Author: Jeff Gutowski

After a dominating performance at Texas this past weekend, Brad Keselowski still needs to win the race at Phoenix this week to move into the championship round of the Chase. That’s because Jimmie Johnson passed Brad towards the end of the race and took the win away from the driver who led 312 of the 334 laps run in that race. Brad remains nineteen points out of contention in sixth place in the standings.

QUICKEN LOANS RACE FOR HEROES 500

The final race in the Eliminator round will be held this coming weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. Phoenix is a one-mile flat oval track that was reconfigured in 2011. This year the track announced it will rename the track to the ‘Jeff Gordon’ Raceway for this weekends race in honor of the retiring driver. Jeff is the only Chase driver already qualified for the Championship round of the Chase so he can relax this weekend.

Kevin Harvick: I have to pick Kevin to win this weekend and move on to the final round of the Chase. The reason is simple. Kevin has won the last four races at Phoenix and five of the last six. Ever since this track was reconfigured it seems like no one has an answer for Kevin here and I don’t see that changing this weekend. If Kevin can stay out of trouble on the track and on pit-road and doesn’t have any mechanical issues, he will be able to defend his title at Homestead.

Brad Keselowski: As I stated earlier, Brad almost has to win this race to move on. He could get in on points if quite a few of the other Chase drivers have major problems during the race, but that isn’t likely. Brad has yet to win at this track, but he has finished in the top six in six of his last seven starts here. Look for him to push it to the edge of his limits late in the race to try and pull out his first win here.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is another driver who needs to win to move on. Kurt currently sits in seventh position, twenty-eight points out of the top four in the standings. The only thing Kurt has going for him this weekend is that he has won a race here during his career. However, that win came way back in 2005. Kevin could help Kurt out a little bit with his setup and some advice on how he gets around the track, but I’m not sure Kevin wants to give to much away as he needs to qualify for the final round himself.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie finally won another race this season and is always a threat to win multiple races in a row. He has always been good at Phoenix also with four career wins and fourteen to five finishes in his twenty-four starts at this track. Even though this team was eliminated from the Chase already, they still want to win races and get ready for next season. Jimmie won’t just give a race away to help anyone else out.

Joey Logano: Joey absolutely has no other choice than to win this week’s race if he wants to make the Chase. Even though he has finished in the top ten in his last four starts here, he is still looking for his first win. I’m not going to count him out, but I think he has a huge mountain to climb because there are so many other drivers that are in the Chase that have shown they are more consistent at this track and those drivers need the best finishes they can get too.

Carl Edwards: Carl is seven points out of the last championship round qualifying position right now. He needs to make up that many points on on fourth place Martin Truex Jr. if he wants to move on. That is if someone below him in the standings doesn’t win this race. Carl has two wins at this track and will be shooting for his third and hoping to fall no further than a fifth place finish at the least which will give him a chance.

Kyle Busch: Kyle won his only race at this track back in 2005 also. He currently sits second in the standings which gives him a very small cushion heading into this weekend. However, I don’t think any of these drivers will feel comfortable with the position they are in the standings until the checkered flag waves. Any small problem anywhere during this race can knock any of these drivers out of a chance to win a championship.

Martin Truex Jr.: This week is going to be really nerve wracking for Martin. He has started nineteen races at this track and his results haven’t been that great. He only has one top five and seven top ten finishes in those nineteen starts. While he doesn’t need to win this race to move on, he can’t afford to finish outside of the top fifteen. This team needs to do what they have been doing all year. Take what the track gives them early in the race and try to stay out of trouble and see what you need to do towards the end to move to the next round.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff will be the only Chase driver relaxed this weekend at Phoenix. His finishing position doesn’t really matter as he is already qualified for the Chase. He has won two races at this track during his career and has finished in the top ten here an astounding twenty-three times in thirty-three starts. Jeff has shown his consistency at this track throughout his career and he might pick up another win here this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale also has two wins at this track, but he hasn’t won here since 2004. This team has shown that they can race on any type of track this season and has also shown that even if they get behind for some reason during a race they won’t quit and they can fight their way back into contention. This team should be happy with the progress they have made this year and try to improve on that next season. A win this weekend would be a huge step for this team.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Carl Edwards
• Jamie McMurray
• Kyle Larson

