Author: Jeff Gutowski

Kevin Harvick did what he needed to do to qualify for the second round of the Chase by winning the race at Dover this past weekend. Dale Earnhardt Jr. did what he had to do and beat Jamie McMurray by one position and moved on the the next round while Jimmie Johnson had mechanical problems that knocked him out of the playoffs. The second round starts next week and it should only get more exciting as the season comes to a close and we crown the 2015 Sprint Cup Champion.

BANK OF AMERICA 500

The first race of the second round will be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the running of the Bank of America 500. Charlotte is another of the mile-and-a-half tracks that represent the majority of the races in the Chase. The points will also be reset this weekend for twelve drivers who have qualified for the second round the next three races will determine who will be in the final eight.

Kevin Harvick: I am going to pick Kevin to win his second race in a row and qualify for the third round of the Chase right away. Kevin has won two of the last five points races here including this race last year. He has also finished in the top ten in his last five points races at Charlotte and this team has been fast every week for the past two seasons. I’m sure none of the Chase drivers would have been disappointed if Kevin wouldn’t have made it to the second round because he is going to be hard to stop as he looks for back-to-back Sprint Cup championships.

Jimmie Johnson: Although I’m sure Jimmie is very disappointed by not making the second round, but he always runs well at Charlotte and has seven wins here to prove that point. His latest win here came last season during the Coca-Cola 600 and he has run well at the mile-and-a-half tracks this year once again.

Matt Kenseth: Matt always runs well at this track also. He has won two races here with the last of those coming in the fall of 2011. All of the Joe Gibbs teams are still running well and all four of them have made it to the second round of the Chase. The speed these guys have shown for the past few months shows that they are all capable of winning the championship this year and Matt’s poise makes him one of the drivers to keep your eye on.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is still looking for his first win at Charlotte, but he has finished in the top five in ten of his twenty-three starts here. Kyle has been using his head so far during the Chase and that is what it takes to win a championship under this format. Don’t take unnecessary chances and just make sure you get a good finish and you can move on to the next round in each of the first two rounds. After that the strategy will change a little bit.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff’s has kept his hopes of winning another championship in his final year alive. He has been very good at Charlotte during his career with five wins and twenty-four top ten finishes in only forty five starts. Even though he doesn’t have a win yet this year he is still running consistent enough to be a threat to win a race most any weekend and keep advancing.

Carl Edwards: Carl won the Coca-Cola 600 this year and has finished in the top ten here in fourteen of his twenty-one career starts. His car might not always be good throughout the race, but they never give up on their adjustments and it always seems that Carl is in the top ten towards the end of the race and has a chance to pickup another win if everything falls just right.

Denny Hamlin: Denny is another driver looking for his first win at this track during a points race. However, he did win the Sprint All-Star race this year and has finished in the top ten in twelve of his twenty starts at this track. Denny has been quietly going about his business and won the first race of the Chase at Chicagoland Speedway which gave him a free pass the last two weeks. This week they will be back on the top of their game.

Jamie McMurray: Even though Jamie didn’t qualify for the second round he is still very good at Charlotte. He has two wins here during his career and has ten top ten finishes in his twenty-six starts here. I think this team should be proud that they made the Chase for the first time and now they have something to look forward to improving on next season.

Joey Logano: Joey is another of the Chase drivers who is still seeking his first win at this track, but he has run very well here during his short career. He has finished in the top ten in seven of his thirteen starts and just needs to make one more correct call late in a race to come away with his first win here. I think this team will do well for the rest of the Chase because Joey is very good at this style of track.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey has four wins at this track and has finished in the top ten in thirteen of his twenty-three starts here with nine of those finishes being in the top five. Even though they didn’t qualify for the Chase, this team will do everything they can to pick up a win before the end of the season so they have something to build on for next season.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Matt Kenseth

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kasey Kahne
• Carl Edwards
• Martin Truex Jr.
• Jamie McMurray

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ryan Blaney
• Danica Patrick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Joey Logano
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From: Ryan Newman

Congratulations to Matt Kenseth who punched his ticket to the second round of the Chase with his win at New Hampshire this past weekend. Kevin Harvick almost has to win the race at Dover this week if he wants to make it into the second round of the Chase and defend his championship after running out of gas with three laps left in this week’s race and ending up twenty-first after dominating the entire race.

