Author: Jeff Gutowski

Chase Elliott did it again. This time he came from the back of the pack to win at a road course again and he did it by pulling away after taking the lead on the final restart of the race at Road America. He had over a six second lead as the drivers headed into the final lap and cruised home from there for his seventh road course victory in twelve starts.

QUAKER STATE 400 PRESENTED BY WALMART

This week the series heads to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the running of the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart. This is another of the intermediate tracks on the circuit and the pressure is starting to mount for drivers who don’t have a win yet this season as we are only six races away from the start of the playoffs. If we get a new winner who isn’t in the top sixteen in points it takes away another spot for someone to get in on points.

Kyle Larson: Larson has been the driver to beat on almost every track other than the road courses lately. I have to give him the nod to win again this weekend. The issue I have is I’m starting to run out of starts for him and might want to save him for some tracks where I think he has a better chance of winning, so I might not have him in my lineup this week. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use him. It is all dependent on if you can use him unlimited times or if you have a lot of his starts left.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin was the fastest driver on the intermediate tracks earlier this year, but has since cooled off a bit. He could turn it back on at any time. I don’t know if they have been experimenting a little bit to get ready for the playoffs or if they are just a bit out of sync right now. I can’t believe they could have made that big of changes that made him the person to beat to being a top ten driver on these tracks now.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is one of those drivers who has a pretty good cushion to get into the playoffs on points without a win, but I’m sure that’s not how he wants to try and qualify. He has been very good at Atlanta lately with two wins in his last four starts and ten top ten finishes in his last eleven races at this track. This team just doesn’t seem to have the speed they need to compete with the Hendrick teams at this point of the season.

Denny Hamlin: Denny’s lone win at Atlanta came back in the 2012 season. He along with Kevin who were probably the top two drivers at this point in time last year is still looking for his first win of the season too. He is usually very good at this track also and has finished in the top five in three of his last four starts here. Once again he has a solid points cushion and should make the playoffs that way unless things really go south for him in the next six races.

Alex Bowman: Alex is really good on these intermediate tracks and won at Pocono a few weeks ago. He has three wins on the season and finished third here last season. We have seen that the Hendrick drivers seem to have more speed than all of the other teams although the Gibbs teams seem to be making some headway. Still, I think it’s a good idea to stick with some of the Hendrick drivers until they show vulnerability.

Chase Elliott: Wins on road courses, but doesn’t quite have what his teammates have on the intermediate tracks right now. I expect this to change quickly though. This team has so much confidence after last week’s win that they could carry that through this weekend and give the rest of the Hendrick drivers some competition this week too.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has been getting better every week and if he can win in the Xfinity series as much as he does he can win in the Cup series too. He did win at Kansas earlier this season which is a little bit like Atlanta. He has two career wins at Atlanta and has finished in the top ten in seven of his last nine starts there. This team could surprise at any time and go on a streak of winning.

Joey Logano: Don’t ask me what it is, but I just have this feeling that Joey is going to be fast this weekend and be a contender. There really isn’t anything in his stats that should make me think what I do. It’s just a feeling that I have. He has never won here, although he did finish second back in the 2013 season. Maybe it’s just that I need to make up some ground in my leagues and I want to take a shot at someone who I don’t think anyone else will have.

Aric Almirola: That feeling hit me again with Aric as he has run pretty well the last three races. Once again, there really isn’t anything in the stats that tells me he could run well this weekend and most of his finishes have been pretty dismal this year. He’s another driver I don’t think a lot of people will have on their rosters this week and could help you make up ground.

William Byron: William had his best finish here last season although he has only run four races at Atlanta. We know the Hendrick cars have the most speed and that gives them an advantage at a track like Atlanta. I’m think he is going to run in the top ten most of the day and could very well be a contender at the end of this race.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Joey Logano

Driver Group Game Group B

• Alex Bowman
• Kyle Busch

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kyle Larson
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Kyle Busch
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Alex Bowman

Dark Horse: Matt DiBenedetto

Stay Away From: Ross Chastain

Big 18: Joey Logano

The series made it through the entire Pocono weekend without any weather issues which is a win itself. Some of the drivers weren’t so lucky. Kyle Larson looked like he was going to win yet another race on Saturday until suffering a flat tire on the final lap of that race. Yet the Hendrick teams looked to be the best in both races once again. The rest of the teams are going to have to get better before the playoffs start or it’s going to be tough for any of them to beat all of the Hendrick cars for a championship.

JOCKEY MADE IN AMERICA 250 PRESENTED BY KWIK TRIP

This week the series heads to yet another new venue and another road course race. This time the teams will head to Road America for the running of the Jockey Made In America 250 Presented By Kwik Trip. The Xfinity series has run here for the past eleven years though, so some drivers have races here before.

