Month: June 2019

I’m posting this before the Chicago race is finished because I know most of you want my picks for next week already.

COKE ZERO SUGAR 400

This week the drivers head back to to the Daytona International Speedway for the running of the Core Zero Sugar 400. This is scheduled to be a Saturday night race, so make sure you have your lineups set before your deadline approaches. This race will also take us to the halfway point of the season, so depending on where you are in your league you can make a plan for the second half after this race.

Denny Hamlin: Denny won the Daytona 500 this year and that car now sits at Daytona USA, so he will have a different body for this race. Still, he is the odds on favorite to win again as he has run very well on the restrictor plate tracks lately. He has finished in the top six in seven of his last eleven starts here including two wins. He should be in your lineup this weekend unless you don’t have many starts left with him. In that case it isn’t worth taking a chance on him getting involved in the “Big One”.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Ricky is always exciting to watch at the restrictor plate tracks. He makes a lot of bold moves to gain track position throughout the race and that doesn’t always work out the best for him as he might tick off other drivers who won’t want to help him in the draft when he needs them to. However, he is still one of the fastest drivers on the track and you can probably afford to take a chance on him this week.

Joey Logano: Joey is another driver to really watch on this type of track. He has finished in the top six in six of his last nine starts here including his only win back in 2015. We have seen the Penske power this year and that really helps when trying to pass cars if you don’t get any help. I have seen Joey pass multiple cars for the lead here when he doesn’t get that help, so when he does get help he is really fast.

Erik Jones: Erik won this race last year and then followed that up with a third place finish in this year’s Daytona 500. He has three top ten finishes in five starts at this track and it seems that all of the Joe Gibbs drivers are pretty good on this type of track. Here is another driver you might only want to use if you have enough starts left with him. There is a lot of season to go and you might not want to take the chance here.

Paul Menard: Paul is a driver you might want to take a chance on this week. He has finished in the top six in three of his last five starts here and we remember what Trevor Bayne did for the Wood Brothers in the Daytona 500 not so long ago. I think it would be safe to use Paul here as you probably won’t use up all of his starts the rest of the season anyway.

Ryan Preece: Yes, Ryan Preece. Ryan finished eighth here in his only Daytona start in this series, but why am I giving him some press? If I look back at AJ Allmendinger who drove this same car for JTG Daugherty Racing before Ryan took over this season I see that this car has finished in the top ten at Daytona in its last five starts. No other team can say this about a single car.

Michael McDowell: Here is another shout out to someone we might not think to much about for our fantasy teams. Michael has finished in the top fifteen in six of his last seven starts at Daytona with four of those finishes being top ten and those are great stats for someone in the C group. He is another driver to take a chance on this weekend and has a bit more experience than Preece.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has three top ten finishes in his last four starts here and he should have a car that handles just as well as teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He should also have that same speed and he will be a little more patient which could help him stay out of trouble early in the race. I think we use him at restrictor plate or short tracks this year.

Austin Dillon: Austin won the Daytona 500 two years ago and has seven top ten finishes in his twelve starts at this track. He is another driver who you might want to take a chance on this week, but he has been running pretty well for the most part this year. Maybe have him on your roster and see how some of the other drivers you have do in practice before you decide to start him or not.

Alex Bowman: Alex seems to be patient and willing to push other drivers which doesn’t give him a big chance to win this race, but it keeps him moving forward. If you can stay out of trouble here until late in the race you have a chance to win no matter what you were doing earlier in the race. I think there are more drivers who have confidence in drafting with Alex and if you can get or give some help you can get repaid at the end of this race.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Joey Logano
• Chase Elliott

Driver Group Game Group B

• Paul Menard
• Austin Dillon
• Alex Bowman
• Ryan Newman

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ryan Preece
• Michael McDowell

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Joey Logano
3. Chase Elliott
4. Kyle Busch
5. Brad Keselowski

Dark Horse: Ryan Preece

Stay Away From: Kevin Harvick

Big 18: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

The first road course race of the season is in the books and Martin Truex Jr. beat teammate Kyle Busch in a race that wasn’t really that exciting once again. Five leaders and six lead changes doesn’t make a very exciting race. Especially when some of those passes happened due to strategy. This race didn’t really have anything to do with the new aero package, but it was still boring.

CAMPING WORLD 400

This week the series heads to the Midwest and the Chicagoland Speedway for the running of the Camping World 400. Once again I’m a bit miffed and disappointed that this race isn’t run on a Saturday night when temperatures should be a little cooler. There is also the potential for thunderstorms at this time of the year and the extra day added in could be significant for not having to race on Monday during a short week as the teams will head to Daytona for a Saturday race the weekend of the fourth.

Martin Truex Jr.: I am going to pick Martin to win back to back races this week in a tough call on my end. Martin has won two of the last three races here and finished fourth last season. This team seems to be one of the most consistent on the track at this point of the season and Martin really knows how to get around the mile and a half tracks.

