Congratulations to Joey Logano who is the first driver to qualify for the championship race by virtue of his win at Kansas last weekend. Kurt Busch took the biggest hit as he was already in eighth place in the standings and lost an engine early on in the race and finished a disappointing thirty-eighth. He will almost surely need to win one of the next two races to qualify for the championship now.
AUTOTRADER ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE 500
This week the series heads to the Texas Motor Speedway for the running of the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500. This track will be a bit like Kansas and we should see the drivers who were fast at Kansas come with cars capable of winning this week.
Kevin Harvick: Once again I have to pick Kevin to win this weekend. He was close last week at an intermediate track and he has been phenomenally good at Texas lately. In fact he has finished in the top ten here in each of his last twelve starts which includes three wins, three runner up finishes, and nine top five’s. He should have another great run this week.
Joey Logano: Last week’s winner should also come to the track with a fast good handling car. He has been very good here himself during his career, finishing in the top five in six of his last nine starts with only one of those finishes being worse than tenth. He has nothing to lose and will go all out to win another race and get ready for the championship.
Erik Jones: Erik has been running quite well lately and has finished in the top ten in his last six starts at Texas. If he hasn’t already signed a contract for next year he is doing a heck of a job showing other owners that he can get the job done. I think he’s running better because there isn’t any pressure on him right now.
Kurt Busch: We already said that Kurt will most likely have to win one of the next two races to make it to the final weekend. The good news for him is that he has finished in the top ten at Texas in nine of his last ten starts there. The bad news is that none of those have been top fives and anything less than a win isn’t going to cut it.
Ryan Blaney: Ryan ran much better this past weekend than he has in recent weeks and he has been very good at Texas lately with five top ten finishes in his last six races. This team is working towards next season, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to try and win some races and they have shown they have the speed to get it done on this type of track all season long.
Martin Truex Jr.: I’ve been waiting for Martin to come out and dominate one of these races on the intermediate tracks and this is the last one of the season. He has finished in the top ten in eight of his last eleven starts at this track and we know he could break into the win column at any time. With Logano winning last week, I would think there might be a little added pressure on this team now seeing there will be one less driver getting in on points.
Denny Hamlin: Denny was in contention early in last week’s race and then brushed the wall in the final stage which took him right back out of contention. He won here last spring, but his consistency isn’t very good here with only three top ten finishes in his last eleven starts. He just needs to avoid a major incident that would knock him out of a race and he won’t head into Martinsville needing to win.
Aric Almirola: This is probably the last good chance Aric has to win a race the rest of the season. He hasn’t been very good on the short tracks so he needs to do it here where he has four straight top ten finishes. If you have a start left for him this is the week to use it.
Chase Elliott: Chase showed flashes of how he won multiple races on this type of track earlier this season last week at Kansas and I’m sure this team will work on getting back to there once again this weekend. He finished in the top ten in five of his first six races here, but hasn’t had a top ten finish in his last three starts.
Brad Keselowski: Brad hasn’t really had the consistency at Texas one would want to see when setting their fantasy lineups. He has five top five and nine top ten finishes in his twenty-four career starts here and that just isn’t good enough to make us want to use him this weekend. Not saying that he can’t win, but the odds aren’t really in his favor this week.
DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Driver Group Game Group A
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
Driver Group Game Group B
- Erik Jones
- Aric Almirola
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Alex Bowman
Driver Group Game Group C
- Cole Custer
- Tyler Reddick
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Chase Elliott
- Kurt Busch
Dark Horse: Alex Bowman
Stay Away From: Matt Kenseth
Big 18: Matt DiBenedetto
18 replies on “2020 Texas Motor Speedway, Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500”
Jeff I have ku busch, almirola, and bowman with a start each. Who do I run from those three for Texas? Also out of reddick and cole for c drivers. Who is the next best c driver for Texas that you would recommend? Thanks
I would use Almirola this week and Busch at Phoenix. We’ll have to figure out something for Martinsville. Then for C you should probably run Bell, but Wallace has been running pretty well lately too.
You have ALWAYS done me good Jeff,so I have 1 use for Harvick,Kurt Bush and Blaney left.Thinking of using Blaney at Martinsville(am I correct?)Would you use Harvick at Texas or Phoenix which would leave Kurt for the other track.
I use Harvick at Phoenix for sure. The other 2 you could use either way. I do like Blaney better at Texas than Busch, but it’s a close call.
4-22-11-1-2–19-8-88-12-20- my pick thanks
Richsays:
October 22, 2020 at 6:17 am
4-22-11-1-2–19-9-88-12-20 sorry had the 8 in there in first comment
18
Ok Jeff,you helped me win $1200 last year with 90% accuracy on your recommendations for picks(Thank you VERY much for that👍) now I need 2 of these 4 to go along with Blaney at Texas. Matt D,Austin D,Bell,Custer,or Reddick.Need 2 and thanks again.
I have to go with Reddick and Dillon.
Who would you take out of these 3 drivers for Texas? 3, 24,21
Dillon has been running the most consistent lately.
Will Kurt Bush bounce back with a top10 at Texas? Thx
Tough call. He needs a win and he should have a good car here again. The question is, does he try to push too hard? I think he pushes too hard and that either wears his tires too fast or he wrecks. Just a guess and it could go the other way and he could get a top five or even a win.
Thanks Jeff, I’m going to use your advice.
I have 2 starts left with Custer and 1 left each with Reddick and Bell. Over the final 3 races, who would you use at each track? Thanks!
I go with Reddick this week, Bell next week, and Custer the final week.
I got one start left each with Harvick, Truex, and Hamlin. Who would you start where for the last 3 races? I’m thinking Truex today, Hamlin next week, and Harvick in Phoenix. Your thoughts please?
You hit it on the head. I wouldn’t change a thing and no question about it.