Fantasy NASCAR Blog

Congratulations to Martin Truex Jr. who picked up his fourth win of the season and another five playoff points. He now has eighteen more playoff points than Jimmie Johnson, who is his closest competitor. Plus, by leading the point standings he will receive another fifteen points at the end of the regular season which gives him a huge advantage over every other driver in the playoffs. I’m not sure this is what NASCAR had in mind when they introduced stage racing this season.

PURE MICHIGAN 400

This week the series heads back to the Michigan International Speedway for the running of the Pure Michigan 400. This is a two-mile D-shaped race track that will have the drivers running in excess of 200 mph this weekend. This track is very similar to the Auto Club Speedway in California, so we can look at the racing histories of drivers at both of these tracks.

Chase Elliott: I think Chase gets his first ever Cup win this weekend and he won’t have to worry about getting in the playoffs on points. He has finished second in all three of his starts at this track and in the top ten in both of his starts at the Auto Club Speedway. This week everything comes together for him and he picks up that final spot and his first checkered flag in this series.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is still looking for his first win at this track and the way he has been running lately he just might get it this weekend. This team has been the cream of the crop no matter what type of track they have been running at and they are making the right calls in all of those races to keep themselves in contention. It’s hard not to have Martin on your team every week right now.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is the only driver who has had cars as fast as or faster than Truex over the past two months. The only difference is something bad always seems to happen to Kyle to take him out of contention. Last week he got caught up in an accident with Brad Keselowski which essentially took him out of the race for the win. I think these two are going to battle each and every week for the rest of the season with one of them winning the championship.

Kyle Larson: Kyle might have struggled the last three races, but he has won the last two races at this track. If there is any one thing that can break a driver out of a bad stretch it is going to a track where you have won the past couple of races. I look for Kyle to rebound this weekend and be another on a long list of contenders.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie is in one of those stretches he seems to get into every year where they are not really serious contenders in races. He has led more laps at Michigan than any other active driver and yet he only has one win at this track. It always seems like something goes wrong for him at this track during the race. He has won six times in California at a similar track, so I think we need to seriously consider having him on our roster here this weekend.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has won three times at this track with his last win coming here in August of 2015. Matt would really like to get a win so he doesn’t have to worry about another new winner on the season or racing against Clint Bowyer to get the last playoff spot on points. They came close a couple of times in the past few races and this should be another track where he has a good shot at getting his first win of the season.

Joey Logano: Joey has two wins at this track, but I just don’t think this team looks like they are ready to compete for wins right now. I don’t know what has been wrong with this team lately, but it seems like they have neither the speed or the handling in their cars right not to be in contention. Joey really needs a win to make the playoffs and he is running out of time with only four races left before the start of those playoffs.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still seeking his first win in his home state. He would like to win this race more than any other on the circuit and he could do just that this weekend. He has finished in the top ten here in six of his last seven starts and has completed all but four laps in his sixteen career starts here. He has also led laps here in nine of his past ten starts which tells us that he has a car that can run up front here every time he comes to this track.

Jamie McMurray: Jamie has finished in the top ten here in four of his past five races. He is a teammate to Kyle Larson who won the last two races here. Jamie is my dark horse this week and could pull off a small upset. He is currently in the playoffs on points, but a win would give this team more confidence heading into the playoffs. We should be able to tell during the practice sessions if they are going to have a car that is capable of winning this race.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Brad Keselowski

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Chase Elliott
• Kyle Larson
• Jamie McMurray
• Ryan Blaney

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Erik Jones
• Daniel Suarez

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Chase Elliott
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Kyle Larson
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From: Kurt Busch

Big 18: Chase Elliott

Congratulations to Kyle Busch who broke a career long winless streak on Sunday at Pocono. He is now guaranteed a spot in the playoffs no matter what happens over the next five races. Kevin Harvick finished second once again and Martin Truex Jr. had another good points day by coming in third. There are now thirteen drivers qualified for the playoffs by virtue of winning races this season. That means there are only three spots open for drivers to get in on points at this time and any new winners will take away another one of those spots.