AAA 400

This week the series heads to Dover International Speedway, also known as the Monster Mile, for the final race of the first round of the Chase. Dover is a one-mile high banked concrete oval track in Dover, Delaware. I like to think of this track as Bristol on steroids as the track is very similar to Bristol only twice as long.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won ten races at this track in twenty-seven starts including winning three of his last four starts here. Anyone who wins more than once in every three starts at any track is a no brainer to have on your fantasy team in any week. Look for Jimmie to compete for the win and if he doesn’t take the checkered flag he will still finish somewhere in the top five.

Matt Kenseth: Matt won’t have any pressure this week at Dover and can take a few chances if he needs to to pick up another win. Matt has won at this track twice in his career and has finished in the top ten in six of his last nine starts. He also has fifteen top ten finishes in thirty-three starts. I think he will be one of the drivers to give Jimmie a run for his money this weekend.

Kevin Harvick: Currently sitting fifteenth in the standings, Kevin needs to do everything he can to win this race. Even finishing second probably won’t be enough for him to move ahead of three other drivers and claim one of the top twelve spots in the standings. He is currently twenty-three points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. who holds the twelfth spot at this moment. In other words if Kevin doesn’t win this race he needs to have at least three drivers who are just ahead of him to have disasters on the track.

Kyle Busch: Kyle needs a good finish this week to climb back into the top twelve in points. He is currently in thirteenth place but, only one point behind Dale and two points behind Jamie McMurray. A top five finish will launch him into the second round and Kyle usually runs well here. He has two wins, thirteen top ten, and nine top five finishes in only twenty-one starts here. I think he runs well and moves into the second round this week.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff has won five races at Dover in his career and has finished in the top ten twenty-six times in forty-five starts, including four top five finishes in his last six starts. Jeff just needs to stay out of trouble early in the race to move on to the second round but once the race progresses if he has a car that he thinks can win the race he will go for the win.

Carl Edwards: Carl has one win and twelve top ten finishes in twenty-two starts at this track. Carl is pretty safe when it comes to qualifying for the next round so he should be able to race as hard as he wants this weekend without having to worry about the point standings. This team has seemed to have gotten better lately so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Carl doing a back flip after this race.

Clint Bowyer: Clint is in a must win situation unless his twenty-five point penalty handed down by NASCAR last week for a rules violation. I don’t think the penalty will be overturned which means if Clint wants a chance at winning a championship this year he needs to win this race. Sorry Clint but that isn’t going to happen either. Although he runs well at Dover this team just hasn’t had the speed or consistently to win races this year. Hopefully he can find a good ride for next season.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is sitting comfortably in the standings right now and runs well at Dover. He has one win and four top five finishes in only eleven starts here. He fought his way back to a twelfth place finish at New Hampshire last week after getting penalized for jumping a restart late in the race. He survived that penalty but needs to eliminate all penalties if he wants to win another championship.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has three wins at Dover but none since the 2004 season. Yet, Ryan is doing just what he did last year in the Chase and that is staying out of trouble on the track and getting finishes which are good enough to qualify him for the next round. It might not be exciting and you might not hear much about him during the races but his strategy has proved to work so far.

Joey Logano: Joey is still looking for his first win at this track but he has finished in the top ten in eight of his thirteen starts here. Joey is another driver who is sitting comfortable in the standings and can just go out and race his race. The pressure comes in the future rounds where there are less drivers and you have some type of hiccup during one of the early races in that round that puts you behind the eight ball.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Matt Kenseth

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kasey Kahne
• Kyle Larson
• Martin Truex Jr.
• Aric Almirola

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Justin Allgaier
• Danica Patrick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kyle Busch
5. Joey Logano

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Austin Dillon

Denny Hamlin is on to the second round and Kevin Harvick has some ground to make up. Kevin was the only Chase driver to have major trouble during the first race of the playoffs. At twenty-two points out of the twelfth spot, Kevin might need to win a race or have two really great finishes and hope some other contenders have trouble if he wants to move to the second round and continue to defend his championship.

