We have our second superspeedway race of the season this weekend at Talladega, which means one thing: get your dart board out. Pretty much any driver in the field has a shot at winning the GEICO 500 on Sunday, and with The Big One looming at any moment, it makes Fantasy NASCAR that much more fun…or frustrating depending on what happens.
There are quite a few statistics that go into the Power Index formula, including recent performance both overall and at Talladega specifically, similar track performance, projected strength of the car, practice speeds, starting position, and a few other variables.
Here’s a quick overview of the Power Index number: essentially, zero (0) is considered average; the more negative a number is in the Power Index, the stronger that driver is considered in the Fantasy NASCAR world. The opposite holds true as well: the more above zero a driver is, the worse he is considered for Fantasy NASCAR that week.
Talladega Fantasy NASCAR Power Rankings
| Rank | Driver | Power Index |
| 1. | Logano, Joey | -40.9 |
| 2. | Elliott, Chase | -37.3 |
| 3. | Almirola, Aric | -32.3 |
| 4. | Blaney, Ryan | -32.3 |
| 5. | Busch, Kurt | -29.1 |
| 6. | Keselowski, Brad | -27.7 |
| 7. | Hamlin, Denny | -27.7 |
| 8. | Harvick, Kevin | -24.8 |
| 9. | Newman, Ryan | -23.2 |
| 10. | Truex, Jr., Martin | -21.6 |
| 11. | Busch, Kyle | -19.6 |
| 12. | Bowman, Alex | -18.7 |
| 13. | Stenhouse, Jr., Ricky | -14.4 |
| 14. | Johnson, Jimmie | -13.9 |
| 15. | Dillon, Austin | -9.8 |
| 16. | Byron, William | -8.0 |
| 17. | Reddick, Tyler | -5.2 |
| 18. | LaJoie, Corey | -4.2 |
| 19. | Jones, Erik | -3.6 |
| 20. | Buescher, Chris | -3.5 |
| 21. | Bowyer, Clint | -2.8 |
| 22. | DiBenedetto, Matt | -1.1 |
| 23. | Nemechek, John H | -0.8 |
| 24. | Gaughan, Brendan | -0.4 |
| 25. | Preece, Ryan | -0.4 |
| 26. | Bell, Christopher | 5.9 |
| 27. | Custer, Cole | 10.9 |
| 28. | Gaulding, Gray | 12.8 |
| 29. | Dillon, Ty | 14.8 |
| 30. | Kenseth, Matt | 15.3 |
| 31. | McDowell, Michael | 19.1 |
| 32. | Wallace, Bubba | 28.0 |
| 33. | McLeod, BJ | 28.4 |
| 34. | Suarez, Daniel | 29.1 |
| 35. | Gase, Joey | 31.9 |
| 36. | Yeley, JJ | 32.1 |
| 37. | Poole, Brennan | 35.2 |
| 38. | Houff, Quin | 36.2 |
| 39. | Smithley, Garrett | 38.1 |
| 40. | Hill, Timmy | 43.3 |
