Tag: Yahoo! Fantasy Racing

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick, this year’s first repeat winner, on dominating the CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix this past weekend. There really wasn’t anyone who could compete with Kevin and he won his fourth straight race at this track and fifth in his last six attempts.

AUTO CLUB 400

The series stays out west this week as they head to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. This will be the first time this season that the series visits a two-mile low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway. Once again I think we will have a driver win his second race of the season and guarantee himself a spot in the Chase field.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won five races at this track and he is my pick to win once again this weekend. Jimmie has finished in the top five here in twelve of the twenty races he has started and those are very impressive stats. Another impressive stat that Jimmie has at this track is that he has finished every lap of every race he has run here also.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has three wins at this track also and I think he is looking forward to this weekend. Matt is still trying to win his first points race in over a year so he doesn’t have to worry about making the Chase on points instead of by winning a race during the season. This could be the week he breaks the streak and goes back to victory lane.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has a streak of his own going right now. He has finished first or second in his last six points race starts. I think that streak will come to an end this weekend. Kevin has won one race at this track, but he is mostly average here. He would love to win this race in his home state, but that won’t happen this weekend.

Carl Edwards: Carl has one win at this track, but I think this team is still learning to work together. I’m guessing about the middle of the season you will see this team run better and more consistently. Don’t use up all of his starts early in the season in the Yahoo league. Wait until later and you will score more points.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey also has won a race at this track and this team looks better at this point of the season than they did last year. I don’t think it will be long before you see them in victory lane. Kasey should do well in qualifying as well as the race this weekend.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff has won three times at this track, but hasn’t won since the 2004 season here. I still see him running well this weekend and leading some laps during the race. I think the Hendrick cars will once again have the most power and speed among all of the teams on the circuit and that will propel them to the front of the field.

Kurt Busch: Kurt ran his first race of the season last week at Phoenix and came away with a great finish. This weekend shouldn’t be any different. Kurt has one win here during his career and has finished in the top ten in six of his last eight starts here. He should be able to work his way into the top thirty in points and if he wins a race he will make the Chase.

Clint Bowyer: Clint always runs well at the flatter tracks. After struggling early in the race last weekend at Phoenix. The team made some adjustments late in the race and Clint came to life a little bit. I think they learned a lot during that race and will be able to apply some of what they learned this week. I look for him to come away with a top ten finish this weekend.

Tony Stewart: Tony hasn’t run well yet this year, but they did have a good car last weekend. If Tony doesn’t get caught up in a crash at Phoenix I think he comes away with a top ten finish. This week he should be able to have a decent car right off the trailer and I see him leading laps and finishing in the top ten.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has yet to win a race at this track, but he has finished in the top five in two of his last three starts here. This team has been strong all year and this weekend should be no different. I think they will be fast just like all of the Hendrick cars and they will have a shot at going to victory lane.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Matt Kenseth

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kasey Kahne
• Kurt Busch
• Tony Stewart
• Clint Bowyer

Yahoo Driver Group C

• David Ragan
• Justin Allgaier

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5. Kurt Busch

Dark Horse: Kyle Larson

Stay Away From: Brad Keselowski

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick on winning the race in Las Vegas this past weekend. We now have three different winners in three races this year. Kevin dominated the race and there wasn’t anyone who had anything for him at the end. Martin Truex Jr. continued his strong season with a second place finish, while Ryan Newman rounded out the top three. This week the series stays out west and I think we will see our first repeat winner of the season.

CAMPINGWORLD.COM 500

The series stays west as they head to Phoenix International Raceway for the running of the CampingWorld.com 500.
Phoenix is a one-mile, low-banked D-shaped tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. This is the only non-road course track that measures their race mileage in kilometers. That means the race is not 500-miles or 500 laps, It is actually 312-miles long.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is my pick to win back-to-back races this week. He has won four of the last five races here. That makes four out of seven since the track was reconfigures in 2011 and he also finished second in one of those other races. It is hard to bet against a guy with stats like that.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has finished in the top ten in his last four races here including a second place finish in this race last season. The way this team is running so far, Dale might be able to move up one more spot and win his first race of the year and qualify for the Chase. No matter what he does this weekend, we will see him win races soon.

