Category: Fantasy NASCAR

There is now only one race left before the start of the Chase and there are still a few unanswered questions. Can Chris Buescher remain in the top thirty in points and make the Chase? He currently holds an eleven point lead over David Ragan for that spot. Will a driver who hasn’t won a race yet this season win at Richmond and knock another driver out who would have made it on points? It can happen. Can Ryan Newman make up a seven point deficit on Jamie McMurray and take the final Chase spot away from him? We will find out the answers to all of these question on Saturday night!

FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400

Richmond International Raceway is a short-track. At just 3/4 of a mile and with only fourteen degrees of banking in the corners, starting towards the end of the field can lead to poor finishes in a hurry. Qualifying will be very important for all drivers, but especially important for those with Chase aspirations on the line. A poor qualifying effort or any reason a driver has to start at the rear of the field spells almost certain doom for a driver at this track.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is my pick to win the race this weekend at RIR. Kyle has won four times here in his career, which leads all active drivers. He also has finished in the top five in fifteen of his twenty-two starts and had led over one-thousand laps at this track. This is the perfect chance for him to win his fifth race of the season and be the number one ranked driver when he starts defending his Sprint Cup Championship from last year.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin probably would have won the race last week at Darlington if his team wouldn’t have had so many problems in the pits. There were three or four times where they had horrible stops and Kevin would lose a lot of spots that he had to make up on the track after dominating much of the early part of the race. With three wins and nineteen top ten finishes in thirty-one starts here, Kevin will give Kyle a run for his money this weekend.
Denny Hamlin: Denny had a great race last weekend and will try and build on that momentum this week at Richmond. He has led over fourteen-hundred laps at this track on his way to two wins and eleven top ten finishes in twenty starts here. This team looks to be improving and the right time of the year and just needs to stay consistent now. They have been one of the fastest teams on pit road all season and that in itself is a huge advantage for a driver.

Jeff Gordon: With Dale Earnhardt Jr. announcing he will not race again this season, Jeff and Alex Bowman will pilot the #88 for the rest of the season. This is one of Jeff’s weeks to drive the car once again. Though he hasn’t had the Jeff Gordon finishes we have come to expect throughout his career while subbing this year, you just never know when he is going to put another win in the books. With two wins, over sixteen-hundred laps led and thirty top ten finishes in his forty-six starts here, Jeff is someone you can use on your team.

Tony Stewart: Tony has won three times at this track and needs to get back to running well if he wants to make any noise once the Chase starts. I don’t expect NASCAR to issue any points penalties to Tony after he wrecked Brian Scott last weekend at Darlington, but he might get put on probation for the rest of the season which really doesn’t mean anything. His nineteen top ten finishes and 950 laps led here in thirty-four starts are reason enough to have him on your team this weekend.

Carl Edwards: Carl won the race here in April of this year for his second win at this track. This team really needs to become more consistent with the handling of their race car if they want to have a chance to win the championship this year. They have been terrible lately after qualifying well and we all know what happens to drivers who end up in the middle of the pack on restarts.

Jimmie Johnson: Speaking of a driver who needs to step up his game, Jimmie has really been struggling lately. They seem to have found some speed that they were lacking for a while, but they don’t seem to be getting the handling of the car right for Jimmie. This leads to spins and crashes when he tries to push the car harder than it is willing to go to make up time on the track. Still, he has won three times at this track so we know he can get the job done here.

Ryan Newman: Ryan’s lone win here came back in 2003. However, he hasn’t finished outside the top twenty since 2008 and has finished in the top ten in eight of the last fifteen races he has run here. He really needs to have another top ten and probably top five finish if he wants to make the Chase. I think he can do it, but there is going to be a lot of pressure on every single member of this team.

Kyle Larson: This is a team that has run very well the past two weeks while they won a race and had a chance at making it two. Kyle has only run five races at Richmond, but he has run them consistently well. He has never qualified worse than fifteenth here and has never finished worse than sixteenth. He has also completed every lap of every race he has run here. Another dark horse week for this team.

