Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson on winning his first race of the season and virtually ensuring he will have a spot in the 2015 Chase. Once again we saw which teams will be competitive on a weekly basis and which teams have a lot of work to do if they want to compete for the championship this year.
KOBALT 400
This week the series heads out west to Las Vegas Nevada to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the Kobalt 400. This is another mile and a half oval track with just slightly less banking than at Atlanta. This will mean that the speeds will be a little lower this week and the race is only 400-miles, so there should be less engine issues.
Other than that, the drivers who were fast at Atlanta should be fast once again this week at Las Vegas. I also think that the track won’t be as slick as the track was at Atlanta and the temperatures should be higher too. With that said lets see how are drivers will fare this week.
Kevin Harvick: I am picking Kevin to win the race this week at Las Vegas. Kevin was the fastest car for most of the weekend at Atlanta where he came from the back of the pack to the front in the blink of an eye. A poor restart late in the race probably cost this team their first win of the season. If things go according to plan this week Kevin will be sitting in victory lane at the end of the race.
Joey Logano: Joey was fast all weekend also and the team just missed with their final adjustment of last week’s race. The engine issues I was worried about after Daytona have been corrected and this team should have another fast car this week. The temperature might change more during this week’s race and that means they will have to stay on top of the adjustments they need to make to be in contention at the end of the race.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie won the race at Atlanta, so he should have a car capable of winning back to back races. Jimmie and crew-chief Chad Knaus work well together and they seem to make the right adjustments to get their car where they want it to be late in the race. It always seems like when Jimmie wins a race he wins multiple races in a short period of time and that could happen again.
Jeff Gordon: Jeff had a good car last week also, but his luck just wasn’t of the good type. Bad things don’t happen to good teams consistently, so this week his luck should change and he will have a car capable of winning this race. Jeff really wants to have a great year before he retires from full-time competition at the end of the season.
Matt Kenseth: It’s hard to believe that Matt hasn’t won a points race in over a year, and I think that will come to an end very shortly. Matt is too good of a driver and has equipment that puts him in contention every week. He also remains calm throughout the race and makes good decisions which give him the opportunity to win races.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale had another great race and almost made the pass on Jimmie on the final restart of the race at Atlanta. This team looks like they have improved from a very good season last year and they will win multiple races before the start of the Chase. Dale finished second in this race last season and looks like he could be poised to take one more position in this year’s race.
Brad Keselowski: Brad hasn’t had the kind of start he was looking for heading into the start of this season, but he won this race last year and finished third here in 2013. Those facts might give this team the confidence to come into this week and win their first race of the season. Brad is one of the best drivers on the circuit and this team will qualify for the Chase.
Carl Edwards: Carl has won two races at this track and has a string of four straight top five finishes here. Last week they just couldn’t make the correct adjustment to find the speed they needed to have a shot at winning the race. I think Carl has the equipment to be a serious contender for a championship once again this season and once he gets more comfortable with his new team they will start winning races.
Kasey Kahne: Kasey’s best finish at Las Vegas is second which he has accomplished twice. He has also finished in the top ten in six of his eleven starts at this track and he looked good in last week’s race. This team would love to get a win early this year to grab their spot in the Chase without having to wait until the final few races to know if they are in or not.
Ryan Newman: Once again, Ryan is quietly going about his season. You don’t hear much about him, but he always seems to be hanging around the top ten and avoids getting into huge trouble on the track. He has always run well at Vegas and this week should be no different. One of these week’s he is going to surprise people and win a race. Don’t be surprised, Ryan is communicating with his team and they understand each other and make the necessary adjustments to stay in contention every week.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Kevin Harvick
- Matt Kenseth
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Carl Edwards
- Kasey Kahne
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Jamie McMurray
Yahoo Driver Group C
- David Ragan
- Regan Smith
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- Kevin Harvick
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Carl Edwards
- Joey Logano
Dark Horse: Martin Truex Jr.
Stay Away From: Greg Biffle