Month: August 2020

The regular season is in the books and the playoffs starts this weekend. Congratulations to the sixteen drivers who have a shot at winning a championship. I feel a bit bad that Jimmie Johnson didn’t make the playoffs in his final year of full-time racing in the series, but I would still like to congratulate him on his seven championships and wish him the best in the future. Who knows, he still has a shot at winning some races this year.

COOK OUT SOUTHERN 500

The series heads back to Darlington Raceway to kickoff the first round of the playoffs. Known as “The Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough To Tame” Darlington has a unique configuration as it is shaped somewhat like an egg with one end of the track narrower than the other end. This creates some headaches for the crew chiefs and drivers as they try to get their cars to handle well on both ends of the track. At 1.366 miles in length, Darlington will be the longest track in the first round of the playoffs.

Kevin Harvick: I’m going to pick Kevin to win this race a cement his spot in the second round. In his last nine starts Kevin has won twice, finished in the top five eight times and in the top ten in that one other race. He is by no way a lock to win this weekend, but with the way he has run this year he is one of the front runners when it comes to picking drivers for your lineup.

Denny Hamlin: Denny is the reason why Kevin isn’t a lock this weekend. Let’s look back at Denny’s last twelve races at this track. Three wins, eight top five, and ten top ten finishes. I think this is going to be a good race between the two drivers who have shown the most consistency this year. Winning this race takes a lot of pressure off of the driver who picks it up if he is in the playoffs.

Kyle Busch: In his last ten Darlington races, Kyle has finished second twice and come away with eight top ten finishes. This team hasn’t shown that they can put a whole race together yet this year, but this is one driver who could put a run together over the next ten races and come away with another championship. Going to be tough sledding for him unless he can make his way to victory lane a few times though.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has finished in the top five in three of his last four starts here including a win. This team has had some really great runs during the season and they seem to go in streaks. If he can get on one of those streaks again he will have something to say about this years champion.

Erik Jones: Erik didn’t make the playoffs and won’t be returning to the #20 next season. However, in his five career races at Darlington, Erik has a win and has never finished worse that eighth. I think there’s just something about this track that he likes and he is someone you will want to take a shot with this weekend. He could come away with another win and take one away from the playoff group.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has four top seven finishes in his last five starts here including a third place finish in the first race of the double header weekend back in May. Not a lot of people are giving Kurt much of a chance to win this years championship, but if he takes it one race at a time and can pick up a win when he needs it he could be around yet for the championship race.

Chase Elliott: Chase has been up and down at this track even though he has only run six races here. His best finish was a fourth place finish which was also the first race of the double header weekend back in May of this year. He has also been involved in accidents twice in those six races. I’m not sure if this is the weekend to have him in my lineup and I think there are better drivers for me to go with.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has five top ten finishes in his last seven starts at Darlington including a win back in the 2016 season. This team seems to start off a bit slow in the races and then comes on after the first or second pit stop when they can adjust their car. I’m not sure how he will do without any practice or qualifying this weekend, but never count him out either.

Matt DiBenedetto: Matt has finished in the top ten in two of his last three starts here and been in the top fifteen in all of those starts. He really has nothing to lose by taking some chances as hardly anyone outside his team and fan base believes he can win this championship. I’m all for him going outside the box if he has to and taking the chances when they present themselves.

Joey Logano: Still looking for his first win at this track, Joey lead some laps in the last race here before ending up with a sixth place finish in that race. He has never been very consistent here, but runs better here in the fall than he does in the spring races. I don’t know if that has to do with temperatures or that the team is more in sync at this time of the year.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DARLINGTON RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Denny Hamlin

Driver Group Game Group B

• Erik Jones
• Kurt Busch
• Matt DiBenedetto
• Austin Dillon

Driver Group Game Group C

• Tyler Reddick
• Christopher Bell

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY

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

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Clint Bowyer

Big 18: Kurt Busch

Last chance for all drivers not qualified for the playoffs to do it this coming weekend. A win will get almost any driver in and give them a shot at a championship. Will the coronavirus knockout any of the drivers who make the playoffs?

