Category: Fantasy NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson showed us that there is nothing wrong with him or his team when he picked up his first win of the season at Texas a couple of weeks ago. This years race for the championship looks like it could be very tight at this point of the season, but there is still a lot of racing to do before we really worry about that and a lot of things can happen over the next twenty or so races.

FOOD CITY 500

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter break from NASCAR and we are ready to get back to it. This week the series heads to one of my favorite tracks on the circuit, the Bristol Motor Speedway. This is a very short track with a lot of banking which results in laps being run in about fifteen seconds for every driver. It doesn’t take much to find yourself a lap or more down here seeing you are a half lap down when you get to the starting line if you start in the back of the pack. Qualifying is very important here and I don’t think you will see so many drivers not passing inspection like we did at Texas.

Kyle Busch: I am picking Kyle to win this race. He leads all active drivers in laps led at this track and has five wins under his belt here. This will be his first win of the season and will give this team a boost in confidence. Kyle has finished in the top ten at Bristol in thirteen of the twenty-three races he has run here and has been close to winning already this season. Look for him to take the checkered flag this weekend.

Brad Keselowski: Brad leads the series with two wins so far this year and could very well pick up his third win this weekend. He has already won at this track twice in his career to go along with five top ten finishes in his fourteen starts here. This team has looked like they are ready to win another championship even though it is early and are probably the favorite in that category right now.

Kyle Larson: Here is the hottest and most consistent driver on the circuit so far this year. This hasn’t been his best track in his short career with only two top ten finishes in his six starts here and only leading laps in one of those races. However, the way this team is running now you can’t count them out at any track on any weekend. I do believe I will save his starts for those tracks he has shown more consistency at in his young career.

Jimmie Johnson: Last race’s winner can reel them off in a hurry as he has shown throughout his career. He has only one win at Bristol in his career, but he has finished in the top ten in eleven of his last sixteen starts at this track. Once again, I think there are tracks where Jimmie is more consistent than Bristol and I will be saving his starts for those places. You just can’t count this guy out on any weekend though.

Joey Logano: Joey has four top ten finishes in his last six starts at Bristol including his two wins at this track. This team has been fast all year, but has been digging themselves into holes by having penalties and poor pit stops on pit road that has taken them out of contention and then they have spent most of the races clawing their way back to the lead lap and getting into contention, but it has been too little too late for them so far this year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale came away with his first top five of the season at Texas and is feeling good about his team right now. He is another driver with one win here and he finished second in this race last year. He has also finished in the top ten in almost half of the thirty-three races he has run at this track. I think this team will keep improving as the season progresses and they will win at least one race before the start of the Chase.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has four wins and twenty top ten finishes in his thirty-four starts at Bristol. He trails only Kyle Busch in laps led here for all active drivers which shows me that he runs consistently well and up front at this track. He is a good safe bet to have on any fantasy team this weekend.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is a five time winner at this track and could be a great pick this weekend even though the last of those wins came way back in 2006 and he has only finished in the top ten in three of his last eleven starts here. I think with the new Ford engines and a win already under his belt this year you will see the old Kurt Busch this weekend at Bristol where he is aggressive and makes his way to the front and fights to stay there.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: This team has looked pretty good all season and this is one of Ricky’s best tracks. In his eight starts here he has finished second twice, once last fall, and in the top ten in four of those eight starts. He is my dark horse this week even with a small penalty imposed on this team after the Texas race when they were found to have a loose lugnut on their car in post race inspection. That is a safety violation and the reason for the fine.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin picked up his second win at this track last fall and is still looking for his first win of the season after coming so close so often already. While still looking for that first win of the season you might see Kevin be a little more aggressive than he usually is as he fights his way to the front of the pack. If he needs to use his bumper to make passes I think we will see him doing that late in the race if it means he can pick up the win.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Brad Keselowski

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Ryan Newman
• Jamie McMurray
• Clint Bowyer

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Erik Jones

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

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

Dark Horse: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

Big 18: Kyle Busch

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski who picked up his first career win at Martinsville and second win of the season last weekend. I thought there were some pretty good races for position going on all around the track most of the day and that makes it worth it to watch the Martinsville race now. I used to think this was one of the more boring tracks to watch a race at on the entire circuit, but this weekend they put on a pretty good show.

