Week 2 is now in the books with Jimmie Johnson winning on pit strategy after Kevin Harvick dominated the race. The win is almost sure to lock Jimmie into the Chase while they know they still have some work to do on getting their car to be faster and the handling better. On the other hand, Kevin is probably a little disappointed he didn’t pick up the win and qualify himself for the Chase, but this team knows that they had the car to beat once again and that the wins will come soon enough.
KOBALT 400
This week the series heads out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the Kobalt 400. Once again this is a mile-and-a-half race track somewhat similar to Atlanta. The difference is in the progressive banking on the track and the fact that tire wear should be improved over what it was at Atlanta. This is also a 400-mile race instead of 500-miles like the Atlanta race was. That shouldn’t really matter as we saw no engine problems on any of the cars last weekend.
Kevin Harvick: I am going to pick Kevin to win the race at Las Vegas this week after his dominant performance at Atlanta last weekend. Kevin won this race last season and showed this team still has the speed and handling to be a contender every weekend once again this year. After the disappointing result to the race last week, Kevin is going to be ready to get back on the track and show everyone that he is a legitimate contender once again this season.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all active drivers with four wins at Las Vegas and has a lot of confidence after picking up the win last week at Atlanta. We have seen in the past how this team usually wins multiple races in a row and they will do everything they can to do it again. However, as I said before, this team needs to find a little more speed and better handling throughout the race so they can win with that instead of pit strategy.
Matt Kenseth: Matt had a great car last weekend and probably would have been a contender if not for a penalty on the gas man on a pit stop half-way through the race. To add insult to injury, they didn’t realize they were being black flagged and lost another lap when NASCAR stopped scoring them. Matt has won three races at this track and has finished in the top ten in nine of his sixteen starts here. All of the Gibbs teams showed speed and Matt is probably the best of them on the mile-and-a-half tracks.
Kyle Busch: Let’s not leave out Kyle though. After having the fastest qualifying lap, he was relegated to the rear of the field for the start of the race when his car failed post-qualifying inspection. Despite starting at the rear and not being able to really push his car because of tire wear, Kyle worked his way back towards the front and came away with a third place finish. Kyle has one win here and has finished in the top ten in five of his eleven starts.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale is still looking for his first win at this track, but he has finished in the top ten in nine of his sixteen starts at this track. Dale hung around in the top ten all race last week and then moved up to take second place on the green/white/checkered finish restart. It seems these types of tracks are really Dales favorites besides Pocono where he ran very well last year.
Carl Edwards: Carl has two wins at this track and has finished in the top ten in six of his eleven starts here. This includes top five finishes in four of his last five starts at Las Vegas. Carl stayed in the top ten for most of the race last weekend despite feeling a vibration in his car for much of the race. Once he can feel confident that his car isn’t going to blow a tire or he doesn’t have a loose wheel he will be able to push it a little harder.
Joey Logano: Joey had a good car last week at Atlanta also and only found himself a lap down because he hit the cone entering pit-road and had to do a pass through penalty which stuck him a lap down that he didn’t get back until the end of the race. This team has been good over the past couple of seasons on this type of track and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them in victory lane this weekend.
Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is another driver looking for his first win at Las Vegas. He did finish runner-up to Kevin Harvick in this race last year and was the second best car to Kevin’s last weekend also. This team looks poised to make another run at a championship this season and has an even better chance now that they are affiliated with the Joe Gibbs Racing teams.
Denny Hamlin: Denny started off last week’s race like a man on a mission as he passed a slew of cars early in the race. However, he wore out his tires and lost all of the track position he had gained and never quite recovered as he lost a lap on the track. This wasn’t a big deal to this team after winning the Daytona 500 and qualifying themselves for the Chase already. Denny has finished in the top ten in five of his ten starts at LVMS and shouldn’t have to worry about tires as much this weekend.
Chase Elliott: The rookie ran well all day at Atlanta last weekend and came away with a top ten finish. This should give this team a lot of confidence as they head into this weekend’s race at a similar track. There is only upside to the potential for this young driver. He has great equipment, teammates that can give him a lot of good advice, and a father who has been through it all before. I look for this team to win a race before the end of the season and it might come this weekend.
My Big 18 pick for this week is going to be Matt Kenseth. I think that after last week’s disappointment, this team will come out firing on all cylinders. Besides, I am going to use Kevin Harvick at Phoenix where he has been almost unbeatable the past three seasons.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Kevin Harvick
- Jimmie Johnson
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Carl Edwards
- Austin Dillon
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Blaney
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- Kevin Harvick
- Jimmie Johnson
- Matt Kenseth
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dark Horse: Chase Elliott
Stay Away From: Kurt Busch
Big 18: Matt Kenseth
22 replies on “2016 Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kobalt 400”
A:Harvick/K.Bush
B:Truex jr./Newman/Edwards/Larson
C:C.Elliot/T.Dillon
Thoughts on this lineup and should I make any big changes ?
I like Harvick to win and Truex should be good on the mile and a halfs all year. Chase Elliott is probably a good pick after the way he ran last weekend. Edwards I like, Newman the jury is still out on. Larson I would stay away from this week after the way he ran at Atlanta last weekend.
