Tag: Yahoo! Fantasy Racing

Congratulations to Kyle Larson who picked up his second win of the season at Michigan last weekend. Larson pretty much dominated this race by starting on the pole and leading the most laps in the race. Martin Truex Jr. won the first two stages of the race and came away with a sixth place finish and holds a one point lead over Kyle in the standings.

TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350

This week the series heads back to California and the Sonoma Raceway for our first road course race of the season. We can throw out pretty much everything we learned about the teams so far this season as handling and driver skill is going to be more important than speed and power. Track position is also very important here as it is hard to pass and drivers have to have a balance of patience and aggressiveness to know when to fight for a position and when to let someone else go by you before they move you to get by. If they have to move you, you might find yourself spun out.

Clint Bowyer: Clint is my pick to win his first race of the season this week at Sonoma. Clint has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten here an impressive eight times in his eleven starts. Now that he is on a team with more funding and better equipment under him, I think he gets his car back to victory lane for Stewart-Haas Racing this weekend.

Kyle Busch: Kyle leads all active drivers with two wins here with the last of those coming in the 2015 season. This team has come so close all year to winning a race and this might be the weekend they do it. Kyle is one of the best when it comes to handling his car on this type of track. He also knows how to be aggressive and will be one of the hardest drivers to pass this week.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has one win at this track also and has finished in the top ten in nine of his fifteen starts including seven of his last eight. We usually think of Jimmie as a great driver of the intermediate tracks, but these stats show that he is a great road course racer too. He would like nothing more than to pick up his second win here in his home state this weekend.

AJ Allmendinger: Even though he hasn’t run all that well this year, AJ is a great road course racer. This is a good track to use him on as he has the potential to win on this track no matter who he is driving for. He has started on the front row here in each of his last three starts and the only thing that took him out of contention in those races was mechanical issues and poor pit stops late in the race.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is another great road course driver and that shows in his stats. He has one win here and he has also finished in the top five in seven of his sixteen starts. If you can finish in the top five in almost half of your starts at any track it means you really know what you are doing at that track because it isn’t just luck.

Ryan Newman: Ryan is still looking for his first win at this track, but he does run consistently well here. In his career, Ryan has come away with seven top ten finishes in his fifteen starts and this team has looked much better this year on a weekly basis then they have the past couple of seasons. They say he is the toughest driver to pass and this is the track where it is tough to pass in the first place, so that just makes it better for him.

Joey Logano: Joey is another driver who we don’t really think about when it comes to the road courses, but he has finished in the top ten in half of his eight starts at this track. In addition he has led laps in three of those eight starts which tells us he can get his car to the front at some point in the race. He always surprises me with how consistent he really runs here during the races.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is looking for his first win at this track and his first win of the season. He has finished in the top ten in seven of his sixteen starts at Sonoma with his best finish being second. He also has two third place finishes at this track, so he has been close here in the past and he is really hungry for a win right now and will do anything to pass cars this weekend.

Brad Keselowski: Brad hasn’t run as well at this track as he has run at Watkins Glen, which is the other road course track on the schedule. Still, he really knows how to drive on this type of track and is a good driver to take a chance on here. He doesn’t mind mixing it up with other drivers on the track and that is the attitude you need when running on these tracks.

Kasey Kahne: Kasey has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in six of his thirteen starts here including top ten finishes in the last four races. Kasey has had some good weeks this season after struggling the past few years. This could be a week where he comes away with another top ten finish and might even surprise us with another win on this track.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR SONOMA RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Clint Bowyer
• AJ Allmendinger
• Kurt Busch
• Kasey Kahne

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Billy Johnson
• Daniel Suarez

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT SONOMA RACEWAY

1. Clint Bowyer
2. Kyle Busch
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Kurt Busch
5. Brad Keselowski

Dark Horse: Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From: Trevor Bayne

Big 18: Kurt Busch

Congratulations to Ryan Blaney who won his first ever Cup race this past weekend at Pocono for Wood Brothers Racing. Kyle Busch dominated this race once again, but a caution with about 15 laps left cost him the win when he stayed on the track and the rest of the field pitted behind him. When the race was re-started it was only a matter of time before new tires would prove to be too much for Kyle and Ryan passed him and then held off a hard charging Kevin Harvick over the final 8 laps for his first victory.

FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400

Kevin Harvick: I am going to pick Kevin to win his first race of the season and second at Michigan. He has finished second here in five of the last eight races and of those other three races he finished in the top five in two of those. This team has looked better and better every week and this is the week they break into the win column for the year. It’s hard to keep a team like this out of the win column as long as he has been out of it and this week that changes.

Chase Elliott: Now that we have two first time winners on the circuit this season why not make it three? Chase finished second in his only two starts at this track with both of those races coming last year. This team is going to give Kevin everything he can handle once again and could very well pick up that elusive first win. Chase also led over thirty laps in each of those races last year, so we know he can get the job done here.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has three career wins at this track tying him with Kurt Busch for the most wins at Michigan by active drivers. He won here in August of 2015 and although he has had some pretty poor luck this year, this is the type of track where I expect him to always run well. I think he is going to be the best of the Joe Gibbs drivers this weekend and is worth taking a shot at and you should place him on your roster.

Jimmie Johnson: Despite having only one win at this track in his thirty starts, Jimmie always runs well here and leads all active drivers in laps lead at this track. He has also won on tracks similar to Michigan this season. After taking a hard hit into the wall last week at Pocono, I hope Jimmie is alright and won’t be suffering any lingering effects as he heads into this weekend’s race.

Kurt Busch: Kurt picked up the last of his three wins at Michigan in this race in 2015. I think that with the new Ford engines that Stewart-Haas is using this year Kurt has another great shot at picking up another win here. The extra speed will come in handy on the long straightaways on this track and both he and Kevin Harvick showed how well that speed works at Pocono last weekend.

Kyle Larson: Kyle finished third in this race last year and then followed it up by winning the August race at this same track. This team has been fast and solid all year and he should have no problem keeping that pace up this weekend. This looks to be one of the most competitive years across the board that we have seen in a long time in this series and it is only going to get more exciting.

Martin Truex Jr.: This team has found the speed and handling they had last year when Martin was dominating races through the middle of the season. He is a contender each and every week and this is the type of track where he has really excelled lately. He had another great run at Pocono and will follow that up with another top ten finish this weekend and might even make the right call late in the race and pull off another win.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is another driver looking for his first win at this track which is also his home track as he hails from Michigan. Brad has finished in the top ten here in each of his last six starts and almost pulled off an upset last week when a late race caution gave him the track position he needed to contend for the win at Pocono. However, he didn’t get a good restart and faded back to finish fifth.

Joey Logano: Joey won this race last year and has always run well here amassing two wins, four top five, and eleven top ten finishes in his career. He has finished in the top ten here in his last eight starts too. The only thing that is bothering me about him right now is they don’t seem to be getting the handling on his car right lately and he hasn’t finished well because of it for a month now. I think this team is going to get that straightened out soon, but I won’t take a chance on him yet.

Ryan Blaney: Now that he has a win under his belt he will be even more hungry to get back to victory lane and he has the speed and skill to do it. He has started in the top ten in three of his four starts here and finished fourth in the race last August. He impressed me by racing Kyle clean last week even after Kyle blocked him and almost ran him off the track. This kid is growing up in a hurry in this series and the future looks very bright for him.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Martin Truex Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Chase Elliott
• Ryan Blaney
• Kurt Busch
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Erik Jones
• Darrell Wallace Jr.

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Chase Elliott
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Jimmie Johnson

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Big 18: Chase Elliott

Jimmie Johnson showed why he is the king of Dover when he started at the back of the field and took the checkered flag for the eleventh time in his career. This was Johnson’s third win of the season as he took the lead for good on a green-white-checkered restart at the end of the race. Kyle Larson, who lead the most laps on the day, finished second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, and Chase Elliott.

POCONO 400

This week the series heads from one of my favorite tracks in Dover to one of my least favorite tracks to watch a race at, the Pocono Raceway. The only good thing NASCAR ever did with this race in my opinion was to shorted it from 500-miles to the present 400-miles. Don’t get me wrong, the area is one of the most beautiful areas you can visit that has a NASCAR race, but the racing is boring and it seems to rain a lot at this time of the year in the mountains.

