for the rest of the 36-race season. Yes, that means every car will be selected exactly once … a survivor pool, by another name.  Follow along weekly as our panel of pickers -- Dustin Albino from Jayski, along with Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson from NASCAR.com -- embarks on a season-long journey to think like strategists and prove their picking prowess.  We’ll also feature a fourth “community” 36 for 36 pick each week, as decided by fan vote on the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-timers?

Standings after Race 5:

[table id=145 /]

Race 6 of 36: Circuit of The Americas

Ah, Bristol. Last week, a mid-race crash snarled r/NASCAR’s pick of Ricky Stenhouse Jr, earning the No. 47 just four points. Dustin Albino and Cameron Richardson both selected Carson Hocevar, who ran a respectable race that went sideways with a late tire issue -- a 10-point, 27th-place result. Steve Luvender extended his points lead with his selection of Brad Keselowski; the No. 6 earned 50 points -- the most of all drivers -- after a third-place finish. The season’s first road course could change things, though. How will our pickers handle the twists and turns in Austin? Jayski’s Dustin Albino: No. 38, Todd Gilliland Dustin’s pick last week (Bristol): No. 77, Carson Hocevar Points earned last week: 10 (27th-place finish) Total season points: 103 (second place) Dustin: With how strong Gilliland was at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway to start the season, you could certainly make the case to save him for a superspeedway race coming up on the schedule. But have you seen his COTA numbers? In two Cup starts, he has an average finish of 13th, rounding out the top 10 last season. In 2021, he cruised to the win in the inaugural Craftsman Truck Series race here. The primary concern this weekend is whether the No. 38 team will chase points in the opening two stages or set itself up to run toward the front at the start of the final stage. However, the majority of the field has the same dilemma. NASCAR.com’s Steve Luvender: No, 48, Alex Bowman Steve’s pick last week (Bristol): No. 6, Brad Keselowski Points earned last week: 50 (third-place finish) Total season points: 153 (first place) Steve: Thank you, Brad Keselowski! No drivers earned more points than the No. 6 at Bristol, helping me put distance on my friends in the standings. For COTA, I’m not going with a typical road-course standout; I’m saving them for later in the season. Instead, Alex Bowman gets my nod. Driver No. 48 finished eighth, second and third in his three starts in Austin, making it his best track by average finish (4.3). Sure, Bowman may have never won on a road course before, but he knows how to keep himself in contention when it counts. That’s all I can ask in this game. NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson: No. 2, Austin Cindric Cameron’s pick last week (Bristol): No. 77, Carson Hocevar Points earned last week: 10 (27th-place finish) Total season points: 80 (fourth place) Cameron: After leading 45 combined laps at Daytona and Atlanta to begin the 2024 season, the third-year veteran hasn’t scored a finish better than 29th over the last three weeks. As one of the better road-course drivers in NASCAR, COTA will be an important weekend for the No. 2 team as Cindric has finishes of eighth and sixth, respectively, in his last two outings at the 3.4-mile track. r/NASCAR Community: No. 2, Austin Cindric r/NASCAR’s pick last week (Bristol): No. 47, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Points earned last week: 4 (33rd-place finish) Total season points: 93 (third place) After a disappointing Bristol result, r/NASCAR is hoping to rebound with Austin Cindric, the top-voted community selection. From this week’s voting thread:  u/CougarIndy25: “Choose AC now, save SVG for a back-to-back victory at Chicago.” u/Unique_Salad6894: “Austin in Austin. Has led laps in every COTA race. The tuba man is a safe pick.” u/Straight_Champion_77: “This race has produced his highest driver rating every year for an active non-superspeedway track 2021 (ran only 7 races) 1st - Daytona 500, 2nd - Road America, 3rd - COTA (finished 25th with an avg running position of 10th), 4th - Kansas Spring, 5th - Indy Road (6th is Atlanta Spring, 7th is Richmond Spring) 2022 1st - Daytona 500, 2nd - COTA (finished 8th), 3rd - Indy Road, 4th - Gateway, 5th - Road America 2023 1st - Atlanta Summer, 2nd - Daytona 500, 3rd - COTA (finished 6th), 4th - Atlanta Spring, 5th - Talladega Fall Road races are slightly more predictable than superspeedways, he has earned stage points and led laps every time we’ve gone here, so why not?” Check back next week to see how our pickers fared at COTA as the season-long 36 for 36 journey continues.   And, if you’ve got a competitive itch beyond meticulously managing your Fantasy Live lineup each week, feel free to save or print your own 36 for 36 sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!