I LOVE NEW YORK 355 AT THE GLEN

This week the series heads to Watkins Glen International for the running of the I love New York 355 at the Glen. This is the second and final road course race this season. Could we get another new winner this week like AJ Allmendinger? That would really shake up the playoffs and knock another driver out by eliminating another points position. Like I said earlier. Five races left and three spots left to determine the entire playoff field.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is the only active driver with multiple wins at this track. Now that he got his playoff qualifying win the monkey is off his back and I think this team gets back to back victories. He has finished in the top ten at the Glen in ten of his twelve career starts which makes him the most consistent driver at this track also. I will have him on my team this weekend.

AJ Allmendinger: AJ got his only Cup win at this track in 2014. He has finished in the top ten in five of his eight starts here and could pull off the upset once again this weekend. A win here qualifies him for the playoffs which is good for his sponsors and keeps this team a float. No one can run without sponsors because of the expense of racing these cars every week. A good dark horse to have on your team.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has been looking good the past few weeks and he always seems to run well here. He won this race last season and almost won the races at Sonoma last year and this year. He will compete for the win here once again this weekend as he tries to add some playoff points to his resume. I think this is going to be a great race to watch with some good battles as we get near the end.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin was running up front at Sonoma earlier this year when a mechanical issue took him out of the race. This team has been good every week this year and Martin wants to add some more playoff points to his series leading total. This could be a tough race for his pit crew with a couple of members being suspended for three races after an off track incident at Indy. This is a tough race for pit crews anyway because it is almost like pitting backwards from what they are used to.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at this track and runs pretty well at both of the road course tracks. This team hasn’t had the results they are expecting for the past couple of months and want to get back on track as we close in on the playoffs. Brad has the attitude you need to win races at this type of track and that goes a long way towards having everyone on your team have the confidence that you are going to compete for a win.

Joey Logano: Joey needs a win to make the playoffs and he always seems to run well here too. He has one win at Watkins Glen and has finished in the top ten in five of his eight starts here. This team is really in a funk right now and I don’t know if they will be able to get out of it and pick up a win in the next five races to make the playoffs. They just don’t seem to have what they need to compete for wins right now.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has one win here and eight top ten finishes in his sixteen starts at this track. He came close to picking up his second win of the season last week at Pocono and wants to get some of those valuable playoff points. I think this will be another driver who has a fast good handling car all day and will have himself in a position to go for the checkers late in the race.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is another great road course races who is still looking for his first win at this track. He always seems to be towards the front of the pack and leads laps in almost every race he runs here. One of these years everything is going to fall into place for him at Watkins Glen and he will get to take home this elusive trophy. He would like nothing more than to get another win before the playoffs starts.

Clint Bowyer: Clint is trying to work his way into the top sixteen in points so he can make the playoffs on points if he can’t get a win soon. This is a track where he should run well. I don’t know if he will have what it takes to win here this weekend, but if he can come away with another top ten finish it would really help his cause. It is going to be tough for them to move into the playoffs on points and almost impossible if we have another new winner who is below him in the standings.

Kyle Larson: Kyle had issues at Pocono last weekend with a broken drive shaft. With Martin Truex Jr. having another great points day it pushed Kyle that much farther behind in the standings. This is the type of track where he could do some damage and if Martin has anymore mechanical issues Kyle will need to take advantage and gain as many points as he can. He has only run three races here with a best finish of fourth. He did start on the front row last season.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Denny Hamlin

Yahoo Driver Group B

• AJ Allmendinger
• Kurt Busch
• Clint Bowyer
• Jamie McMurray

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Daniel Suarez
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

1. Kyle Busch
2. Denny Hamlin
3. AJ Allmendinger
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Kurt Busch

Dark Horse: AJ Allmendinger

Stay Away From: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Big 18: AJ Allmendinger

Congratulations to Kasey Kahne who became the thirteenth different driver to win in the Cup series this season and get himself qualified for the playoffs. There are now only six races left before the start of the playoffs and we might see a few more first time winners this year before we get there. If we get another upset winner it will take away spots from those trying to get in on points so there should be some great racing coming up in the next month or so.

OVERTON’S 400

This week the series heads back to Pocono Raceway for the running of Overton’s 400. Ryan Blaney picked up his first Cup win in that race holding off Kevin Harvick who came in second. This track has three turns in it and is in a triangular shape. It is somewhat similar to Indy because of the long straightaways and long sweeping turns. Look for those who were strong last week to be strong once again this week.