Chase Elliott: Once again I have to go with Chase to win at a road course. He has won six of the last eleven road course races run in the Cup Series and that in itself makes me want to have him on my roster for this race. It’s tough to pick anyone else to win when someone has been that dominant on a certain type of track even though they are all quite different. He just knows how to figure out where to brake and where he can pass.

Martin Truex Jr.: The only driver besides Chase to win more than one race in the last eleven road course starts. Martin is always a threat on this type of track himself. It’s hard to predict who will run well on a track that the series is heading to for the first time since 1956 when the only Cup race was held here. It goes without saying, but none of the current drivers was even born when the last Cup race was run here.

Christopher Bell: Christopher won in the Xfinity Series at Road America two years ago. He has run pretty well on all of the road course tracks and is worth taking a shot at this weekend. He won at the Daytona Road Course earlier this season so we know he has what it takes to win on this type of track.

Michael McDowell: Michael is another driver that has won here in the Xfinity Series and he is usually very good on the road courses. However, we might want to save his starts if someone like AJ Allmendinger or Austin Cindric is entered in this race. They are both good road course drivers and can save one of McDowell’s starts for you.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has three top tens in the road course races already run this year and has been good on these tracks his entire career. In fact he hasn’t finished outside of the top twenty in his last sixteen road course starts. A lot of things have to go right for him to win, but he should have a very competitive car once again this weekend.

Kyle Larson: Kyle won the last road course race at Sonoma and finished second at Circuit of the America’s this year. This team has been spot on each and every week, but this might not be the best time to use him. There are too many factors and these races can be hard on equipment. There is a lot of bumping and banging that goes on when drivers try to pass each other and something could happen right in front of you that ends up taking you out of a race here. Save his starts for other tracks.

Kurt Busch: Kurt hasn’t run very well this season on the intermediate tracks, but this is his type of race where it is more about handling than speed. Kurt really knows how to run on the road courses where he has finished top six in three of his last five starts. If we’re going to use him this season it seems like these are the types of places we want to take a chance on him.

Alex Bowman: Alex isn’t the first person I think of when we talk about a road course race, but he isn’t far down the list. He has proven that he can compete on these tracks and that shows in his stats. Alex hasn’t finished worse that fourteenth in his last twelve road course starts. This is very impressive for any driver and to think the Alex wasn’t always running on one of the top tier teams through many of those races.

Joey Logano: So close the last five road course starts, but still looking for his first win since the 2015 season on one of these tracks. Joey has a string of five straight top five finishes on the road course tracks. That includes two runner-up finishes and two third place finishes. If you can come that close that often you are on the edge of winning another one of these races.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR ROAD AMERICA

Driver Group Game Group A

• Chase Elliott
• Martin Truex Jr.

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Alex Bowman
• Erik Jones
• Christopher Bell

Driver Group Game Group C

• Michael McDowell
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Watch the entry list as these drivers might change after it comes out.

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT ROAD AMERICA

1. Chase Elliott
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Kyle Larson
5. Joey Logano

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Bubba Wallace

Big 18: Christopher Bell

Kyle Larson was dominant once again at Nashville in the first Cup Race held there. He has been the best of the field pretty much every week lately. Martin Truex Jr. had a run earlier in the year where he was dominant, but has since relinquished that spot to Kyle

RACE ONE AND TWO

This week the series heads to the Pocono Raceway for the running of 2 separate races. One on Saturday and one on Sunday. This is difficult for the drivers and teams along with all of us fantasy players. Another tough thing about this weekend is the unpredictable weather in the Pocono Mountains. These races could get rained out very easily and then the schedule has to be altered to make sure all of the races get run somehow.

Kyle Larson: Kyle is the hottest driver on the track and though he didn’t run here last year and this will be his first time at Pocono with Hendrick Motorsports, I have to give him the nod for the win on Saturday. I just think this team is hitting on all cylinders right now and it’s tough to go against them. That doesn’t mean he’ll sweep the weekend though. All of the other teams will have a full race to try a figure it out for Sunday’s race.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin finished first and second in the two races run here last season. Besides that, in his last ten Pocono races he has one win, three second place finishes and seven top five finishes. This might be the week for this team to break back into the win column and get qualified for the playoffs.

Denny Hamlin: Denny leads all active drivers with six wins at this track. That includes winning the second race here the last two years. In between those two races he finished second to Harvick once last year. This is someone who has always run well at this track and this weekend should be no different.

Kyle Busch: This team has been getting better all the time. He has won three of his last seven starts at Pocono and will be someone to reckon with this weekend. He has finished in the top ten in eight of his last nine starts here also and has won multiple stages during that stretch.

