NASCAR survivor pool: NASCAR.com's 36 for 36 picks for Nashville
NASCAR.com‘s 36 for 36 continues at Nashville Superspeedway.
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: 459
- r/NASCAR Community: -25
- Dustin Albino: -29
- Cameron Richardson: -56
Race 19 of 36: Nashville
There‘s another change atop our leaderboard following New Hampshire. Dustin Albino entered last week as the points leader, and his pick of Joey Logano seemed like a good bet to add to his cushion through the first two stages. Trouble early in the final stage, however, relegated the No. 22 to a 32nd-place, crash-damaged finish. Cameron Richardson‘s Martin Truex Jr. selection resulted in a solid, much-needed ninth-place finish, while both Steve Luvender and r/NASCAR chose race winner Christopher Bell. The 35-point swing sinks Dustin to third in the standings. Nashville Superspeedway kicks off the second half of the season. As a unique stretch of tracks over the summer lies ahead and desperation to make the playoffs grows, anything can happen.
Jayski‘s Dustin Albino: No. 1, Ross Chastain
36 for 36 graphic for Dustin Albino
Dustin‘s pick last week: No. 22, Joey Logano (22 points)
Total season points: 430 (third place)
Dustin: Ugh, I‘m beginning to feel like Kyle Busch where nothing can seem to go right in my weekly picks. Joey Logano had a solid start to New Hampshire by scoring 17 stage points only for the final stage to go haywire. We‘re not mailing it in though, because Ross Chastain has mastered Nashville since the Cup Series first raced in Music City in 2021. He‘s never finished outside the top five in three starts at the 1.33-mile track and is the defending winner. The No. 1 team seems to always maximize its days and churn out a respectable finish.
NASCAR.com‘s Steve Luvender: No. 99, Daniel Suárez
36 for 36 graphic for Steve Luvender
Steve‘s pick last week: No. 20, Christopher Bell (57 points)
Total season points: 459 (first place)
Steve: It‘s nice to be back on top after making my first race-winning pick of the year. I‘ll hope to continue the success by picking Daniel Suárez this week. The idea of plugging in Erik Jones or Bubba Wallace this weekend tempted me, with their above-average finishes at Nashville in the Next Gen car, but the Music City is a Trackhouse city — that‘s worth something, in my book. Suárez has never finished worse than 15th in three starts at the track, and his 15.4 average finish in Tootsie‘s Orchid Lounge colors (well, color — pretty much just orchid) is a few spots better than his races sporting different schemes. If you can‘t tell, I‘m a believer that a paint scheme can make a car go faster.
NASCAR.com‘s Cameron Richardson: No. 1, Ross Chastain
36 for 36 graphic with Cameron Richardson
Cameron‘s pick last week: No. 19, Martin Truex Jr. (42 points)
Total season points: 403 (fourth place)
Cameron: Only two drivers have scored top fives in all three Nashville races to date. Kyle Larson is one of them, Ross Chastain the other. Along with having the best average finish (2.7) among Cup drivers at the concrete oval, Chastain enters Sunday as the defending race winner. 2024 hasn‘t been the season Chastain and the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing team have hoped for so far, but they can repeat their breakthrough triumph in the Trackhouse Entertainment Group‘s backyard.
r/NASCAR Community: No. 3, Austin Dillon
36 for 36 graphic for reddit Nashville selection.
r/NASCAR‘s pick last week: No. 20, Christopher Bell (57 points)
Total season points: 434 (second place)
The Redditors have spoken, and r/NASCAR voted Austin Dillon as the community pick for Nashville. Can they go for a second winning pick in a row?
From the voting thread:
u/SeattlePassedTheBall: “12th, 14th, and 13th in his 3 starts here with the [Next Gen]. I think we use him here.”
u/Substantial-Seat8380: “[Three] top-15s at Nashville. There are better options for drafting tracks still available, so why not use Austin Dillon here.”
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!
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