Author: Jeff Gutowski

After a delay due to weather this past weekend, Kyle Busch picked up his second consecutive Sprint Cup win and is now solidly qualified for the Chase. Can he make it three in a row this weekend or will someone else pick up their first win of the season?

Just a word of caution to all of the Yahoo league players who are using Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney at this point of the season. You will only be able to use them for eighteen starts, which is half of the season. These two will run well all year. Right now you have drivers subbing for Tony Stewart. Even thought their finishes might not always be the best, they are in great equipment. Once Tony comes back there won’t be much to choose from in the C group other than Elliott and Blaney. You should consider starting whoever is in the #14 for now.

FOOD CITY 500

This week the series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the running of the Food City 500. This is another short track like Martinsville, but with a huge difference in the banking. The banking here is between 24 and 30 degrees compared to the 11 degrees at Martinsville. This equates to lap times of around 15 or 16 seconds. Makes it a little hard to know who is on the lead lap and who is a lap down on this .533-mile track.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is on a roll now and with five wins at this track he is tied with his brother Kurt for the most wins by an active driver at Bristol. He also has finished in the top ten in thirteen of his twenty-one starts, qualified second last fall after missing the spring race due to injury, and finished in the top ten in the fall race. With momentum on his side he is going to be hard to beat this weekend.

Kurt Busch: As mentioned above, Kurt also has five wins at this track and always seems to qualify well here. Qualifying is huge at this track because you don’t want to start towards the rear of the field where you will be a half of a lap behind or more at the start of the race. With fifteen second lap times the leaders will catch the back of the pack quickly.

Joey Logano: Joey has won the last two fall races here and has qualified in the top ten in twelve of his fourteen starts here. If it was the fall race I would pick him to win again and will have him as my alternate driver in the A group for Yahoo this week. I can always start him depending on how he qualifies and looks in practice. He very well can get me qualifying points whether I start him or not.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has won two of the last five races here including this race last season to break a long winless streak for him. Matt has led almost seven-hundred laps here in his last nine starts, has finished in the top ten in twenty of his thirty-two starts, and has won four times here overall.

Carl Edwards: Carl has three wins at this track and has been running very well this season even though he is still looking for his first win of the year. One of his wins came here two seasons ago and he has led laps in five of his last seven starts at Bristol. Carl isn’t afraid to mix it up on the track a little bit if he has to and this is the type of track where you might need to use the chrome horn to make a few passes.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has two wins here in his twelve starts and like his teammate, Joey Logano, he seems to run better here in the fall night race. If Carl doesn’t mind mixing it up on the track, Brad loves to mix it up. He is of the attitude that trading a little paint is the way to race at tracks like Bristol and holds no grudges against someone who will bump him a little bit here.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Although he only has one win at this track and seven top five finishes in thirty-two starts, Dale hardly ever finishes outside the top fifteen. He is one of the most consistent drivers here with an average finishing position of 12.84. Dale has gotten better with each season at Hendrick Motorsports and will pick up a win before the start of the Chase.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Ricky is my sleeper this week. He has only run six races at Bristol in his short career, but he has finished in the top six in three of those races including a second place finish in this race two years ago. He has looked very good up to this point of the season and could be a surprise winner this weekend.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has finished in the top five here in his last four starts including a runner-up finish in this race last season. With two wins under their belt already, this team is qualified for the Chase and is just looking to add some bonus points now by picking up as many wins as they can. They are in a position to take a few chances late in the race to try and win races, so you can never count them out.

Greg Biffle: Greg has never won a race at this track, but he has finished in the top ten in half of his twenty-six starts. This team has struggled the past two seasons, but with his teammate, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., running well lately, this team shouldn’t be far behind. I think this is one of those tracks where Greg might surprise a few people and come away with a top ten finish and could possibly challenge for the win.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Joey Logano

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Greg Biffle
• Kasey Kahne

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Joey Logano
3. Kurt Busch
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Carl Edwards

Dark Horse: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

Big 18: Joey Logano

Congratulations to Kyle Busch who dominated the race at Martinsville last weekend and is now qualified for the Chase. A number of teams who have had a rough start to the season ran very well this past weekend and came away with top ten finishes and a lot of confidence heading into this week’s race at Texas.

DUCK COMMANDER 500

Texas Motor Speedway is another of the mile-and-a-half tracks on the circuit and is very similar to Atlanta where the series has already run once this season. This is one of the fastest tracks in the series and you will see speeds in excess of 200-mph this weekend. This is also the first night race of the season and is going to be run on Saturday, so make sure you get your rosters set before you can’t change them for whatever league you are in.

