Author: Jeff Gutowski

We are heading for race seven in the 2019 season and we head back to an intermediate track and the new aero package. I wonder how long we are going to have to wait for NASCAR to see this new aero package isn’t making the racing exciting. In fact, it has been absolutely boring to this point of the season. Evan the race at Martinsville wasn’t very exciting with Brad Keselowski dominating and the only other driver that looked like they had a chance was Chase Elliott.

O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500

The drivers head down to the Texas Motor Speedway for the running of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. I don’t know if I am going to watch this week’s race. I watch racing for entertainment value and I am not getting any this season. I’ve got to believe that this race is going to shake out like all of the other intermediate races this year with the same drivers in contention.

Kevin Harvick
I am going to say that Kevin figures out a little more this week, gets to the front and stays there to win his first race of the season. Kevin has nine straight top ten finishes at this track including two wins and three runner-up finishes. He is going back to victory lane.

Martin Truex Jr.
Martin has been consistent all year so far and just needs to be a little better in practices and qualifying so he doesn’t have to fight for track position all day. If he qualifies well he will give Kevin a run for his money this weekend.

Kyle Busch
Let’s not forget about this seasons wins and points leader. He has been the most consistent driver on the circuit so far and really has the new aero package figured out. At the pace he is going he is going to rack up a lot of playoff points and cruise to the championship race. Kyle has won three of the last five spring races he has run at this track including last year’s race.

Brad Keselowski
Brad and the Penske teams have all been fast all year long. Brad has five top six finishes in his last nine starts here and is looking good every week. Last year they struggled at this point of the season, but right now they are running like they did at the end of last season and should be a contender again this week.

Ryan Blaney: Another of the Penske drivers who have been very good this year, Ryan has three straight top six finishes at Texas including finishing second here last fall. I think he is getting better and better every week and he will win in the not too distant future. He will be a good group B driver to have on your roster this week.

Joey Logano
The third Penske driver in the series, Joey has ten top seven finishes in his last twelve starts at Texas. Those are great stats and with the way he has been running all season, this is another week where he has a chance to win once again. If they can make changes to the car and keep up with the changing track conditions as the race progresses he will have a chance to go to victory lane.

Kurt Busch
Kurt has been pretty impressive himself this year in his first season with Chip Ganassi Racing. He has sat on the pole here in three of his last eight starts, and has finished in the top ten in six of his last seven starts here. I think this team is going to keep improving as the season progresses and they will get to victory lane before the start of the playoffs.

Erik Jones: Eric has looked good on the intermediate tracks at this early stage of the season. He finished in fourth place in both of his races here last year and has scored stage points in every stage in his last three races including leading sixty-four laps in this race last year. He will be a dark horse to win this week.

Aric Almirola
Aric has been much improved over last season and has been a contender in a couple of races. If this team can put a whole race together they will get to victory lane. He has scored points in each of the last three stages he has finished in the last two races here, so we know he should run towards the front of the field most of the day.

Chase Elliott: In his six career starts at Texas, Chase has never finished worse than eleventh. He has scored points in six of the eight stages he has finished including finishing first or second in three of the last four stages. However, the Hendrick teams just haven’t shown the speed and handling at this point of the season with the new aero package and I want to wait until they show something or use him at the short tracks where he is good too.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Kyle Busch

Driver Group Game Group B

• Ryan Blaney
• Aric Almirola
• Kurt Busch
• Erik Jones

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chris Buescher
• Daniel Hemric

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT INSERT TRACK NAME

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

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Jimmie Johnson

Big 18: Aric Almirola

Wasn’t that a great qualifying session at California last week followed by an exciting race? In the last round none of the drivers got a time as none of them completed their lap on time. So far this year the racing and qualifying have stunk it up in my opinion. I wonder how far NASCAR is going to let it go before they lose a bunch of their fan base? Do we really want to waste our time watching when there are only two cars within nine-seconds of the winner?

STP 500

After three weeks out west the series heads back east to the Martinsville Speedway
for the running of the STP 500. Martinsville is the shortest track on the circuit and this is the shortest race of the season. This is a very flat track and qualifying is very important here because this is how teams select their pit stalls. With this track being so short there are pit stalls all the way around the track. When the race starts those at the back of the pack will be almost a half a lap behind and they can get lapped in a hurry. If you have a problem during the race and have to pit under green you are going to lose multiple laps and will fight the rest of the day to get them back.