O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500

This week the series heads to the Texas Motor Speedway before taking a week off for the Easter holiday. Texas is another of the mile and a half intermediate tracks on the schedule and is very similar to Atlanta and I believe you will see the drivers talking about their setup at Atlanta and the one they are using this weekend being very similar. Those who didn’t run well at Atlanta have had a few weeks to figure out what they needed to do to make their car faster this weekend and you will see many of them improve on their Atlanta performance.

Kevin Harvick: I am going to stick with a Ford driver to win this weekend’s race once again. The Ford’s have been fast all season so far and Kevin has run very well here lately. He has finished in the top ten in his last five starts here and is looking for his first win at this track. I think he gets it this weekend. He had the dominant car at Atlanta this year when he led 292 of the possible 325 laps in that race before getting caught speeding on pit road during a late race caution. That doesn’t happen this week!

Brad Keselowski: Brad is the hottest driver on the circuit right now with two wins and five straight top five finishes. He has yet to win a race at Texas in his career, but he did win the race in Atlanta this year. He has also finished in the top ten in six of his last nine starts at Texas and will look to keep his momentum going this week. This team always seems to know what changes to make to their car so it is in contention at the end of a race.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has four straight top ten finishes at this track and led almost half of the laps run here last spring. This team has been very good the past few seasons, especially on the intermediate tracks. I look for this team to come to Texas with another fast car and run up towards the front the whole race and maybe pull out another win.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all active drivers with six wins at this track. However they haven’t shown me that they are on top of their game at these tracks yet this year. Jimmie finished nineteenth at Atlanta this year, one lap down to the leaders and I haven’t seen the speed that has been associated with Hendrick Motorsports. We know the speed is in the organization by the way Chase Elliott has run and I think Jimmie and Chad will get it figured out and have a shot at winning another championship yet this season.

Kyle Busch: Kyle said he was frustrated last week after the Martinsville race because he didn’t think they made the right changes to his car to keep him in front of Brad so he could pick up the win. If you are frustrated with finishing second in a Cup race, that’s a good thing, because it means you are close and you know you can do better. Kyle is so competitive that if he doesn’t win when he thinks he should he gets very upset and that just shows he is passionate when it comes to racing. You can’t ask for more than that from any driver.

Chase Elliott: Chase is going to win a race very soon and this might be his week. He has only run two Cup races here in his career and he finished in the top five in both of those races. He finished fifth in the race at Atlanta in March and has been so close so many times in his short career that one of these week’s everything is going to come together for him.

Joey Logano: Joey has one win at this track and a most impressive six top five finishes in his last eight starts here. Another Ford in the field with a very fast car this week. I really like his odds at having a shot to win this week’s race himself and am leaning on putting him on my roster ahead of Jimmie, Brad, Kyle, and Martin. I think this team likes to run here and can drive in any lane they choose when it comes to this track which will help you find the speed you need to move to the front.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has struggled a little bit this year and most of it is due to bad luck, as in being in the wrong spot on the track at the wrong time. This is one of the tracks he has run very well on over the past five years or so where he has finished in the top ten in nine of his last eleven starts. I think this team is actually ahead of Jimmie’s team in the handling of their car at the beginning of a race and once they can stay out of the danger spots their finishing position will improve too.

Kyle Larson: This years points leader hasn’t run particularly well at this track during his short career with two top ten finishes in seven starts, but the way they have been running every week this year I think you can throw his past at this track out the door. This is his type of track where you can run either low or high to find the speed your car has in it. I look for him to qualify well and run in the top ten for most of the day once again.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey has looked better this year so far than he has over the past several years. He is another driver that likes to run the high line and this track is made for that kind of racing. Look for Kasey to have another decent run this weekend even if I don’t think they are quite to the point of being able to compete for wins. If they can keep improving on their recent performances they will be able to get back to victory lane in the near future.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Joey Logano

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Chase Elliott
• Kyle Larson
• Kasey Kahne
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Erik Jones
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Joey Logano
3. Kyle Busch
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Chase Elliott

Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From: Clint Bowyer

Big 18: Chase Elliott

We are five weeks into the season and we have five different winners so far. I have come to the conclusion that I personally don’t care for stage racing. To me it doesn’t make the races any more exciting because you can’t really tell who is in the top ten at the time anyway because they aren’t showing that on TV. They show the leader go across the line and that is all. Also, I think it makes the points standings difficult to follow and it does nothing to make the end of races more exciting. The drivers do that themselves. One thing it does do though is keep the field a little tighter and put more people on the lead lap when you have a dominant car and no cautions, but I could do without it.