Jimmie Johnson: Once again I am picking Jimmie to win the race this weekend at Texas. Jimmie has six wins at Texas including winning three of the past four races here. He also won the race at Atlanta earlier this season and like I said, this track is very similar to that track. I am going to stick with Jimmie on this type of track until someone can prove that they can beat him on one of them.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is still looking for his first win at this track and always seems to have a fast car every week. He led a third of the race at Atlanta earlier this year before finishing sixth in that race. He has also finished in the top ten here in fourteen of his twenty-six starts and will be one of the drivers who should give Jimmie a run for his money this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale finished second to Jimmie at Atlanta this year, has one win at Texas, and has finished in the top ten in nine of his last ten starts at this track. Those are some of the most consistent stats in those past ten races of anyone on the circuit. This team has come so close to winning already this season and this might be the weekend that they break into the win column and get themselves qualified for the Chase.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has picked up two wins at Texas during his career and has some pretty great stats here himself. Besides those two wins, Matt has finished in the top five thirteen times in twenty-six starts. Anytime a driver can finish in the top five in half of his starts at any track, he is someone to consider having on your roster every time he visits that particular track.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has stats very similar to his teammate, Kevin Harvick, at Texas Motor Speedway. He has the same number of starts at twenty-six and the same number of top ten finishes here. He has one win and has led more than twice as many laps as Kevin has at this track during his career. I think this team will have a car just as good as Kevin does once again this weekend and they are another team that could pick up their first win of the season if all of the cards fall right for them.

Carl Edwards: Carl has won three races at Texas which is second only to Jimmie Johnson’s six wins among all active drivers. It seems that all of the Joe Gibbs teams are fast and have cars capable of winning races each and every week if they can make the right adjustments as the track changes throughout the race. Night races seem to be a little easier on the crew-chiefs decision making once the sun is gone and the track temperature doesn’t change a lot anymore during the race.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has one win here and has finished in the top five in five of his last six starts at this track. Now that this team has picked up a win they can relax a little bit and I think that will just make them even better. Kyle is another driver who has finished in the top five here in almost half of the races he has run here with nine top fives in twenty starts.

Joey Logano: Joey didn’t run real well here at the start of his career, but he has been very good here over the past few seasons. In his last six starts over the past three seasons, Joey has one win and four top five finishes. I think this team is at their best on this type of track and I think they will have something to say before the end of Saturday nights race.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has been very good at this type of track while racing for Furniture Row. He has ten top ten finishes in his twenty-one career starts and is looking for his first win at this track and his first win of the season. This team is always fun to watch on the intermediate tracks and will be towards the front of the pack at some point during the race and it might be all of the race.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at Texas and has run almost as well as his teammate, Joey Logano has lately. Brad has finished in the top five in his last three starts here and he has finished in the top ten in six of his last seven starts here. That tells me that both of the Penske teammates will be a factor in this weekend’s race.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Matt Kenseth

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Martin Truex Jr.
• Austin Dillon
• Greg Biffle

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Brian Vickers
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Joey Logano
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Austin Dillon

Stay Away From: Ryan Newman

Big 18: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jimmie Johnson picked up his second win of the season and is now a lock for the Chase unless for some unseen reason he doesn’t run all of the races before the Chase starts. This team looks like they are hitting on all cylinders once again and if they keep it up, they will be looking at a great shot at another championship. Chad Knaus is making all of the right calls and Jimmie is getting the job done on the track.

STP 500

After a week off for the Easter holiday, the teams will be back on the East Coast this week at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, VA for the running of the STP 500. Martinsville is the shortest track on the Sprint Cup circuit at just .526-miles and at the same time is very flat compared to Bristol. The paper clip shaped-track only has twelve degrees of banking in the corners and qualifying is very important because those who start in the back will find themselves half a lap down by the time they get to the starting line at the beginning of the race.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won eight times at Martinsville and is on a roll right now. He is one of the most consistent drivers at this track where he has finished in the top five eighteen times in only twenty-eight starts. He also has twenty-two top ten finishes in those starts and has led 2,747 laps here which is at least twice as many as any other active driver.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has five wins, eleven top five and sixteen top ten finishes in his twenty starts at this track. He has led the second most laps here of all active drivers and will give Jimmie everything he has throughout this race. These are the two most consistent drivers at this track and you should have both of them on your roster if at all possible this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has one win at Martinsville and has finished in the top five thirteen times and the top ten eighteen times in his thirty-two career starts here. He has led just under 1,000 laps and has been very consistent here over the past five plus years with eight top ten finishes in his last eleven starts. He has also run better on a consistent basis on the short tracks the past couple of seasons.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has also won a race at this track and he has finished in the top ten in fourteen of his twenty-nine starts here. Finishing in the top ten in half of the races you run at any track is great, but he isn’t nearly as consistent here as the first three drivers that I mentioned. He doesn’t have the handle on this track like he has at Phoenix.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at this track and came close last spring, finishing second to Denny Hamlin. Brad has also finished in the top ten in six of his twelve starts here and likes to mix it up at this type of track. I think this team will be in the hunt once again this weekend.