William Byron: William has run very well this year and though he has only run six races at Pocono he has a pretty good idea on what to relay to his crew chief for the adjustments he needs to have made to his car during the race. With four top ten finishes in those six starts this is another team that won’t surprise if they come away with another top five finish this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has two career wins at this track and has finished in the top ten in six of his last eight starts here. Though they haven’t been as fast lately as they were earlier in the season, this is the type of track where Martin really excels. A bit flatter in the corners and with three corners that need different handling he knows how to get around here.

Brad Keselowski: Brad’s only win here came way back in the 2011 season. That’s not to say he hasn’t run well here though. In fact, Brad has finished in the top ten in nine of his last eleven starts at Pocono with seven of those finishes being top fives. This team can come out and win on any given week and we know Brad is going to do whatever he can to get back to victory lane.

Erik Jones: We looked for Erik to run well at Sonoma which he did coming away with a eleventh place finish. Well, he runs very well at this track also and because of the handling needed here I’m going to have him as my dark horse this week. I’m not sure if he’ll have the speed he needs to the long straightaway, but I’m pretty sure he’ll handle well in the corners. If he can get off the corners good he’ll have a good run. He has four top five finishes in his last five starts and that tells me a lot about his ability here.

Chase Elliott: This is another track where I expect to see Chase compete with the leaders for the most part. He’s still learning some things and once he can figure out what he needs to run well in all three corners he’s going to win some races here. In his ten career starts he has finished in the top ten seven times with three of those finishes being fourth place finishes. That means he’s close to having everything figured out.

Not many changes for race 2. I put Daniel Suarez in for my C driver and am taking Alex Bowman for the Big 18. Otherwise all of my picks are the same as they were for Saturday’s race.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR POCONO RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Denny Hamlin

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kyle Larson
• William Byron

Driver Group Game Group C

• Daniel Suarez

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT POCONO RACEWAY

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

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Bubba Wallace

Big 18: Alex Bowman

I don’t know about you, but I compare the All-Star Race to the Pro-Bowl in football. Does anyone really want to watch it? It’s so hard to follow as they change the format almost every year and nobody really knows what’s going on and it’s really drawn out. Maybe some of you are excited to watch it, but I for one don’t waste my time. Besides, starting a race on Sunday night that really means nothing to the series doesn’t make it something I have as a top priority.

ALLY 400

This week the series gets back to points racing at a new venue for this tier of the sport. The venue is the Nashville Superspeedway, and the race is the Ally 400. This is a mile and a third track with 14 degree banking in the corners. It is also a concrete track which will have a bearing on tire wear. There was some testing done on tires with three of the Cup series drivers taking part in that test. Hopefully they have a good tire that wears well and we don’t see everyone blowing tires early in runs.

Kyle Larson: I have to pick Kyle to win this week as he is the hottest driver on the circuit right now. He has shown he runs well on all types of tracks each and every week and this week should be no different. The Hendrick cars still look like the cream of the crop followed by the Gibbs and Penske cars. The Stewart-Haas teams seem to be behind a little bit right now.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has been the second most consistent driver and this is his type of track. I think he’s going to give Kyle a run for his money this week. He faltered a little bit at Charlotte a few weeks ago, but they should know where they went wrong by now and could have used the All-Star race to do some testing to try and get everything back on track.

Brad Keselowski: Brad won two Xfinity Series races here although they haven’t run that series since the 2011 season. This team has been off and on this year and with rumors that Brad might be moving to Roush next season as a part owner, I don’t know what to think right now. Maybe he’s a bit distracted, but he seems to be a driver who’s really focused once they get behind the wheel.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is another driver who won two Xfinity races at Nashville in the past. This team, along with all the other Stewart-Haas teams has struggled a bit this year. One good thing is that Kevin really knows how to take care of his tires and should have a good long run car. The questions are how are the tires going to hold up for the rest of the field and are we going to get those long runs?

Denny Hamlin: Denny ran five Xfinity races at this track and finished in the top ten in all of them. Even though he didn’t win any of those races he has shown that he can run consistently well here. Although those races were at least ten years ago and the track has changed quite a bit in that time, the configuration is still the same which gives him a little advantage over those who have never races here.

Kyle Busch: Kyle won a race here in ten tries in the Xfinity Series. I’m still not sure if this team has everything quite figured out yet, but they’re close. Once they put the last couple of pieces in place they are going to go on a run and give the rest of the drivers someone else to worry about each and every week.

Joey Logano: Joey won one of those races from the past in four tries while finishing in the top ten in three of them. I think he’s going to have a really good car this week and he’s someone you can take a chance on if you don’t want to go with Kyle and Martin as my two favorites to win this race. If they falter and Joey finishes top five it could be a real helper in your league.