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Erik Jones
• Danica Patrick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5. Denny Hamlin

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

You knew it was going to happen sooner or later and this was the week it happened. I’m talking about a Chase driver being taken out of a race by another driver in what could be payback for that driver not making it into the next round because of something they perceived was that other drivers fault. I feel sorry for Joey Logano’s fan, but I understand where Matt Kenseth was coming from. The Chase has made every driver qualified desperate to get the win they need to move to the next round and if they can’t be there any driver who prevented them from getting there because of an incident on the track is fair game.

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No matter if it was intentional or not, Joey Logano almost has to win one of the next two races to move to the championship round. Likewise, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch find themselves in a deep hole as we head to the second race of the third round of the Chase as the head to Texas Motor Speedway this week.

A late race restart that collected Matt, Brad, and Kurt started this whole thing. Brad was trying to help out his teammate, Joey Logano get to the inside lane of the track while he tried to hold the second position. What ensued was drivers trying to check up to avoid collisions and getting hit from behind themselves. Live by the sword and die by the sword is what resulted. These next three races are going to be very interesting with three drivers desperately needing a win to keep their hopes alive for a championship.

Joey Logano: I am going to pick Joey to come out and win this race and qualify himself for the championship round of the Chase. Joey has a win and four top five finishes in his last five starts at this track and conceivably could have won his fourth straight race if not for the wreck that took him out as he was leading the race. A race that he dominated for most of the day. This week comes redemption.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin had a decent finish at Martinsville last week, but he only has a six point lead over Carl Edwards as he sits in the bubble spot. Kevin has yet to win a race at Texas, but he has finished second in his last two starts there. He will be in contention once again at the end of this race as long as he doesn’t have any mechanical issues and can avoid penalties on pit road.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie hasn’t run that well lately, but he is always someone to watch for at Texas. With five wins and twelve top five finishes in twenty-four starts this team really knows how to get around this track in a hurry. Four of those wins have come in his last six start at this track including the last two races he has run here. Time for this team to get back to victory lane.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is another driver who has run very well at Texas recently. Although he missed the spring race this year while he was recovering from injuries suffered in the Nationwide race at Daytona, he has one win and four top five finishes in his last five starts here also. He would like another great finish this week to take a little pressure off heading to Phoenix where he doesn’t want to have to win to move on to Homestead.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff got his ninth win at Martinsville which propelled him into the championship round in his final season in NASCAR. Jeff hasn’t run very well at Texas over the past several seasons with only four top ten finishes in his last twelve starts and he will probably use this race to do some testing for Homestead. There will be no pressure on the team this week, but they will want to see how they fair on this mile-and-a-half track to see what needs to be done when they get to Homestead.

Carl Edwards: Carl has three wins at this track during his career and needs to have a great run this weekend as he tries to move into the top four in points. This team has been very inconsistent all season and ended up benefiting from what happened at Martinsville last weekend. Carl was a lap down and with all of the cautions he finally got back on the lead lap and ended up fourteenth. Far ahead of those drivers who were involved in the incident.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has one win at this track, but this hasn’t been his favorite track to run on during his career. He needs to have a car as good as Kevin Harvick this week once practice is finished if he has any chance of winning this race and qualifying for the second round. His biggest hope is Phoenix where he has been very good throughout his career and that is a race I think he can win.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at Texas and when Brad really needs to do something he has a good chance of getting that something done. This team won last year to move themselves on during the Chase in a must win situation and he has two shots at getting it done once again this year. With three drivers desperate for a win I think we are going to see some of them take some big risks to win this race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has run very well this year and came within inches of making it to this round at Talladega a few weeks ago. He ran very well at Martinsville last week and the mile-and-a-half tracks are more to this teams liking. Dale won his first race here back in 2000 and has finished in the top ten in seven of his last nine starts here. This team might be out of the Chase, but they are doing everything they can to win another race this season.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is still looking for his first win at Texas, but he has nine top ten finishes to show for his twenty starts at this track and he has run well on the intermediate tracks all season. A win would be nice, but I think he would be happy with another top ten finish like he got last week at Martinsville and try to make the championship race on points if he has to.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Joey Logano
• Kevin Harvick

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Jamie McMurray
• Aric Almirola
• Kasey Kahne

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ryan Blaney
• Justin Allgaier

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Joey Logano
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Kyle Busch
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dark Horse: Martin Truex Jr.