SYLVANIA 300

This week the series heads back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the running of the Sylvania 300. NHMS is a one-mile oval track with limited banking in the corners. This race will be the second shortest race of the Chase with only 300 laps and 300-miles covered by the drivers. Pit road selection as always will be determined by qualifying and this is one of the tracks where you really need to qualify well to get your preferred spot on pit road which can win you the race.

Kyle Busch: I am picking Kyle to win this week’s race and qualify for the second round of the Chase. Kyle won the race here back in July of this year and has finished first or second in four of his last five starts here. That tells me this team has a great handle on how to setup their car for the beginning of the race and they know what adjustments they need to make as the race progresses.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is another driver who really knows how to get around this track in a hurry and he does it consistently as is evident by him finishing no worse than eleventh in his last eight starts here including a win last July. This team really seems to have a handle on the shorter tracks this year while they are struggling a little bit on the intermediate tracks. Another top ten finish will go a long way toward moving Brad on to the second round.

Matt Kenseth: Matt won this race two years ago and has finished in the top ten in four of his last five starts at New Hampshire. During this first segment of the Chase I think Matt will remain calm and focused on the long run and he should qualify for the next round with solid top ten finishes. He knows how to stay out of trouble which is all you really need to do during this round.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale is still looking for his first win at NHMS as he has a best finish of third at this track. However, he has finished in the top ten here in his last four starts and all of the drivers know the same thing as Matt does. Stay out of trouble and you will make it to the second round. It takes a little away from the racing in the first round but the intensity really picks up as the Chase winds down and drivers are eliminated.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff is the series leader in laps led at New Hampshire with 1,373. He also has more top five, and top ten finishes than any other driver here and has completed more laps than any other driver at this track since it was opened in 1990. He came close to winning the race at Chicage where he led quite a few laps late in the race until the late race caution came out and he faded on the restart.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has won two races at this track and has finished in the top five in seven of his eighteen starts here. Now that he is qualified for the second round this team can take a few chances and try to win another race in this segment. They no longer have to worry about staying out of trouble and that goes a long way when you need to take a chance to win a race or you are just hoping to come away with a good finish and stay out of trouble.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has one win here and finished third in the last two races he has run at this track. Kevin needs a win to secure a spot in the next round or at the very least a couple of top five finishes to have the chance to continue to defend his championship. He is another driver who might have to take a few more chances to try and win one of the next two races because if you don’t qualify for the next round you need to wait until next year to win another championship.

Ryan Newman: Ryan picked up where he left off last year during the Chase. He came away with a top five finish and now he heads to a track where he has been consistently good. With three wins and sixteen top ten finishes in twenty-seven starts this guy knows how to get the job done here. He might not have won any races the last two seasons but, he almost won a championship last year and he is in prime position to move to the next round once again this season.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie also has three wins here and he has finished in the top ten an astounding eighteen time in only twenty-seven starts. This team isn’t where they need to be in terms of finishes right now if they want to win another championship but, they are in a position to move to the next round with two more top ten finishes and maybe they can work out their kinks in the next round. They are historically good on the mile-and-a-half tracks which make up a good share of the Chase so, making it to the next round is the first step.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is usually very good on the short flat tracks and his three wins here in twenty-nine starts shows that this is one of the tracks he really likes to race on. If it weren’t for the late race caution at Chicagoland last weekend, Kurt probably would have won that race and guaranteed himself a spot in the second round. All he needs to do is stay out of trouble the next two weeks and he will move on.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Brad Keselowski

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Carl Edwards
• Austin Dillon
• Kyle Larson

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Danica Patrick
• Justin Allgaier

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kurt Busch
5. Matt Kenseth

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Kasey Kahne

The Chase field is now officially set with Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth sitting at the top of the board. As of right now I have three drivers who I think can win the Chase based on the way they have been running recently. Those drivers are defending champion, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Busch. Of these three drivers I am going to say Kyle Busch will win his first ever Sprint Cup championship. By no means does this mean that none of the other thirteen drivers can win the championship this season. Just look at last year where Ryan Newman, without a win, came within on spot of winning that championship so, don’t count anyone out.

