2 years agoRoss Chastain must have felt like he was surrounded by Ford's. After all, six cars from Ford qualified in the top ten. Chastain hung on to tenth on Saturday by finishing his lap a little over 0 .3 seconds. Other than Tyler Reddick, they are the only Chevy cars in the starting five rows. The No. 8 Chevy did show a little bit of late speed. TrackHouse Racing has been very good these past few weeks. Chastain could easily contend again but has to watch for DNF's. He has had several this season.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoHarrison Burton showed a little something on Saturday. The result of that is he found a good position to start from on Sunday. Burton qualified in ninth place as he was the last of six Ford cars to finish in the top ten. The No. 21 car has struggled in his first full year at the top NASCAR level. The goal for Burton is to stay somewhat close to his starting position on Sunday. That will not be easy as there is a hard-charging filled behind the young driver. That sets the stage for the race format to dictate some fast driving to start.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoTyler Reddick will be starting inside the top 10 at eighth at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday. Reddick, who is still searching for his first career win, has a great chance to get it in this race. This will need to be a huge week to get Reddick back into the playoff picture, as he sits in 18th place in the standings currently. He has zero wins, four top-fives and five top-10 finishes this year. It will be a massive step in the right direction if Reddick can break through with his first win and get himself locked into the playoffs. He should be worth a look at your own risk.--Maison Maerz

2 years agoBubba Wallace had a great qualifying session and will be starting in seventh place at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday. This is a pleasant surprise, as this is not a superspeedway, and this can be the momentum Wallace needs for the rest of the season. However, Wallace only sits at 22nd in the standings and has zero wins, one top-five and two top-10 showings. Wallace might have a chance to get his second career win, which still seems unlikely. If Wallace can get his second top-five of the season, it will still be a success. If you want to give Wallace a look, make sure you do it with caution.--Maison Maerz

2 years agoAustin Cindric will be starting in the sixth position during Sunday's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Daytona 500 winner will be looking for his second win of the season and has a great chance of accomplishing that feat. Cindric's season stats are one win, one top-five and two top-10 finishes. This will be Cindric's first start at Charlotte in the Cup series. Hopefully, Cindric can get another top-10 finish to get back on track and prove his Daytona win was not a fluke. Cindric, at best, will be a sneaky look to win the whole race.--Maison Maerz

2 years agoKyle Busch will be starting in fourth place on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It's once again another excellent start for Bush, as this is his fourth straight top-10 start. It has been another superb season for Busch, as his stats are one win, four top-fives and nine top-10 finishes. Also, Busch does have a win at Charlotte in dominating fashion in 2018, where he led 377 laps. Hopefully, Busch can get a similar result as he looks for another dominating performance. Busch will be one of the favorites to bring home the checkered flag once again.--Maison Maerz

2 years agoKurt Busch will be starting in second place when the green flag flies at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch will look for back-to-back point wins coming off his win at Kansas. This was the boost Busch needed, as he was not in the playoffs before his win at Kansas. With stats of one win, three top-fives and five top-10 finishes, Busch is sitting in 1oth in the standings. However, Busch does have past success at Charlotte, when Busch had a dominating performance as he led 252 laps en route to his only win at Charlotte. With all of this information, Busch should be worth a look.--Maison Maerz

2 years agoAfter posting the fastest time in qualifying on Friday, Denny Hamlin will be starting on the pole for Sunday's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This will be Hamlin's first pole of the 2022 season. Hopefully, Hamlin can build on his momentum after two top-fives in his last two races. Hamlin has been having a down season compared to his standards with one win, two top-fives and two top-10 finishes. With the pole, this puts Hamlin in a great spot to bring home his second win of the season, or this can continue his top-five streak to three races. This will make him one of the favorites for NASCAR's longest race of the season.--Maison Maerz

2 years agoSometimes Kyle Larson just has some bad luck. During Saturday's qualifying, it was as simple as the tire blowing and Larson's Chevy hitting the wall. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver will use his backup car. Larson was fastest in practice and testing at the Charlotte track. Now, the No. 5 driver led 327 of 400 laps in a dominant performance. This was a pivotal race as Larson started his charge up the championship standings here. Could he do it again? It is possible. That Larson backup car is top-three fast but do not expect nearly the same amount of laps led. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoBrad Keselowski may not be as fast as a Kyle Larson but he will move up the field pretty quickly on Sunday. He starts 35th because of a slight slide during qualifying on Saturday. His equipment is not the greatest but the RFK Racing driver will make the best of things. Keselowski won the first 2020 race at Charlotte and has three top-11 results in his previous four appearances at Charlotte. The No. 6 Ford again can negotiate through traffic quick enough. The concern may be can he stay there. With starting from the rear though, place differential potential is too high not to utilize him somewhere.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoChris Buescher has two top-ten finishes in his previous three appearances for Roush Fenway Racing at Charlotte. The No. 17 Ford enjoyed a +19 place differential as he moved his way up the field during the middle stages of the race. Though he qualified in 19th, that again just ups the possibility of upward mobility. For DFS purposes and even props, Buescher may be worth a look. He is priced very reasonably on Sunday. Three place differentials of +19, +16, and +9 may bode well. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoKevin Harvick may not win the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday but the Stewart-Haas Racing driver is 4 for 4 when it comes to top ten results. The No. 4 Ford does have an average finish of 8.8 which is third best among all active drivers. What is more interesting is that Harvick has come in tenth place during three of the past four races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That is on the intermediate incarnation on the track. Harvick may not lead as many laps this time around starting from the 18th position though. Keep that in mind on Sunday.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoAustin Dillon does like racing on the Charlotte track. His driver rating of 90.3 is the best out of every NASCAR track. Is some of that based on the average starting position of 5.8? Absolutely. However, the Chevy he drives is pretty fast. The last two times on the track have produced two top-tens. Plus, the No. 3 car was in the top-ten in the first Charlotte race in 2020. That was before some bad luck derailed his race. The common thread were his top-ten finishes in the first two stages each time. Another top-ten finish is very possible.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoChase Briscoe begins Sunday's Charlotte race from the 15th position. The chances he stays there may be remote. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has limited results at the highest level. However, he never factored much into the Coca-Cola 600 last year. Briscoe wound up 23rd after starting 21st. This year could be more of the same. With middle of the pack speed intervals and loops, Briscoe may find himself off the lead lap again on Sunday. The final stage speed loops outside the top-20 may occur again. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoMartin Truex Jr. will begin Sunday from the 14th position. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver did turn in a lap just 0.325 seconds off the pole time from Denny Hamlin. Truex Jr. always displays good late speed at this track and did win in 2019 along with leading more than 100 laps. The problem last year for Truex Jr. was he started 29th. He did get up to eighth while having top-three speed over the final two stages. The No. 19 car is going to be one to watch besides being the slow qualifier from the Toyota stable.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com