Kyle Busch
Kyle is my pick to win the race this week at Martinsville. He finished second in this race last season and won the fall race in 2017. He has started in the top five in the last seven races he started here and has led 937 laps in those seven races. He is one of the most consistent drivers at this track lately.

Denny Hamlin
Denny is another driver who usually runs well at this track. In his last nine starts here he has led laps in every race except one. He finished second here last fall and has six top ten finishes in his last nine starts. He is a good group B driver to have on your roster this week.

Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie leads all active drivers with nine wins and has led 2863 laps here in his career. That is almost twice as many as any other active driver. However, he has struggled a bit here lately with only two top ten finishes in his last nine starts. One of those was a win back in the fall of the 2016 season. I think Jimmie has a better chance of running well on the short tracks than the intermediate tracks at this point of the season.

Brad Keselowski
Brad is on a streak of six straight top ten finishes at Martinsville and five of those have been top five finishes including his lone win at this track in April of the 2017 season. This team has looked sharp in every race so far this season. I think he should be on your team once again this week.

Joey Logano
Joey won the race here last fall and has an impressive streak of starting in the top ten here twelve straight races including four poles. The Penske teams are by far the most consistent across the board so far this year. Another stat for Joey at this track is that he has led laps in nine of his last ten starts. He will probably do it all again.

Martin Truex Jr.
Martin is another driver who is streaking at Martinsville. In his last eight races here, Martin has started in the top three six times, finished in the top ten six times and led laps in six of those races. He is still looking for his first short track win in his career and has been very consistent all season.

Clint Bowyer
Clint won this race last season and has been better on the short tracks than the intermediate tracks in his career. Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing Clint has finished in the top ten in three of his four races at this track. I think he rebounds from a rough week in California and is a contender in this week’s race.

Kevin Harvick
This is not one of Kevin’s best tracks to run on. In thirty-five starts he has one win, and five top five finishes. Although he might not get a lot of top five finishes here, he does get a lot of top ten finishes with seventeen of them in his thirty-five starts. I just think there are better tracks to use his starts at.

Chase Elliott: Chase has gotten better and better here in his short career. He has finished in the top ten in three of his last four starts at this track. I think the short tracks offer better chances for the Hendrick teams to win races at this point of the season as it doesn’t seem like they have a handle on the new aero package yet.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan led 145 laps in this race last year and came away with a third place finish. This team has had good short run speed this season, but haven’t been able to maintain it like his teammates have. This will all come with better communication and a better understanding of the new aero package. This race will be totally different and I look for Ryan to run with the leaders most of the day.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Joey Logano

Driver Group Game Group B

• Denny Hamlin
• Clint Bowyer
• Jimmie Johnson
• Ryan Newman

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Chris Buescher

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Joey Logano
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Martin Truex Jr.

Dark Horse: Ryan Newman

Stay Away From: William Byron

Big 18: Denny Hamlin

Once again we saw a race this past week where there were only three cars within ten seconds of the winner. This to me isn’t an exciting race to watch. It seems that once a car gets back in traffic the new bigger spoiler just catches too much air and there really is no way for drivers to run down those ahead of them after the first few laps on new tires.

AUTO CLUB 400

So, we are going to stay out west once again this week as the drivers and crews head to the Auto Club Speedway
for the running of the Auto Club 400. This is a 2-mile low banked D-shaped track in Fontana, CA. I’m looking for the Ford power to come out on top once again this week as we will see racing with the new aero package once again.

Brad Keselowski
I am going to pick Brad to win once again this week. The Penske teams have been the most impressive with the new aero package so far this season and I will stick with them until another team steps up and wins a race. Brad has finished in the top ten in his last four starts here with one win and three top five finishes in that stretch.

Joey Logano
Brad’s teammate has also been very good at this track the past four years too. He has four top seven finishes in those races while looking for his first win here. The Penske teams with the Ford power under the hood seem to be the way to go right now.

Martin Truex Jr.
Martin has been pretty good so far this season with the new package and the Toyota drivers are closer to the Ford’s for speed and power than the Chevrolet group. Martin came close to winning at Atlanta, but right now I don’t know if there is enough power on the long straightaways we are going to see this weekend. We will learn a lot in this race about drafting again.

Kyle Busch
Kyle has been good this season too with the new aero package. Just doesn’t seem to have it quite figured out, but they are very close to winning a race. He should run towards the front of the pack most of the day. He has five top five finishes in his last seven starts here including two wins in those races.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has only run five races here, but in those five races he has one win and two runner-up finishes. He has been very impressive on the two-mile tracks the past few seasons. Now we will find out how much power the Chevrolet’s really possess on this long track. He will most likely be the top finisher for this manufacturer this week.

