We now have three races in the books and three different drivers with wins that virtually guarantees them a spot in the Chase. All three of these drivers also made the Chase last season, and two of them are past champions. Who’s next on the qualifying list?
GOOD SAM 500
This week the series heads over to Phoenix, AZ and the Phoenix International Raceway for the running of the Good Sam 500. This is the only track besides the road courses that measure the race in kilometers. So, this race is scheduled for 312-laps, which is 500-kilometers. The track is slightly longer than one-mile which also makes this one of the shorter races on the schedule.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin is a must have this week on your roster no matter what kind of league you are in. Kevin has won five of the last seven races here and finished first or second in seven on the last eight races here. In other words, he is hard to beat at this track. On top of that, this team really wants to get their first win of the season and qualify themselves for the Chase.
Brad Keselowski: Brad won the race last weekend at Las Vegas, but I think he runs even better on these short tracks. Brad is still looking for his first win at Phoenix, but he hasn’t finished worse than eleventh in his last eight starts here. Now that this team is qualified for the Chase, I think Brad is going to do everything in his power to take a win away from Kevin this weekend.
Joey Logano: Brad’s teammate has run just a well as if not better than Brad has over the past couple of seasons at Phoenix. Joey has five straight top ten finishes here and is still looking for his first win of the season and first win at this track. He came close once again last weekend and raced Matt Kenseth close, but clean throughout much of that race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale won the rain shortened race here last November and has four top five and five top ten finishes in his last six starts at Phoenix. It is going to be interesting to see if this team has gotten even better at this track during the off-season and if Junior can pull out back-to-back wins here. To do that he is going to have to beat Harvick who finished second to him last year.
Kurt Busch: Kurt has run very well so far this season and always has a fast car. He has one win at Phoenix during his career and has finished in the top ten here four times in his last five starts. I think Kurt runs better on this type of track than he does on the intermediate tracks and this could be a big week for this team. If he can pick up a win at the short track after running so well the past two weeks he is going to be considered one of the top contenders to win the championship this year.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie looked good once again last weekend and has won four times at Phoenix already. He also has finished in the top five here in fifteen of his twenty-five starts and in the top ten in nineteen of those races. It might be early in the season, but this team looks like they are back in form and will be ready to contend for a title once again this fall.
Denny Hamlin: After winning the Daytona 500 this team has been fast in practice, but lost the handle on their race car during the last two races. This week on a short track I think they will be back in contention once again. Denny has one win here and nine top five finishes in twenty-one starts. He always seems to run well at the flatter tracks like Phoenix, Martinsville, and Pocono.
Kyle Busch: After coming close to his first win of the season last week at Las Vegas, this team will look to move up another spot and visit victory lane this weekend. Kyle has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in thirteen of his twenty-one career starts. Kyle missed this race last year, but finished fourth here in the November race.
Carl Edwards: Carl has won two races during his career at Phoenix, but he hasn’t run that well here lately. He has finished in the top ten in only three of his last ten starts here which isn’t terrible, but I know Carl thinks he can do much better. I think this team is still getting to know one another yet, but with a season already under their belts, they need to start communicating and adjusting better together.
Ryan Newman: It has been a while since Ryan has visited victory lane and even though this team always seems to make the Chase, I don’t think you can win a championship without winning some races. Ryan has finished in the top eleven in his last five starts here and has one win at this track. One of these weekends he is going to surprise everyone and get back to victory lane.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Kevin Harvick
- Brad Keselowski
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Ryan Newman
- Kyle Larson
- AJ Allmendinger
- Jamie McMurray
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Ty Dillon
- Chase Elliott
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
- Kevin Harvick
- Brad Keselowski
- Joey Logano
- Kurt Busch
- Jimmie Johnson
Dark Horse: Ryan Newman
Stay Away From: Austin Dillon
Big 18: Kevin Harvick
7 replies on “2015 Phoenix International Raceway, Good Sam 500”
What’s your opinion on Jamie Mcmurray at Phoenix? He had a strong finish at Las Vegas last week, is he someone to just watch on the bench or a front runner for a B class start?
Jamie finished second in this race last year and he usually runs well at this type of track. However, he only has 4 top ten finishes in his 25 starts at Phoenix. I have him on my roster and will see how he does in the practice sessions and qualifying and then decide if I want to use him or not.
Why stay away from Austin Dillon? He ran well in Vegas last week.
This is a totally different type of track and Austin has only run here four times. His best finish is 15th followed in order by 20th, 24th, and 38th. I think there are better places to use him until he gets used to driving on this type of track at this level of racing.
Do you see Allmendinger as a possible sleeper here? He’s been a mixed bag at flat tracks but does have lots of top 10s on the style and consistently seems top 20 in Phoneix. He won’t run for a win but if I’m looking to save starts and still get around a 15th place finish is he a viable option?
Read the article but glossed over that you had Allmendinger in your two-deep roster so I guess that’s a ‘yes’ to my question above. I’m going a little risky this week at B with 17, 47, 31, and 1. Hopefully practice will provide some clarity because right now no one in that group really stands out to me. 17, 41, and 1 could all be top 10 or bottom 10. The 31 at least seems to have a high floor most weeks.
This is one of those weeks where practice and qualifying need to be watched. Like you said, they can all be good or bad and I would rather pick my starters after practice and qualifying. Doesn’t take long to find yourself a lap down on a 1-mile track.