We’re down to the last race of Round 3 of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and it’s shaping up to be a great one. Essentially we’re looking at Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin battling it out for the last two spots, while Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott could steal a win and make it to Homestead. Chances are, though, it’s going to be two of the first three mentioned, and as fate would have it, they’re starting 1-2-3 on Sunday. But will one of them win?
There are quite a few statistics that go into the Power Index formula, including recent performance both overall and at Phoenix 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.
Phoenix 2 Bluegreen Vacations 500 Fantasy NASCAR Power Rankings
| Rank | Driver | Power Index |
| 1. | Harvick, Kevin | -57.0 |
| 2. | Busch, Kyle | -48.7 |
| 3. | Truex, Jr., Martin | -48.5 |
| 4. | Hamlin, Denny | -44.0 |
| 5. | Larson, Kyle | -25.4 |
| 6. | Logano, Joey | -22.1 |
| 7. | Elliott, Chase | -20.3 |
| 8. | Keselowski, Brad | -17.0 |
| 9. | Almirola, Aric | -14.5 |
| 10. | Bowyer, Clint | -14.2 |
| 11. | Blaney, Ryan | -13.5 |
| 12. | Busch, Kurt | -11.2 |
| 13. | Byron, William | -10.6 |
| 14. | Newman, Ryan | -10.4 |
| 15. | Jones, Erik | -3.5 |
| 16. | Bowman, Alex | 1.0 |
| 17. | DiBenedetto, Matt | 2.4 |
| 18. | Stenhouse, Jr., Ricky | 5.1 |
| 19. | Dillon, Austin | 5.5 |
| 20. | Johnson, Jimmie | 6.1 |
| 21. | Menard, Paul | 6.4 |
| 22. | Suarez, Daniel | 8.0 |
| 23. | Dillon, Ty | 8.8 |
| 24. | Wallace, Bubba | 12.9 |
| 25. | Hemric, Daniel | 13.3 |
| 26. | Buescher, Chris | 21.7 |
| 27. | Nemechek, John Hunter | 21.8 |
| 28. | McDowell, Michael | 25.7 |
| 29. | Preece, Ryan | 36.8 |
| 30. | Ragan, David | 41.1 |
| 31. | LaJoie, Corey | 50.4 |
| 32. | Chastain, Ross | 50.6 |
| 33. | Cassill, Landon | 51.0 |
| 34. | Smithley, Garrett | 66.4 |
| 35. | Yeley, JJ | 68.3 |
| 36. | Currey, Bayley | 70.6 |
| 37. | Nemechek, Joe | 77.8 |
| 38. | Sorenson, Reed | 80.9 |
| 39. | Gase, Joey | 91.3 |