Chase Elliott: Chase has only run two races at this track and both of them have been in the spring. He has a twelfth and a sixteenth place finish in both of those races and just needs to stay out of trouble in this race and he will make the Chase. They can’t afford to wreck early and finish at the bottom of the pylon in this race or they could still miss out on making the Chase.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Kevin Harvick

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Kyle Larson
• Ryan Newman
• Tony Stewart

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Jeff Gordon
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Kyle Larson
5. Carl Edwards

Dark Horse: Tony Stewart

Stay Away From: Austin Dillon

Big 18: Tony Stewart

Congratulations to Kyle Larson who won his first ever Sprint Cup race at Michigan this past weekend. The win also propels him into the Chase and sets up what will be an interesting final two weeks before the start of the Chase. We now have thirteen different winners who are all in the top thirty in points going into the final stretch. Not all of them are guaranteed to remain in the top thirty in points, but as of right now there are only three spots open for drivers to get in on points and there are four drivers who are really fighting for those three positions in my opinion. A lot of pressure on these teams coming up over the next two races.

BOJANGLES’ SOUTHERN 500

This week the series heads to Darlington Raceway for the running of the famed Bojangles’ Southern 500. Darlington Raceway, also known as ‘The Lady in Black’ or ‘The Track Too Tough To Tame’ is a 1.366-mile egg shaped track in Darlington, South Carolina. This is the sight of one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history when back in March of 2003 Ricky Craven beat Kurt Busch be .002 seconds in a race where both drivers were banging off each other as they crossed the finish line.

Kevin Harvick: I am picking Kevin to get back in the win column this week at Darlington. I thought he was going to win last week at Michigan and he came away with a fifth place finish which is good in anyone’s book. Kevin has finished in the top five in his last three starts at this track and picked up the win here two years ago. He has also lead more laps here in the last two races than any other driver.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has three wins at this track and would like nothing better than to make it four and pick up some momentum as we close in on the Chase. With the three wins, nine top five, and twelve top ten finishes in seventeen starts here, this team is one of the most consistent when it comes to racing at Darlington. I think they give Kevin a run for his money.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff will be subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. once again this weekend. Jeff leads all active drivers with seven wins at this track. He also has nineteen top five and twenty-three top ten finishes here and could surprise a lot of people this weekend. He could also play spoiler for someone who needs to pick up a win to make the Chase even though Jeff isn’t running for the championship this year.

Kyle Larson: Kyle got his first win of his career last weekend and looks to continue that momentum this weekend. Kyle has only run two races at this track and has finished in the top ten in both of those starts. This team would like to build on what they accomplished in Michigan and build more confidence as they race for a championship this season.

Ryan Newman: Ryan is still looking for his first win of the season and his first win at this track. He also finds himself sitting on the outside looking in to the Chase at the present time. He can still get in on points, as he is only seven points behind Jamie McMurray right now or he can win one of the next two races and get in that way. He has been very consistent here finishing in the top ten eleven times in his seventeen starts. He needs to come away with another top ten finish this weekend to keep his hopes alive.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has one win, three runner-up finishes and a third place finish in only ten starts at this track. I look for this team to have another good race here and build some momentum of their own as we near the Chase. This team is looking to improve their communication between driver and crew-chief to make the correct adjustments as races progress so they can stay in the hunt late in races. They also need to cut down on pit road speeding penalties.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has had a long stretch of bad luck since winning three of his four races early this season. He had some more bad luck at Michigan last weekend and will be looking to get back to his winning ways this weekend. Kyle has finished in the top ten here in his last four starts and seven of his eleven starts overall at this track. He should be in the mix once again this weekend.

Carl Edwards: Carl won this race last season for the first time and has finished in the top ten in four of his last five starts here. It seems that all of the Joe Gibbs drivers run consistently well here and we have seen how strong their cars are on a weekly basis this year. This is one of those tracks where you need to be consistent on both ends and those ends are configured a bit differently. This is another track that caters to the old dirt track racers.

Tony Stewart: Tony is another driver looking for his first win at this track in his final season of racing in the Sprint Cup Series. Tony has always run well here finishing in the top ten in twelve of his twenty-three starts. He would like nothing better than to pick up that first win here in his last start and build a little momentum before the Chase begins.

