2021 Texas Motor Speedway, Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500

The field of eight is set for the next three races to see which four of those drivers will race for this year’s championship. I still think Kyle Larson has to be the odds on favorite to win his first championship when everything is said and done. This round will consist of two intermediate tracks followed by a short track race.

AUTOTRADER ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE 500

This week the series heads back to the Texas Motor Speedway to kick off the round of eight. This is a mile and a half track and speed is the name of the game here. Drivers should be getting close to if not over 200 mph on the straightaways. A mistake on pit road late in the race could cost someone a shot a championship.

Kyle Busch: I’m going to pick Kyle to win this weeks race and propel himself into the championship race. He has won three of the last ten races here including last year’s October race. He knows that he’s going to have to win a race most likely to advance and this is one of the best tracks for him and we’ve seen the Gibbs drivers getting a bit faster as the season progressed.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan has six top ten finishes in his last seven Texas starts. This team really came on late in the season and this is the type of track where they started to show some speed and that they can run with the Hendrick and Gibbs teams. They should have a car fast enough to have a shot here once again.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has won three races here with the last of those coming during the 2019 season. This team has had their hopes dashed in past seasons because of mistakes they make and that is my worry here once again. Have they excised those demons and can they string some good races together and have a shot at Phoenix?

Kyle Larson: Kyle won the All-Star Race at this track earlier this year and that should give them a lot of confidence that they will have a fast good handling car right off the truck this week. After winning last week’s race he will have an excellent starting position and could possibly be the pole sitter. He could very well jump out to a sizable lead and maintain that speed throughout the race.

Joey Logano: Joey has six top five and nine top ten finishes at Texas in his last ten starts there. Those are really good stats and the Penske teams seem to have more speed than the other teams who are running Ford’s. I already said the Ryan Blaney has a shot here and Joey does too. He seems to quietly place himself in a position to win when he really needs to.

Kevin Harvick: Despite Kevin finishing in the top ten including three wins in his last thirteen Texas races this team just doesn’t seem to have what it takes to win a race this season. I just don’t see them flipping a switch this week and coming away with a win. Especially not that they have been eliminated from the playoffs. Most likely just going to try and figure out how to fix things for next season.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has eight straight top ten finishes at Texas, but none of those finishes have been top five’s. I don’t know where Chip Ganassi sits right now as these will be the last four races he gets to watch with a car he owns. Kurt is also moving on to a new team next year, so I’ll say we don’t want to really take a chance on him the rest of this year.

Chase Elliott: I don’t know what’s going to happen this week with the feud that has developed between Chase and Kevin Harvick. I’m sure a lot of it is just frustration on Kevin’s part, but will he continue to try and wreck Chase’s chances and will NASCAR put an end to it by some other means?

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Ryan Blaney

Driver Group Game Group B

• Aric Almirola
• Alex Bowman

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chase Briscoe

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Ryan Blaney
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Joey Logano
5. Kyle Larson

Dark Horse: Tyler Reddick

Stay Away From: Kevin Harvick

Big 18: Aric Almirola