Author: Jeff Gutowski

Categories
Fantasy NASCAR

2014 Kentucky Speedway, Quaker State 400

We move from a road course race out west to a Saturday night intermediate track in Kentucky. The Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile tri-oval speedway that opened in 2000. The Sprint Cup Series has only run three races at this track, but some of the drivers have run quite a few races in the Nationwide Series here. This track is also very similar to tracks like Kansas and Chicagoland, so we can see how drivers have fared at those tracks as well as we decide who to start this weekend.

QUAKER STATE 400

Matt Kenseth: There are only ten more races before the Chase starts and some good drivers are still looking for their first win of the season. At the top of that list is Matt Kenseth, who won seven races last season. Matt should make the Chase based on his point position, as I don’t think we will see sixteen different drivers getting wins before the Chas starts. However, Matt won this race last season and has finished in the top ten in all three of his starts here. That is why I am picking him for the win this weekend.

Kyle Busch: Kyle won the inaugural race at this track and has also finished in the top ten in all three of his starts here. He is the only driver to have two top five finishes though and has qualified in the top four in each of those starts. I think Kyle is better under the lights and the majority of this race will be run after dusk.

Jimmie Johnson: Although Jimmie has yet to win at this track, he is another driver who has finished in the top ten in all of his starts here. Jimmie had never won at Michigan until a couple of weeks ago and he might pick up his first win at this track this Saturday night. Jimmie has been very good on this type of track lately and will be in contention at the end of this race.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff is the last of our drivers to finish in the top ten in every race at Kentucky Speedway. Once again, he has never won at this track either, but has been very good week in and week out this year. I look for Jeff to have another good run this weekend and if all of the correct adjustments are made to his car late in the race he will also contend for the win.

Joey Logano: Joey has won three of four Nationwide Series races he has run at this track. He has one top ten finish at Kentucky in the Sprint Cup Series and that came last year when he finished fourth. This team has been having a successful season and I look for them to run well once again this weekend.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has won two of six races he has run in the Nationwide Series at this track. He also won the Sprint Cup race here two years ago and has finished in the top ten in two of his three starts here in that series. Both of the Penske teams have qualified and run well at the intermediate tracks this season and this week should be no different.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has run very well all season and has never finished worse that sixteenth at Kentucky. I think he will improve on his best ever finish of tenth at this track this week and will be in contention at the end of this race. I am predicting a top five finish for Kevin this weekend.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has run here with three different teams over the past three seasons and in this, his fourth start, he will once again be with a new team. That doesn’t seem to matter much, because Kurt seems to run well at this track. I think this team is ready to start running more consistent as we near the Chase and will try and get another win before the Chase starts.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey has never finished worse that thirteenth at this track in his three starts here. This team needs to start stepping up their program as they are currently nineteenth in points and have yet to win a race this season. They need to pick up a win to guarantee a spot in the Chase and to prove to themselves that they are a championship contender.

Austin Dillon: Austin has won two of the four Nationwide races he has run at this track and this team will head into this weekend with a lot of confidence. They have been consistent all season and could very well surprise a lot of people this weekend. I look for Austin to be the highest finishing rookie this week.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

  • Matt Kenseth
  • Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

  • Joey Logano
  • Brad Keselowski
  • Jamie McMurray
  • Denny Hamlin

Yahoo Driver Group C

  • Austin Dillon
  • Kyle Larson

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY

  1. Matt Kenseth
  2. Jimmie Johnson
  3. Joey Logano
  4. Brad Keselowski
  5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Austin Dillon

Stay Away From: Greg Biffle

Categories
Fantasy NASCAR

2014 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma Raceway

Jimmie Johnson looks tough, Kevin Harvick looks like a contender every week and Tony Stewart just keeps improving. There is still a long way before the Chase starts, but some teams are showing their strength right now. With the new system in place this season, a driver that makes the Chase the week before it starts has just as good of a chance as any driver in the field. The main thing is to make that Chase.

Jimmie Johnson won his third race of the season in his last three starts to make him the person to beat once again this season, but Kevin Harvick proved that he is just as good on a weekly basis. Matt Kenseth is still looking for his first win of the season and is still solidly in the hunt at this time. A lot of things can happen before the Chase, and more things can happen during it!