Stay Away From: Kurt Busch

The field is set for the third round of the Chase, but not with some controversy involved. Kevin Harvick was involved in a wreck with Trevor Bayne on the final restart of the race and the result is Kevin moves on to the next round. The problem occurred when the #4 car couldn’t get up to speed on the restart and the #6 tried to pass Kevin on the outside. It appears that the #4 car drifted up the track a little and caught the rear quarter panel on the Bayne machine causing him to spin and the caution to come out freezing the field.

I for one really don’t have any problem with what happened no matter if it was on purpose or was just an accident. There is so much blocking going on during the whole race, one more incident shouldn’t make any difference. Back in 2009, Carl Edwards tried to block Brad Keselowski at the end of this race and the result was Edwards getting spun and Brad winning his first race. I’m going to say that there is no fault on any of the drivers parts as NASCAR writes the rule book and there is no rule about blocking. Because of this controversy this rule might change in the near future.

GOODY’S HEADACHE RELIEF SHOT 500

We go from the longest to the shortest track as the third round of the Chase will start at Martinsville Speedway. Martinsville is a .526 mile flat oval with a narrow pit road and pits that go all the way around the track. Qualifying is extremely important at this track for just this reason. The better you qualify the better pit box you can choose and that can be the difference between winning and losing at this track. Start towards the back of the field and the leaders will be right behind you in no time.

Jeff Gordon: I am picking Jeff to keep his chances alive for a championship in his final season in NASCAR. I think he will pick up his first win of the season and qualify for the final race of the season at Homestead. Jeff has eight wins at this track and this team has been running consistently well lately. He also has twenty-eight top five finishes in forty-five starts at this track and that is very impressive.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie also has eight wins here and eighteen top five finishes in twenty-seven starts. This team has struggled the second half of the season, but this is a track where they can get back to victory lane and start building some momentum for next season. They might give Jeff a break late in the race as they are already out of the Chase and Jeff is a teammate who is in his final season.

Denny Hamlin: After a disappointing week at Talladega that knocked Denny out of the Chase because of a broken latch on his roof hatch caused this team to lose two laps when they pitted twice to fix the issue even though NASCAR didn’t black flag them which they claim was a miscommunication, this team will be looking for redemption. They have five wins at this track and ten top five finishes in nineteen starts here.

Joey Logano: Joey is the hottest driver in NASCAR right now winning the last three races and sweeping the second round of the Chase. He is still looking for his first win at this track, but he has three straight top five finishes here. That tells me this team knows what they need to do to start towards the front and stay towards the front at this track.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale won this race last year and has finished in the top five here in twelve of his thirty-one starts. After coming so close to winning the race at Talladega last week and advancing to this round of the Chase, this team is disappointed, but they will still come to the track and try to win races. I think they have done a lot to improve themselves on all types of tracks this season and that is a good stepping stone for next year.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten here in thirteen of his twenty-eight starts. No matter what kind of controversy they were involved in last week at Talladega they will put that behind them and continue to defend their championship. This team is going to be dangerous in every race for the rest of the season.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is another driver looking for his first win at Martinsville, but he has finished in the top ten in six of his eleven start here. This team really runs well on these short flat tracks and should have a car capable of giving them a shot at their first win here. This team never counts themselves out no matter how dismal things might look. I attribute this to the driver and crew-chief trusting each other in all aspects of racing.

Kyle Busch: Kyle fought his way through the second round to just squeak into the top eight in the standings and keep his championship hopes alive. Kyle is still looking for his first win at this track although he has eight top five finishes in twenty starts here. His biggest disadvantage this week is that he missed the spring race here while he was recovering from a broken foot and leg. All of the other drivers in the Chase put in a lot of laps that weekend that Kyle didn’t get to.