Brad Keselowski: Brad finished second in this race last season after leading 196 laps and sitting on the pole for that race. This team always seems to get their car handling well enough to win races every week and with their four wins on the season already they have shown that they know how to finish those races. I look for Brad to be very competitive once again this weekend at Darlington.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DARLINGTON RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Ryan Newman
• Kyle Larson
• Tony Stewart

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Jeff Gordon
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Carl Edwards
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Greg Biffle

Stay Away From: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Big 18: Carl Edwards

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick who picked up his second win of the season this past weekend at Bristol in another weather delayed race. Chris Buescher came away with a top five finish which moved him into thirtieth place in the points standings which would put him into the Chase if he can stay there for the next three races. The next big fight will be for who can still get in on points and who needs to win a race to make the Chase in the next three weeks.

Ryan Newman currently holds the last points position to make the Chase, but a new winner will knock him out too. There are still a handful of drivers who need to run very well over the next three races to give themselves a shot at getting their team into the Chase while Buescher and Tony Stewart must maintain their position in the standings to make their wins propel them at a chance to win a championship.

PURE MICHIGAN 400

Kevin Harvick: I am going to pick Kevin to win back to back races this week at Michigan. He has finished in the top five here in six of his last seven starts including five second place finishes. When you finish runner-up that many times in a short stretch you know you are doing something right and you just need that small piece of something going right to take the checkered flag.

Joey Logano: Joey won the race here in June and has won two of the past six races at this track. He has also finished in the top ten in his last seven starts here. This team has run really well at this type of track this season and that should continue this weekend. Look for Joey to compete against Kevin for the win.

Martin Truex Jr.: Speaking of drivers who have run well on this type of track this season let’s not forget about Martin. This team has been good on every type of track this year and really dominated at Charlotte in May. Look for this team to qualify well and run up front all day. If they hit their set up correctly at the start of the race, they could make this another runaway race.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at what he considers his home track and he always seems to run well here. He has finished in the top ten at Michigan in his last five starts and is tied for the series lead with four wins on the season. This team is solidly in the Chase and I think they will take any chance they can to try and win this race in Brad’s home state.
Matt Kenseth: Matt won this race last year and has always ran well on this track. With three wins, fourteen top five, and twenty top ten finishes in thirty-four starts here, Matt is one of the most consistent drivers on the circuit at this track. He had some more bad luck at Bristol last weekend that knocked him out of contention late in the race. Look for him to move to the front once again this weekend.

Carl Edwards: Carl is another driver who has run very well here throughout his entire career. With two wins, nine top five, and seventeen top ten finishes in only twenty-four starts, he is the only driver more consistent here than Matt is. With both of them driving for Joe Gibbs and those cars being the class of the field for most of the year, expect to see both of them vying for the win this weekend.

Chase Elliott: Chase has only run one race here which was back in June, but he finished second in that race and had a fast car all day. This team is going to win a race real soon and this might be the weekend that he does it. He has run well each and every week and just seems to be getting closer and closer to breaking through for his first Sprint Cup Series win. It won’t be a big surprise when it happens.

Kyle Larson: Kyle needs to pick up or win or run really well the next three races if he wants to make the Chase. This team seems to be good in most of the races they run, but always seems to run into some kind of trouble on the track late in the race. They are either getting caught up in somebody’s wreck or hitting the wall on their own because Kyle likes to run the real high line. That is the way to get around Michigan so this might be his week.

Dale Earnhardt Jr./Alex Bowman: I am not sure if Dale will be back this week or not. We will have to watch the entry list and the news to see what his status is. This is one of the tracks where he really excels and if he comes back this week he knows he will need a win to make the Chase. If he is out once again this weekend, Alex Bowman will be back in the car subbing for him and the car will be set up the same in either case.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has only won once at this track, but he usually has a great handling car here. This team really needs to step up their game on this type of track and the intermediate tracks if they want to seriously threaten for another championship. This is the time of the year where you need to start running consistently and winning races. I think they will be fast once again this weekend.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Joey Logano

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Martin Truex Jr.
• Kyle Larson
• Kasey Kahne

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Chase Elliott
• Alex Bowman

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Joey Logano
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Carl Edwards
5. Martin Truex Jr.