Denny Hamlin: Denny was looking good last week at Indy even after getting a bunch of damage to the front of his car early in the race. I think he is going to get back to victory lane at a track where he used to dominate. He leads all active drivers with four wins here and has finished in the top ten in fourteen of his twenty-three starts. There is only one other active driver who has led more laps than Denny at Pocono.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has been the driver to beat almost every week for the past couple of months. When he isn’t the best on the track he is a close second. He and Kyle Busch had the two fastest, best handling cars last week at Indy and would have took it right down to the wire if they wouldn’t have wrecked together with over a quarter of the race left. I think Martin wins at least one of the stages again this week and competes for the win.

Kyle Larson: Kyle is another driver who has been very good all year on all types of tracks. He was quite disappointed with his finish last week after getting caught up in a wreck with Ty Dillon and blew a chance to gain some valuable points on Truex. Look for them to make sure they pass inspection this week and lay down some good laps during qualifying so they can start near the front of the pack instead of fighting for positions all the way from the back this week.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie is the active driver who has led more laps than any of the other active drivers on the circuit. He also has three wins at this track and nineteen top ten finishes in thirty-one starts here. This team has looked pretty good lately, but seems to be having some bad luck where they are getting caught up in accidents or losing an engine like he did last week while he was trying to take the lead late in the race.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan has only run three races at Pocono and has never finished worse than eleventh. With the win here is June of his year, this team will come into the weekend with a lot of confidence. He ran well at Indy last week before having some problems in the pits and getting mired back in traffic where he eventually got caught up in an accident that ended his day. I think he will do fine once again this weekend.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey picked up his last win here four years ago. Now that he is qualified for the playoffs this team can relax a little bit and that might be all he needs to run even better. I think this team still has a long way to go to be a legitimate contender for a championship, but winning a race is a step in the right direction. I think Kasey will be a bit more consistent now for the rest of the season.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has run just about as well as Jimmie has during his career at this track. He has three wins and nineteen top ten finishes in thirty-two races at this track and looked pretty good last weekend before getting caught up in a wreck late in the race at Indy. He said he needs to get more consistent since winning at Daytona this year and I think that consistency is coming.

Kyle Busch: Once again Kyle had a very dominant car, but failed to capitalize on it this past weekend. I don’t blame him for deciding to race Truex on a restart and he made perfect sense when he explained why he decided to do it. You can second guess him all you want, but no one will ever know what the outcome would have been if he would have let Martin take the lead and then fell in behind him at that stage of the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: This is probably Dale’s best shot of the remaining six races to make the playoffs. He has won two races here and finished in the top five in six of his last eight starts at this track. He was moving towards the front last weekend before he got caught up in a bottleneck that had him running into the back of Trevor Bayne and losing his radiator which knocked him out of the race. Look for him to give it his all this weekend.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has one win, three runner-up finishes, and eight top ten finishes in his fifteen starts at Pocono. This team has been a bit inconsistent over the past month or so, but I think it is because they are trying to do something different to win races because their car isn’t as good as the drivers who have been dominating those races. If they can get a good qualifying effort and start towards the front of the pack they will stay there all day long.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR POCONO RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Denny Hamlin
• Martin Truex Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Kyle Larson
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Ryan Blaney

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Daniel Suarez
• Erik Jones

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT POCONO RACEWAY

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Kyle Larson
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Paul Menard

Big 18: Kasey Kahne

Congratulations to Denny Hamlin who became the newest first time winner this year on Sunday at New Hampshire. This will take the pressure off of Denny on trying to make the playoffs on points. Martin Truex Jr. won another stage to collect his 29th playoff point and has a 38-point lead on Kyle Larson in the overall standings. Joey Logano took another hit to his playoff hopes with mechanical issues in this race. There are now only seven races left before the start of the playoffs.

BRANTLEY GILBERT BIG MACHINE BRICKYARD 400

This week the series heads to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the running of the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400. This is one of the top races every driver in NASCAR wants to win in their career. This is a big, two-and-a-half-mile track that is fairly flat with long looping turns and long straightaways. The Ford drivers dominated races on this type of track early in the year. Will they continue that dominance this weekend?

Kyle Busch: Even though he is very frustrated right now I have to pick Kyle to win the races this weekend at Indy. He has won the last two races here and finished in runner-up in two of the three races he ran here prior to those two wins. I think everything works out for this team this week as they pick up their first win of the season and guarantee their spot in the playoffs.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has finished in the top ten in all of the races he has run at Indy in the Cup series and has been better in every aspect of racing this year than in the past. This team is going to show up hungry for another win after finishing second in the last two races. They also want to pick up as many championship points as possible in the next seven races to cut into Martin Truex Jr.’s advantage.