This week the series heads out west for the first road course race of the season at the Sonoma Raceway. Sonoma is a 2.52-mile road course with twelve turns. This is only one of two road courses on the circuit and many drivers are happy because of it. I myself believe that if a restrictor plate race is good enough for the Chase a road course race should be included too. That will tell me who the real champion is!

TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350

Marcos Ambrose: Although Marcos has yet to win a race here and hasn’t really improved this season, this is the track that I think he wins at. Since breaking his transmission in his first start here for the Wood Brothers back in 2008 and finishing 42nd, Marcos has reeled off five straight top ten finishes and should have a car that can win the race this weekend.

Jeff Gordon: With five career wind and thirteen top five finishes in twenty-one race, Jeff is another strong pick for the win. This team has been more consistent this year than the last four years on a weekly basis and if his back feels good he will be a contender for the win once again this week.

Tony Stewart: I think this week will be a tell tale sign to Tony’s’ health. He started off the year rather slow, but has come on strong over the past month. He has always run well on the road courses and has two wins and nine top ten finishes in fifteen starts here. I think he has a great chance of getting his first win of the season this weekend.

Clint Bowyer: Clint is another driver that has struggled a bit so far this season. he is also a driver that has been very consistent at Sonoma during his career. Clint has one win and six top ten finishes in eight starts here. I’m sure this team is looking at this race to get their first win of the season and qualify for the Chase.

Jimmie Johnson: Let’s not forget this guy. Jimmie has finished in the top ten in his last five starts at this track including a win back in 2010. The way this team is performing right now you can’t count them out of any race. He has nothing to lose by taking chances and going for the win in another race before the Chase starts, which makes him very dangerous this week.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is my dark horse of the week. He has struggled the last month and a half, but he has always been very good at Sonoma. He is already qualified for the Chase and loves to run the road courses. If he has a decent handling car next week and can compete, he will stop at nothing less than a win.

Brad Keselowski: I will never forget the finish that Brad and Marcos Ambrose put on at Watkins Glen a few years ago. This was just two good ‘ol boys racing their hearts out for a win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and after the checkered flag flew, Brad had nothing but good things to say about the competitiveness of that race. This is a guy that has what it takes to win at this track.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has a win at this track and loves to run this type of a race. He needs to be a little more patient early in the race and not worry about getting knocked around some. That is what happens at this track. If you stay calm and make your passes at the right time you will find yourself in position to win at the end of the race and you have done it before.

Watch for the “ringers” this week. I am sure that their will be a few road course experts in the field this week such as Boris Said and others. I’m not sure who will run the #66 car this weekend, if Juan Pablo will be back behind the wheel or who else you might see in a car. The entry list comes out on Tuesday and once it does you will have other options to start this weekend, especially in in the Yahoo league.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR SONOMA RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

  • Jeff Gordon
  • Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

  • Marcos Ambrose
  • Tony Stewart
  • Brad Keselowski
  • Jamie McMurray

Yahoo Driver Group C

  • Boris Said
  • Justin Allgaier

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT SONOMA RACEWAY

  1. Marcos Ambrose
  2. Tony Stewart
  3. Jeff Gordon
  4. Brad Keselowski
  5. Jimmie Johnson

Dark Horse: Kurt Busch

Stay Away From: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Categories
Fantasy NASCAR

2014 Michigan International Speedway, Quicken Loans 400

The stars are starting to shine as we get closer to the start of the Chase. Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr on getting his second win of the season and first of his career at Pocono. Winning at a track you have never won at before makes you a legitimate contender to win a championship with the new rules this year. This just shows that this team has a chance to win at tracks they haven’t won at yet.

This week the series heads to Michigan International Speedway for the running of the Quicken Loans 400. MIS is a 2-mile D-shaped oval with 18 degree banking in the turns. It is very similar to California Speedway in the configuration and I believe the biggest difference in these tracks is the weather. Not a real big deal in racing, so those who are good at one of these tracks is usually good at the other.

QUICKEN LOANS 400

Greg Biffle: I am going to go out on a sturdy limb and predict that Greg gets his first victory of the season. He has won two of the past four races at this track and that is why I say the limb is sturdy. I believe that this is Greg’s favorite track to run on and that gives a driver an advantage heading into the weekend. He also has six top five finishes in his last eleven starts at this track, so he is a good pick to start no matter what.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin finished second in the last two race run here and the way he has been running this season I believe he will have a contending car once again. This team has had a great car every weekend and is a legitimate contender in Kevin’s first year with Stewart/Haas Racing. This team is ready to go every week this year.