Brad Keselowski: Brad hasn’t had the best start to his season, but this week that can all change. Brad has finished in the top six in five of his last six starts at this track. He has also led laps in five of those races and sat on the front row in both of last year’s races. This is the week this team might see their luck change to the better.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff has been fast all year and now he just needs the luck to swing around for him. Jeff has four top ten finishes in his last six starts here and finished second in the fall race last season. In his final full-time season, Jeff would like nothing better than to get an early win and ensure himself a shot at a final championship before he retires.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won four races here, finished in the top five fourteen times, and the top ten eighteen times. That has all been accomplished in only twenty-three races. He already has one win this year, so he is in the Chase. He is a must for your fantasy team this weekend.

Denny Hamlin: Denny always run well at the shorter, flatter tracks and Phoenix is no exception. He has finished in the top five here in four of his last six starts and this team looks better at this point of the season than he did last year. He has the equipment to get the job done and I think he will be a contender this week.

Carl Edwards: Carl has two career wins at Phoenix and has had good cars every week this year. He might be pressing a little too hard with his new team and he just needs to relax and race his race. Once this team really gets used to working together they will start to win races. A short track might the thing to get this team on the right track.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has been very good so far this year and it shouldn’t surprise anyone after what he did last season. He has always run well at Phoenix and has one win and four poles to prove it. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him win the race this weekend if he can put himself in the top five with 50-laps to go.

Joey Logano: Joey has three straight top ten finish here and has finished in the top ten in half of the races he has run here. This team already has a win this year and can so a little experimenting on tracks that are going to have races during the Chase and Phoenix is one of them. They will take everything they learn this weekend and apply to their strategy and car come this November.

Matt Kenseth: Matt is still looking to break his winless streak, but he hasn’t won here since 2002. He is capable of winning this race, but I would hold off on using him this week. He runs better on the more banked tracks and the longer tracks on the circuit and there will be plenty of time to use him later this season.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Carl Edwards
• Greg Biffle
• Clint Bowyer
• AJ Allmendinger

Yahoo Driver Group C

• David Ragan
• Regan Smith

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Jeff Gordon

Dark Horse: Greg Biffle

Stay Away From: Brian Vickers

Here we go.

The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup series is almost here. Saturday we start out the year with the Sprint Unlimited. I think this race is for those who can’t wait until some real important racing gets underway. That for me will be this coming Thursday when the Budweiser Duels are run. This is when I get really interested in the season. I know that there is qualifying on Sunday for the Daytona 500, but that only sets the top two positions and we all know that it doesn’t really matter where you start at Daytona, it’s whether or not you can avoid the big wreck and put yourself in position to win the Great American Race.

JOIN OUR YAHOO FANTASY RACING LEAGUE

Once again I am running a Yahoo Fantasy Racing League. The league is almost full so if you want in get signed up as soon as you can. The Group ID is 4143 and the password is harvick.

Last year was the first year of the new championship format and it was more exciting than I thought it was going to be. I just wish they wouldn’t have one race decide the eventual champion. I do believe that Kevin Harvick deserved to win the championship and he was the best driver on the track week in and week out last year. I just think that a blown tire, accident, or blown engine will knock out a deserving driver in the not so distant future with this system and it is hard to fathom a driver running so well all year and not winning a championship because of one race in 36.

JOIN ME HERE EACH RACE WEEK

Come back next Friday night to see my picks for the Daytona 500 and let’s get this season started!

Good luck to all of you fantasy race team owners and remember, I am here to give you the best advice I can. It might not be right all of the time, but I do base my opinions on more than just intuition. I do the research and will not just give you an answer to your question, but I will also give you my reasoning behind my answer. So, don’t be afraid to ask questions. I try to answer every question within 24 hours of it being asked.