Category: Fantasy NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson picked up his second win of the season and is now a lock for the Chase unless for some unseen reason he doesn’t run all of the races before the Chase starts. This team looks like they are hitting on all cylinders once again and if they keep it up, they will be looking at a great shot at another championship. Chad Knaus is making all of the right calls and Jimmie is getting the job done on the track.

STP 500

After a week off for the Easter holiday, the teams will be back on the East Coast this week at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, VA for the running of the STP 500. Martinsville is the shortest track on the Sprint Cup circuit at just .526-miles and at the same time is very flat compared to Bristol. The paper clip shaped-track only has twelve degrees of banking in the corners and qualifying is very important because those who start in the back will find themselves half a lap down by the time they get to the starting line at the beginning of the race.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won eight times at Martinsville and is on a roll right now. He is one of the most consistent drivers at this track where he has finished in the top five eighteen times in only twenty-eight starts. He also has twenty-two top ten finishes in those starts and has led 2,747 laps here which is at least twice as many as any other active driver.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has five wins, eleven top five and sixteen top ten finishes in his twenty starts at this track. He has led the second most laps here of all active drivers and will give Jimmie everything he has throughout this race. These are the two most consistent drivers at this track and you should have both of them on your roster if at all possible this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has one win at Martinsville and has finished in the top five thirteen times and the top ten eighteen times in his thirty-two career starts here. He has led just under 1,000 laps and has been very consistent here over the past five plus years with eight top ten finishes in his last eleven starts. He has also run better on a consistent basis on the short tracks the past couple of seasons.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin has also won a race at this track and he has finished in the top ten in fourteen of his twenty-nine starts here. Finishing in the top ten in half of the races you run at any track is great, but he isn’t nearly as consistent here as the first three drivers that I mentioned. He doesn’t have the handle on this track like he has at Phoenix.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at this track and came close last spring, finishing second to Denny Hamlin. Brad has also finished in the top ten in six of his twelve starts here and likes to mix it up at this type of track. I think this team will be in the hunt once again this weekend.

Tony Stewart: I don’t think Tony is ready to come back yet and get in the drivers seat as he recovers from a back injury, but if he somehow does he is another driver who runs well here consistently. Tony has won three times at this track and has led over 1,200 laps. Keep an eye on the entry list when it comes out on Tuesday and see who is driving the #14 this week and use them in your Yahoo lineup.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is another driver looking for his first win at this track and has run well here more often than not. He has finished in the top five in nine of his twenty starts and has run well every week so far this season. A cut tire late in the race in California cost him another top five finish on the year. Kyle will get a win before the Chase starts, but this might not be the week.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has one win at this track and has run pretty well most every week this year. I think this is the type of track this team has a better chance to win at compared to the longer tracks. Ryan doesn’t mind mixing it up on the track and with his engineering background, I think he really helps his crew-chief out with adjustments at this track.

Jamie McMurray: Jamie hasn’t gotten a win at Martinsville yet, but he always seems to be in contention at this race. Case in point, he finished second here last fall, sat on the pole here three race ago, and has finished in the top ten here in fourteen of his twenty-six starts. I think Jamie is a dark horse this weekend and should come away with another top ten finish or better.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is a driver who normally runs well at the short tracks. However, Martinsville is an exception for him. He has won two races here during his career, but he has only one top ten finish here in his last twenty starts. That top ten was one of his wins. I think there are better drivers to put on your roster this weekend. Save Kurt for some other week.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Denny Hamlin

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Ryan Newman
• Jamie McMurray
• Clint Bowyer
• AJ Allmendinger

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Brian Vickers
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Jamie McMurray
5. Ryan Newman

Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From: Kurt Busch

Big 18: Denny Hamlin

Another great finish this week at Phoenix saw Kevin Harvick hold off Carl Edwards by .01 seconds to pick up his first win of the season and get himself qualified for the Chase. This was Kevin’s sixth win in his last eight starts at here which is another amazing feat.