STP 500

Congratulations to Kyle Larson who picked up his first win of the season this past weekend in California. Kyle has finished in the top two in four of the five races run so far this year. This week the series heads back east to the Martinsville Speedway for the running of the STP 500. Martinsville is the shortest track on the circuit with small pit stalls and no banking on the track. Qualifying will be at a premium to get the best pit selections which can win you the race here.

Kyle Busch: Kyle won this race last year and has finished in the top five here in his last four starts. He has also qualified in the top ten in nine of his last ten races here with the other start being eleventh. This bodes well at a track where pit selection is very important and those pit selections are based on where you qualify. I think this team will be the sixth different team to head to victory lane this season.

Denny Hamlin: With five wins here, twelve top five finishes and seventeen top ten finishes in twenty-two starts, Denny is no slouch at this track. He is one of the most consistent drivers here and will give Kyle all he can handle in this race. It would not be a surprise to see him qualify well and run up front all day this coming weekend. One way or another, I think we get a new winner this weekend.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first grandfather clock which is the trophy for winning a Martinsville race. However, he has finished in the top ten in eight of his fourteen starts including three top five finishes in his last four races here. This team overcame some more early adversity last weekend to come back and finish in the top five at California with a damaged car.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie is the most consistent driver at this track of all the active drivers. This might be the place where he and Chad Knaus can get to victory lane for the first time this season. He has nine wins here and has nineteen top five and twenty-four top ten finishes in thirty starts. If you finish in the top ten in 80% of your races at any track you know what you are doing there. Tough to leave this guy off your roster this week.

Joey Logano: Joey is another driver looking for his first win at this track. However, he has led more laps here over the last four races than any other driver. He has also qualified first or second in his last five races here and as I said a couple of times already, qualifying is very important at this track. Look for Joey to have another great car coming into the weekend and we will have to wait and see if his team can keep up with the adjustments to their car to have a shot at the win late in the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale runs well here on a consistent basis also. He won a race at Martinsville in the fall of 2014. Add to that eighteen top ten finishes in thirty-three career starts which means he has a top ten run in over half of his starts at this track. This team hasn’t run as well as they would like on the intermediate tracks so far this year and like teammate, Jimmie Johnson, this might be the type of track that is just what the doctor ordered to get them on track once again.

Kyle Larson: The hottest driver on the tour right now, Kyle will carry a lot of momentum into this weekend’s race. In his six starts here his best finish was a third place finish in this race last season. That is his only top ten finish in his six starts here. His average finishing position in his other five starts here is twenty-sixth. Doesn’t really give me a lot of confidence in him this week, but like Martin Truex showed us the past couple of seasons, the past doesn’t always tell us how a driver will run every week no matter what track they are on.

Clint Bowyer: Clint has gotten better and better every week. This is the type of track he really excels on and this could be the week he picks up his first win in a long time. I think this team will qualify well and run well the entire race this weekend and it won’t be a surprise to see him battling for the win late in the race this weekend at Martinsville.

Jamie McMurray: Jamie is still looking for his first win at this track and as a matter of fact, he has only finished in the top five here twice in twenty-eight starts here. Then again, he has finished in the top ten in fifteen of those races which tells me Jamie knows how to get around this track pretty well and if things fall in line for him he could surprise a lot of people by being in contention late in the race this weekend.

Matt Kenseth: Matt is another driver who has struggled with his finishing positions so far this season. His is not a matter of poor driving or poor equipment. He is struggling with bad luck, pure and simple. This might be the type of race this team needs to turn their fortunes around too. Matt is still looking for his first win at this track, but he has finished in the top six in five of his last seven starts here which tells me they have figured something out here and will probably continue to get better every time they come here.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Denny Hamlin

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Jamie McMurray
• Clint Bowyer
• Ryan Newman
• Austin Dillon

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Daniel Suarez

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Joey Logano

Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From: Kurt Busch

Big 18: Jamie McMurray

Congratulations to Ryan Newman who picked up his first win since the 2013 season this past Sunday in Phoenix. Ryan elected to stay out on old tires during a late race caution and held off Kyle Larson for the victory. Kyle Busch finished third after leading most of the last third of the race. The stage wins went to Joey Logano and Chase Elliott this week. Logano and Matt Kenseth were notable drivers who blew tires and hit the wall hard, knocking both of them out of the race.

