Month: June 2020

They made it through the whole Pocono weekend with only some delays while one series got pushed out a day. I still don’t think this is the best idea in the world and haven’t had any comments contrary to my feelings on this.

INDIANAPOLIS – BIG MACHINE HAND SANITIZER 400

This week the series heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the running of the Indianapolis – Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400. This is a long flat track which will play a little bit like Pocono did other than the fact that the corners will all be the same. A little bit easier for the teams to get the cars handling well. I think the issue is going to be the temperatures and how that will affect the grip on the track surface.

Kevin Harvick: I’m picking Kevin to pick up his third career win at Indy this weekend. He was good in both races at Pocono, so this team should have a good start on getting their cars handling where they want it this weekend too. He has the two wins and has finished in the top ten in thirteen of his nineteen starts here.

Denny Hamlin: Denny, once again, should be Kevin’s fiercest competition this week. Although never having one here yet, Denny has eight top ten finishes in his fourteen career starts. After winning on Sunday at Pocono this team will be very hungry trying to win two in a row and for the first time at Indianapolis.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has two wins at this track and had lead more laps here than any other active driver. However, this team hasn’t been able to put a full race together as often as they would like and after the horrible finish they had on Sunday they will be chomping at the bit to get back on track and show that they can put that whole race together.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all active drivers with four wins at The Brickyard. The problem is he is either very good or he really struggles from the get go. In his eighteen starts he has the four wins but has only finished in the top ten three other times. Which type of car will they take of the truck this weekend?

Matt Kenseth: Matt is my dark horse this week. In his five years with Joe Gibbs Racing, Matt came away with four top five finishes. Last year when filling a spot for Roush/Fenway Racing he came away with a twelfth place finish. He ran well at Pocono last weekend and if things fall right for this team they could find themselves in victory lane.

Joey Logano: Joey is another driver looking for his first win at Indy, but he has run very well here coming away with a runner-up finish in last year’s race. In fact, over the past seven races Joey has finished runner-up twice, has four top five and six top ten finishes. Those are pretty good stats for this track.

Brad Keselowski: Brad won this race two years ago and finished runner-up the year prior to that. Now that he is running well with a new crew chief he could win here again. They didn’t run as well as they would have liked at Pocono last week, but this track will be very similar on both ends, so the crew chiefs should be able to get the cars handling much better this weekend.

Clint Bowyer: Though not great at this track, Clint has been pretty consistent. His best finish was a fourth place and he did finish fifth here in his last two starts, so this team is on the right track to improving each year. He could be a surprise this weekend as we know the Stewart-Haas teams have shown the speed to win this year.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is another driver still looking for his first win at this track and who hasn’t been real stellar here throughout his career. However, he did run pretty well at Pocono last weekend and this team has looked better this year than they did last year. I think Kurt could come away with at least a top ten finish this weekend.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan has only run five races at this track and has lead laps in the last three. He ran well at Pocono last weekend and this team seems to be getting better every week. With teammates, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, he should be able to get a lot of good advice on running on this track and that could be the difference between winning and losing this week.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Denny Hamlin

Driver Group Game Group B

• Ryan Blaney
• Matt Kenseth
• Clint Bowyer
• Jimmie Johnson

Driver Group Game Group C

• Christopher Bell
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Joey Logano
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Ryan Blaney

Dark Horse: Matt Kenseth

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

Big 18: Denny Hamlin

I’m writing this as the red flag flies at Talladega on Monday afternoon. Just what the drivers needed with a double header weekend coming up for them. I guess it’s going to be a whole different kind of racing next weekend than it is on the restrictor plate track at Talladega so, I can finish this article while I wait to see if it will stop raining and they can get the track dried.

RACES 1 AND 2 AT POCONO RACEWAY

Yes, there are supposed to be two races at the Pocono Raceway this coming weekend. One on Saturday and one on Sunday. This is part of the original NASCAR schedule and it doesn’t make much sense to me. There are so many races that get rained out up in the Pocono Mountains that this seems kind of nonsensical to me. Why not schedule a race on Saturday and if it rains run it on Sunday? What if a fan only wants to pay to watch one race? Where is everyone going to stay if they are only going to Sunday’s race? Oh well, if anyone has any ideas why they did this I would like to know.