Tony Stewart: I don’t think Tony is ready to come back yet and get in the drivers seat as he recovers from a back injury, but if he somehow does he is another driver who runs well here consistently. Tony has won three times at this track and has led over 1,200 laps. Keep an eye on the entry list when it comes out on Tuesday and see who is driving the #14 this week and use them in your Yahoo lineup.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is another driver looking for his first win at this track and has run well here more often than not. He has finished in the top five in nine of his twenty starts and has run well every week so far this season. A cut tire late in the race in California cost him another top five finish on the year. Kyle will get a win before the Chase starts, but this might not be the week.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has one win at this track and has run pretty well most every week this year. I think this is the type of track this team has a better chance to win at compared to the longer tracks. Ryan doesn’t mind mixing it up on the track and with his engineering background, I think he really helps his crew-chief out with adjustments at this track.

Jamie McMurray: Jamie hasn’t gotten a win at Martinsville yet, but he always seems to be in contention at this race. Case in point, he finished second here last fall, sat on the pole here three race ago, and has finished in the top ten here in fourteen of his twenty-six starts. I think Jamie is a dark horse this weekend and should come away with another top ten finish or better.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is a driver who normally runs well at the short tracks. However, Martinsville is an exception for him. He has won two races here during his career, but he has only one top ten finish here in his last twenty starts. That top ten was one of his wins. I think there are better drivers to put on your roster this weekend. Save Kurt for some other week.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Denny Hamlin

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Ryan Newman
• Jamie McMurray
• Clint Bowyer
• AJ Allmendinger

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Brian Vickers
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Jamie McMurray
5. Ryan Newman

Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From: Kurt Busch

Big 18: Denny Hamlin

Another great finish this week at Phoenix saw Kevin Harvick hold off Carl Edwards by .01 seconds to pick up his first win of the season and get himself qualified for the Chase. This was Kevin’s sixth win in his last eight starts at here which is another amazing feat.

AUTO CLUB 400

This week the series stays out west as the drivers and their teams head to Fontana, CA and Auto Club Speedway for the running of the Auto Club 400. This track is a two-mile D-shaped oval that is very similar to Michigan International Speedway. Neither tires nor engines should be a factor this weekend for the drivers, although fuel mileage could come into play late in this race.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all drivers in wins with five, laps led at 955, and top five finishes with twelve at Auto Club Speedway. Add to that, this team has looked good on the mile-and-a-half tracks so far this season and you have the recipe for another win for the 48 team this weekend. Jimmie will be the first repeat winner of the season if he can get his car to victory lane once again this weekend.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has won three races at Auto Club Speedway and has finished in the top ten in fifteen of his twenty-three starts here. He also runs extremely well at Michigan which is almost identical to this track. Matt has had a few problems on the track during the early part of this season, but this is one of those tracks where he can turn his luck around in a hurry.

Kyle Busch: Kyle also has three wins here and has won the last two races here that he has run. He missed this race last season while recovering from injuries suffered in a crash at Daytona. He has also finished in the top three in his last four starts here and has looked very good every week this season. He will be one of the favorites heading into the race this weekend.

Carl Edwards: Carl came oh so close to winning his first race of the season last week and he is one of the most consistent drivers at this track. In eighteen starts here Carl has one win, eight top five, and fourteen top ten finishes. I think we are going to see a lot of long, green flag runs this week and this team knows how to be patient and set up the car so it gets better as a run goes on.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has won one race at this track and he has finished in the top ten in six of his last eight starts here. This team is fast every week and now that they have a win under their belt this season they can relax a little bit. Then again, I don’t think that Kevin ever relaxes in a race car. He is always looking to win every race he enters and that strategy won’t change this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale is still looking for his first win at this track, but he has run well here the past five years finishing no worse that twelfth in those five starts. This team has looked strong every week this year and this weekend should be no different. Dale can run the high line that he likes this weekend which will give him a lot of speed and momentum coming out of the corners and that is how he likes to attack this track.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has sat on the pole at this track a record four times during his career. He also has one win and twelve top ten finishes in his twenty-starts at this track. In addition he has finished in the top ten in seven of his last nine starts here. This team has been fast all season and remains fast when they are out front. If they get stuck in traffic they seem to struggle to pass people, so they need to figure this part out and then they will start picking up some wins this season.