Dark Horse: Chase Elliott

Stay Away From: Trevor Bayne

Big 18: Chase Elliott

After a week off we are closing in on the start of the Chase. There are now only four races left to determine the final four or five drivers who will make the Chase grid. As of right now, Chris Buescher is sitting in 31st place three points behind David Ragan. To fill one of the remaining spots in the Chase he needs to finish in the top thirty in points. Then his win at Pocono a few weeks ago will propel him into the Chase.

Tony Stewart seems to be safe, as he sits in 26th place in the standings and has a 97 point cushion over the 31st place driver right now. The closest battle is for the final spot which could be taken by any driver who happens to pick up their first win of the season. Otherwise if it goes on points, Trevor Bayne holds a three point lead on Kasey Kahne, but this all depends on where Buescher ends up in the standings after the next four races. There is a lot to be settled in the next four weeks.

BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE

This week the series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the second time this season for the running of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. This is one of my favorite races of the year because I love Bristol and I love to see the paint schemes for this race held under the lights. Carl Edwards came away with the win earlier this year and we will see if he can sweep the races here this coming Saturday night.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is my pick to win this week’s race. He has won five races here in his career and while the last of those wins came five years ago he has qualified in the top ten in six of his last seven starts here with the only non-top ten qualifying spot when his time was disallowed. I look for him to qualify well once again this week and then stay out of trouble early in the race and compete for the win at the end.

Carl Edwards: As I mentioned before, Carl won the race here this spring and has four wins here in his career with two of those coming in the last five races. This team needs to become more consistent as we near the Chase and this is one of the tracks where they can build confidence as they usually run well here. Look for Carl to compete for the win this weekend.

Joey Logano: Joey has always qualified very well here, but he had trouble coming away with the finishes he was capable of and probably should have had here early in his career. That all changed over the past couple of seasons when Joey won two of the last four races at Bristol. Both of those races were the fall night races so, that means Joey will be a force to be reckoned with once again this weekend.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is another driver with five wins here in his career. Although his last win came here ten years ago this is the track where someone with Kurt’s mentality and ability help him get to the front. This is another team that needs to start stepping up their game as we near the Chase if they want to continue moving on to the next round. If they don’t become more consistent they will get eliminated early on.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff will be subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. once again this weekend. Jeff is another five-time winner at this track over his forty-six starts and he has also finished in the top ten twenty-five times in those races. He has also lead 2,720 laps at this track which is tops among all active drivers. They aren’t competing for a spot in the Chase, but I’m sure Jeff will do everything he can to win this race. They have nothing else to race for.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has won four races at this track and has finished in the top ten in twenty of his thirty-three starts here. This team seems to have a good car every week and had a lot of bad luck early in the year. Now they have two wins under their belts and are only looking to win more races this year so they can get more bonus points before the Chase starts and they can keep moving to the next round and look for their first championship with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has won two races in only thirteen starts at this track. Brad doesn’t mind bumping and banging a little bit while he is racing and that fits into the style you need to adapt when racing at Bristol. Face it, when you put forty cars on a half-mile oval that only takes about fifteen seconds to get around you’re going to be in traffic a lot and you have to get by that traffic somehow so you don’t get passed yourself. No more mister nice guy here.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has one win at this track, and he has finished in the top ten ten times in his twenty-nine starts here. This team has looked good on the intermediate tracks this season which most of the Chase consists of, but I’m sure they would like to come away with another win before the Chase starts and would also like to win on a short track once again.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is another driver with only one win at Bristol and I know he would love to make that two this weekend. He does have ten top five finishes in his thirty-one starts here and when you can finish in the top five in one-third of the races you run at any track at this level you are definitely doing something right. Look for Kevin to have a car good enough to come away with another top five finish this weekend. The rest is going to be up to luck and driver skill.

