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Driver Group Game Fantasy NASCAR

2019 Homestead-Miami Speedway, Ford EcoBoost 400

First off I would like to thank all of you loyal readers for sticking with us this year. I know there were times when the DGG had some glitches and we had to work through them and we are all looking forward to next season and having a smoother time with the game. Thanks also for the kind words you have passed along to me about my article. Hopefully I helped most of you out in at least a small way and made your season a little more enjoyable.

FORD ECOBOOST 400

The field is set for the 2019 championship race and we will not have a repeat champion this year as Joey Logano was eliminated by the win by Denny Hamlin at Phoenix last week. Kyle Busch took the last spot on points and Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick had already won races in this round to secure the other two spots.

This week the series heads to the Homestead-Miami Speedway for championship weekend culminating in the running of the Ford EcoBoost 400. This is another of the mile and a half tracks that make up the majority of the NASCAR schedule. This track also has progressive banking which makes it more like Las Vegas Motor Speedway than most of the other intermediate tracks, but that really doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference to the drivers.

Kevin Harvick: I am going to pick Kevin to win this race and the second championship of his career. He has finished in the top four here in each of his last five starts including winning this race in 2014 in his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing. He has really run well towards the end of the year and his win at Texas a couple of weeks ago should give him some confidence heading into this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr.: It won’t be a walk in the park for Harvick because Martin has run well at the end of the season also. He won three races during the playoffs and has been strong on the intermediate tracks for the past three seasons. He finished first and second in his last two starts here and I think he is going to give Harvick a real battle. Pit crews might decide this championship.

Kyle Busch: With four straight top six finishes here including a win at the end of the 2015 season to win his first championship, Kyle can’t be counted out. The only thing that concerns me a little bit is that this team hasn’t performed well in the second half of the season, so they really need to come with their A game if they want to compete for the win this weekend.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has won here twice, the last coming in 2013. He sat on the pole for this race the last two seasons and that is huge because you get to pick the best pit stall and that can win you a championship on a late race caution when everyone pits. You can get out first and track position on a restart could decide the champion too.

Joey Logano: Joey might be out of contention, but he won this race last year and has finished in the top six in each of his last four starts here. I’m sure he is a bit disappointed that he won’t be able to defend his championship, but he can still go back to back races here with wins. This team will do whatever it takes to win another race and set themselves up for a nice off-season.

Chase Elliott: Chase has only run three races at this track and hasn’t finished worse than eleventh. Now that the pressure is off this team until next year they can relax and have fun this weekend and that might be what Chase needs to get back to running like he did before the start of the playoffs. He’s young and will use this season to learn as he heads into next season.

Kyle Larson: For most of the season this team ran into some bad luck, but then they started to turn that around and they have been running well for a while now. Kyle has only run six races at this track and has three top five finishes to show. He has also won three of the last four stages at this track, so he should come with a great car once again this weekend.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has finished in the top seven in six of his last seven starts here. This team struggled once they got to the playoffs, but this is the last race of the season and every driver wants to win it so it makes the off-season seem shorter and they really have something to look forward to next year. Look for Brad to compete this weekend or do something drastic with strategy to try and get that win.

Aric Almirola: Aric has run really well on this type of track all season and should have another good car once again this weekend. He finished in the top ten in this race last year in his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing and could very easily improve on that ninth place finish from last year.

Clint Bowyer: Clint has finished in the top ten here in five of his last eight starts. This team hasn’t been as consistent as I thought they might be this year and that will be their next challenge. Next year I look for them to have better communication between all of the crew members and start running more consistently. This week could be a step in that direction.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

  • Kevin Harvick
  • Martin Truex Jr.

Driver Group Game Group B

  • Aric Almirola
  • Clint Bowyer
  • william Byron
  • Alex Bowman

Driver Group Game Group C

  • Matt DiBenedetto
  • Chris Buescher

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

  1. Kevin Harvick
  2. Martin Truex Jr.
  3. Denny Hamlin
  4. Joey Logano
  5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Daniel Suarez

Big 18: Kevin Harvick

72 replies on “2019 Homestead-Miami Speedway, Ford EcoBoost 400”

2nd that.

Although, “cough, cough’ I took Blaney out for Aric Almirola last week. Oops!

All are good but use Kurt B and R Blaney.

Note: Clint has been good at the Intermediate Tracks this year.

Just keep an I on practice.

I think Blaney has been running the most consistent of these three, so I would go with him.

Yes, I have already used him up and that is why he isn’t in my list of B drivers.

Jeff, In this Championship race the final 4 will not receive any stage points because they have already solidified their standings. Is this correct? Thank you for a great year!