AUTO CLUB 400

This week the series stays out west as the drivers and their teams head to Fontana, CA and Auto Club Speedway for the running of the Auto Club 400. This track is a two-mile D-shaped oval that is very similar to Michigan International Speedway. Neither tires nor engines should be a factor this weekend for the drivers, although fuel mileage could come into play late in this race.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all drivers in wins with five, laps led at 955, and top five finishes with twelve at Auto Club Speedway. Add to that, this team has looked good on the mile-and-a-half tracks so far this season and you have the recipe for another win for the 48 team this weekend. Jimmie will be the first repeat winner of the season if he can get his car to victory lane once again this weekend.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has won three races at Auto Club Speedway and has finished in the top ten in fifteen of his twenty-three starts here. He also runs extremely well at Michigan which is almost identical to this track. Matt has had a few problems on the track during the early part of this season, but this is one of those tracks where he can turn his luck around in a hurry.

Kyle Busch: Kyle also has three wins here and has won the last two races here that he has run. He missed this race last season while recovering from injuries suffered in a crash at Daytona. He has also finished in the top three in his last four starts here and has looked very good every week this season. He will be one of the favorites heading into the race this weekend.

Carl Edwards: Carl came oh so close to winning his first race of the season last week and he is one of the most consistent drivers at this track. In eighteen starts here Carl has one win, eight top five, and fourteen top ten finishes. I think we are going to see a lot of long, green flag runs this week and this team knows how to be patient and set up the car so it gets better as a run goes on.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has won one race at this track and he has finished in the top ten in six of his last eight starts here. This team is fast every week and now that they have a win under their belt this season they can relax a little bit. Then again, I don’t think that Kevin ever relaxes in a race car. He is always looking to win every race he enters and that strategy won’t change this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale is still looking for his first win at this track, but he has run well here the past five years finishing no worse that twelfth in those five starts. This team has looked strong every week this year and this weekend should be no different. Dale can run the high line that he likes this weekend which will give him a lot of speed and momentum coming out of the corners and that is how he likes to attack this track.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has sat on the pole at this track a record four times during his career. He also has one win and twelve top ten finishes in his twenty-starts at this track. In addition he has finished in the top ten in seven of his last nine starts here. This team has been fast all season and remains fast when they are out front. If they get stuck in traffic they seem to struggle to pass people, so they need to figure this part out and then they will start picking up some wins this season.

Joey Logano: Joey has been fast all year so far, but he hasn’t found his way to victory lane yet. I think this team will be a contender this weekend as they really do well on this type of track. So far Joey has stayed on everyone’s good side this year and has raced everyone cleanly. I think he is maturing as a driver and this can only help him on the track each week.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin hasn’t run consistently well here during his career with only four top ten finishes in fifteen starts. This team is always good on the mile-and-a-half tracks, so I don’t know why they don’t run better here every race. I won’t put him on my roster this week because there are better places to use his starts, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he came away with a top five finish either.

Austin Dillon: Austin has had a great start to his season and this weekend he is at another track where he should run well. He has only started two races at this track in his young career and has finished 12th and 16th in those races. I think he will come away with his first top ten finish at this track and continue to run well throughout the season.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Kyle Busch

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Austin Dillon
• Kasey Kahne
• Jamie McMurray

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Brian Vickers
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Carl Edwards

Dark Horse: Chase Elliott

Stay Away From: Aric Almirola

Big 18: Joey Logano

We now have three races in the books and three different drivers with wins that virtually guarantees them a spot in the Chase. All three of these drivers also made the Chase last season, and two of them are past champions. Who’s next on the qualifying list?

GOOD SAM 500

This week the series heads over to Phoenix, AZ and the Phoenix International Raceway for the running of the Good Sam 500. This is the only track besides the road courses that measure the race in kilometers. So, this race is scheduled for 312-laps, which is 500-kilometers. The track is slightly longer than one-mile which also makes this one of the shorter races on the schedule.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is a must have this week on your roster no matter what kind of league you are in. Kevin has won five of the last seven races here and finished first or second in seven on the last eight races here. In other words, he is hard to beat at this track. On top of that, this team really wants to get their first win of the season and qualify themselves for the Chase.