COKE ZERO SUGAR 400

This week the series heads back to the Daytona International Speedway for the running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. A restrictor plate race for a chance to make the playoffs or for those already qualified to pick up some more valuable playoff points. The end of this one could be exciting to watch.

Denny Hamlin: I’ll go with Denny to come away with another Daytona victory as he heads into the playoffs. He has won two of the last five races he has run at Daytona and it always seems like he is in contention in these races. As we all know, anything can happen here and just because I think he might win doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll use him in my lineup this week. Remember, you don’t want to use up your best drivers this week because of the potential for a big wreck that can take out a third of the field or more.

Kurt Busch: This kind of surprised me, but Kurt has only won one restrictor plate race in his career. However he has finished in the top ten in just over half of his seventy-seven career starts in this type of racing. Not necessarily a winner, but a great shot at a top ten and that is about all one can ask for when it comes to restrictor plate racing.

Aric Almirola: Aric has finished in the top ten in fifteen of his last twenty restrictor plate starts including a win at Talladega back in the 2018 season. Those are super stats and he should have another great car this weekend. I think he will have a good chance at coming away with another top ten finish heading into the playoffs.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has finished in the top ten in twelve of his last fifteen restrictor plate races. Albeit some of these races are non-points races at Daytona this is still a pretty telling stat. After being involved in a horrific crash late in the Daytona 500 while leading, Ryan came back and finished a disappointing twenty-fourth at Talladega this year. Will he be able to put that crash out of his mind and be able to compete like he did before that happened?

Austin Dillon: Austin has a win at Daytona and seven top ten finishes in only fourteen career points races he has run at this track. He was also involved in a terrible crash at Talladega a few years ago, but seems to have put that behind him I’m sure I’ll have him in my lineup this weekend.

Jimmie Johnson: With three career points race wins at this track, Jimmie is tied for the most wins among active drivers for this track with Denny Hamlin. However he has also been involved in an accident in five of his last eight starts here. Which driver will be in the car this week? Will it be lucky Jimmie or unlucky Jimmie?

Clint Bowyer: Clint has one of the best finish averages at Daytona of active drivers yet most of his best finishes came early in his career. In fact, since joining Stewart-Haas Racing, Clint has only finished in the top ten twice and top twenty three times in seven starts. One of those finishes was a second, but can he contend late in this race?

Matt Kenseth: Another interesting set of statistics that I didn’t realize. Matt only finished in the top ten once in ten starts at Daytona for Joe Gibbs Racing. In his last three races with Roush/Fenway Racing before going over to Gibbs, Matt finished first, second, and third. I think he is going to have a decent car and if he can get together with Kurt Busch, these teammates might be able to help each other out in the draft.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has six career restrictor plate wins in his career. However, he has only won one points race at Daytona and only finished in the top ten in four races out of twenty-two starts. I would have thought that someone who could win at Talladega quite a few times would have better stats here even if he didn’t win races.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Denny Hamlin
• Kyle Busch

Driver Group Game Group B

• Austin Dillon
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Ryan Newman
• Matt DiBenedetto

Driver Group Game Group C

• Bubba Wallace
• John Hunter Nemechek

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kurt Busch
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Aric Almirola
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Matt Kenseth

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

Big 18: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

The Daytona road course race is in the books. Congratulations to Chase Elliott for winning yet another one of these races. He had to fend off Denny Hamlin after a late race caution, but he had the best car in the field the whole day.

DRYDENE 311

Once again the series will do a back to back weekend next Saturday and Sunday weather permitting as the drivers and teams head to the Dover International Speedway. There have been six different winners in the last six Dover races. That means there are a lot of drivers who could win here once again this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr.: I’m going to pick Martin to win this week only because he is one of those who has won in the last six races and has also finished in the top five in five of them. In fact, he has two wins and six top four finishes in his last seven Dover starts. The most consistent driver gets the nod from me this week.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won the spring race here two years ago and has finished sixth or better in every race since than at this track. He has also lead more laps than any other active driver during the last six races here and has been on a roll lately other than what happened to him at the road course last weekend.

Chase Elliott: Last week’s winner also won here in the fall of 2018 and has finished in the top ten in six of his eight career starts at Dover. After a great win in a dominating performance last week this team is going to be riding their momentum into the coming weekend. A good pick if you want to save some starts for Martin and Kevin.