Denny Hamlin: I’m going to pick Denny to win again. The Joe Gibbs drivers have won the last five races run at this track. Denny only had one of those wins but has five in his career and he has been the best of those Gibbs drivers so far this year. I think he does it again in at least one of these races.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has won three of those past five races but, hasn’t really shown his best stuff yet. I do believe that he is also going to win at least one of these two races this weekend. He will be my starter for Saturday and I might run him again on Sunday if he wins on Saturday. This is going to be tough to figure out.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin won the other of those past five races and finished in the top three in three of them. The Gibbs teams have something figured out at this track and the only thing that might stop them from winning two more is weather or fuel mileage. I’m going to save Martin for some other tracks and run his teammates here this weekend.

Erik Jones: So, the last of the Gibbs drivers hasn’t won a race here yet but, he has only run here six times. In those six races he has finished in the top five four times including a runner up finish in the race here last July. Another driver who hasn’t hit his stride yet this year but, this might be the weekend he breaks out.

Kevin Harvick: In his last eleven races at Pocono Kevin hasn’t won. However, he has finished second four times and in the top five seven times. Those are pretty good statistics and he is one of the drivers who could break the Gibbs streak at this track. The question is, do we want to take a chance of having him on the roster when there are so many Gibbs drivers in the same group? I think I’ll save him up too.

Brad Keselowski: Brad only has one win here in twenty starts but, once again he has been very consistent with ten top five finishes in those races. Anyone who can finish in the top five in half the races they run at any track has to be taken into consideration. The dilemma again is do you take a chance on him instead of a Gibbs driver? New crew chief tells me maybe I should hold off and see how he does this year.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has been very consistent here throughout his career. He has three wins, fourteen top five and twenty top ten finishes in his thirty-seven career starts. Those are great numbers once again. Thankfully he is in a different group than most of the Gibbs drivers and gives us a good option to have on our team.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie also has three wins at Pocono and has lead more laps here than even Denny Hamlin. This could be the track where he breaks his long winless streak and gets back on track in his final full-time season in the sport. We’re going to have a lot of choices in the B group this week.

William Byron: Another dark horse this week. William has only run four races here but, he has finished in the top ten in each of the last three. Maybe we want him on our roster to save some starts for some of our other drivers. Do we want to use the same drivers twice in one weekend? What happens if they run poorly on Saturday? We want options for Sunday, right?

Ryan Blaney: Ryan has a win here in only eight starts and has only finished outside the top twelve in one of those eight. Not a guaranteed top five finisher but he should be in the top fifteen once again. Not bad for this track but, I really think there are better places to use his starts. I’ll keep him on the sidelines this week.

I’ll try and update my picks as soon as I can on Saturday after the first race is over.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR POCONO RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Denny Hamlin
• Kevin Harvick

Driver Group Game Group B

• Ryan Newman
• William Byron
• Clint Bowyer
• Jimmie Johnson

Driver Group Game Group C

• Christopher Bell
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT POCONO RACEWAY

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Brad Keselowski

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Austin Dillon

Big 18: Ryan Newman

After a long rain and lightning delayed race we can finally take a breather but not for too long. Denny Hamlin hung on to win this past Sunday into the night in Florida and now the teams have a few days off.

GEICO 500

However, they won’t have a lot of time as this week they head to the Talladega Superspeedway for the running of the Geico 500. This week there will be one practice session and a qualifying session for the first time in months. This is also the second restrictor plate race of the season. I’m guessing most of the teams are going to try and stay separated during the practice session so they don’t wreck their car before the race. They can figure out the drafting as they go as long as their car handles well.

Joey Logano: I’m going to pick Joey to win this week. In his last four starts here he has one win and three top five finishes. I think the Penske teams work well and draft well together and will do so once again this weekend. Word of warning, don’t use too many drivers in the B and C group who you are going to use up the allotment of races you can use them in. There is too big of a chance for a lot of drivers to get caught up in the big one here.