Brad Keselowski: Brad won the race last weekend at Las Vegas, but I think he runs even better on these short tracks. Brad is still looking for his first win at Phoenix, but he hasn’t finished worse than eleventh in his last eight starts here. Now that this team is qualified for the Chase, I think Brad is going to do everything in his power to take a win away from Kevin this weekend.

Joey Logano: Brad’s teammate has run just a well as if not better than Brad has over the past couple of seasons at Phoenix. Joey has five straight top ten finishes here and is still looking for his first win of the season and first win at this track. He came close once again last weekend and raced Matt Kenseth close, but clean throughout much of that race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale won the rain shortened race here last November and has four top five and five top ten finishes in his last six starts at Phoenix. It is going to be interesting to see if this team has gotten even better at this track during the off-season and if Junior can pull out back-to-back wins here. To do that he is going to have to beat Harvick who finished second to him last year.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has run very well so far this season and always has a fast car. He has one win at Phoenix during his career and has finished in the top ten here four times in his last five starts. I think Kurt runs better on this type of track than he does on the intermediate tracks and this could be a big week for this team. If he can pick up a win at the short track after running so well the past two weeks he is going to be considered one of the top contenders to win the championship this year.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie looked good once again last weekend and has won four times at Phoenix already. He also has finished in the top five here in fifteen of his twenty-five starts and in the top ten in nineteen of those races. It might be early in the season, but this team looks like they are back in form and will be ready to contend for a title once again this fall.

Denny Hamlin: After winning the Daytona 500 this team has been fast in practice, but lost the handle on their race car during the last two races. This week on a short track I think they will be back in contention once again. Denny has one win here and nine top five finishes in twenty-one starts. He always seems to run well at the flatter tracks like Phoenix, Martinsville, and Pocono.

Kyle Busch: After coming close to his first win of the season last week at Las Vegas, this team will look to move up another spot and visit victory lane this weekend. Kyle has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in thirteen of his twenty-one career starts. Kyle missed this race last year, but finished fourth here in the November race.

Carl Edwards: Carl has won two races during his career at Phoenix, but he hasn’t run that well here lately. He has finished in the top ten in only three of his last ten starts here which isn’t terrible, but I know Carl thinks he can do much better. I think this team is still getting to know one another yet, but with a season already under their belts, they need to start communicating and adjusting better together.

Ryan Newman: It has been a while since Ryan has visited victory lane and even though this team always seems to make the Chase, I don’t think you can win a championship without winning some races. Ryan has finished in the top eleven in his last five starts here and has one win at this track. One of these weekends he is going to surprise everyone and get back to victory lane.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Brad Keselowski

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Ryan Newman
• Kyle Larson
• AJ Allmendinger
• Jamie McMurray

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Chase Elliott

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Joey Logano
4. Kurt Busch
5. Jimmie Johnson

Dark Horse: Ryan Newman

Stay Away From: Austin Dillon

Big 18: Kevin Harvick

Week 2 is now in the books with Jimmie Johnson winning on pit strategy after Kevin Harvick dominated the race. The win is almost sure to lock Jimmie into the Chase while they know they still have some work to do on getting their car to be faster and the handling better. On the other hand, Kevin is probably a little disappointed he didn’t pick up the win and qualify himself for the Chase, but this team knows that they had the car to beat once again and that the wins will come soon enough.

KOBALT 400

This week the series heads out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the Kobalt 400. Once again this is a mile-and-a-half race track somewhat similar to Atlanta. The difference is in the progressive banking on the track and the fact that tire wear should be improved over what it was at Atlanta. This is also a 400-mile race instead of 500-miles like the Atlanta race was. That shouldn’t really matter as we saw no engine problems on any of the cars last weekend.

Kevin Harvick: I am going to pick Kevin to win the race at Las Vegas this week after his dominant performance at Atlanta last weekend. Kevin won this race last season and showed this team still has the speed and handling to be a contender every weekend once again this year. After the disappointing result to the race last week, Kevin is going to be ready to get back on the track and show everyone that he is a legitimate contender once again this season.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all active drivers with four wins at Las Vegas and has a lot of confidence after picking up the win last week at Atlanta. We have seen in the past how this team usually wins multiple races in a row and they will do everything they can to do it again. However, as I said before, this team needs to find a little more speed and better handling throughout the race so they can win with that instead of pit strategy.

