One-third of the way through the season and the All-Star race in the books. The longest race of the year comes up this Memorial Day weekend. Seven drivers qualified for the Chase. Nine spots still open. Fourteen races left until the start. There are some drivers who are going to start getting nervous if they don’t pick up their first win of the season soon.
COCA-COLA 600
Charlotte Motor Speedway is another of the mile-and-a-half tracks on the circuit and this is a tough race to call for the crew-chiefs. The race starts in the afternoon and ends up at night under the lights. Cars that are fast early might not be there at the end of the race if they don’t keep up with the changes to the cars as the track changes. A 600-mile race is a long race, so if your drivers aren’t running well early, don’t worry about it. Their is a lot of chances to adjust the cars to get them to be at their fastest when the race comes down to the end.
Brad Keselowski: I am going to pick Brad to win the race this weekend. He finished second in the All-Star race last weekend and was fast in all of the practice sessions. I also like the way he and Paul Wolfe work together and make the right changes as races progress and I think he will be the driver to finish the race with the checkered flag waving. He has won one race here before in the fall and now he will win his first spring race at this track.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin is a driver who can dominate every week and never gets down if his car isn’t fast at the beginning of a race. He knows that there will be plenty of time to get his car handling the way he wants it to late in the race so he can make a push for the win. He has two wins and two runner-up finishes in his last six starts here and he will be competitive at the end of this week’s race too.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all active drivers with seven wins at Charlotte. He has also finished in the top five in thirteen of his twenty-nine starts here and those are very impressive numbers. He really had a tough time last year at this track where he finished 39th and 40th in the two races run here. I think this team has a good handle on the mile-and-a-half tracks right now and they could come away with another victory here.
Joey Logano: Joey won his first All-Star race last weekend and that will give this team a lot of confidence this weekend heading into the race. The only thing I am a little skeptical about is if this team can keep up with the correct adjustments to the car as the track changes throughout the race. They seem to lose the handling of their car more often than not and with a race of this length it is imperative that this not happen if you want to win.
Carl Edwards: Carl won this race last season and always seems to run well at this track. He has finished in the top ten in fifteen of his twenty-two starts and with two wins under their belt already this year they will be able to take a few chances late in the race to try and steal another victory if they have to. Remember, once a driver wins a race they are virtually qualified for the Chase and every additional win give them bonus points once the Chase starts.
Matt Kenseth: Matt has won two races at this track and has finished in the top ten in seventeen of his thirty-three starts. He always seems to run well at the intermediate tracks and with a win under his belt he is another driver that can take a chance at the end of the race to try to pick up another win if he isn’t running so well. By taking a chance I mean they might try to stretch fuel mileage of go with no tires or two tires or stay out all together late in the race to get the track position they need.
Kasey Kahne: Kasey has four wins and three runner-up finishes at this track in his twenty-four starts. This is a team that is still looking to pick up their first win of the season and get qualified for the Chase. Watch for Kasey to run the high line for a large part of the race along with a few other driver I will talk about next. Anyway, seven top two finishes in twenty-four starts is very good.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale finished third in the All-Star race last weekend and he is another driver who likes to run the high line once that groove gets wore in. He also said that his team needs to step up for the rest of the season including himself to get where they need to be if they want to have a shot at winning a championship. I think that what he did is going to help his whole team out and they are going to start running better.
Kyle Larson: Kyle was running the high line in the All-Star race last weekend and almost used it to win that race. He won one of the segments to get into the final race and he will be one of the first drivers to go high this coming week. He just needs to be careful early in this long race, because if you get into the wall really early, it is going to be a long night. I think he is going to come away with a top ten finish this week.
Chase Elliott: Chase has run very well on every track he has been on in his rookie season. This team has the equipment to run 600-miles without having to worry about anything breaking and the crew are all seasoned veterans. They just need to keep reminding Chase that it is a long race and not to take too many chances early on. Just stay out of trouble, keep adjusting the car and really go for the win over the last 100-150-miles of this race. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him get his first Sprint Cup win this weekend.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Brad Keselowski
- Kevin Harvick
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Carl Edwards
- Kasey Kahne
- Kyle Larson
- Jamie McMurray
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Blaney
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- Brad Keselowski
- Kevin Harvick
- Carl Edwards
- Kasey Kahne
- Chase Elliott
Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray
Stay Away From: Trevor Bayne
Big 18: Kasey Kahne