NASCAR survivor pool: NASCAR.com's 36 for 36 picks for Richmond

NASCAR.com‘s 36 for 36 continues at Richmond Raceway.

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?

Standings after Race 6 of 36:

Race 7 of 36: Richmond

Despite its twists and turns, Circuit of The Americas didn‘t shake up the standings much last week. Dustin Albino‘s pick of Todd Gilliland netted 18 points, while r/NASCAR and Cameron Richardson selected Austin Cindric, good enough for 26 points. Steve Luvender extended his points lead slightly by picking fourth-place finisher Alex Bowman.

How will our pickers play Richmond? It‘s still early in the season — nobody wants to spend their top teams in March — but recent races at Phoenix and Bristol might provide some hints at who has speed on this short track.

Jayski‘s Dustin Albino: No. 41, Ryan Preece

Dustin‘s pick last week: No. 38, Todd Gilliland
Points earned last week: 18 (27th-place finish)
Total season points: 121 (second place)

Dustin: When you think of Ryan Preece, you think of short tracks and Richmond certainly fits the bill. The No. 41 team‘s brightest spot during the 2023 season came in the summer race at Richmond, placing fifth — Preece‘s first top-five finish in the Cup Series on a non-superspeedway. As he was still getting adjusted to Stewart-Haas Racing, he finished 18th in this race one year ago. If he can split the difference in those finishes and possibly score a handful of stage points, it would make for a solid points day.

NASCAR.com‘s Steve Luvender: No. 3, Austin Dillon

Steve‘s pick last week: No. 48, Alex Bowman
Points earned last week: 33 (fourth-place finish)
Total season points: 186 (first place)

Steve: While I‘m enjoying a healthy points lead, I‘ve also employed a relatively aggressive strategy compared to my friends. It‘s going to catch up with me soon if I‘m not careful. I still have all four Joe Gibbs Racing cars on the board — and I suspect they‘ll be tough to beat this weekend — but I‘m instead picking Austin Dillon. Sure, Richmond‘s not necessarily a standout track for the No. 3, and Dillon hasn‘t scored a single top-10 finish yet in 2024. (Optimistic, I know!) However, one stat stands out to me: in the four Richmond races in the Next Gen car, Dillon‘s finished in the top 10 twice. Picking up a third Sunday would be a delight, and I‘ll save my JGR picks for another time.  

NASCAR.com‘s Cameron Richardson: No. 4, Josh Berry

Cameron‘s pick last week: No. 2, Austin Cindric
Points earned last week: 26 (19th-place finish)
Total season points: 106 (fourth place)

Cameron: This upcoming two-week stretch at Richmond and Martinsville will be pivotal in determining Stewart-Haas Racing‘s trajectory for the season. In a high-pressure situation filling in for Chase Elliott in the spring Richmond race last year, Berry took the No. 9 Chevy to a second-place result. Despite being with an entirely new team for his rookie campaign, I like Berry here to break through for his first top-10 result of 2024.

r/NASCAR Community: No. 11, Denny Hamlin

r/NASCAR‘s pick last week: No. 2, Austin Cindric
Points earned last week: 26 (19th-place finish)
Total season points: 119 (third place)

Redditors aren‘t messing around this week. By virtue of votes, the r/NASCAR community selected four-time Richmond winner Denny Hamlin, who‘s among the favorites to contend Sunday. While commenters contemplated choosing Ryan Preece or Josh Berry, they ultimately decided to go big and select the No. 11. 

From this week‘s voting thread: 

u/PrimalCookie: “IMO the only reason to not use Denny this week would be to save him for the fall race. I say we just send it now.”

u/KrustyWaffles6: “Send it now. Toyota has been on fire lately and it’s Dennys home track.”

You said it, KrustyWaffles6. 

Check back next week to see how our pickers fared at Richmond 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!