Aric Almirola: Dark horse of the week. Aric always seems to run well at these types of tracks and I think it’s because he is very patient. He knows that it’s foolish to make moves early in the race to try to get to the front when you can wait until the end to do it. If you have a car that can run up front all day fine, otherwise be patient and stay out of trouble. Aric is the only driver in the field to finish in the top ten in each of the last four races here.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: A loose cannon who might be able to get the job done. Totally on the other side of the spectrum from Aric as Ricky will be bobbing and weaving his way through traffic right from the get go. This tends to tick off a lot of other drivers and it means you might not get the help you need at the end of the race if you even make it to the end of the race. Still, he is someone you can use here this weekend because you probably won’t use all of his starts anyway.

Austin Dillon: Austin seems to run well here on a consistent basis and has scored points in four of the last six stages run at this track. He finished sixth in the fall race here last year and his career best finish at Talladega is third. He is another driver who you probably won’t use all of his starts so this is a great race to have him on your team.

Kurt Busch: Kurt always seems to run well here but, he is still looking for his first win at this track. Here is another driver who runs consistently well at this track but, you really don’t want to take the chance on having him in your lineup this week. You are going to use all of his starts and there is no reason to take the chance on him in a restrictor plate race.

Ty Dillon: Yes, that’s right, Ty Dillon. He always seems to run well at this track and he is the type of driver you can take a chance on in this race. He very easily could come away with a top ten finish and maybe even more. We have seen in the past that almost anyone can win races at the restrictor plate tracks so why not take a chance. If they get caught up in the big one, no big deal, you aren’t going to use them up anyway.

Bubba Wallace: Bubba has been running pretty well the past couple of races and this is the type of track where he can do some damage. Remember what he did a Daytona in his first Cup race. That was no fluke, just patience and being in the right place at the right time. Watch to see how he runs in practice. If he is drafting then they believe they have a car that can run up front and go for the win.

Denny Hamlin: Last week’s winner is also very good on the restrictor plate tracks. He won at Daytona this year already. I’m probably going to start Logano over him just because there are so many more tracks where Denny can be used. Like I said before, no sense taking chances on drivers you are going to use at a lot of other tracks.

Chris Buescher: Chris hasn’t done much this year yet, but this could be a good week for the Roush/Fenway driver. We say Trevor Bayne win at Daytona with a Yates engine under the hood and Chris has the talent to stay out of trouble early and have a shot at the end of this race. I think this is a great time to have him in your lineup.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Joey Logano
• Denny Hamlin

Driver Group Game Group B

• Aric Almirola
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Austin Dillon
• Chris Buescher

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Bubba Wallace

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT INSERT TRACK NAME

1. Joey Logano
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Aric Almirola
5. Chase Elliott

Dark Horse: Aric Almirola

Stay Away From: Ryan Newman

Big 18: Austin Dillon

I must apologize to all of you. I missed this last race big time. This is a whole new ballgame when it comes to making predictions when there is no practice and no qualifying. Hopefully I can do better this week.

DIXIE VODKA 400

Once again we are on a short time frame with the next race on Sunday so, I’ll get straight to the picks.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Joey Logano

Driver Group Game Group B

• Ryan Blaney
• Alex Bowman
• Austin Dillon
• Matt DiBenedetto

Driver Group Game Group C

• John Hunter Nemechek
• Tyler Reddick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Joey Logano
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Chase Elliott
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Austin Dillon

Stay Away From: Chris Buescher

Big 18: Chase Elliott

Congratulations once again to Kevin Harvick who picked up another win at Atlanta last weekend. Clint Bowyer was looking fast early on in the race but then his right rear tire kept coming a part on each of his runs ruining his chances. Martin Truex won each of the first two stages before finishing third while his teammate, Kyle Busch, came away with the runner-up finish.

BLUE-EMU MAXIMUM PAIN RELIEF 500

Once again the drivers and teams are on short notice as they will head for the Martinsville Speedway and the running of the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 on Wednesday night this week. Then they will head right on down to Homestead-Miami to race again on Sunday.

With that being said let me get right to my picks so you all have plenty of time to get your lineups set for this week’s first race.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Denny Hamlin
• Brad Keselowski

Driver Group Game Group B

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

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Tyler Reddick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Kyle Busch
4. Kurt Busch
5. Kevin Harvick

Dark Horse: Jimmie Johnson

Stay Away From: Matt DiBenedetto

Big 18: Jimmie Johnson