MYAFIBRISK.COM 400

The Chase begins at Chicagoland Speedway this coming Sunday with the running of the MyAFibRisk.com 400. Chicagoland is the first of many Chase races on a mile-and-a-half track. The only type of track not run during the Chase is a road-course. Otherwise we have a restrictor-plate race that will be the one wild card in the Chase once again. There are also some short tracks, but five of the races including the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be run on these mile-and-a-half tracks.

Kevin Harvick: I am picking Kevin to finally win another race and secure his spot in the second round of the Chase. Kevin won the first two races run at Chicagoland and has finished in the top five here in eight of his fourteen starts. The defending champion will start off on the right foot this weekend where he will qualify well and make the right adjustments throughout the race to take his car to victory lane and take the pressure off of himself and his team for the next two races.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has one win here and has finished in the top five in four of his ten career starts at Chicagoland Speedway. The Joe Gibbs teams have won eight of the last eleven races heading into the Chase and I think Kyle will win more than one race during the Chase. He will be there at the end of this race to battle with Kevin for the win and the right to move on to the second round.

Matt Kenseth: Matt won this race two years ago and he is on a roll right now winning three of the last six races run. This is considered Matt’s home track as he hails from Cambridge, WI and everyone wants to win at the track where they have the most fans in attendance. Matt has always run well on these tracks and the Joe Gibbs teams have shown that they have the speed to get the job done every week.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has won two of the six races he has run here during his short career. This team has struggled a little bit lately running a completely clean race and that is what it takes to win. I think Brad and Paul Wolfe work very well together and they just need to eliminate mistakes on pit road and they will be in the thick of things as the Chase progresses.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie is still looking for his first win at Chacagoland but, he has finished in the top ten in ten of his thirteen starts with seven of those finishes being in the top five. This team really needs to figure some things out if Jimmie wants to be a serious contender to win another championship this season. Despite having four wins, this team has really struggled for the past few months and is those struggles continue, Jimmie will won’t keep moving on as the Chase progresses.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff has one win at this track and seven top five finishes in fourteen career starts. In his last full-time season with Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff would like to win a final championship and go out in style. So far Jeff is still looking for his first win of the season and right now would be a great time to get it. They just need to find a little more speed as they always seem to have a good handling car but, some other drivers are just a little better.

Joey Logano: Although Joey doesn’t always seem to get the results he would like at Chicagoland, he always seems to have a fast car here. He holds the qualifying record in the Sprint Cup series and the race record in the Xfinity series. Two years ago Joey sat on the pole and led quite a few laps until he lost an engine about halfway through the race. He has run much better here the last three years and knows how to get around this track.

Clint Bowyer: Clint has finished in the top ten here in seven of his nine starts. This year the Michael Waltrip drivers haven’t had the speed or the handling their drivers were hoping for. Now with them not going to run next year, Clint really needs to show something during the Chase if he wants to get an offer from one of the elite teams to drive for them next year. Does this put more pressure on him or does he take that challenge and show everyone that he deserves a ride in one of their cars next season?

Kurt Busch: Kurt has finished in the top ten in eight of his fourteen starts at this track and he has a car just about as good as his teammate, Kevin Harvick, every week. Kurt is always good on the short tracks and if he can run consistently on the mile-and-a-half tracks during the Chase he could find himself racing for a championship at Homestead this November.

Tony Stewart: Even though Tony didn’t make the Chase and he hasn’t run well for the majority of the season we still need to talk about his at Chicagoland. He leads the series in wins here with three, he has eight top five finishes in thirteen starts and he has the same equipment as Kevin and Kurt do. As a part owner of Stewart-Haas Racing he has an obligation to run better or consider retiring from the sport.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Kyle Busch

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Clint Bowyer
• Austin Dillon
• Tony Stewart

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Danica Patrick
• Ryan Blaney

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Kyle Busch
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Joey Logano
5. Jeff Gordon

Dark Horse: Tony Stewart

Stay Away From: Paul Menard

There is only one race left before the start of the Chase. Right now there are fourteen drivers locked into the Chase with the other two spots still open. If we don’t get a new winner this week Paul Menard should make the Chase as he has a thirty-nine point lead over Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer just needs to stay out of major trouble to lock up the last spot.

