NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 continues at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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?
Current Standings:
- Steve Luvender: 518
- Dustin Albino: -43
- r/NASCAR Community: -56
- Cameron Richardson: -73
Race 22 of 36: Indianapolis
Last week’s Pocono race challenged our pickers to think a little differently. Both Steve Luvender and the r/NASCAR community logged just 12 points after Daniel Hemric’s DNF, while Cameron Richardson collected 27 points from a Bubba Wallace top 10. The biggest winner of the weekend was Dustin Albino, who moved from third to second in the overall standings when Erik Jones delivered a 30-point day.
Now, the Brickyard 400 returns after a three-year absence from the schedule, putting our pickers’ skills to the test once again. NASCAR’s current-era vehicles have never raced on Indy’s oval. Is the play to pick a superstar driver who will rise to the occasion or to choose an underdog that might benefit from attrition on a new car-track combination?
Jayski’s Dustin Albino: No. 6, Brad Keselowski
Dustin’s pick last week: No. 43, Erik Jones (30 points)
Total season points: 475 (second place, +1 from last week)
Dustin: After a rough month-and-a-half stretch, it was nice to chip 18 points off of Steve’s lead at Pocono last weekend. We’re going to swing for the fences again — this hasn’t worked out for me in recent weeks — by choosing Keselowski at Indianapolis. He and Kyle Busch are the only two full-time drivers in the field who have won the Brickyard 400. Keselowski executed a nice late-race pass on Denny Hamlin in 2018 to win the crown-jewel race. Keselowski has three top-five finishes in the last four races on the Indianapolis oval and also had one of the best cars in the field last weekend at Pocono, a track that races similarly to Indy.
NASCAR.com’s Steve Luvender: No. 9, Chase Elliott
Steve’s pick last week: No. 31, Daniel Hemric (12 points)
Total season points: 518 (first place)
Steve: As luck would have it, Daniel Hemric failed to finish a race for the first time all year the week I picked him. Onward to Indy, where I’m choosing Chase Elliott. I’ve got a rough idea of where I’m using the rest of my picks this year, and the No. 9 was a tricky one to nail down because he’s good basically everywhere. Elliott historically hasn’t had huge results on the IMS oval — it’s actually his third-worst track in terms of average finish after Daytona and Las Vegas — but I’m optimistic things will look a little differently since the series last raced the oval layout in 2020.
NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson: No. 24, William Byron
Cameron’s pick last week: No. 23, Bubba Wallace (27 points)
Total season points: 445 (fourth place)
Cameron: A good week at Pocono could mean we are back in business, but with the unknowns the Next Gen car could present this weekend at Indianapolis, I’m hopefully playing it safe with Byron. While I’d prefer to save him for the postseason, the stars are aligning for a Byron show-stopper on Sunday. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Jeff Gordon’s win in the first-ever Brickyard 400. With track position likely playing a key role around the 2.5-mile oval, qualifying will be key and Byron is tied with Tyler Reddick and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for the best average start position this year (9.7). Byron could also become just the fourth driver to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year.
r/NASCAR Community: No. 71, Zane Smith
r/NASCAR’s pick last week: No. 31, Daniel Hemric (12 points)
Total season points: 462 (third place, -1 from last week)
Zane Smith gets the nod from the NASCAR subreddit this week.
What Redditors said about the No. 71 in the voting thread:
u/Sea_Moment_9405: “Maybe this is the week to use Zane? Since his 2nd place finish at Nashville, he’s had some momentum and even ran in the top 10 for a bit at Pocono, the best comparison we have for Indy. None of the remaining tracks jump out as obvious spots to use him, so I say we strike when the iron is hot.”
u/Extreme-Bite-9123: “Originally, I said Ty Gibbs, but now I think Zane would be better. We can use Ty anywhere, but Zane is on a hot streak and we need to use him at some point. Plus, we need to use Burton at Daytona and I don’t know where else to use Zane, so this could be a great place to use him”
u/Correct-Asparagus308: “Zane Smith ran well at Pocono, the track most like IMS, and even outran Larson at times. I think Zane is a Dark Horse Potential Top 20 Driver, Sure, Would have rather Used him at Nashville, But This could be A Sneaky Good Pick.”
Check back next week to see how our pickers fared 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!