Brad Keselowski: I’m going to go with a Ford driver to win this race and that would be Brad Keselowski. Brad has had some very unfortunate luck the last two races he has started and he will put that all behind him and pick up his second career victory at this track. Besides his one win here, Brad has finished in the top 5 in six of his fourteen starts here and will have the speed and power to make passes on the Long Pond straightaway to get the job done.

Jimmie Johnson: We can’t count Jimmie out because when he wins a race he tends to win multiple races in a row. Jimmie has always run well here as can be seen with his three wins, eleven top five and nineteen top ten finishes in thirty starts at Pocono. The Hendrick teams haven’t shown as much speed as the Ford teams this season as of yet, but if a driver can get his car to handle well in all three corners at this track he is well on his way to a victory.

Denny Hamlin: It’s hard to believe, but we are already halfway to the playoffs this season and none of the Joe Gibbs drivers has won a race yet. There have been multiple races where they have had the best car, but couldn’t seal the deal at the end of the race. There always seems to be something going wrong for them. Denny will give them their best shot to win this weekend as he has always run well here himself. He leads all active drivers with four wins here and also has fourteen top ten finished in his twenty-two starts at this track.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has three wins at this track himself and now is back in a Ford which we know are fast this year. With thirteen top five finishes and eighteen top ten’s in thirty-one starts, Kurt has proven that he knows how to get around this track consistently. I look for him to have his best run of the year since the Daytona 500.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has really struggled this year in all sorts of ways. They never can seem to get a handle on their car and don’t know what changes to make to it to get it to handle better during the race. Otherwise when they work their way to the front they end up with a penalty on pit road or something breaks on their car. Well, that can all come to an end this weekend as Dale has finished in the top five in six of his last seven starts including two wins and a runner-up finish.

Joey Logano: Joey has struggled the past couple of weeks trying to get the handling and the speed of his cars to where he is used to having them. He has run well at Pocono in the past with one win and six top ten finishes in sixteen starts at this track. I think this team is just in a mini slump and will break out of it very soon.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin has been running very well lately no matter where he goes. He struggled at Pocono early in his career, but he has been getting better here all the time and he showed that last year when he won the second race here. This team is running so well right now they could win at every track they go to and Pocono should be no different. Look for Martin to have another strong run again this weekend.

Kyle Larson: Speaking of a driver who has been running well lately, Kyle has run well all year and even though he has only started six races at Pocono in his young career he has three top ten finishes and has never finished worse than twelfth at this track. I look for Kyle to make another run at a win again this weekend and continue to keep the pressure on Martin Truex Jr. for the points lead.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has once again been quietly putting together another solid season. The difference this year is that he already has a win under his belt. That wasn’t the case the past couple of years. Ryan has been consistent at Pocono throughout his career and has finished in the top ten in seven of his last twelve starts here. He has also only finished outside of the top twenty twice in his last twenty-three starts here.

Kevin Harvick: Not only is Kevin looking for his first ever win at Pocono, he is also looking for his first win on the season. He has run well here lately with three top five finishes in his last five starts including back to back runner-up finishes in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. I look for this team to break into the win column very soon and probably win multiple races before the start of the playoffs.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR POCONO RACEWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Brad Keselowski
• Jimmie Johnson

Yahoo Driver Group B

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

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Erik Jones
• Ty Dillon

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT POCONO RACEWAY

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

Dark Horse: Kasey Kahne

Stay Away From: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Big 18: Kurt Busch

Congratulations to Austin Dillon on winning his first ever Monster Energy Cup race this past weekend at Charlotte when he passed Jimmie Johnson, who ran out of gas with three laps to go, and held off Kyle Busch for the remainder of the race to claim the victory. Martin Truex Jr. lead the most laps in the Coca-Cola 600 for the third consecutive year and finished third.

Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski both were knocked out of the race early when Jeffrey Earnhardt lost an engine and a part went through the front of Chase’s car and broke an oil line or oil cooler. Chase’s car slowed down as it caught fire and Brad got in the oil that was leaking from Chase’s car and couldn’t stop as he slid through that oil and demolished his car as he ran into the back of the #24.

AAA 400 DRIVE FOR AUTISM

This week the series heads to Dover, Delaware and the Dover International Speedway for the running of the AAA 400 Drive for Autism. This is one of my favorite tracks to watch a race at. ‘The Monster Mile’ is exactly that, a one-mile high banked concrete oval which has multiple racing grooves in it. The action here is fast and seldom boring because the track is shorter than the typical intermediate track, which means the cars are always close to one another and not spread out.

