Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr. who picked up his first win of the season at Talladega on Sunday afternoon and qualified his team for the Chase. Half of the Chase spots are now filled with sixteen more races left before it starts. Now we just have to wait and see who will fill those other eight spots. Let’s see what happens in this Saturday night race.
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS 400
This week the series heads to Kansas Speedway for the running of the SpongeBob SquarePants 400. Kansas Speedway is another of the mile and a half intermediate tracks on the circuit. This will be the last race before the series takes a week off for the All-Star race weekend in Charlotte. This will be a welcome break for most of the teams. Most of them will be able to take some time with their families as many of the teams are located in the Charlotte area.
Jimmie Johnson: I have to pick Jimmie to win this week’s intermediate track race once again. Jimmie has two career wins at Kansas, has finished in the top ten in fourteen of his seventeen starts there, and he has won two of the three races run at similar tracks this season. Those are the reasons I believe this team will garner their third win of the season on Saturday night.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has sat on the pole for the last three Kansas races in which he won one of those races and finished second in another. He is also the driver that won the mile and a half race at Las Vegas, which is the race Jimmie didn’t win. I look for Kevin to qualify well here once again and be in contention for the win at the end of the night.
Jeff Gordon: Jeff won this race last season and leads all drivers with three career wins at Kansas. This team is still looking for their first win of the season and wants to get qualified for the Chase as soon as possible. He has finished in the top five in ten of his eighteen starts here and that is an impressive stat for any driver. Look for him to be in contention at the end of this race.
Matt Kenseth: Matt has two career wins at Kansas and he can relax and just try to win races now that he is qualified for the Chase. He has also finished in the top ten in ten of his eighteen starts at this track. The Joe Gibbs teams seem to be getting a little faster every week, thus closing the gap with the Hendrick and Penske teams. I like Matt during night races, as he seems to run even better than normal during these races.
Carl Edwards: Carl is looking for his first win of the season and his first win at Kansas. Even though he doesn’t have a win, he has finished in the top ten in eleven of his fifteen starts here. This team just keeps getting better every week and they will break into the win column very soon and qualify for the Chase.
Joey Logano: Joey won the race here last fall during the Chase and has finished in the top four in his last three starts here. This team will be happy to get back to an intermediate track after being involved in some wrecks the past couple of races. They have been very disappointed in those races as they felt they has a chance to win those races. Now they should be back to contending.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Now that Dale has a win this season and is qualified for the Chase he can relax a little bit. Not that drivers who are qualified for the Chase really relax, but they don’t have the pressure of trying to win races to make the Chase. Dale will be looking for his first win at this track and with momentum on his side he just might get that win.
Kasey Kahne: Kasey is another driver without a win this season or at Kansas. Although he has finished in the top ten in seven of his fifteen starts here. This team is also going to be glad to get back to an intermediate track after being involved in on track incidents the past few races. With the equipment they have, I think they will win at least one race before the start of the Chase.
Tony Stewart: Tony has won two races at Kansas and this team has looked better and better every week. They seem to be faster and just need to make the correct adjustment as the track changes and a night race might make that a little easier for them. I think Tony is going to keep improving as the season progresses and it won’t surprise me to see him in victory lane before the Chase starts.
Brad Keselowski: Brad has won a race at Kansas in his career and he should have a fast car once again this weekend. I think this team has been very disappointed in their performance the past couple of races and are looking to get back to where they are contending in races. Look for Brad’s car to get faster as the race progresses and be in contention for the win at the end.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR KANSAS SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kevin Harvick
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Carl Edwards
- Tony Stewart
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Paul Menard
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Eric Jones
- Danica Patrick
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kevin Harvick
- Jeff Gordon
- Matt Kenseth
- Carl Edwards
Dark Horse: Paul Menard
Stay Away From: Kurt Busch