Jimmie Johnson: With eleven career wins at this track Jimmie should be someone to really consider having in your lineup this weekend. After coming off a top five finish last weekend at Dover this team will have a lot of confidence coming into this weekend. He very well could break his winless streak in one of this weekend’s races.

Denny Hamlin: Although he has yet to win at this track, Denny has run very well on the intermediate tracks all season. He lead 218 laps in the fall race here last year and this team should be able to go back to their notes from that race and have a pretty good idea how to setup their car when it comes off the truck. Without any practice time that is critical to competing for a win.

Kyle Busch: The woes continued for Kyle last week at Daytona when he had multiple issues during the race. One of these weekends this team is going to put it all together and this could be that weekend. Kyle has three wins and four runner up finishes at Dover in his thirty career starts. Look for him to be in the mix at the end of this race.

Clint Bowyer: Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing, Clint has come away with four top ten finishes in his six starts here. He had a good run at Daytona last week and needs to get better on the intermediate tracks. He should feel pretty good coming into this weekend and we will see how he does on Saturday. If he gives us a good showing we will consider him for the Sunday race.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has three wins at this track and is my dark horse for this week. Even though he hasn’t run very well on this type of track this season since coming back to the series he has the potential to win yet. Besides his five career wins Matt has also had seventeen top five finishes in thirty-nine starts here. Pretty good stats if I should say so myself.

Erik Jones: Erik has run very well since announcing he won’t be back with Joe Gibbs Racing next season. The rumor is that he is a strong candidate to take over the 48 ride when Jimmie Johnson retires at the end of the year. Erik has only run six races at Dover, but has never finished outside the top twenty. He has one of the best overall average finish rates here and is one of my Big 18 picks this week.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Chase Elliott

Driver Group Game Group B

• Matt Kenseth
• Jimmie Johnson
• Clint Bowyer
• Erik Jones

Driver Group Game Group C

• Cole Custer
• Christopher Bell

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Chase Elliott
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Matt Kenseth

Stay Away From: Chris Buescher

Big 18: Eric Jones

I wasn’t too thrilled with the races at Michigan. Pretty boring if you ask me, but congratulations to Kevin Harvick for sweeping the weekend!

GO BOWLING 235

This week the series heads to the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. This will be the first road course race of the season and the first time for the series to race on this track. This is going to be difficult for the teams to get their cars handling without any practice time. Some of the drivers have been on the course when they ran the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but not many of them.

Chase Elliott: I’m going to pick Chase to win this race. He has won three of the last eight road course races that the series has run and that says a lot when teams aren’t able to get any practice time in. They should have good notes on how their cars ran well at other road course tracks over the past couple of seasons and that should help.

Martin Truex Jr.: Same goes for Martin. He has won three of the last eight road course races also and should be in the same boat as Chase. Both of these drivers should be able to run pretty well at the beginning of the race and be able to make the necessary adjustments as the race progresses.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has run well on the road courses in his career and has really run well all season. I would have thought he would have more than one win on this type of track but hasn’t gotten the results. He has finished in the top five in six of his last ten road course starts.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has four road course wins in his career and this team is chomping at the bit to get into victory lane again. He has nine top ten finishes in his last twelve road course starts and if it takes a great driver to win with an ill handling car Kyle is the one that can do it.

Clint Bowyer: Clint has one road course win in his career and has also finished in the top five in twelve of his thirty career starts at this type of track. If his car is close to handling very good he is going to be in the mix at the end of this race as they dial him in.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is another very good road course racer and still only has one career victory on this type of track. I think he is going to do well here this weekend just because of how good he has been on these tracks throughout his career.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has two career wins on these tracks and has finished in the top ten in eleven of his last thirteen starts on them. Those are pretty good statistics, but we have to decide when we are going to use him as he has been winning everywhere this year. Do we want to take a chance on him this weekend? I think not.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is a driver who really enjoys running on these tracks and can’t wait to get his first win on them. He does have three runner-up finishes and two third place finishes, so he has come close in the past. If things fall right he could get that first win this weekend.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie only has one career win on the road courses, but he has finished in the top ten in half of his thirty-eight career starts on them. He almost won the race on the Charlotte Roval last year before crashing as he tried to pass for the lead at the end of the race last year there.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan won the race Jimmie crashed in and has finished in the top five in three of his ten career road course starts. Once again I think there are better tracks to use Ryan on and I won’t have him on my roster this weekend.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE

Driver Group Game Group A

• Chase Elliott
• Martin Truex Jr.