Matt Kenseth: Matt had a great car last weekend and probably would have been a contender if not for a penalty on the gas man on a pit stop half-way through the race. To add insult to injury, they didn’t realize they were being black flagged and lost another lap when NASCAR stopped scoring them. Matt has won three races at this track and has finished in the top ten in nine of his sixteen starts here. All of the Gibbs teams showed speed and Matt is probably the best of them on the mile-and-a-half tracks.

Kyle Busch: Let’s not leave out Kyle though. After having the fastest qualifying lap, he was relegated to the rear of the field for the start of the race when his car failed post-qualifying inspection. Despite starting at the rear and not being able to really push his car because of tire wear, Kyle worked his way back towards the front and came away with a third place finish. Kyle has one win here and has finished in the top ten in five of his eleven starts.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale is still looking for his first win at this track, but he has finished in the top ten in nine of his sixteen starts at this track. Dale hung around in the top ten all race last week and then moved up to take second place on the green/white/checkered finish restart. It seems these types of tracks are really Dales favorites besides Pocono where he ran very well last year.

Carl Edwards: Carl has two wins at this track and has finished in the top ten in six of his eleven starts here. This includes top five finishes in four of his last five starts at Las Vegas. Carl stayed in the top ten for most of the race last weekend despite feeling a vibration in his car for much of the race. Once he can feel confident that his car isn’t going to blow a tire or he doesn’t have a loose wheel he will be able to push it a little harder.

Joey Logano: Joey had a good car last week at Atlanta also and only found himself a lap down because he hit the cone entering pit-road and had to do a pass through penalty which stuck him a lap down that he didn’t get back until the end of the race. This team has been good over the past couple of seasons on this type of track and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them in victory lane this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is another driver looking for his first win at Las Vegas. He did finish runner-up to Kevin Harvick in this race last year and was the second best car to Kevin’s last weekend also. This team looks poised to make another run at a championship this season and has an even better chance now that they are affiliated with the Joe Gibbs Racing teams.

Denny Hamlin: Denny started off last week’s race like a man on a mission as he passed a slew of cars early in the race. However, he wore out his tires and lost all of the track position he had gained and never quite recovered as he lost a lap on the track. This wasn’t a big deal to this team after winning the Daytona 500 and qualifying themselves for the Chase already. Denny has finished in the top ten in five of his ten starts at LVMS and shouldn’t have to worry about tires as much this weekend.

Chase Elliott: The rookie ran well all day at Atlanta last weekend and came away with a top ten finish. This should give this team a lot of confidence as they head into this weekend’s race at a similar track. There is only upside to the potential for this young driver. He has great equipment, teammates that can give him a lot of good advice, and a father who has been through it all before. I look for this team to win a race before the end of the season and it might come this weekend.

My Big 18 pick for this week is going to be Matt Kenseth. I think that after last week’s disappointment, this team will come out firing on all cylinders. Besides, I am going to use Kevin Harvick at Phoenix where he has been almost unbeatable the past three seasons.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Carl Edwards
• Austin Dillon
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Chase Elliott
• Ryan Blaney

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dark Horse: Chase Elliott

Stay Away From: Kurt Busch

Big 18: Matt Kenseth

Rough start to the year for yours truly with my best placing driver finishing twenty-sixth. The good news is that there are thirty-five more races left in the season for me to climb my way back up in the standings and there are only three restrictor plate races left.

Other than the bad news for me the finish of the race was pretty exciting. Kind of boring the last half of the race when the Gibbs teammates and affiliates had it figured out and just stayed in line knowing the outside line couldn’t catch them, but strategy is a big part of racing each and every week and you can’t fault teams for doing what works and within the rules.

FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500

The series is right back at it next weekend as the drivers head to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the running of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. There were no real engine troubles at Daytona last week, which is a good sign for all of the teams heading into another 500-mile race albeit this week there will be no restrictor plates on the cars.

This will be the first race on a fast mile-and-a-half track this year and it will tell us a lot about which teams have improved, which have remained about the same and who has fallen a bit behind. I’m really interested to see if the Roush/Fenway teams have improved over last season. They looked like they were more competitive at Daytona, so maybe they have there aero package figured out this year. We will see next Sunday.