Jimmie Johnson: I am picking Jimmie to shake off losing the Coca-Cola 600 on gas mileage and come away with his eleventh victory at this track. That’s right, Jimmie has ten career wins here already to go along with fifteen top five and twenty-one top ten finishes in his thirty starts at this track. Jimmie always seems to come back more determined than ever after dealing with some adversity in a race the previous week and this is the track he knows well.

Matt Kenseth: Matt won this race last year for his third victory at Dover to go along with seventeen top five and twenty-four top ten finishes in his thirty-six career starts. This team ran well at Charlotte last week and seems to be getting better every week and avoiding the bad luck that has plagued them for much of the season so far. I think Matt will give Jimmie a run for his money at the end of this race and could possibly win this race for the second year in a row.

Kyle Busch: Kyle came oh so close once again to picking up his first victory of the season when he finished second at Charlotte last weekend. This team is very hungry and this is one of the tracks where they have won multiple races in the past. Two victories, eleven top five and fifteen top ten finishes in twenty-four starts tells you all you need to know about how Kyle can get around this place and his attitude tells you that he will do whatever it takes to get back to victory lane.

Kyle Larson: Kyle finished second in this race last year and has run well every weekend for the most part this entire season. He slipped out of first place in the standings after brushing the wall at Charlotte last weekend, which knocked him out of contention after starting towards the back of the field and making his way into the top five during the second stage of the race. He only has six starts at Dover, but he has come away with two top five and four top ten finishes in those races.

Chase Elliott: Chase is another driver with out a lot of Cup experience here. In fact, he has only run two races in this series at this track and he has finished third in both of those races. I’m sure he is eager to get back to racing after getting knocked out of the Coca-Cola 600 last weekend and is even more eager to get his first win in a Cup car. I believe that will come sometime this season and it might even be this weekend.

Joey Logano: Joey is another driver who will be looking forward to getting back on the track after finishing a disappointing twenty-first last weekend. Joey is still looking for his first win at Dover, but he has finished in the top ten here in ten of his sixteen starts. This track suits his style of racing as he will be able to run either the high or low lines and might even run one line at one end of the track and the other line at the other end of the track if it improves his overall speed.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin won the fall race here last year for his second career victory at this track. Right now this team is doing everything right, so the momentum is on his side. He could easily win this race this weekend because this team is hitting on all cylinders right now. The pit crew has been fast and nearly flawless lately which gives any driver a lot of confidence when they are pitting and makes them try even harder on the track.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won his only race here in the fall of 2015, so it wasn’t that long ago. He is another driver looking for his first win of the season and is getting awful hungry for it right now. Even though he has only finished in the top five here five time in his thirty-two starts, two of those have come in the last four races he has run here. With the speed this team has shown over the past two plus years you can’t count them out at any track.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has one win at this track and has finished in the top six in four of his last six starts at this track. He is another driver chomping at the bit to get back to racing after his early exit last weekend. With multiple victories already this year and the speed the Ford’s have shown all year, Brad is going to be a contender this weekend once again.

Ryan Blaney: Another driver with only two starts at this track, he came away with an eighth place finish in his first race here. This team has been fast all season and this is the type of track where he should do well. He won’t need to use as much patience here in a 400-mile race on a track where you need to go so the leaders don’t pass you early in the race. I look for this team to post another top ten finish here this weekend.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Matt Kenseth

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kyle Larson
• Chase Elliott
• Ryan Blaney
• Clint Bowyer

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Erik Jones
• Regan Smith/Driver of the #43

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

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

Dark Horse: Ryan Blaney

Stay Away From: Denny Hamlin

Big 18: Jimmie Johnson

After taking a week off from the regular season’s racing to run the All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway the series will be back for the longest race of the season. If Saturday night’s race is any indication of what the fans can expect to see this weekend, it won’t be pretty.

Passing was difficult to say the least and whoever got out front stayed there and extended their lead on the field. That means that this weekend you will see teams trying to win on pit strategy to get themselves out at the front of the field and take advantage of the track position they can make up on pit road. Watching a 600-mile race like this will be like watching paint dry so be prepared for a long night if you plan on watching this race.

