NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 picks for Daytona summer race

NASCAR.com‘s 36 for 36 continues at Daytona International Speedway. 

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:

1. Steve Luvender: 615

2. r/NASCAR Community: -64

3. Dustin Albino: -70

4. Cameron Richardson: -108
   

Race 25 of 36: Daytona

Our picking panel had a decent outing last week in Michigan. While three pickers selected defending race winner Chris Buescher, who drove a crash-damaged car to a sixth-place finish, Dustin Albino‘s pick of Zane Smith cruised to a far-better-than-average P7.

Now, Daytona awaits our four pickers, and with the playoffs just two races away, it may be one of the most unpredictable races for our 36 for 36 players. Let‘s see what they‘re thinking.

Jayski‘s Dustin Albino: No. 42, John Hunter Nemechek

Dustin‘s pick last week: No. 71, Zane Smith (30 points)

Total season points: 545 (third place, -1 position)

Dustin: Despite Smith putting together one of the best performances of his rookie season at Michigan, I still lost points to the lead. That should be expected when my three competitors all chose the defending winner. Granted, Buescher had a frantic comeback. It‘s been a bumpy transition to Toyota for Legacy Motor Club, but Daytona is an opportunity for the team to have a rebound weekend. Nemechek desperately needs one. Over the last 12 races, the No. 42 team has 11 finishes outside the top 25. The lone exception was New Hampshire. Nemechek is an aggressive driver, which could bode well for this weekend. He placed seventh in the Daytona 500.

NASCAR.com‘s Steve Luvender: No. 43, Erik Jones

Steve‘s pick last week: No. 17, Chris Buescher (37 points)

Total season points: 615 (first place)

Steve: Erik Jones has a single top-10 finish this season, and that took place in this year‘s Daytona 500. I considered saving Jones for next week‘s race at Darlington, the site of two of his three career wins, but the No. 43 team‘s struggles this season have left me not feeling less than optimistic. Jones won the 2018 running of the summer Daytona race as well as the 2020 Clash in a heavily damaged car, so he knows how to get to the front at the “World Center of Racing.”

NASCAR.com‘s Cameron Richardson: No. 71, Zane Smith

Cameron‘s pick last week: No. 17, Chris Buescher (37 points)

Total season points: 507 (fourth place)

Cameron: Anything can happen at Daytona, and I‘m going with a rookie who‘s shown tremendous strides this summer. With a seventh-place result last week at Michigan, Smith showed that his runner-up result at Nashville was no fluke. Since Gateway, the No. 71 Spire Motorsports stable has managed six top-20 results in the last 10 races. It may not look like much but it will go a long way in both Spire and Zane‘s growth in the Cup Series. Give me a Saturday night shocker.

r/NASCAR Community: No. 21, Harrison Burton

r/NASCAR‘s pick last week: No. 17, Chris Buescher (37 points)

Total season points: 551 (second place, +1 position)

The NASCAR subreddit has spoken, and Harrison Burton is this week‘s pick based on community activity in the voting thread. What Redditors had to say: 

u/Dont_hate_the_8: “Gotta use him somewhere. No sense is using a top car when it’s 50/50 that they’ll wreck. He’s had some decent superspeedway runs, let’s give it a shot.”

u/Extreme-Bite-9123: “This is the clear best choice for Daytona. We have to use Burton at some point, so we had better use him at a track where he‘s either gonna flip or get a top ten”

u/FridgusDomin8or: “Yep. Ford typically shows up in a big way on the plate tracks and Harrison doesn‘t have any standout tracks at all so it makes sense to use him here. I say go for it; if he wrecks then oh well”

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!