That means that the rest of the drivers in the top thirty in points who aren’t qualified for the Chase have what is known as “One last race to make the Chase”. Could one of those drivers win this race and knock Clint or Paul out of the Chase. It is possible, so there are a couple of drivers who are going to be a little bit nervous when this race begins on Saturday night.

FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400

This week the series heads to Richmond International Raceway for the running of the Federated Auto Parts 400. Richmond is a three-quarter-mile flatter D-shaped oval track with a tight pit road. If you want to win this race you need to qualify good enough that you can get a good pit stall because you want to be able to get in and out quickly if a late race caution flag flies.

There will be many different strategies this weekend with drivers not in the Chase taking any chance they might have to win this race and propel themselves into the Chase while drivers that are locked in will be trying to get that one last win to pick up the three bonus points they will get when the Chase starts at Chicagoland the following week. So, all in all I think just about every driver will take any chance they can to win this race. That could be staying out and hoping you don’t run out of gas at the end of the race or taking two tires or maybe gas only late in the race.

Kyle Busch: I am picking Kyle to win his fifth race of the season and catapult himself to the top of the standings as the Chase begins. Kyle has four wins and thirteen top five finishes in twenty starts at Richmond which tells me he knows how to get around this track. After Kyle broke a leg and an ankle in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona in February and missed the first eleven races of the season most people wrote him off for the year. If he wins the race this weekend he will have gone from worst to first in fifteen races.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has three wins at Richmond and comes to the track every week with a car capable of winning. He has also finished in the top ten in eighteen of his twenty-nine starts here and would love to win another race and keep his momentum going as the Chase starts next week. You can never count this guy out of any race.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has two wins at this track and nine top ten finishes in eighteen starts here. Those are pretty good numbers but, the only active driver to lead more laps at this track than Denny is Jeff Gordon, who has 247 more laps led than Denny. However it took Jeff twenty-seven more starts to accumulate those numbers. Denny just needs everything to go his was and he will find himself in victory lane once again this weekend.

Ryan Newman: Ryan is locked into the Chase once again this year without a win and that doesn’t really matter as he proved last year. He has one win at Richmond and sixteen top ten finishes in twenty-seven starts here. Those are very telling stats and what they tell me is Ryan really knows how to get around this place in a hurry and can communicate which changes he wants made to his car to keep up with the track as the race progresses.

Tony Stewart: Tony has three wins and four runner-up finishes in his career at Richmond. He also has nineteen top ten’s in thirty-two starts and this team has shown they are starting to get the handle on the adjustments they want to make as the race progresses. The biggest problem this team has is slow pit stops and that definitely won’t cut it at Richmond. You can’t afford to lose spots every time you pit at a place where track position is so important.

Carl Edwards: Carl has one win and is coming in with a lot of momentum following his win at Darlington last weekend. Carl fought his way back to the front from two laps down early in the race. That alone will give this team a lot of confidence heading into the Chase and this weekend. Look for Carl to run well once again this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has won three races at Richmond with the last of those wins coming back in 2006. This team will need to pick it up a little bit if they want to compete for a championship. Although Dale has been good most every week, this team needs to get even better and win some races during the Chase which guarantees you will move to the next round.

Brad Keselowski: Brad won this race two years ago and looked very good last week at Darlington. I think this is a team that is getting to the point they need to be to have a legitimate shot of winning another championship. They have shown a lot of speed all year and now they are making the right adjustments and avoiding mistakes on pit road which is one of the most important things with the way the Chase is set up now.

Kurt Busch: Kurt won the April race here and always seems to run well on this type of track. He has had cars that are just as fast as his teammate, Kevin Harvick, has had all season. They just need to avoid the mistakes on pit road that seem to eat them up late in races and take them out of contention. By no means is this team going to win a championship unless they can eliminate more of the mistakes that cost them.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won three times here and this team currently is tied for the lead in wins with Kyle Busch with four. However, the way they have been running lately, they have a lot to improve on if they want to contend for another championship. Handling seems to be their biggest issue right now with tire wear coming in as a close second. They are very good for a small portion of the race and then they seem to lose the handle and spin out or blow a tire and crash. That will not win you a championship.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Denny Hamlin

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Kurt Busch
• Tony Stewart
• Clint Bowyer

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Justin Allgaier
• Danica Patrick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kurt Busch
5. Brad Keselowski

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.