Ryan Newman: Ryan is still looking for his first win at this track, but he has been one of the most consistent drivers here during his career. He has sixteen top ten finishes in twenty-nine starts at Bristol and is probably going to make the Chase on points once again even if he doesn’t pick up a win over the next four races. Remember he came within one position of winning the championship two years ago without winning a race.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Joey Logano

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Ryan Newman
• Jamie McMurray
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Jeff Gordon
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

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

Dark Horse: Chase Elliott

Stay Away From: Kasey Kahne

Big 18: Carl Edwards

I am writing this article before the Pennsylvania was run due to the fact it was postponed by rain once again. Seeing that this week the series is heading to the second of two road course races on the year I don’t think the results of the Pocono race will change my opinions on this weeks’ race.

CHEEZ-IT 355 AT THE GLEN

Watkins Glen International is an eleven turn road course located in Watkins Glen, NY. The track was repaved after last years race so we will see a new surface but with the same configuration. This is a race that will be run rain or shine with rain tires and windshield wipers if need be. No worrying about missing a race due to work concerns on a Monday.

Tony Stewart: Tony won the race at Sonoma earlier this season and he has been running very well since that time. He leads the series with wins at this track with five. He has also finished in the top ten in ten of his fifteen career starts here and will have a lot of confidence coming into the weekend after his win at Sonoma.

Jeff Gordon: We will have to watch the entry list this week to see if Jeff will be subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. once again. At this time the #88 car has TBD on the entry list until Dale can be examined by doctors once again. If Jeff does run he is another must have on your roster here. He has four wins at this track and has led more laps than any other active driver with 262 laps led.

A.J. Allmendinger: A.J. won the race here back in 2014 and sat on the pole here last year. This is probably this teams only chance to make the Chase and they will need to win this race to do that. This is the type of track that A.J. thrives on and he could upset the Chase order by picking up a win this weekend.

Kyle Busch: Kyle has won two races at Watkins Glen in his career and he finished second here last year. He has been very good all year and is tied for the series lead with four wins on the season. Besides his two wins he has nine top ten finishes in eleven starts here which is very impressive for road course driving.

Carl Edwards: Carl is looking for his first win at this track but, he has run consistently well here with five top five and eight top ten finishes in eleven starts. You won’t find a lot of drivers on the circuit who run more consistently. All of the Joe Gibbs drivers have shown that they have superior equipment to the other teams this season as they have accumulated ten wins between the four drivers.

Joey Logano: Joey picked up his first win at this track last season and has finished in the top ten in four of his seven career starts here. It is always interesting to see how Joey races other drivers and if he is going to do something that makes other drivers thinks they need to pay him back for some bumping and banging to make a pass. There is always a lot of that that goes on during these races and tempers can flare.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at this track also but, he has finished second three times in only six starts here. Brad has a great attitude when it comes to these races and I still remember the last lap battle between him and Marcus Ambrose back in 2012 when they were both racing each other off the paved surface where Marcus came away with the win and Brad was like a little kid talking about how awesome the last lap was even though he didn’t win the race.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in eight of his fifteen career starts. Kevin runs well at both Sonoma and Watkins Glen which means he knows how to shift and get around road courses with the best of them. I look for him to come away with another top ten finish.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie is still looking for his first win at this track but has run well here on most occasions. He has finished third here twice and has sat on the pole two times also. This team had struggled quite a bit lately failing to finish in the top ten in six straight races until they came away with a third place finish at Indy a couple of weeks ago.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is another driver looking for his first win here but, he has been very impressive for most of the season. He ran well at Indy and sat on the pole at Pocono. Both of these are flat tracks that have some similarities to a road course and even though we don’t think of Martin as a road course guru he could very well surprise a lot of people this weekend.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Brad Keselowski
• Kyle Busch

Yahoo Driver Group B

• A.J. Allmendinger
• Tony Stewart
• Carl Edwards
• Martin Truex Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Jeff Gordon
• Michael McDowell

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

1. Tony Stewart
2. A.J. Allmendinger
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Kyle Busch
5. Carl Edwards

Dark Horse: A.J. Allmendinger

Stay Away From: Kasey Kahne

Big 18: A.J. Allmendinger