Joey Logano: Joey has been fast all year so far, but he hasn’t found his way to victory lane yet. I think this team will be a contender this weekend as they really do well on this type of track. So far Joey has stayed on everyone’s good side this year and has raced everyone cleanly. I think he is maturing as a driver and this can only help him on the track each week.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin hasn’t run consistently well here during his career with only four top ten finishes in fifteen starts. This team is always good on the mile-and-a-half tracks, so I don’t know why they don’t run better here every race. I won’t put him on my roster this week because there are better places to use his starts, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he came away with a top five finish either.

Austin Dillon: Austin has had a great start to his season and this weekend he is at another track where he should run well. He has only started two races at this track in his young career and has finished 12th and 16th in those races. I think he will come away with his first top ten finish at this track and continue to run well throughout the season.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Kyle Busch

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Austin Dillon
• Kasey Kahne
• Jamie McMurray

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Brian Vickers
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Carl Edwards

Dark Horse: Chase Elliott

Stay Away From: Aric Almirola

Big 18: Joey Logano

We now have three races in the books and three different drivers with wins that virtually guarantees them a spot in the Chase. All three of these drivers also made the Chase last season, and two of them are past champions. Who’s next on the qualifying list?

GOOD SAM 500

This week the series heads over to Phoenix, AZ and the Phoenix International Raceway for the running of the Good Sam 500. This is the only track besides the road courses that measure the race in kilometers. So, this race is scheduled for 312-laps, which is 500-kilometers. The track is slightly longer than one-mile which also makes this one of the shorter races on the schedule.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is a must have this week on your roster no matter what kind of league you are in. Kevin has won five of the last seven races here and finished first or second in seven on the last eight races here. In other words, he is hard to beat at this track. On top of that, this team really wants to get their first win of the season and qualify themselves for the Chase.

Brad Keselowski: Brad won the race last weekend at Las Vegas, but I think he runs even better on these short tracks. Brad is still looking for his first win at Phoenix, but he hasn’t finished worse than eleventh in his last eight starts here. Now that this team is qualified for the Chase, I think Brad is going to do everything in his power to take a win away from Kevin this weekend.

Joey Logano: Brad’s teammate has run just a well as if not better than Brad has over the past couple of seasons at Phoenix. Joey has five straight top ten finishes here and is still looking for his first win of the season and first win at this track. He came close once again last weekend and raced Matt Kenseth close, but clean throughout much of that race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale won the rain shortened race here last November and has four top five and five top ten finishes in his last six starts at Phoenix. It is going to be interesting to see if this team has gotten even better at this track during the off-season and if Junior can pull out back-to-back wins here. To do that he is going to have to beat Harvick who finished second to him last year.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has run very well so far this season and always has a fast car. He has one win at Phoenix during his career and has finished in the top ten here four times in his last five starts. I think Kurt runs better on this type of track than he does on the intermediate tracks and this could be a big week for this team. If he can pick up a win at the short track after running so well the past two weeks he is going to be considered one of the top contenders to win the championship this year.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie looked good once again last weekend and has won four times at Phoenix already. He also has finished in the top five here in fifteen of his twenty-five starts and in the top ten in nineteen of those races. It might be early in the season, but this team looks like they are back in form and will be ready to contend for a title once again this fall.

Denny Hamlin: After winning the Daytona 500 this team has been fast in practice, but lost the handle on their race car during the last two races. This week on a short track I think they will be back in contention once again. Denny has one win here and nine top five finishes in twenty-one starts. He always seems to run well at the flatter tracks like Phoenix, Martinsville, and Pocono.

Kyle Busch: After coming close to his first win of the season last week at Las Vegas, this team will look to move up another spot and visit victory lane this weekend. Kyle has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in thirteen of his twenty-one career starts. Kyle missed this race last year, but finished fourth here in the November race.

Carl Edwards: Carl has won two races during his career at Phoenix, but he hasn’t run that well here lately. He has finished in the top ten in only three of his last ten starts here which isn’t terrible, but I know Carl thinks he can do much better. I think this team is still getting to know one another yet, but with a season already under their belts, they need to start communicating and adjusting better together.

Ryan Newman: It has been a while since Ryan has visited victory lane and even though this team always seems to make the Chase, I don’t think you can win a championship without winning some races. Ryan has finished in the top eleven in his last five starts here and has one win at this track. One of these weekends he is going to surprise everyone and get back to victory lane.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Brad Keselowski

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Ryan Newman
• Kyle Larson
• AJ Allmendinger
• Jamie McMurray

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Joey Logano
4. Kurt Busch
5. Jimmie Johnson

Dark Horse: Ryan Newman

Stay Away From: Austin Dillon

Big 18: Kevin Harvick