2016 Dover International Speedway, Citizen Soldier 400

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick who battled hard and came away with the victory at Loudon last weekend. This gives Kevin an automatic bid to the second round of the Chase and takes the pressure off of him this coming week. Anything can still happen to the rest of the qualified drivers next week to help them advance or eliminate them from the Chase all together. Some teams need to win this race to advance, while others will be fighting for every point they can get to make it to the next round.

CITIZEN SOLDIER 400

The series heads to Dover International Speedway this week for the last race in the first leg of the Chase. Dover is a high banked, one-mile oval speedway that allows great racing with multiple grooves on the track as it rubbers in. Expect to see teams being able to come from the middle of the pack towards the front if they have their cars setup correctly because of the multiple grooves we should see. Drivers will be able to pass other cars on the high or low side and that makes for great racing.

Jimmie Johnson: I think this is the week Jimmie breaks out of his mini-slump this weekend and goes to victory lane for the eleventh time at this track. That’s right, Jimmie has ten wins here already in only twenty-nine starts. When you can win at any track once every three times you race there you wish you could run on this track every weekend and that is why I am making Jimmie my pick this weekend.

Matt Kenseth: Matt came close to picking up the win last week at New Hampshire and is sitting in a pretty good position points wise as we head into the third race of the Chase this weekend. Matt won the spring race here and has finished in the top ten in five of his last six starts here. Matt stays calm throughout the races and knows exactly what he needs to do to advance and won’t take any unnecessary risks that might eliminate him from contention.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won this race and finished second in the spring race last year. Now that he has grabbed one of the automatic bids to the next round this team has nothing to lose by trying to win another race here. They can take a few chances if they want to, but I don’t think they will need to. Solid pit strategy should keep them in contention, but mistakes by the crew on pit road could force them into making some decisions to get them back into contention to win this race.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in seven of his last eleven starts here. Martin is already qualified for the next round of the Chase and has been running very well every week on all of the tracks he has visited. Once again they have nothing to lose by taking chances to win this race and I think they are going to come to this track with a great handling race car once again. Momentum means a lot to these drivers and they don’t want things to change when they are going good.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has one win and two runner-up finishes in thirteen starts at this track. This team is sitting pretty good points wise heading into this elimination race. I look for them to be aggressive like always and be in contention late in this race. The championship is still a wide open race this year and the teams that are aggressive and don’t make mistakes will be the ones vying for the championship when we get to Homestead in November.

Kyle Busch: Kyle came close to picking up his fifth win of the year and also sits good points wise heading into this weekend’s race. When Kyle stays out of early trouble on the track here he comes away with great finishes. He needs to have a little bit of patience early and wait until they get the car adjusted to his liking before he takes to many chances and gets too aggressive. He needs to remember that you can’t win the race in the first half.

Chase Elliott: Chase started out very well this season and has done nothing but improve as the year has progressed. In his only start here earlier this year, Chase came away with a third place finish. This team could win a race before the end of the season and even if they don’t win one this year I think they will win multiple races next season. He has a lot of potential and right now is the most consistent driver in the Hendrick stable.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey had a great run at Loudon last weekend and is probably the most consistent driver at Dover who is not in the Chase. All they really have to shoot for is to try and pick up a win or two before the end of the season and hope to use any information and momentum they can obtain for next year. Kasey has finished in the top six in his last three starts here and could compete for the win this weekend.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has run five races at this track and his worst finish in eleventh. This team has really come on strong the second half of the season and needs another good run this weekend to move on to the next round of the Chase. He sits on the bubble right now with a five point lead over two other drives which means he can’t afford to have a bad finish if he wants to keep his hopes alive for a championship this season.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff will be back in the #88 car once again this weekend, subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff has always been very good at this track and has only finished outside of the top twenty once in his last nineteen starts here. When he has been subbing this year he has been okay, but this team just doesn’t seem to have the chemistry needed to win races between driver and crew chief, but he is still Jeff Gordon and can win a race at this track yet.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Matt Kenseth

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kyle Larson
• Martin Truex Jr.
• Kasey Kahne
• Carl Edwards

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Chase Elliott
• Jeff Gordon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Chase Elliott
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Kasey Kahne

Stay Away From: Austin Dillon

Big 18: Jimmie Johnson