Congratulations to Kevin Harvick, this year’s first repeat winner, on dominating the CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix this past weekend. There really wasn’t anyone who could compete with Kevin and he won his fourth straight race at this track and fifth in his last six attempts.
AUTO CLUB 400
The series stays out west this week as they head to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. This will be the first time this season that the series visits a two-mile low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway. Once again I think we will have a driver win his second race of the season and guarantee himself a spot in the Chase field.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won five races at this track and he is my pick to win once again this weekend. Jimmie has finished in the top five here in twelve of the twenty races he has started and those are very impressive stats. Another impressive stat that Jimmie has at this track is that he has finished every lap of every race he has run here also.
Matt Kenseth: Matt has three wins at this track also and I think he is looking forward to this weekend. Matt is still trying to win his first points race in over a year so he doesn’t have to worry about making the Chase on points instead of by winning a race during the season. This could be the week he breaks the streak and goes back to victory lane.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has a streak of his own going right now. He has finished first or second in his last six points race starts. I think that streak will come to an end this weekend. Kevin has won one race at this track, but he is mostly average here. He would love to win this race in his home state, but that won’t happen this weekend.
Carl Edwards: Carl has one win at this track, but I think this team is still learning to work together. I’m guessing about the middle of the season you will see this team run better and more consistently. Don’t use up all of his starts early in the season in the Yahoo league. Wait until later and you will score more points.
Kasey Kahne: Kasey also has won a race at this track and this team looks better at this point of the season than they did last year. I don’t think it will be long before you see them in victory lane. Kasey should do well in qualifying as well as the race this weekend.
Jeff Gordon: Jeff has won three times at this track, but hasn’t won since the 2004 season here. I still see him running well this weekend and leading some laps during the race. I think the Hendrick cars will once again have the most power and speed among all of the teams on the circuit and that will propel them to the front of the field.
Kurt Busch: Kurt ran his first race of the season last week at Phoenix and came away with a great finish. This weekend shouldn’t be any different. Kurt has one win here during his career and has finished in the top ten in six of his last eight starts here. He should be able to work his way into the top thirty in points and if he wins a race he will make the Chase.
Clint Bowyer: Clint always runs well at the flatter tracks. After struggling early in the race last weekend at Phoenix. The team made some adjustments late in the race and Clint came to life a little bit. I think they learned a lot during that race and will be able to apply some of what they learned this week. I look for him to come away with a top ten finish this weekend.
Tony Stewart: Tony hasn’t run well yet this year, but they did have a good car last weekend. If Tony doesn’t get caught up in a crash at Phoenix I think he comes away with a top ten finish. This week he should be able to have a decent car right off the trailer and I see him leading laps and finishing in the top ten.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has yet to win a race at this track, but he has finished in the top five in two of his last three starts here. This team has been strong all year and this weekend should be no different. I think they will be fast just like all of the Hendrick cars and they will have a shot at going to victory lane.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Jimmie Johnson
- Matt Kenseth
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Kasey Kahne
- Kurt Busch
- Tony Stewart
- Clint Bowyer
Yahoo Driver Group C
- David Ragan
- Justin Allgaier
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
- Jimmie Johnson
- Matt Kenseth
- Jeff Gordon
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Kurt Busch
Dark Horse: Kyle Larson
Stay Away From: Brad Keselowski