COCA-COLA 600

Hopefully I am wrong about what will happen this weekend, but I don’t know what NASCAR can do in the next week to change the way the the track races. So, I believe qualifying will be very important along with flawless pit stops all through the race. You will probably see teams trying to win on gas mileage and two-tire stops just to try and get their cars to the front of the pack. I can only hope I am wrong because I plan on watching the race and hope I can come away entertained at the end of the night.

Martin Truex Jr.: After the dominating performance he put on in this race last year and having just won the race in Kansas two-weeks ago, I am going to go with Martin to win this race once again this year. The team has really fast cars on the intermediate tracks and once they are in front they are going to be tough to pass. I think the pit crew on this team is good enough to consistently get the job done and keep Martin out front once he is there.

Kyle Larson: Kyle was by far the class of the field in the All-Star race this past weekend and will be the favorite in many peoples minds heading into this weekend’s race. I’m just not sure his pit crew is consistent enough to make it through an entire 600-mile race without making any mistakes right now. I think he will qualify well and run in the top ten most of the race, but he might have a slow pit stop somewhere along the line which will cost him too much track position to get the win.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie picked up his eighth win at this track last fall which leads all active drivers at this track. He got his car into position late in the All-Star race last week where he had a shot at getting that win and Chad Knaus is no slouch when it comes to making the right call on top of the pit box to give Jimmie a chance at the end of races. He could be the difference maker this weekend.

Denny Hamlin: Denny probably has the most consistent pit crew of all of the teams. If he can stay away from speeding penalties they might be able to pass enough cars in the pits this weekend to put him in position to win this race. He is on a roll at this track finishing in the top ten in eleven of his last thirteen starts here. I look for him to be a contender late in this race.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is another driver with a great crew-chief who always seems to make the right call at the right time for Brad. Paul Wolfe really works well with Brad and understands what abilities his driver has, so he knows exactly what he needs to do with a car to give Brad a chance late in the race. With the speed the Ford’s have shown this year a little pit strategy and some speed might be all it takes to get this car out fast on a late race restart and claim the victory.

Kyle Busch: When we talk about restarts, Kyle is the master. He always passes a handful of cars on each and every restart in a race and this is how he claimed his first All-Star race win this past weekend. If he can stay close to the front of the pack throughout this long race and gets the cautions to fall at the right time he can steal away his first points win at this track.

Kevin Harvick: Talking about being consistent and on a roll at this track lately we need to talk about Kevin Harvick. Kevin has finished in the top two in five of his last eight starts at this track and also has Ford power under his hood this year. He is patient which really helps in this long race that starts when the sun is shining and ends under the lights, which means big changes in the track from the start of the race to the end. Kevin will be a contender at the end of this race once again.

Kurt Busch: A teammate of Kevin’s with more Ford power under his hood, Kurt is looking for his second career win at this track. He has finished in the top ten in his last four start here so we know he can get the job done here. He came away with a top five finish in the All-Star race which will give them some confidence heading into this weekend’s race. Could be a small surprise winner if he can maintain his composure early in the race when his car isn’t at it’s best yet.

Matt Kenseth: Matt has always run consistently well at this track himself and is one of the most patient drivers on the circuit today. Patience is at a premium in a race this long and Matt just needs to keep relaying information to his crew so they can make the correct adjustments for him as the race progresses and the track conditions change. If they can stay away from bad luck on the track they will have a shot at the end of this race.

Joey Logano: I think Joey is on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to patience on the track. He has run well here and won the fall race in 2015 here. He has some very good finishes in this race, but I think he takes too many chances early in this long race which puts him in peril or doesn’t sit well with other drivers on the track who might do something about it later in this race. Yet, with the speed the Ford’s have shown this year and how hard it could be to pass other cars this weekend, Joey has a great shot at getting out front and staying there.

YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Yahoo Driver Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Kevin Harvick

Yahoo Driver Group B

• Kyle Larson
• Kurt Busch
• Ryan Newman
• Jamie McMurray

Yahoo Driver Group C

• Erik Jones
• Regan Smith or whoever is entered in the #43 car this week in place of Aric Almirola

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Kyle Larson
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kyle Busch
5. Jimmie Johnson

Dark Horse: Kurt Busch

Stay Away From: Ryan Blaney

Big 18: Martin Truex Jr.