Austin Dillon: Austin has run two races here in the other series and finished top ten in both of them. He has shown some flashes of what he can do this year although he hasn’t been real consistent. This is the type of track where he does the most damage and has his best runs. Might be someone else to use to save starts of other drivers seeing we don’t have much data on this track.

Matt DiBenedetto: Another driver who has races here in the past. Although it was only one race, Matt still came away with a top ten finish. This team has been improving each week and could very well contend for another top ten finish in this race.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Joey Logano

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kyle Larson
• Austin Dillon
• Matt DiBenedetto
• Tyler Reddick

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chase Briscoe
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY

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

Dark Horse: Tyler Reddick

Stay Away From: Bubba Wallace

Big 18: Joey Logano

The Coca-Cola 600 is in the books and the series heads out west to the Sonoma Raceway for the first time in two years for the running of the Toyota/Save Mart 350. This race was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. So the questions are has the track changed? If so, how much and will the teams notes from past years make a difference?

TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350

This is another of the many road course races on the schedule this year. After this race the teams will head to Texas for the All-Star race before getting back to finding out who can qualify for the playoffs as the season winds down. After this race there will only be ten more races left before those playoffs start and those without a win will be pushing hard to get it so they don’t have to worry about making it in on points.

Chase Elliott: Chase has been the driver to beat lately on all of the road courses. He is still looking for his first win at Sonoma although he has only run four races here. He did lead a few laps in his last race here before losing an engine. His best finish is a fourth place finish which came two race ago at this track. Even without him having a win here yet it’s hard not to have him on your roster.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has won the last two races at Sonoma. With that being said and with how well he had been running on the intermediate tracks until last weekend, I don’t think I want to use him up here. Hard to do with his latest accomplishments here, but the way Chase has run on these tracks I think I can take that chance. He will probably still finish in the top five here and might even win.

Kyle Busch: Kyle came up just short the last time the series was here finishing second to Martin. He hasn’t finished worse than seventh in his last five starts at this track and has two career wins. The only other issue is that Kyle doesn’t usually finish in the top ten in the stages. In fact, he has only finished in the top ten in a stage once here. That means he might not be consistent enough to consider using him this week either.

Kevin Harvick: Not the first person you think of when you are looking for starters for a road course race, but this is one of those tracks where Kevin runs better than the rest of them. He hasn’t finished worse than sixth in his last five starts and that includes a win a few years ago. This team has struggled most of the season and if you have a bunch of starts with him left you might consider using him this week.

Denny Hamlin: Denny is someone you might think of when setting your lineup at a road course, but he has yet to win at this track. He has run much better and more consistent in his last four races here than he had previous to that. In his last four he has three top five and four top ten finishes. In the six races he ran before that streak he only cracked the top twenty once.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has been very consistent throughout his career at this track. He has one win and hasn’t finished outside the top fifteen in his last nine starts at this track. He is someone we will strongly consider having in out B list lineup this week. He might not be running as well as he did the last couple of seasons, but this is a different type of track and I think his consistency here will show through.

Kyle Larson: Last week’s winner has never run really well here in his six starts. That’s not to say that he hasn’t been one of the fastest cars here. In fact, he sat on the pole for his last three starts and in the top five in each of his six starts at Sonoma. The issue seems to be not making mistakes during the race. I don’t know if it’s bad timing on pit stops or what, but this team doesn’t seem to come away with the results they are expecting here. That could all change now that he’s with Hendrick and I think he might be the drivers to beat. Even better than Chase, but do we want to use him here when he’s been so dominant most everywhere else?

William Byron: William has only run two races at Sonoma which doesn’t give us much to look at. In those two races his best finish was nineteenth which he accomplished in his last race. What that doesn’t tell us is that he won the first stage and finished third in the second stage of that race before falling back in the final stage. He also lead twenty-one laps in that race which is also a good sign. Worth taking a chance on this weekend.

Ryan Newman: Another driver who has never won at this track but might be worth taking a chance on this week. In his only race here with Roush/Fenway Racing Ryan finished seventh. Throughout his career which spans eighteen races at this track he has only finished outside the top twenty twice. He might not have what it takes to win this race, but he should give you a chance at a solid finish while saving some starts for other drivers.

Erik Jones: Another driver I think is worth taking at shot with this week. Erik has run consistently well on the road courses in his short career. He has back to back to ten finishes at this track and has finished fourteenth and sixteenth in his two road course races this year. I think this team should have what it takes to come away with a top ten finish this week if they can keep from making huge mistakes on the track.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR SONOMA RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Chase Elliott

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Erik Jones

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chase Briscoe

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT SONOMA RACEWAY

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

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Bubba Wallace

Big 18: Chase Elliott