AUTO CLUB 400

The series will stay out west for one more week as the drivers and teams head to the Auto Club Speedway for the running of the Auto Club 400. This track is a two-mile D-shaped oval that is fairly flat. This track is similar in design to Michigan International Speedway so we can look at the driver history at both tracks to get a better understanding on who to have on our teams this week.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won five of the last thirteen races at this track. He also has thirteen top five and sixteen top ten finishes in his twenty-two career starts here. Being from California, Jimmie really wants to win this race every time he comes here and he leads the series in wins here with six, and laps led with 980 under his belt. If they can find a little bit of speed to compete with what the Ford’s have brought so far this year they will be tough to beat.

Matt Kenseth: Matt always runs well at both California and Michigan. He has won three races at both of those tracks and he has led over 400 laps at both tracks. After a disappointing finish last week at Phoenix, this team will be looking for some redemption this weekend. They shouldn’t have to worry about tire or brake issues this week and can concentrate on making the right adjustments to their car as the race progresses so they are in a position to challenge for the win at the end of the race.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin picked up his lone win here back in 2011 and he has finished either first or second in four of his last eight starts here including second place finishes in the last two races here. This team has been fast every week once again this year and this week should be no different. He will have a great shot at moving up that one position he was short of the last two years and pick up his second win at this track.

Chase Elliott: Chase finished sixth in his only career start at this track last season and he also finished second in both of the Michigan races last year. He has been stellar each and every week this season and I think this could be the track he gets his first ever Cup win at. I really like the way he has run on all of the intermediate tracks so far in his career and he seems to qualify and then run up front all day long in these races.

Kyle Busch: After having a victory snatched away from him by a late race caution last week, Kyle will be looking for a little redemption this weekend. He has won three races at this track and has finished in the top three in four of his last five starts here. This is a wide track and their are going to be a lot of grooves to run in. I think Kyle is one of the best at finding different lines to run during the race and he seems to know when to make the move to those lines to make his car the fastest that it can be.

Joey Logano: Joey sat on the pole last weekend and dominated the first third of the race last weekend before a speeding penalty on pit road put him behind the eight ball and he had to race too hard to try to get back to the front of the pack and that could be what caused him to melt the bead on his tire late in the race and crash into the wall, knocking him out of the race. This team shouldn’t have to worry about those issues this week and will come with a fast car once again.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is another of the Penske drivers who has had a fast car every week this season. Brad picked up his only win here two years ago and that was the only lap he led on the day. He hasn’t fared very well at this track over his short career which only spans eight races here, with only two top ten finishes and thirty-nine laps led during those eight starts. The speed that these Ford drivers have this season could give him the boost he needs to come away with another top ten finish this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr.: You would think that Martin would be very good at this track the way he runs at places like Atlanta and Charlotte. However, his finishing rate is really that great here. He hasn’t won at either California or Michigan in his career. His best finish at this track is a sixth which he has done twice, but he only has four top ten finishes here in sixteen starts. I think I will hold off on using him at this track.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey has looked better so far this season than he has the past few seasons. This is also the kind of track he loves to run on. It is wide and he can run the top if he wants to and carry his speed off the corner. He has one win here and has finished in the top ten in half of the twenty races he has run here. I think he will come away with another of those top ten finished this week and might even have something to say when the checkered flag flies.

Kurt Busch: Kurt won a race here back in 2003 for the only time he has visited victory lane at California. He has finished in the top ten in seven of his last ten starts here and in the top five in three of his last four races. This team should have an even faster car this year than they have had in the past and I look for Kurt to run up front most of the race if they can figure out why they are having so many battery issues this year.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Kevin Harvick

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Chase Elliott
• Kurt Busch
• Kasey Kahne
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Erik Jones
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Kyle Busch
4. Chase Elliott
5. Matt Kenseth

Dark Horse: Kasey Kahne

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

Big 18: Matt Kenseth

Congratulations to Martin Truex Jr. who won all three stages of the race this past weekend at Las Vegas. Now, the stages don’t really seem to mean much at this point of the season other than to confuse the fans on the points. I hope NASCAR can either explain it better to us or that something starts happening to make the stages more exciting for the fans. I haven’t really seen anything yet that is supposed to make the races more exciting from the beginning to the end by adding the stages. Let me know what you all think.