Carl Edwards: Carl has won two races at this track and has finished in the top ten in his last three starts here.. This team already has a win on the season, but they would like to win another race heading int;o the Chase to prove that they can run well on a consistent basis.

Tony Stewart: Smoke has had a pretty rough season so far, but the weather is warming up and he is feeling better every week. He has finished in the top ten at Michigan in six of his last seven races and knows that he has a car as good as Kevin Harvick under the hood every week I look for him to content this weekend and for the remainder of the season on a weekly basis.

Jimmie Johnson: I can’t talk about California and Michigan without mentioning Jimmie. He has won two of the last three races run this season and is always good at both of the aforementioned tracks. He has also lead laps in the last three races at this track, but lost engines in two of those races. I wouldn’t worry too much about the engines this week though.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has always been a terror at Michigan and California, and even though he is still in second place in the standings I know he would love to get a win very soon. I think this team needs to go back to the basics and not worry so much about what might or might not happen during the race and just race. Then they will be good to go.

Clint Bowyer: This is another team that has been very disappointed with themselves so far this year. but they have always been very good at Michigan. Clint has finished in the top ten here in his last six starts and just needs to have things go right throughout the day. His pit crew needs to be better and then he will be a contender late in this race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has won two races at this track, including a win here two years ago. Last year he struggled here, blowing an engine in the spring race and losing a bunch of laps in the fall race. This team isn’t worried about those things this season and will be looking back at the win they had two years ago as they head into this weekend’s race.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

  • Kevin Harvick
  • Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

  • Grag Biffle
  • Brad Keselowski
  • Tony Stewart
  • Carl Edwards

Yahoo Driver Group C

  • Juan Pablo Montoya
  • Trevor Bayne

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

  1. Greg Biffle
  2. Jimmie Johnson
  3. Matt Kenseth
  4. Kevin Harvick
  5. Carl Edwards

Dark Horse: Brian Vickers

Stay Away From: Kurt Busch

Categories
Fantasy NASCAR

2014 Pocono Raceway, Pocono 400

Jimmie Johnson pulled off his second win in a row and Matt Kenseth, without a win yet this season, took over the point standings with a third place finish. So, now we are half-way to the Chase, we have ten different winners and the driver that is leading the standings doesn’t have a win yet.

Next week the series heads to Pocono Raceway for the running of the Pocono 400. Pocono is a two and a half mile flat track with only three turns. In other words it looks like a triangle and every corner is different for the drivers. In my opinion the races at Pocono are quite boring, but that is just my opinion.

POCONO 400

Jeff Gordon: Jeff is my pick to win this week at Pocono. He has always run well here throughout his career, winning six races and finishing in the top five in almost half of the races he has run here. Jeff won this race in the fall of 2012 and finished second here last fall. He is very consistent and is having a great year, having good cars every week.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie is on a roll and when he gets on a roll he is tough to beat. He won this race last season and finished and has finished in the top five here in four of his last six races and hasn’t finished outside of the top fifteen since 2007. This team looks like they have things figured out right now.

Tony Stewart: Tony has four straight top ten finishes here and had a good run at Dover last weekend. Tony has been inconsistent so far this year, but he has been that way in the past. I think he is still recovering from the broken leg he suffered last season and is going to start running better every week as we get further into the season.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has been very consistent all season and even though he has never been great at Pocono, I believe that this year will be different for this team. They are very confident week in and week out this year and will have another good run once again this weekend.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has had an up and down season so far this year, but he has always run well at Pocono. He has won four races in sixteen starts and has finished in the top five in half of those starts also. This could be the place where Denny picks up his second win of the season.

Kurt Busch: Here is a team that has been struggling lately, but this could be the week that they turn things around. Kurt has two wins at this track and has finished in the top five in forty percent of his career starts. That includes three top five finishes in his last five starts.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Although Dale has never won a race at this track he is very consistent here. He has finished in the top ten in five of his last six starts here and has run well all season. This team would like to get another victory soon and a win here would really boost their confidence.