That is correct. Highest finisher among them wins the championship. Points don’t matter to them in this race, but the rest of the field are still fighting for positions.

I have been following your advice for a couple years now and really appreciate the help. Keep up the good work. My only question is Big 18? I noticed it is always a good driver but not a favorite.

Big 18 is a league where you pick one driver each week and you get his points for that race. The only thing is you can only use each driver twice during the season. Most people will use the top 18 drivers twice each and thus the Big 18 name.

My bad. I don’t have Byron available. How about Austin Dillon, Menard and Dibenedetto added to the above list.
By the way, you’re running 2nd in our Big 18 pool. I have you at 390 points. Sound right?
Thanks for your help this season. Great stuff.

I need your help . I am like 110 points behind and the leader going to pick your drivers 4,10,14,24,88
I need you advice on who to pick to gain points. I cant gain by picking the same drivers .

The 19 will be good along with the 11 and 22. I think the 24 will be good and the 1 should run well.

Im trying to decide in 2 groups and would like your advice…i can take either logano,hamlin, or elliot in one group for homestead…and in the other group i can take bowyer,byron or bowman for this group…im tied for first place i just need max points to win the season i dont need the winner of the championship….by the way thank u for advice…im leaning towards hamlin and bowyer what do u think

He should run well this weekend, but he has been struggling a little lately. Probably pushing too hard.

I’m out of a lot of shoes 👟
Starting Harvick Byron Newman Ragan
Bench Logano Dillon Bowman Preece
My question is , Preece over McDowell or Ty Dillon?
Anything else look wrong?
Thx Jeff
🏁

I don’t think Preece is going to run well. I would take a chance on Dillon instead.

I have the 4 to win this weekend, but Truex is going to give him a run for his money.

Group B…I have no Hamlin or Blaney. Can’t decide which four to run in a tight race 1,10,12,20,24, or 88. I have my gut picks but would like your input. And THANK YOU for all yer inputs through the year!!!

Jeff don’t know which B drivers to use have a 63 point lead in my league need help, was thinking Bowman but don’t know which to use have on my list Johnson, Newman, and Byron, please help

Bowyer or Almirola?

Thanks for all the advice and input this season. I had the best season I have ever had!

Last race buddy,still in 1st place cuz of you💪Have Truex going and need 2out of these 3 drivers to round out my lineup.Austin Dillion,Alex Bowman And Paul Menard.After practice and past history at homestead,what day you?

Reading your advice, thanks. It sounds like you like the 10 and the 24 over the 14. My question is which one would you take to pair with the 11 in the B group?

I would go with the 10. He has been more consistent on this type of track this season.

You Rock Jeff!
I have the 19 for A.
What two to pick for B? 10,12,24,88..
I have 8 and 13 for C. Dillon or Hemric?
Thanks Jeff!

I like the 10 and the 20. I am going to change from Harvick to Truex because of all the Gibbs drivers starting together at the front of the field where they can work together because qualifying got rained out.

I am leading by 17 points. Need a driver to complete the race with a decent finish.
48, 21, 95 or 3?

Thanks for everything this season. Love the advice and the back and forth chats. You never get mad and just tell us what you think. We may not agree but the discussion is great and gets us all thinking. I finished 3rd in the fantasy racing cheat sheet….best year ever! I hope I can keep it up. Cant wait for next season. Thanks again from Canada!

My opinion Joe Gibbs all three cars to be suspended I am of Truex fan That is bull crap wrong tires wrong side it Denny Hamlin with that big old piece of tape come on man really really I say give it to Kevin Harvick Joe Gibbs cheated just to help A. BIG Cry-Baby….

It is strange how that went down. I too like Trues. His hometown is just 35 minutes away from me.
That said, people may not like Kyle Busch because he wears his passion on his sleeve, but he can drive.
A lil’ known fact that many don’t know about Kyle is he debuted in the Truck series when he was 16. The first race he finished 9th driving the 99 Roush truck. The second race he entered he out shined the whole field only to run out of gas with 12 laps to go.
Soon after that NASCAR stopped him from racing because he wasn’t old enough. NASCAR pulled a disclaimer law on him stating “no one can drive in the series until 18 due to the fact NASCAR’s main sponsor was Marlboro cigarettes.”
I believe that rubbed him the wrong way just as much as Tom Brady’s 199th sixth round pick did him.

Jeff, we could all take a lesson on how to respond to replies that were not so (?) in their disagreement to your picks. Possibly one of your buddies harassing you? My favorite was a Denny Hamlin pick and he ended up winning that week.

Thank you for your giving.

Well done

Will your 2020 picks be on this same site I’ve been following you for a couple years always like looking at your advise for Driver/track comparisons

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