2016 Pocono Raceway, Pennsylvania 400

Congratulations to Kyle Busch who won his fourth race of the season in dominating fashion at the Brickyard on Sunday afternoon. There are only six races left until the start of the Chase and there are still five spots left to fill. The coming races are going to be fun to watch as drivers try to move into the last of the openings on points or by getting their first win of the season. It will be quite nerve wracking for a lot of those drivers.

PENNSYLVANIA 400

This week the series heads back to the Pocono Raceway for the second time this season. Kurt Busch won the race here the first week of June in a race that was delayed by rain and moved to a Monday. Pocono is notorious for rain shortened and delayed races because of its location in the Pocono Mountains. That also means that qualifying gets rained out quite often and practice sessions get postponed or shortened. This could mean a lot when setting your fantasy rosters because of how the grid might be set and where your drivers will start.

One more note this week: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss his third consecutive race due to concussion-like symptoms and will once again be replaced by Jeff Gordon who is a must start in the C group for the Yahoo fantasy league.

Kurt Busch: Seeing he won the race here earlier this year he is a good pick to have on your team this week. Usually when you have your car handling well in the June race the same set up will work for the race at the end of July or early August. You see drivers doing the yearly sweep here quite often so I like to stick with the winner if he didn’t just win on fuel-mileage of pit strategy.

Denny Hamlin: Denny ran very well at Indy last week after recovering from another pit-road speeding penalty, his eleventh of the year. Denny always runs well at Pocono and leads all active drivers with four wins here. He is going to have to figure out why he is always going to fast on pit-road because once the Chase starts mistakes like those will knock you right out of contention. You aren’t racing thirty-nine other cars, you are only racing those who are still in the Chase each round.

Carl Edwards: Carl has won two races here and he also looked good at Indy last week until he was caught up in a late race wreck. Those who run well at Indy have a great chance to run well at Pocono this weekend because both tracks are pretty flat with long straightaways. The only difference is Pocono has three different unique corners to get through compared to a track with all of the corners configured the same. I think this team will be a contender this weekend.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff has won six races at this track and has finished in the top ten in nine of his last ten starts here. I think he will run better this week than he did last week because he will feel a little more comfortable in the car and more comfortable with his spotter. He has great equipment under him and a great pit crew behind him that will give him a legitimate shot at winning this race.

Tony Stewart: Tony has also won two races at this track and has looked pretty good this year on a consistent basis. He has won a race and is now securely in the top thirty in points and can concentrate on trying to pick up another win before he competed in the final Chase of his career. I think Smoke is still very hungry on the track and he will be a force to be reckoned with once again this weekend.

Kyle Busch: Kyle dominated the race at Indy last week and picked up his fourth win of the season tying him with Brad Keselowski for the series lead. Kyle is looking for his first win at this track and hasn’t run consistently well here. He only has eight top ten finishes in twenty-three starts here and I believe there are better drivers to use in you line up this week.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has three wins throughout his career at this track. However, this team has struggled quite a bit lately when you compare the way they are running to when he was winning championships. They need to get things turned around in the next six races so they are ready to challenge for another championship. I think they will get things ironed out in time and be a contender for the championship this year.

Kyle Larson: Just like Indy, Kyle has only run a handful of races at Pocono in his young career but, he has made the most of his opportunities. In his five start here he has never finished outside of the top twelve. He has one top five and one top ten to his credit. This team is going to win a race pretty soon and it will probably come on one of the flat tracks like Pocono.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has one win and six top ten finishes in his thirteen starts at this track. With four wins under his belt already this season this team is preparing for the Chase and if they have a chance to steal a race they are going to try and do that too. I think this is one of the most consistent teams week in and week out this year and that is what is going to win you a championship.

Chase Elliott: Chase finished fourth in his only start here earlier this year and really had a good car all day. I think that he will come into this weekend with a lot of confidence on how he is going to attack this track and he might get his first ever Sprint Cup win here. However, he also has to be a little careful he doesn’t get caught up in any careless wrecks as he is in a good position to make the Chase on points.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR POCONO RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kurt Busch
• Brad Keselowski

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Tony Stewart
• Carl Edwards
• Kyle Larson
• Kasey Kahne

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Jeff Gordon
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT POCONO RACEWAY

1. Kurt Busch
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Tony Stewart
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Carl Edwards

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Kyle Busch

Big 18: Kyle Larson