Ryan Blaney: This will be Ryan’s fourth race at this track in the series and he finished in the top ten in each of his last two starts. Once again the Penske teams seem to be the ones to beat so far this season on the intermediate tracks and this is the type of track where it is wide enough to go three wide through the turns and Ryan isn’t afraid to do that.

Kevin Harvick
Kevin is always running up towards the front of the pack with his Stewart-Haas team. A native of California, Kevin would love to win at this track for the second time in his career. He has finished in the top ten in six of his last ten races at the Auto Club Speedway.

Aric Almirola
Aric has been very good in every race so far this year and this is the type of track where he excels. Even though he has never led a lap or finished in the top ten at this track, I think he is going to run towards the front of the pack once again in this race. This team is looking like they might be legitimate contenders this year.

Eric Jones: Although he has only run two races at this track, Eric has done very well finishing twelfth in his first start and then seventh last season. This team is going to be looking to rebound after a rough week at Phoenix where he had a tire go down early in the race that ruined his whole day. This should be a good track for them.

Chase Elliott: Chase has only run three races at this track and finished in the top ten in his first two. I really don’t know what to expect from the Hendrick teams at this point in the season. I think I am still going to stay away from all of these teams at this point of the season and see if they can make some improvement as we get deeper into the schedule.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Brad Keselowski
• Martin Truex Jr.

Driver Group Game Group B

• Aric Almirola
• Ryan Blaney
• Eric Jones
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chris Buescher
• Matt Dibenedetto

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

1. Brad Keselowski
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Joey Logano
4. Kyle Busch
5. Ryan Blaney

Dark Horse: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stay Away From: Jimmie Johnson

Big 18: Ryan Blaney

What a snoozer that race was. At the end there were only three cars withing 10 seconds of the leader. After we saw the new aero package in the last couple of races we get back to racing like we remember and I can’t wait. This week’s race, as all races on tracks 1-mile or shorter, will be run with last years race package. That means we should be able to look at past stats and have a better idea of who to put on our rosters this week.

TICKETGUARDIAN 500

The series will remain out west for the next two races and this week the drivers head for ISM Raceway
outside of Phoenix, AZ. This 1-mile low banked tri-oval raceway is one of the only races where the name has kilometers in it instead of miles. So, the TicketGuardian 500 is a 500 kilometer race which is 312 laps.

Kevin Harvick
I have to go with Kevin to win this week. In his last eleven starts here he has six wins and hasn’t finished worse than sixth in any of those races. With more than half of this year’s races being run with the new aero package, the driver are going to want to make hay while the sun shines on the tracks where they are running the old package and they are consistent. Playoff points and stage points are huge in these races.

Kyle Busch
Not to be outdone by too much by Harvick, Kyle hasn’t been too bad here either. In his last seven starts he has six top five finishes and his worst finish is seventh in that stretch. That also includes a second place finish in this race last year which he followed up by winning the fall race here.

Denny Hamlin
Denny has run better here lately and already has the win at Daytona to qualify him for the playoffs. Now he wants to win some stages and more races to add to his playoff point totals. He has five top ten finishes in his last seven starts here and dominated the fall race here in 2017 until he was involved in a crash late in that race.

Chase Elliott: Chase has led laps here in three of his last four starts, qualified in the top ten in his last five starts, and finished in the top ten in four of his six career starts at this track. He looks like he really knows how to run on the short tracks. This could be a good place to start a Hendrick car as it is more about handling than speed at this track.

Martin Truex Jr.
Martin is still looking for his first short track win in this series. He has come so close so many times and has had some dominant cars only to have trouble late in the races. I predict that he will win on a short track this season, but I don’t think it will be this week.

Brad Keselowski
Brad has been off again on again at ISM. He did lead laps in both of the races here last season and finished second in the fall race. We might want to save him for the tracks with the new aero package as he already has a win and a runner up finish in the two races already run. He is also more consistent at some of the other short tracks on the circuit.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has really picked up his game at this track recently. He has three top three finishes in his last five starts here even though he is still looking for his first win at Phoenix. In his ten career races here he has started in the top ten nine times with his poorest starting position being twelfth. I look for him to have another good week.