CAMPING WORLD 500

The series stays out west for the second of three races on that side of the nation as they drivers head to the Phoenix International Raceway for the running of the Camping World 500. This is a one-mile, fairly flat, oval track and I want to see how these stages play out here. Is the short track going to make it more or less exciting or won’t it make any difference again?

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is my pick to win this race after a disappointing outcome at Las Vegas last week after he blew a tire and hit the wall and was done for the day. Coming away with a 38th place finish. Kevin has won six of the last ten races at this track and finished runner-up in two of the other four races. Plus he had a fourth place finish which gives him nine top four finishes in his last ten starts at Phoenix. He is a must have this week.

Kyle Busch: Kyle only win here came back in 2005. However, he has finished in the top four in his last three starts including a runner-up finish last fall. I think this is the type of track and racing that brings out the best in Kyle. He gets to use his bumper to move people out of his way if they won’t let him get by when he has a faster car and he likes that. He won’t hold it against someone for moving him on this type of track either if they can catch him.

Joey Logano: Joey won the race here last November and has finished in the top ten in six of his last seven starts at Phoenix. He ran well last week at Las Vegas and came away with another top five finish in that race. The Ford teams have looked good so far this season on the longer tracks and now we will see how they fair on the short tracks. I look for Joey to qualify well and lead some laps in this race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale missed this race last fall, but he won the fall race here back in the fall of 2015. He has also finished in the top ten in six of his last seven starts at this track. He looked pretty good last week, but I think this is the track where he will have something to say down the final stretch of the race. This team could pick up their first win of the season on Sunday.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is another driver who has run consistently well at Phoenix lately. He has finished in the top seven in his last five starts here. Last week he got a little down on himself and his team during the race and that has to stop if he wants to improve and have a chance to win another championship. Not everything is going to go in our favor all of the time, but as a driver you need to be a leader and show the rest of your team that you are a fighter and aren’t going to give up.

Denny Hamlin: We haven’t heard much about Denny during the races yet this season until the end when he gets in position to go for a win or at least make some noise. He has finished in the top ten at Phoenix in seven of his last ten starts including a win back in the spring of 2012. I think Denny is at his best on the shorter tracks and this is one of his favorite places to race. When you like to run at a certain track you come into the weekend with a lot of confidence and that carries over to your team.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has only run six races at this track and has qualified in the top ten in five of those races. However, he has never led a lap at this track and only has two top ten finishes to show for his efforts. Does this mean we need to keep him off of our team this week? No, you shouldn’t be afraid to use him if you want to. I think this team is close to figuring this track out from the start of a race to the end and they will win here one of these days.

Brad Keselowski: Brad almost won his second race in a row last week at Las Vegas and had the lead until the last lap when something broke on his car and he faded. He is still looking for his first win at Phoenix too, even though he has finished in the top ten in seven of his last ten starts here. I think this team has a good shot at winning every week no matter where they are racing. Look for Brad to have another good run this weekend.

Chase Elliott: Chase has finished in the top ten in his only two starts at Phoenix. A very small sample size, but it shows that he can get the job done on different types of tracks. Do you use him this weekend? I think he is better and more consistent on the intermediate tracks and will save his starts for those types of tracks myself. If you are in a league that doesn’t have a maximum starts per driver rule you could probably use him more often.

Ryan Blaney: Another young driver with only two starts at this track and he came away with two top ten finishes in those races just like Chase. This team has been pretty impressive this season so far. You can see that they have fast cars and I think Ryan pushes a little too hard early in a run and wears out his tires too quickly. If he can learn to manage his tires early in the race, he will find himself in position at the end of races to make that short run and try to get his first series win.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Kyle Busch

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Ryan Newman
• Ryan Blaney
• Kyle Larson

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Daniel Suarez

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

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

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

Big 18: Kevin Harvick