Driver Group Game Group B

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

Driver Group Game Group C

• Michael McDowell
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE

1. Chase Elliott
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Kyle Busch
5. Clint Bowyer

Dark Horse: William Byron

Stay Away From: Austin Dillon

Big 18: Clint Bowyer

The results of the race at New Hampshire last week were a little surprising to me. The surprise was that the top finishing Chevrolet was ninth and there were six Ford’s in the top eight. I don’t know if that means the Chevy teams have given up something on this type of track so they have speed on the bigger tracks or what? I guess we’ll find out this coming weekend.

FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400/CONSUMERS ENERGY 400

So, once again we will have a doubleheader weekend as the teams head to the Michigan International Speedway for the running of the FireKeepers Casino 400 and Consumers Energy 400. The races are scheduled to be run on Saturday and Sunday weather permitting. This is a two mile track with plenty of banking, multiple grooves to run in and lots of room on pit road.

Kevin Harvick: I just have to stick with Kevin at this point of the season. He has won two of the last four races he has run here and finished second in one of the other two. He fought hard for a top five finish once again last weekend and it just seems that this team is making all the right moves right now. That could change later in the season so I’m not afraid to use more of his starts now.

Joey Logano: Joey has won three times at Michigan with his latest win coming last June when he dominated that race. We have seen the Penske teams all show a lot of speed all season long and on this track with the long stratightaways that speed is going to be an advantage.

Kyle Busch: I don’t know what to think of this team right now. They are struggling to run a complete race but they could go on a streak at any time. Kyle’s only win here came back in the 2011 season. However, he has finished in the top ten in each of his last six starts at this track. We’ve seen his teammates show they have what it takes to win on this type of track this year, so Kyle should be able to contend too.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is still looking for his first win at this track and that surprises me too. After how good he has been on this type of track the last three plus years I would have thought he would have gotten a win here. He has finished in the top five in three of his last six starts here and has lead laps in four of those six races. He will have another shot this weekend.

Denny Hamlin: The other driver who has been just as good as Harvick lately is Denny. He has two career wins at this track, but he hasn’t won here since the 2011 season either. That doesn’t mean he can’t win this weekend. He did finish second here last July and has lead laps in four of his last six starts here also.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan has finished in the top ten in three of his four starts here since joining the Penske group. He has also been running very well on this type of track other than a small hiccup at Kansas a few weeks ago. He could very easily have a dominant car here once again this weekend.

Alex Bowman: Alex has finished tenth in his last two starts at Michigan and he won earlier this year at the Auto Club Speedway which is very similar in configuration to this track. He has run pretty well at all of the intermediate tracks this year for the most part and is a good candidate to use this week to save some starts for other drivers.

Brad Keselowski: Let’s not forget last week’s winner. Brad is still looking for his first win at the track he calls his home track. However, you have to go all the way back to the 2011 season to see the last time he didn’t finish in the top twenty here. This is the track where this team will take every chance they can to win and won’t care about second place. It’s win or bust this week for Brad.

Chase Elliott: Chase has only run eight races at this track. He finished second in his first three as he was looking for his first ever Cup win. Last year when the Hendrick teams were struggling trying to find some speed Chase was consistently finishing races on this type of track in the top ten. This year they have the speed and Chase could very well pull out a win.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Joey Logano

Driver Group Game Group B

• Ryan Blaney
• Matt DiBenedetto
• Alex Bowman
• Aric Almirola

Driver Group Game Group C

• Christopher Bell
• Tyler Reddick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Joey Logano
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Martin Truex Jr.

Dark Horse: Matt DiBenedetto

Stay Away From: Clint Bowyer

Big 18: Brad Keselowski