Aric Almirola
Aric is on a streak of three straight top ten finishes here. Those are his only three top ten finishes in sixteen starts at this track. I think now that he is driving for Stewart-Haas Racing he will only get better here. The only thing that bothers me about him is that he has never led a single lap at this track.

Eric Jones: Another up and coming driver, Eric has only run three races here, but he has three top ten finishes in those races. He has never started worse than eleventh and he did lead some laps here last fall. I think he really likes this track and will keep improving here as he figures it out a bit more every time he visits.

Daniel Suarez: Daniel has only run four races here and has come away with two top ten finishes. Both of those have come in the spring race. This is the spring race. Now he is with a new team and I think that is going to help him out a bit here. Having someone like Kevin Harvick as a teammate at this track gives you an inside edge to figuring out this track.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR ISM RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Kyle Busch

Driver Group Game Group B

• Daniel Suarez
• Denny Hamlin
• Eric Jones
• Aric Almirola

Driver Group Game Group C

• Michael McDowell
• Matt Dibenedetto

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT ISM RACEWAY

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

Dark Horse: Ryan Newman

Stay Away From: Ryan Blaney

Big 18: Kevin Harvick

Well, the first race with the new aero package is in the books, and I for one am not a fan at the moment. It seemed like about 20 laps into a run and the tenth place driver was more than 10 seconds back. There really wasn’t a lot of passing opportunities after the first 4 or 5 laps of a restart either. However it did seem to help some of the less funded teams compete a little more, but still it seemed like track position after a caution was a make or break situation.

PENNZOIL 400

So, we now head to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the Pennziol 400. This is another of the mile and a half tracks on the circuit and we will see if these teams learned anything about setting up the cars on this type of track. It still looks like the Ford teams have the upper hand so far this season with speed and handling overall.

Martin Truex Jr.
Martin looked really good at Atlanta last weekend and has led more laps than any other driver in the last three races at Las Vegas. He also has four top five finishes in his last five starts here including a win here in the spring of 2017. He is my pick to win once again this weekend.

Kevin Harvick
Kevin has won two of the last five races at Las Vegas and led 214 laps here in winning here last spring. It still looks like the “Big 3” from last year are still the three driver to beat this year. I look for Kevin to run towards the front all race long this week.

Brad Keselowski
Brad has won three of the last six races here including the race last fall. The Penske teams look like they are picking up where they were at the end of last season making major improvements and being able to compete with the Stewart-Haas teams.

Kyle Busch
Kyle had a bit of a rough weekend last week at Atlanta, crashing in the final practice, going to a backup car and then crashing again in the race, but he still ran well even after that. Kyle has four top seven finishes in his last six starts and has led laps in five of those races.

Kyle Larson: Kyle looked really good last weekend at Atlanta lead the most laps until he got caught speeding on pit road. That penalty took him right out of the race because of how difficult it is to pass with the new aero package. He has three straight top three finishes at Las Vegas and if last week was any indication he will be a contender once again this weekend.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan was another driver who had a great run going at Atlanta until he had issues in the pits late in the race. Another of the Penske cars that looked good in that race. Ryan has finished in the top seven in the last four races at Las Vegas. Look for him to run well on the intermediate tracks this season.

Joey Logano
The third Penske driver in the field, Joey has run very well at Las Vegas during his career with six straight top ten finishes. Joey took advantage of not having pitted late in the race to take the lead after having multiple problems on pit road early in the race last week. Then he ended up having a loose wheel and that was the end of his chances.

Aric Almirola
Aric finished in the top ten in both races here last year in his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing. He seems to be getting better and better every week and this is the type of track where he runs consistently well. Look for him to come away with another top ten finish this week.

Denny Hamlin
Denny ran a bit better than I thought he would last weekend and he has always run better at Las Vegas than at Atlanta. He could be a bit of a surprise to me once again this weekend where he has only finished in the top ten in two of his last eight starts. Maybe the Gibbs teams have something figured out with the new aero package.

Paul Menard
Paul is my dark horse this weekend. He finished in the top ten in both races here last season in his first year with Wood Brothers Racing and they do run Penske engines. Paul could pull another surprise this weekend and is someone you could probably have on your roster this week to save some starts for some of your more consistent drivers.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Kyle Larson

Driver Group Game Group B

• Ryan Blaney
• Paul Menard
• Aric Almirola
• Daniel Suarez

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chris Buescher
• Daniel Hemric

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Kyle Larson
5. Ryan Blaney

Dark Horse: Paul Menard

Stay Away From: Jimmie Johnson

Big 18: Martin Truex Jr.