Martin Truex Jr.: This will be the telling race for Martin during the Chase. This is the track on the Chase schedule where he has struggled for most of his career. He has only two top five finishes and five top ten finishes in nineteen starts at this track. This team needs to do their best and avoid making mistakes that will drop them further in the field. Maintain this week and then shoot for two really good race in the next couple of weeks.

Carl Edwards: Carl is another driver who has struggled at Talladega during his career with only one top five and five top ten finishes in twenty-two starts here. He stated after the Talladega race that he is looking forward to going to Martinsville as both Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth have given him some good advice on how to get around this track with the speed he will need to finish in the top ten this weekend.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jeff Gordon
• Denny Hamlin

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Clint Bowyer
• Jamie McMurray
• Casey Mears
• Kyle Larson

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Danica Patrick
• Justin Allgaier

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Joey Logano
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Carl Edwards

Congratulations to Joey Logano for winning the first two races of the second round of the Chase. Very tough luck for Matt Kenseth who was trying to hang on for a win after a disappointing finish at Charlotte the week before, Joey was too fast for him late in the race and it looked like Matt got spun trying to block Joey and pick up the win himself.

CAMPINGWORLD500.COM AT TALLADEGA

This week the series heads to Talladega and the biggest wild card of the Chase. This restrictor-plate track gives any team on the track the chance to win a race and there are some teams who are in the Chase that need to win this race or wait until next year to try for another championship.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Sitting thirty-one points out of eight position in the points, Dale almost has to win this race to move on to the next round of the Chase. If you were going to pick any driver to win a race at Talladega, Dale would be the one. With six wins at this track in his career and one of them coming this spring, Dale is the driver that I think could get the job done this weekend and I think he will.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff also has six wins at this track throughout his career and is smart enough to know that all he needs to do this week is stay out of trouble. However, at Talladega, staying out of trouble is easier said than done. I think Jeff will finish this race right where he needs to be and make it to the next round of the Chase.

Matt Kenseth: Matt really needs to win this race move to the next round. At thirty-five points out of eighth place and having three other drivers in front of him for the eighth spot, Matt doesn’t have any other choice. He won this race in 2012 and finished second last year. With the equipment and the teammates he has I think he still has somewhat of a chance this week even if it is a long shot.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has always been very good at Talladega even though he is still looking for his first win here. In twenty-nine start, Kurt has six top five and fourteen top ten finishes at this track. All Kurt needs to do to move to the next round is stay out of trouble and he keeps his hopes alive for a shot at his second career championship.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has won one race at Talladega in his career. This is going to be one of the most nerve wracking weeks and races in his career. Kyle currently sits in ninth place only six points out of the eight place position that he needs to move to the next round. The question is, can he be patient enough to stay out of trouble and come away with a good enough position to gain those six points and move on.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin had to win the last race of the first round to keep his chances of defending his championship from last season alive and he did just that. Now all he has to do is stay out of trouble and he will make it to the third round. I think this team is good enough to know what they need to do and confident enough not to get to excited until late in the race.

Ryan Newman: Ryan is currently in tenth place, eight points out of the eighth place spot in the standings. Hardly anyone gave this team a chance to win the championship last season and no one really has given this team a chance once again this season. I think Ryan will be patient early in this race and try to stay out of trouble and then he will do what he has to do late in the race to try to position himself to make the next round without winning a race again.

Brad Keselowski: Brad already has three wins at this track in his short career. He doesn’t need a win this weekend to move on and that might be the toughest thing for him to overcome. Brad loves to race for wins and it might be tough for this team to just try to stay out of trouble and come away with an average finish and keep their hopes alive.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Brad Keselowski

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Jamie McMurray
• Clint Bowyer
• Aric Almirola
• Austin Dillon

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Danica Patrick
• Justin Allgaier

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Denny Hamlin

Dark Horse: Casey Mears

Stay Away From: Kasey Kahne

The first race of the Contender round is in the books and Joey Logano secured his spot in the Eliminator round by picking up his first win at Charlotte last Sunday in a race that was postponed by rain on Saturday night. Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kyle Busch were the three biggest losers on the weekend of all the Chase contenders as they were all involved with contact on the track and suffered damage to their cars.