Kyle Busch: Now, Kyle won this race last year, sat on the pole in three of the last five race here, and lead a lot of laps in each of his last six starts at Chicago. I think this is going to be another week like last week where two teammates are fighting for the win. This should be a good battle because even though they are teammates they are fighting for playoff points during stages and at the end of the race.

Brad Keselowski: Brad his finished in the top ten at Chicagoland in each of his last eight starts there. He won two of those races and led laps in seven of those eight races. I have said this multiple times this year and I’ll say it again. The Penske teams are the best of the Ford’s right now and they are the ones who will be most competitive with the Gibbs drivers. I don’t see much changing this week.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won the first two races ever run at this track and hasn’t won here since, but that doesn’t mean too much.He has finished in the top five in ten of his eighteen starts here including finishing third in the last two races. He has lead laps in five of his last six starts at this track and seems to have a fast car every week. Their biggest problem is mistakes in the pits and that really costs him chances to pick up wins.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has had a horrible year so far and I don’t know if they are going to be able to shake the bad luck and be competitive when it comes to the playoffs. He has only run five races at Chicagoland and has three top five and four top ten finishes here. I think it’s time for this team to forget about running on the bottom of the track and go back up where he always did his damage in the past. Maybe that will break him out of his slump.

Denny Hamlin: Denny won this race four years ago and is on a streak of five straight top seven finishes here. Another of the Gibbs drivers, it is no surprise he has been running really well this season. The dilemma with this team is when should we use him and what tracks should we save his starts for? I really like him on the short, flat tracks myself and there might be others I want on my roster to save some of Denny’s starts.

Joey Logano: The Michigan winner is still looking for his first win at this track, but he has come close and has run very well here over the past seven races at Chicagoland. He has six top ten finishes in those races and he could very well dominate this race after what we saw from him at Michigan earlier this season. He could be worth taking a chance on once again this weekend.

Chase Elliott: Chase has only run three races at this track and finished in the top three in two of those starts. He will be looking forward to getting back to racing this week after having mechanical issues at Sonoma last week late in the race when he was running in the top five. The Hendrick teams have shown significant improvement on this type of track lately and Chase could be a contender once again this weekend.

Clint Bowyer: I’m sure Clint was a bit disappointed with his results last weekend at Sonoma where he was one of the favorites entering the weekend. This team has shown a lot of speed on this type of track and Clint has finished in the top ten in eight of his thirteen starts. Those are great stats if you look at some of the teams he was on during his career. I think he bounces back this weekend and has another contending run.

Ryan Blaney: I have a feeling this team is going to have a pretty good weekend. We know they have had speed all season and have run up front early in races to either lose the handling or have something else happen to them in the second half of races. Something just tells me he is going to be one of the drivers to watch closely this weekend.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Kyle Busch

Driver Group Game Group B

• Denny Hamlin
• Clint Bowyer
• William Byron
• Ryan Blaney

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chris Buescher
• Matt DiBenedetto

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Kyle Busch
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Joey Logano
5. Kevin Harvick

Dark Horse: William Byron

Stay Away From: Jimmie Johnson

Big 18: Chase Elliott

After a week off we should see racing every week from now until the later stages of September. There have now been fifteen points races run this season and that means only eleven more to go before the start of the playoffs. That shouldn’t worry too many drivers at this point who don’t have win yet, but it won’t be long before they do start to worry about making the playoffs.

TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350

This week the series heads back out west to the Sonoma Raceway for the running of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. This will be the first road course race of the year and we could see a first time winner for this season. Over the past few years the field has seemed to improved quite a bit at this type of track where a lot of drivers can win here.

Clint Bowyer: I am going to pick Clint to win the race this weekend. This team looks much better this year than they did last year and Clint has always run very well here. He has one win and eight top five finishes in thirteen career races run at Sonoma. I think they pick up their first win of the season and qualify for the playoffs, but it won’t be easy.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won this race two years ago and then finished second here last season. They are chomping at the bit to get their first win of the season and secure a spot in the playoffs. The concern here has been poor pit stops and many mistakes made on pit road. This week the cars will be pitting in the opposite direction they normally do and that might just throw a monkey wrench into an already bad situation.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has two wins at this track and finished fifth in each of his last two starts here. I think I am going to stay away from him this week just because of the fact that this type of track is very hard on equipment and any driver can get knocked out because of that. I think he is better used at tracks where he doesn’t have to worry too much about those kinds of things because he has proven he can win anywhere.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has won two of the last six races here, including the race last season and he pretty much dominated in both of those races. I think he is going to give the Stewart-Haas teams all they can handle this weekend and might even get his third win here. At this point he will be my starter in the A group of the DGG league.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has looked very good all season and he usually runs well on the road courses. He is still looking for his first career win at Sonoma and he might learn just enough more about this track from teammate Martin Truex Jr. to take that one extra step. He will be another driver who has an excellent shot at picking up another win on the season.

