We already have one driver locked into the next round of the Playoffs–Kurt Busch thanks to his win at Las Vegas–and with Talladega on Sunday, we’ll likely add another, but then again these races are so unpredictable that it wouldn’t be too wild for a non-Playoff driver to win. In fact, Ryan Blaney has gone to victory lane in the last two Talladega races, and he’s out of Championship Contention. The algorithm isn’t quite as confident in drivers at tracks like Talladega and Daytona, simply because one wreck can take out half the field here. So if you’re wondering why the Power Index numbers are tighter than normal, that’s why.
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 YellaWood 500 Fantasy NASCAR Power Rankings
| Rank | Driver | Power Index |
| 1. | Logano, Joey | -30.5 |
| 2. | Hamlin, Denny | -29.1 |
| 3. | Almirola, Aric | -27.5 |
| 4. | Bowman, Alex | -26.4 |
| 5. | Harvick, Kevin | -22.7 |
| 6. | Blaney, Ryan | -18.1 |
| 7. | Truex, Jr., Martin | -13.5 |
| 8. | Elliott, Chase | -12.0 |
| 9. | Dillon, Austin | -11.5 |
| 10. | Newman, Ryan | -8.4 |
| 11. | Busch, Kyle | -8.0 |
| 12. | Busch, Kurt | -7.7 |
| 13. | Bowyer, Clint | -7.6 |
| 14. | Stenhouse, Jr., Ricky | -6.1 |
| 15. | Keselowski, Brad | -6.1 |
| 16. | Buescher, Chris | -4.5 |
| 17. | Nemechek, John H | -4.2 |
| 18. | Johnson, Jimmie | -4.1 |
| 19. | Dillon, Ty | 0.8 |
| 20. | LaJoie, Corey | 1.1 |
| 21. | Preece, Ryan | 1.3 |
| 22. | Jones, Erik | 3.9 |
| 23. | Byron, William | 5.6 |
| 24. | McDowell, Michael | 12.0 |
| 25. | Custer, Cole | 13.9 |
| 26. | DiBenedetto, Matt | 14.8 |
| 27. | Gaughan, Brendan | 15.7 |
| 28. | Wallace, Bubba | 15.9 |
| 29. | Bell, Christopher | 16.2 |
| 30. | Reddick, Tyler | 17.7 |
| 31. | Kenseth, Matt | 20.0 |
| 32. | Suarez, Daniel | 22.7 |
| 33. | Haley, Justin | 24.3 |
| 34. | Poole, Brennan | 26.5 |
| 35. | Yeley, JJ | 30.1 |
| 36. | Gase, Joey | 33.7 |
| 37. | Hill, Timmy | 35.4 |
| 38. | Houff, Quin | 38.6 |
| 39. | Davison, James | 39.7 |