Carl Edwards: Carl is another driver that has always run well at Pocono. He has two wins to his credit and seems to excel on the flat tracks like Pocono. They already have a win that should get them into the Chase, but they would like to become a little more consistent and be able to compete for the win on a weekly basis.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has one win here and has finished no worse than twenty-third in his eight starts at this track. He has finished in the top six in three of his last five starts at Pocono and knows how to get around this track. This is the type of track that this team could pick up their second win of the season at.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR POCONO RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

  • Jeff Gordon
  • Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

  • Denny Hamlin
  • Tony Stewart
  • Carl Edwards
  • Brad Keselowski

Yahoo Driver Group C

  • Austin Dillon
  • Danica Patrick

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT POCONO RACEWAY

  1. Jeff Gordon
  2. Jimmie Johnson
  3. Denny Hamlin
  4. Tony Stewart
  5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dark Horse: Brian Vickers

Stay Away From: Kyle Busch

Categories
Fantasy NASCAR

2014 Dover International Speedway, FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks

We are a third of the way through the 2014 season and Jimmie Johnson just became the tenth driver to win a race this year. There are a few notable drivers who don’t have a win yet this season including, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne just to name a few. Will NASCAR get six more winners in the next fourteen races to fill all of the Chase spots?

This week the series heads to Dover International Speedway which is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. DIS is a one-mile concrete oval with twenty-four degrees of banking in the corners. Qualifying means a lot at this track as sixty-eight of the eighty-eight race winners have started in the top ten. You don’t want to start towards the back and get lapped early in the race because of an ill handling car.

FEDEX 400 BENEFITING AUTISM SPEAKS

Jimmie Johnson: Now that Jimmie has a win under his belt he might just win a bunch of races in the coming weeks. He has more wins than any other driver, eight, at this track and won the race here last fall. I am picking him to get his second straight win of the year this weekend.

Clint Bowyer: Clint is one of the drivers still looking for his first win of the season and Dover is a good place for him to get it. Clint has finished in the top ten in his last six starts at this track and would like nothing better than to have a great run and get himself qualified for the Chase this weekend. He will need to do a better job of qualifying to have a legitimate shot at heading to victory lane though.

Joey Logano: Joey has four straight top ten finishes at Dover. The big problem for him here is that he has lead only one lap in the ten races he has run at this track. He needs to have a dominant car right from the beginning of the race so that he can stay up front. As I said before, if you start in the back it doesn’t bode well for a good finishing position.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff still leads the point standings and has always been good at Dover. He has four career wins here and has finished in the top five in his last three starts at Dover. This team wants to get another win and improve on their lead as we get closer to the Chase. Jimmie is the only active driver to lead more laps at Dover than Jeff.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has two career wins here and has finished in the top ten in seven of his last eight starts. This is the type of track that Kyle loves to run on. The high banking in the corners gives him the option of passing high or low as he always has a great handling car at Dover.

Tony Stewart: Tony won this race last year, but he only lead a total of three laps in that race. Early in his career he was one of the dominant drivers at Dover each time he ran here. Lately he has struggle mightily here, only leading nine laps in his last eighteen starts. This team needs to shake things up a bit, because Tony has the same equipment that Kevin Harvick has and he should be able to run just as well every week.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has finished in the top ten in nineteen of thirty races he has run at Dover, including two wins. If he can stay out of trouble and avoid mechanical failures early in the race he will be in contention at the end of the race. There are still fourteen races before the start of the Chase, but this team would like to get their first win of the season as soon as possible.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has had a fast car each and every week this season. Although he has never won a Sprint Cup race at Dover he has finished in the top ten in six of his last eight starts there. The way this team has been running all year I wouldn’t put it past Kevin to pick up his first career victory here this weekend.

Greg Biffle: Greg is another driver who is chomping at the bit to visit victory lane for the first time this season. He has won here before and always seems to have a good car during practices and qualifying. he just needs a little luck to stay out of harms way early in the race and make the right adjustments at the end to give him a shot at the checkered flag.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale finished second to Jimmie Johnson last September at Dover and has a win to his credit at this track. This team is looking to rebound from a mechanical failure last week in Charlotte. It is imperative that they qualify well this week and keep up on their adjustments as the track changes during the race. Do that, stay out of trouble early, and you have a shot at the win.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

  • Jimmie Johnson
  • Kyle Busch

Yahoo Driver Group B

  • Joey Logano
  • Greg Biffle
  • Brad Keselowski
  • Carl Edwards

Yahoo Driver Group C

  • Kyle Larson
  • Austin Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

  1. Jimmie Johnson
  2. Kyle Busch
  3. Jeff Gordon
  4. Clint Bowyer
  5. Joey Logano

Dark Horse: Brian Vickers

Stay Away From: Tony Stewart