Martin Truex Jr.: The current points leader has been even better than Larson consistently this season which is why he has so many playoff points. If he doesn’t run over something on the track and have to pit early with a flat tire in the final third of the race last week he might have gone on to win that race too. These two drivers need to be on your roster every weekend even if you don’t start them because they are also qualifying well.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in all three of his races here since joining Stewart-Haas Racing. He is also the first driver I am talking about who is in a Ford and he finished second at Pocono earlier this year which has the long sweeping turns and long straightaways. Even as good as some of the other drivers already mentioned have been all season it is going to take a lot to unseat the Ford drivers this weekend.

Matt Kenseth: Matt had a great run at Loudon last weekend and always seems to run well at Indy. He is still looking for his first win at this track and his first win of the season. He finished second here for the third time last season and has eight top five finishes in his seventeen career starts here. Matt is planning on racing next season even after saying he will not be back with Joe Gibbs Racing next year. If he doesn’t find a top tier ride next season this might be his best shot at picking up this coveted win.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all active drivers with four Brickyard wins in his career. This team has been a bit inconsistent so far this year, but I think they do a lot of testing after they win a race or two and know they are in the playoffs. This is a track that they won’t see anything similar to in the playoffs and they want to win their fifth Brickyard this weekend. I think this team brings their A game to the track and competes for a win.

Denny Hamlin: Last week’s winner will have a lot of confidence coming into this weekend. They have always run well at both Pocono and Indy and he has six top ten finishes in his eleven starts here. I think that running well on the flat track last weekend will help them this weekend and if he can avoid the pit road speeding penalties he will be a factor once again this weekend.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has led laps in five of the seven races he has run at this track, yet his best finish here is ninth. This team has been off of their game a little bit lately and that is mostly due to accidents. Last week at New Hampshire they didn’t have any on track incidents, but never actually threatened in that race. They have about two months to get their act together, but want to pick up some playoff points in that stretch.
Kurt Busch: Kurt hasn’t run as well as he thinks he should since winning the Daytona 500 at the beginning of the season. Still, Kurt has always run well at Indy and Pocono and has the Ford engine under the hood this year. They ran pretty well at Loudon last week, coming away with a top ten finish and could be a spoiler for someone this weekend. Kurt always seems to run better on the flatter tracks than most of the competition.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Though he has multiple wins at Pocono in his career, Dale has yet to win the elusive Brickyard 400. In his last full season in NASCAR, Dale would like nothing better than to win this race and get himself qualified for the playoffs at the same time. I just don’t know if this team will be able to perform at the high level it takes to win races in this series after struggling for most of the year.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Kevin Harvick

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kyle Larson
• Kurt Busch
• Ryan Blaney
• Clint Bowyer

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Daniel Suarez
• Erik Jones

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

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

Dark Horse: Austin Dillon

Stay Away From: Joey Logano

Big 18: Kyle Larson

Congratulations to Martin Truex Jr. who won his third race of the season on Saturday night in Kentucky with another dominating performance. Kyle Busch dominated the beginning of the race, but Martin’s car came to him later in runs and he caught and passed Kyle winning all three stages in the race for the second time this season. Late in the race there was no one in the field that was as good as him. Kyle Larson had a very fast car, but started at the back because he didn’t make it through inspection before qualifying and then got caught speeding on pit road after moving up to third and had to go to the back of the pack again. He made it all the way back to second, but Martin had a fifteen second lead on him before a late race caution sent the race to overtime. Truex got a great restart and made it to the overtime line before a crash behind him brought out the final caution and the race was over.

NEW HAMPSHIRE 301

It’s hard to believe we are now half way through the season and there are only eight races left before the playoffs begin. If Truex keeps up this torrid pace he is going to be tough to beat in the playoffs. He now has 28 playoff points. His nearest competitor right now is Jimmie Johnson at 16 points. Some of the drivers in the playoffs might now have any playoff points which means to knock Truex out of the playoffs they are going to have to make up those 28 points in each round of the playoffs because at the end of each round the playoff points get reset. If he continues on this pace he might have even more points over the next eight races. Those are the new rules NASCAR has installed in their series’ and now they have to live with them. Martin is doing exactly what he needs to do to win a championship so kudos to him.

