The first round of the Chase is in the books and twelve drivers have moved on to the second round. Martin Truex Jr. won his second race in the round and looks like he will continue to run well each and every week. Still, it is anybody’s championship to win and one mistake can cost a driver his shot at this year’s title. Chris Buescher, Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson, and Jamie McMurray were the drivers eliminated from the Chase after the race at Dover this past weekend.
BANK OF AMERICA 500
Charlotte Motor Speedway is another of the mile-and-a-half quad oval tracks that make up the majority of the Chase. This will be one of the few night races on the Chase schedule as this race is scheduled to be run on Saturday night. That means you might have to have your lineup set a little earlier this week.
Martin Truex Jr.: Martin dominated the Coca-Cola 600 at this track back in May as he led 392 0f the 400 laps run that night. He is bringing that same chassis back and he also won the race at Chicago with this car a few weeks ago. He is definitely my pick to win the race this week and punch his ticket for the third round. This team is making all the right moves and avoiding the costly mistakes that will take a driver out of contention and I see them as being one of the drivers to make it to the final round.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has been the most consistent driver at Charlotte the past few seasons and he is going to give Truex a run for his money once again this weekend. Kevin has finished first or second in five of his last seven starts here which tells me this team really knows what adjustments they need to make as the track changes and the race progresses. I think this race could come down to the wire once again.
Matt Kenseth: Matt has always run well at this track winning twice here and finishing in the top ten in over half of his starts here. This team is steady and always has a shot at winning a race. They also don’t make the mistakes that take them out of contention in a race and if they can avoid bad luck they are a team you will have to deal with on the track each and every week.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all active drivers with seven wins at Charlotte. Add to that the fact that he has finished in the top five in almost half of his starts at this track and you can see that they love to race here. However they haven’t run well here on a consistent basis lately. Jimmie only has four top ten finishes in his last eleven starts at this track and this team hasn’t been at their best in the second half of this season.
Joey Logano: Joey won this race last year and looks to repeat that feat this weekend and propel himself to the third round of the Chase. He led 227 laps in last years race, has led laps in each of his last three starts here and started in the top three in those three races also. If they can keep up with the changing track conditions they will be another team that can contend for the win this weekend.
Carl Edwards: Carl has eight top ten finishes in his last ten starts at Charlotte including his lone win here last spring. This is another team that needs to run consistently better if they want to remain in contention for the championship this season. It seems that they qualify fairly well, but then they can’t seem to make the correct adjustments to their car as the race progresses and they often find themselves a lap or more down and spend most fo the race trying to get back on the lead lap.
Denny Hamlin: Denny is another driver who has run consistently well here over the past bunch of years. He has eleven top ten finishes in his last twelve starts here and finished second in two of those races. He would like nothing better than to pick up his first points race win at this track and qualify for the next round of the Chase and take all of the pressure off of his team for the rest of this round.
Brad Keselowski: Brad is another driver who has run well here lately finishing in the top ten in five of his last six starts here. He has won one race here in his career and really brings his best when the chips are on the line. Paul Wolff does a superb job on top of the pit box making the right calls and taking chances when he sees no other option that gets Brad back into contention to win races.
Chase Elliott: Chase has really been running well each and every week this season and he has really excelled on this type of track. It would be no surprise to see him win this week’s race. He has come close to picking up that elusive first victory in this series and one of these weeks all of the cards will fall in place and it couldn’t come at a better time than during the Chase to keep him moving forward in his rookie season.
Kyle Busch: Kyle is still looking for his first win at this track also, although he has finished in the top five ten times in his twenty-five starts here. This team has also run more consistently lately, and are now avoiding the bad luck that had plagued them for quite a stretch of time during the second half of the season. I have a feeling this team is going to find a way to qualify for the final race at Homestead and try to defend their title from last year.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Austin Dillon
- Kasey Kahne
- Jamie McMurray
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Blaney
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Matt Kenseth
- Chase Elliott
Dark Horse: Chase Elliott
Stay Away From: Greg Biffle
Big 18: Martin Truex Jr.
One reply on “2016 Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bank of America 500”
I have three starts left for Edwards and as on and off as he has been where would you say are the best tracks to use him? I was thinking about Charlotte and Kansas.