Jimmie Johnson: With four wins, and thirteen top five finishes at Atlanta in twenty-four starts, Jimmie is the driver to beat this week. Jimmie won this race last season and I think this team will be back at the top of their game early this season. Every driver wants to get the win that will qualify them for the Chase early in the season and this team usually gets that job done.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won the first race he ever ran at Atlanta, but he hasn’t won a race here since. That really doesn’t mean much to me because of the way Kevin has driven over the past two seasons. He has one of the fastest and best handling cars every week and he just needs a few breaks to go his way during a race and he will find himself back in victory lane here again.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has never won a race at this track which came as a surprise to me as I was doing some research for this article. Matt has always been good on this type of track and his average finish at Atlanta is very good. He has ten top five finishes in twenty-seven start which is a great average to have and any driver would be happy with those results, but they all want to win every week and at least once at every track.

Carl Edwards: Carl has won three times at Atlanta in only eighteen starts and has finished in the top five in half of those races. In his second season at Joe Gibbs Racing, Carl should be much improved over last season in which he qualified for the Chase, but wasn’t really a contender. This season this team looks to compete for a championship during the Chase.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey has won three races at this track during his career and has finished in the top ten in nine of his nineteen starts here. All in all, Kasey hasn’t lived up to the expectations he or Rick Hendrick had when he signed with them back in 2012. In his fifth year with the team, Kasey needs to run more consistent, win a few races, and compete for a championship he is longing to win.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: After a disappointing result at Daytona last weekend, this team looks to rebound this week at Atlanta. Dale has one win under his belt at this track and has finished in the top ten in thirteen of his twenty-eight starts here. Watching his interview after getting out of the infield care center after his crash at Daytona, I noticed that Dale didn’t look real disappointed with what happened like he is sometimes. This tells me this team is very confident this season and last week was just a mishap not to worry about.

Brian Vickers: Brian ran well until the end of the Daytona 500 which tells me he feels comfortable behind the wheel once again. He has always run well at Atlanta having finished in the top ten in eight of his seventeen starts there. He also has great equipment under him as he fills in for Tony Stewart while Smoke recovers from back surgery. The question will be, can he do what Tony couldn’t do in this car? We’re going to find out this week.

Kyle Busch: The reigning NASCAR champion missed the race at Atlanta last year as he recovered from injuries suffered the week before at Daytona. Kyle has won twice at Atlanta in the past and has led a lot of laps in his seventeen starts. Kyle did what a teammate is supposed to do at Daytona last week, but this week when you don’t need drafting help it is going to be every driver for themselves.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has won three races in Atlanta and has led more laps than any other driver that will be competing here next week. Another of the Stewart-Haas drivers, Kurt has the equipment to compete every week no matter what type of track he is racing on. Kurt missed this race last season like his brother because he was suspended by NASCAR while he was involved in a legal matter that was under investigation. Kurt was cleared of any wrong doing and was reinstated by NASCAR, and qualified for the Chase and made a good run for the championship. I think this year he will be even better.

Denny Hamlin: Let’s not forget this year’s Daytona 500 winner! Congratulations to Denny Hamlin who was the class of the field all week at Daytona and gave us another exciting finish to a NASCAR race. I don’t think there has been a better finish since Ricky Craven beat Kurt Busch at Darlington in 2003 or the Watkins Glen finish in 2011 between Marcos Ambrose, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch. With a win and six top ten finishes in sixteen races it might not be his best track, but he is relaxed because he is in the Chase, but also hungry for more wins.

I am going to take Dale Earnhardt Jr. as my Big 18 driver this week. Even though I think Jimmie will win this race I am going to use him at both of the Dover raves where he has ten wins in twenty-eight starts. I also want to save Kevin Harvick because he is good just about every week.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Kevin Harvick

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Kasey Kahne
• Martin Truex Jr.
• AJ Allmendinger

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Ty Dillon
• Ryan Blaney

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Ty Dillon

Stay Away From: Greg Biffle

Big 18: Dale Earnhardt Jr.