Month: March 2020

Joey Logano becomes the first multiple race winner of the 2020 season in only the fourth week. Those playoff points he has earned will come in very handy during the last ten races of the year. Once again Martin Truex Jr. had to start at the back of the field, made it to the front of the field and then had some issues that took him out of the race. Still a lot of time and racing to go before the start of the playoffs.

FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500

This week the series heads back towards the east as the drivers and their teams head to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the running of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. This is another of the mile and a half tracks and is similar to the Texas Motor Speedway. We will see how engines hold up this week with the distance of 500 miles.

Kevin Harvick: I am going to go with Kevin to win his first race of the season after a runner-up finish last week at Phoenix. He has led more laps at this track than any other active driver. He won this race two years ago, has six top five and eleven top ten finishes here in his last thirteen starts and is hungry to get that first win of the season.

Jimmie Johnson: I have a really good feeling that this is going to be a very good week for Jimmie. They have shown a lot of speed so far this year on the longer tracks along with all of the Hendrick teams and Jimmie leads all active drivers with five wins at this track. Along with that he has also finished in the top five in sixteen of his twenty-eight starts here. This is going to tell us how good he can be in his last full-time season.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has finished in the top seven in six of his last nine starts at this track. I think this team is going to keep improving as the season wears on and he will be getting his first win soon. It seems like the Gibbs teams aren’t hitting their stride yet as they struggle through practice right now and it takes a while during the race for them to get their cars dialed in. That will be fixed very soon.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is having a start to his year like Kyle Larson did last year. He has started from the back in three of the four races so far this season and that is a lot to overcome. He has done that only to have something happen in the pits or on the track late in the race that takes him out of contention. Once this team can get through inspection they will fair much better at the end of races.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has won two of the last three races here and finished second in the other race. I think all of the Penske teams are going to be strong once again this weekend and if Brad and his new crew chief can get on the right page early on this weekend they will have a great shot at winning once again.

Joey Logano: Seeing that Joey has Brad’s old crew chief, Paul Wolfe, on his team now he very well could be the driver to beat once again. After the way they ran at Las Vegas they should come to the track this week with a car that is very fast right off the truck. If things go right through the race they are going to find themselves in contention once again.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has been good here throughout his career no matter whom he has driver for. He has three wins, has finished in the top eight in eleven of his last fifteen starts, and has lead over five-hundred laps in that stretch while racing for five different teams. He finished third in this race last season racing for Chip Ganassi, which is the team he is on once again this year.

Chase Elliott: If the speed we have seen so far this year from the Hendrick teams is evident once again this weekend then Chase will have a shot at winning his first race of the season. He has only run four races at this track and has finished in the top ten in three of those races. This years speed might let him pick up his first career win at his home track.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has three top ten finishes in his six career starts at Atlanta. Last year he led 142 laps in this race and finished first and second in the two stages before the bad luck bit him and he finished twelfth. His best finish is a second and if they can make the right adjustments as the race progresses this week he will have a shot at improving on that finish.

Clint Bowyer: Clint wasn’t very good here when he raced for Michael Waltrip Racing but, in his last three races while he has been with Stewart-Haas Racing he has run pretty well. In fact, he has finished in the top five in each of his last two starts here. He won the pole at California but didn’t have the handling he needed there. If he can get his car to handle the way he wants, he could be a threat for the win this weekend.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Joey Logano

Driver Group Game Group B

• Jimmie Johnson
• Kurt Busch
• Kyle Larson
• Clint Bowyer

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ross Chastain
• Cole Custer

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

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

Dark Horse: Jimmie Johnson

Stay Away From: Austin Dillon

Big 18: Jimmie Johnson

Congratulations to Alex Bowman on winning his first race of the season in dominating fashion and showing us that the Hendrick teams are back to competing at a high level with the rest of the teams. The Penske teams seem to be second best right now followed by the Joe Gibbs and then the Stewart-Haas teams as far as speed goes. It will be interesting to see which teams improve as the season moves on.

FANSHIELD 500

This week the series stays out west as the drivers and teams head to Phoenix Raceway for the running of the FanShield 500. This is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval track so, speed won’t be as big of a factor as handling and pit stall selection. That means we need to decide on which teams and drivers we trust with making the right decisions all weekend to get the best stalls and make the right adjustments during the race.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is a no brainer to have on your roster and will probably be my starter this week. In his last sixteen starts here he has won seven races, finished second twice and finished in the top five thirteen times. There hasn’t been anyone this dominant at this race track before and you need to have him on your roster. We can decide if we want to start him after practice and qualifying

Kyle Busch: So, here is our dilemma this week about who to start, but not about who to have on your roster in the A group. Kyle has finished first or second in each of his last four starts here. He has also finished in the top five in eight of his last nine starts at Phoenix. Once practice and qualifying is over we will have to set out rosters with one of these two drivers.

Denny Hamlin: Too bad all of these drivers are in the same group. Denny won the fall race here last year and is really good on the flatter tracks. I think this is a week we take a break from Denny as he hasn’t been quite as consistent as the two drivers mentioned above and there are a lot of tracks left on the schedule where we’ll be able to use his starts late on.

Ryan Blaney: After having a disappointing finish when he got a flat tire late in the race last week at Fontana, Ryan will be looking forward to getting back to racing. He finished third in both of the races run here last year and should have a really good car once again this weekend. If he can avoid the bad luck this week he could find himself battling for the win late in the race.

Kyle Larson: This is one of the tracks where Kyle seems to avoid the bad luck most of the time. In fact, he has finished in the top six in five of his last seven starts at Phoenix and after getting knocked into the wall early last week at Fontana he will be looking to make up ground in the standings and maybe even get a win to get himself qualified for the playoffs.

Joey Logano: Joey has one win at this track and lead ninety-three laps in the fall race last year. This team has been pretty stout so far this year and this is the type of track where if they hit their setup right away they will have a shot at winning. If they struggle in practice it could be a long day for them once again.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie hasn’t won a race here since the 2009 season. However, this team has had a resurgence this season showing a lot of speed on the intermediate tracks. This week we will see how they do on the short, flat tracks. They did run well on this type of track last year and I see them improving on that this year. I think he should be on our roster once again this week.

Kurt Busch: Another driver to possibly use in the B group this week, Kurt has nineteen top ten finishes in his thirty-four career starts at this track. If he has good practice sessions he will be worth using this week. He seems to be better on the short, flat tracks and more consistent than he is on the intermediate tracks.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at this track. He does run well here most of the time as we can see from his past stats where he has finished in the top twenty in seventeen of his last eighteen starts here. Ten of the last sixteen races he has run here he has finished in the top ten. Like I said earlier, Kevin and Kyle are the two most consistent drivers in the A group for Phoenix and we can hold off on the rest this week.

Aric Almirola: When I think of Aric I usually think of him on the intermediate tracks but, he has run very well at Phoenix lately. In fact, he has finished in the top ten in four of his last five starts here and led twenty-six laps in the spring race last year. I think he might be worth having on your roster this week if you want to take that chance. I’m going to hold off on him myself.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR PHOENIX RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Kyle Busch

Driver Group Game Group B

• Ryan Blaney
• Jimmie Johnson
• Kyle Larson
• Kurt Busch

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ross Chastain
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT PHOENIX RACEWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Kyle Busch
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Kyle Larson

Dark Horse: William Byron

Stay Away From: Alex Bowman

Big 18: Kevin Harvick