Bryan’s Race Recap: The Wild Ride That Was the Ambetter Health 400

Main Driver (Locked-In All Season):

Tyler Reddick (#45 Toyota – 19th Place Finish)

✔ Survived the chaos but never had the speed to be a real factor.
✔ Struggled to push to the front in the final stage.
✔ Not a total disaster, but not the points haul we wanted.

Reddick’s day started off decently enough, running inside the top 15 for most of the race, but as we hit the final stage, it became clear he just didn’t have the speed to contend for the win. He played it safe most of the race, which is usually a smart superspeedway strategy, but when it came time to push forward, he just didn’t have the drafting help to make moves.

For fantasy, he didn’t kill my lineup, but he didn’t help much either. In a race where you need a strong finishing position and stage points, a P19 finish is meh. We’ll chalk this one up to a “not great, not terrible” kind of day for our locked-in driver.

Top 12 Picks:

Ryan Blaney (#12 Ford – 4th Place Finish)

✔ Started on the pole and spent most of the day near the front.
✔ Great fantasy value with stage points and a solid finish.
✔ Penske knows how to work these races—he was a safe bet.

Blaney did exactly what I expected him to do—he stayed up front, avoided trouble, and capitalized on opportunities. There was never a moment where I thought, uh oh, Blaney’s in trouble here. He was one of the most consistent cars all day, leading a few laps early and staying inside the top 10 for almost the entire race.

For fantasy, he delivered big time with stage points, a top-five finish, and no major incidents. These kinds of safe, steady picks are what you need to balance out some of the riskier plays in a superspeedway-style race.

William Byron (#24 Chevrolet – 27th Place Finish)

❌ Oof. What a letdown after his Daytona 500 win.
❌ Got caught in the late-race mess and never recovered.
❌ Hendrick cars had speed, but bad luck struck at the worst time.

I knew Byron was going to be a high-risk, high-reward pick, but I didn’t expect him to get completely buried in the final stage. He was running comfortably inside the top 10 for a while, but once the late-race aggression kicked in, he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The good news? His car had speed. The bad news? It didn’t matter when he got shuffled back and tangled up in the pack. Fantasy-wise, this one stings because Byron had top-5 potential, but we never got to see it play out.

Outside the Top 12 Picks:

Kyle Busch (#8 Chevrolet – 7th Place Finish)

✔ Vintage Rowdy. Stayed out of trouble and grabbed another solid top-10.
✔ Made aggressive moves at the right time without wrecking.
✔ Busch is always a great “high floor” fantasy pick at these tracks.

Kyle Busch did exactly what I wanted him to do—be aggressive but smart. He had a fast RCR Chevrolet, and even though he wasn’t leading laps left and right, he was always in the mix.

For fantasy? Solid. I’ll take a P7 finish in a wild race like this any day. He didn’t get the win, but he delivered a respectable points day while other big names (Byron, Logano) got taken out.

Bubba Wallace (#23 Toyota – 9th Place Finish)

✔ Exactly why I picked him—superspeedway-style racing is his thing.
✔ Stayed in the lead pack all day and was a threat late.
✔ Strong fantasy points day if you had him.

Bubba Wallace continues to prove he’s one of the best superspeedway racers in the field. He was running up front for a good portion of the day, stayed patient when he needed to, and made some bold moves late to bring home a top-10 finish.

For fantasy, this was one of my better picks of the weekend. Bubba was never really in danger of being wrecked out (which is rare in a race like this), and he played the right strategy to secure a strong finish.

This P9 finish wasn’t a surprise—it’s exactly what I expected from him.

Justin Haley (#7 Chevrolet – 24th Place Finish)

❌ Well, that was disappointing.
❌ Got stuck mid-pack and couldn’t break into the top-15.
❌ I took a gamble on Haley and it didn’t pay off.

I went out on a limb picking Justin Haley, thinking he could survive the wrecks and sneak into the top 10. Instead, he spent most of the day hovering around P20-P25 and just never had the speed to move up.

He wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t good either—which is not what you want in fantasy. If I’m taking a high-risk, low-tier pick, I at least want some upside. Unfortunately, Haley never showed race-winning speed, and this pick flopped.

Lesson learned.