This week the series heads to Loudon, New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This is a fairly flat slightly longer than one-mile asphalt track that the series visits twice a year. This will be the first race here this season. There are a bunch of active drivers with three wins here, so we will have a lot of good drivers to choose from to put in our lineups this weekend. This will be a big race for all playoff drivers as they will visit here once again once the playoffs are underway and they can learn some things about the track this week.

Matt Kenseth: Matt announced this past week that he will not be racing for Joe Gibbs next season. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to try to win races, make the playoffs, and win a championship this season. He has a lot of work to do if he wants to accomplish this mission and this week is the start of it. I think Matt wins his first race of the season this weekend. He has won two of the last three races run here and finished second in that other race. Since coming to Joe Gibbs, Matt has three wins and seven top ten finishes in his eight starts here.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won the race here during the Chase last season and has finished in the top five in four of his last five starts at Loudon. He has also lead almost 400 laps in those five races and runs this track almost as well as he runs at Phoenix. I think he is going to give Matt all he can handle this week as he tries to win another race and add to his playoff points.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is still looking for his first win at this track and his crew chief said they will win this week to keep people from talking about how good they are on the mile-and-a-half tracks. Martin ran very well here last year although his finishing positions don’t show that. He lead 164 laps in the two races here last season and started second and third in those races. Look for him to keep the pressure on all of the other drivers in each stage and at race end as he tries to rack up even more playoff points.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is sounding a little frustrated lately and who can blame him? He starts out with a great car, but they can’t seem to make it better during the races while his competition is getting faster and reeling him in. This is going to be a good weekend for him. He won this race two years ago and always seems to run well here. He has five top three finishes in five of his last eight starts at New Hampshire and has led laps here in seven of his last ten races.

Joey Logano: Joey has really been missing something lately and they need to fix it quick before the playoffs start. He is currently not in the playoffs because his win at Richmond earlier this year was considered ‘encumbered’ by NASCAR after they found an infraction with his car in post race inspection. If the modification they found really helped him get around Richmond then he is in trouble this weekend once again. If not he has a shot at picking up a win and qualifying for a playoff spot with this win. He has one win and four top five finishes in his last five starts at this track.

Kyle Larson: Let’s not forget about Kyle. He has been very fast each and every week no matter what track he has been at. He has only run six races here, but in his first two he finished second and third. He will be a contender once again this weekend and very well could pick up his first win here. Right now he has 13 playoff points, which is 15 behind Truex. He would love to win a couple of more races and a few stages to cut that gap down.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has three wins and twenty top ten finishes in his thirty starts at this track. However, he hasn’t won here since the 2010 season. Still, he has eight top ten finishes in the thirteen races he has run here since that last win and he is always a threat no matter where they are racing. I think this team will do some experimenting for the playoffs this week, but if they hit on something they are going to use it to pick up some playoff points.

Brad Keselowski: Brad’s lone win came here three years ago. He has finished in the top seven in nine of his fifteen starts at this track and needs to have a good finish pretty soon so this team gets their confidence back. He has been involved in numerous accidents on the track in the past few weeks, the latest coming Saturday night at Kentucky when he got loose on a restart and collected Jimmie Johnson ending both of their nights earlier than they would have liked.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has two wins and four runner-up finishes at Loudon in his career. He has qualified in the top ten in eight of his last ten starts here and has led 421 laps in those ten races, which resulted on one of those wins and two second place finishes. This team has been inconsistent during races this season where they are good for a certain portion of the race before falling behind on their adjustments. Denny has also been caught for speeding on pit road a lot this season which has really put this team behind the eight-ball. The latest coming last week at Kentucky.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has three wins and has sat on the pole seven times here in his career. He already has a win this year and would like to add more playoff points to his resume this year. He has completed every lap and finished in the top twenty in all six of his races with RCR since joining them in 2014. All of these teams struggled last week at Kentucky, but this is the type of track they have been good on all season. Look for them to rebound this week.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Matt Kenseth
• Kevin Harvick

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kyle Larson
• Ryan Newman
• Kurt Busch
• Kasey Kahne

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Daniel Suarez
• Erik Jones

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

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

Dark Horse: Kasey Kahne

Stay Away From: Clint Bowyer

Big 18: Matt Kenseth