Matt will have the biggest hole to try and climb out of and he along with the rest of the drivers who want to move on to the third round of the Chase will really want to get it done this week at Kansas before heading to Talladega for the final race in the second leg of the Chase.

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Kansas Speedway is another of the mile-and-a-half tracks that make up half of the entire Chase series of races. This track is banked a little less than Charlotte but the big differences will be in the track surface and the weather difference between this week and last week. I still look for those drivers who were fast last week to have an advantage over those who struggled as we enter this weekend.

Matt Kenseth: I am going to pick Matt to win this race and move on to the next round. He has won two races here and those wins came in back to back races in 2012 and 2013. Matt has also finished in the top ten here in eleven of his nineteen starts and will do everything he can to win this race and not have to go to Talladega and win that race. This team has been really good on this type of track lately and should have a car capable of getting the job done this weekend.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin will be Matt’s biggest competition once again this weekend. Kevin started out the second round with a second place finish which is much better than he started the first round. However, a second place finish doesn’t guarantee him a spot in the second round and all of these drivers know what can happen at Talladega so that means Kevin will do everything he can to win this race and try to eliminate some of his tougher competition as the Chase winds down.

Carl Edwards: Carl is looking for his first career win at Kansas but he has always run very well here. He has eleven top ten finishes in only sixteen races and this is another of the Joe Gibbs drivers that have been dominating the second half of the season. All of these cars will be capable of being at the front of the field all day on Sunday if the teams can make the correct adjustments and the drivers avoid making mistakes.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale is also looking for his first win at this track and now is the time for him to get it and wipe out the deficit he is in after a disappointing finish at Charlotte last weekend. Dale needs two strong finishes in his next two races if he wants to move on the the next round. Even though he is very good at Talladega, he doesn’t want to go there knowing he has to win that race to survive.

Jimmie Johnson: Despite being out of the Chase and struggling for most of the second half of the season you never know when this team will break out and win a couple of races in a row. Jimmie has three wins at Kansas and has finished in the top ten in fifteen of his eighteen starts here. They might be trying some things to get ready for next year but you can never count them out from week to week.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff has won three races at Kansas during his career and has finished in the top five here an astounding eleven times in his nineteen starts. If Jeff wins this weekend it would be one of his biggest victories in his entire career as it would propel him into the third round of the Chase and keep his dreams alive for another championship in his final season.

Kyle Busch: Kyle finished third in this race last season but that is about where his success here ends. In fifteen career starts, Kyle only has three top ten finishes at this track. After last weekend’s disappointing race, Kyle needs a really good finish to climb back into a spot where he can make it into the third round of the Chase and try to win his first Sprint Cup Championship.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is sitting on the bubble right now in the standings and would like to improve his position this weekend at Kansas where he has one win in eleven starts. Of those eleven starts he has finished in the top ten in five of those races. His teammate, Joey Logano has looked better than Brad on this type of track this season, but Brad knows that he also has a car that is good enough to win at this track.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is looking for his first career win here to go along with two runner-up finishes he already has here. He had a good start to the second round and has been very good at Kansas during his career. He led ninety-five laps here in the spring race before falling back late and finishing ninth in that race. This is the type of track where Martin can come away with another good finish and just try to stay out of trouble at Talladega and advance again.

Joey Logano: Even though Joey is already qualified for the next round he still wants to win every race he starts. He won this race last season and has finished in the top five here in his last four starts. With nothing to lose this team might take a chance on fuel mileage late in the race to try and steal a win and learn a little about how much fuel they can save for future reference.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR KANSAS SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Matt Kenseth
• Kevin Harvick

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Martin Truex Jr.
• Aric Almirola
• Kyle Larson

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ryan Blaney
• Danica Patrick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Carl Edwards
5. Joey Logano

Dark Horse: Aric Almirola

Stay Away From: Kyle Busch