Chase Elliott: Chase has only run three races on this track and has finished in the top ten in his last two here. add the fact that he won at Watkins Glen last year and then finished sixth on the Roval at Charlotte and you can say he is a legitimate contender at all of the road course tracks now. Very well worth taking a chance on this week if you want to.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has been very impressive himself this season with his new team and he usually runs well at Sonoma. He has one win here, seven top five and ten top ten finishes in eighteen career starts. I look for him to have something for the rest of the field this weekend once again and it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see him win.

Joey Logano: The Michigan race winner usually starts out with a good car here, but ends up banging into the wrong bumper too many times in this race and then payback comes to haunt him. If he can learn to pass without using the bumper he will be a serious contender at these tracks. I would rather use him on the ovals at this point of his career though.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has run well at all of the road courses in his career and now that he is with Roush/Fenway Racing I think he has a good shot at picking up his first win at this track and his first win of the season. His best finish here was a second place finish and he is one of those drivers who is hard to pass on any track little less a road course.

Jimmie Johnson: Although he hasn’t had a really good past year and a half, Jimmie might be able to make some noise this weekend. He was in contention on the Roval at Charlotte last season and has one win, four top five and nine top ten finishes at this track in seventeen career starts. This might be his best shot at qualifying for the playoffs with a win rather than trying to point his way in.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR SONOMA RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Chase Elliott

Driver Group Game Group B

• Clint Bowyer
• Kurt Busch
• Jimmie Johnson
• Ryan Newman

Driver Group Game Group C

• Michael McDowell
• Chris Buescher

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT SONOMA RACEWAY

1. Clint Bowyer
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Kyle Busch
4. Chase Elliott
5. Kevin Harvick

Dark Horse: Daniel Suarez

Stay Away From: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Big 18: Clint Bowyer

Kyle Busch picked up his series leading fourth win of the season this past weekend at Pocono. Right now the Gibbs teams are the class of the field each and every week followed by the Stewart-Haas stable and then the Hendrick bunch. The Hendrick drivers have made strides this year and are starting to show what they can do.

FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400

This is going to be another big week for the teams as they head to the Michigan International Speedway for the running of the FireKeepers Casino 400. Once again we are on a long two-mile track where speed will be at a premium. As I already stated, the Hendrick teams have gotten much better since the start of the season and can’t be ignored in this type of race any more this year.

Joey Logano: I am picking Joey to win this week’s race at Michigan and get the Penske teams back in the winners circle. Joey has finished in the top ten here in nine of his last ten starts including a win back in the spring of 2016. He looked pretty strong once again last week on the long straightaways at Pocono and bodes well for him this week.

Chase Elliott: Chase has been the best of the Hendrick drivers this season and finished second in his first three starts at this track. He has finished in the top ten in all six of his starts at Michigan and looks to be getting better every week. I think this is one of his best tracks and he should have a fast car all weekend.

Kyle Busch: Kyle never really ran well here until the last two years when he finished in the top ten in all four of those races. He has shown that he is a contender week in and week out this year and is trying to really add a lot of playoff points to his total and keep all of the other drivers from collecting them He will contend once again this week/

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won the race here last fall and has finished in the top five in seven of his last ten starts at Michigan. They won’t be using the new aero package this week, so he might be able to pick up that win that has been eluding him so far this season. He will be chomping at the bit to get back on the track after a disappointing week at Pocono.

Kyle Larson: Kyle won three straight races here during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Last year he didn’t fair so well with his best finish being seventeenth in the July race. This team has shown some speed this season, but they have really had some bad luck. I think they are looking forward to this week’s race where they believe they can get into the winners circle once again.

Martin Truex Jr.: After having engine issues which knocked him out of the Pocono race last week, Martin will be looking for redemption. He has four top six finishes in his last eight races here and we know he can get around this type of track. He would like nothing better than to win his fourth race of the season to get himself back into a tie with Kyle Busch for series wins.

Brad Keselowski: Brad really wants to win here as he considers it his home track. He has finished in the top ten in eight of his last ten starts here, but hasn’t quite gotten to the winners circle yet. He will do whatever it takes and fight as hard as he can this week to pick up his first win at this track.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan finished in the top ten in both of the races here last year and has looked good for the most part this year. He just hasn’t been able to put a whole race together and get to victory lane yet. We know the Ford’s should all have good speed this weekend and if they can keep up with changing track conditions and eliminate mistakes in the pits they could pick up a win this week.

Erik Jones: Erik looked very good at Pocono last week and that should boost this teams confidence heading to Michigan. He has finished in the top fifteen in each of his four starts at this track with a best finish of third. He is my dark horse pick for this week and if he can show a little patience early in the race this week he could come away with his first win of the year.

Clint Bowyer: Clint won this race last year and looked very strong at Pocono last week. The only qualm I have is that was his only top ten finish in his last seven starts at this track. Granted he wasn’t always on one of the elite teams during that stretch, but it is something to think about.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Joey Logano
• Chase Elliott

Driver Group Game Group B

• Erik Jones
• Ryan Blaney
• Austin Dillon
• William Byron

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chris Buescher
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Joey Logano
2. Chase Elliott
3. Kyle Busch
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Brad Keselowski

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Jimmie Johnson

Big 18: Erik Jones