Love the write-ups!
How much emphasis do you think driver preservation should play early? 19 and 78 are hot right now. I’ve only used each once but was considering using the 31 and/or the 3 this week to save a few starts. Likewise, most of my league has used Chase Elliot twice and I’ve yet to (Ty Dillon and Blaney). Is there a style of track that Chase really excels on or should I not worry about using his allotment (9) early on? Thanks!
For the C group you have to make sure you have enough drivers to pick from to cover the 36 races. That means Chase and Ryan will be half of your season. Now you have to find drivers that have a chance to do well the other half of the season. When you get a driver like Ty in good equipment and you don’t know how long he is going to be in that equipment I think you should use them. Otherwise there really isn’t a lot out there in the C group right now. I think some of those drivers will have good runs and might even get better like Buescher and Smith, but if they don’t have the equipment they will always end up towards the back of the pack. Restrictor plate races are good races to grab almost any driver in the C class. As for using up drivers in the B class, You want to save them a few starts just for the qualifying points. You don’t want to use anyone up right at the beginning until you know how consistent they are and you have to weigh the odds of another driver having a good week at certain tracks.
Hope this helped a little bit.
This did help a lot, thank you! To your C class point I was thinking about Vickers this weekend in Las Vegas. He’s a driver whose been around and made some good runs plus he’s in a SHR machine. Seems like a steal to me and if my league continues to use up Chase then I can store some uses for a late season push when he has a lot of seat time. WRT to the B listers (19 and 78) I will probably put both in my lineup but try to sit at least one this week. I had a rough Daytona so hoping to differentiate myself a little early by stealing some points and saving drivers. I appreciate your articles and input!
To that point, do either Blaney or Chase have a race type that you’ve observed? I’m new to this, I know both showed well at times last year in limited starts and both have done very well in Xfinity. Both were running well on Sunday (before Blaney got swept up in the final wreck) . Any track types or styles that I should keep an eye on starting one over the other? Thanks again!
First off, I haven’t seen an entry list for this week’s race yet. That usually comes out on Tuesday, so you have to wait and see who is entered before you can make fill your final roster. Not sure if Vickers will be driving. Second, Blaney and the Wood Brothers only ran the restrictor plate and mile and a half tracks in the Cup series last year, so I think that is where he will do the best. Chase is young younger and is still learning, but he has better equipment and teammates that can help him on every track they go to, so I think he will get better as the season progresses on all tracks.
What is your thoughts on kyle bush or Matt kenseth
I think both of those drivers will do well this weekend. Matt always runs well on the mile and a half tracks and has 3 wins at Las Vegas. Kyle came form the back all the way to 3rd on a similar track last week and he is from Las Vegas, so this is his home track.
A – Harvick, Kenseth
B – Edwards, Truex Jr., Menard, McMurray
C – Elliott, Blaney
I know this is probably a stupid question (even though everyone says there are no stupid questions ), but what is the purpose of bench drivers in the Yahoo game?
Everything Jim said and the only other thing I can think of is that if your driver crashes his primary cars in one of the practice sessions and their backup car just doesn’t perform well in practice for them.
Randy, one reason is if one of your drivers doesnt end up qualifying , then you can flip drivers in your lineup. A couple more possibilities; Say you dont like where your starting driver ends up qualifying, you can flip then also.Your bench guy may end up getting the pole, and you’d like to stick him in – thus the improved chance for laps-led bonus points.
There are also rarer reasons such as an injury knocks your driver, such as Hamlin the other year out all of a sudden, you have options. Just some thoughts – hope it helps a bit.
I’ve had some reserves on using Paul Menard because it seems like everytime I don’t end up using him he has a good week and if I use him he has an off week. Whats he looking like this week, I am trying to reserve Edwards and Truex Jr. for a week and save them down the stretch. But very hesitant to start Menard, RCR cars have been pretty strong in the past weeks
Paul has run pretty well here. He has finished in the top 20 in his last six starts at Las Vegas including 3 top tens.
Thanks so much, I thought about those reasons, but for the life of me I couldn’t find anything on Yahoo to explain it. I’ll probably find it as as I look again now that I’ve ask. lol Thanks again!
This a test… lol Changed nickname and added pic, just seeing if it shows up
In a league were you can only use each driver twice for the whole year. I was thinking Dillon, Menard or Newman. Is it to early to go off sequence. Do I use a Harvick or Kenseth. What is your opinion Jeff. Thanks.
I myself like Kenseth this week, but the way Dillon ran in the final two practice sessions, I would say he is fast this week and worth taking a chance on.
I myself like Kenseth this week, but the way Dillon ran in the final two practice sessions, I would say he is fast this week.
Any thoughts on Kyle Busch and his poor practice & qualifying? Kurt looks strong, but is the stay away from pick…?
Kurt has only finished in the top ten here three times in fourteen starts and only once in his last nine starts. That is the reason for the Stay Away tag on him. As for Kyle I noticed that he never ran 10 consecutive laps in practice and wasn’t very fast on the short runs. If he would have been slower and working on race trim by doing longer runs in practice I could understand the speed difference. Not sure how good he is going to be in this race.