Fantasy NASCAR picks: Auto Club four hundred preview
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Fantasy NASCAR picks: Auto Club four hundred preview
Special to Yahoo Sports
Tracks that host only one race per year can be difficult to handicap. A lot can switch from one season to the next in terms of driver momentum, rules’ packages, and the wear patterns on the track. Since 2011, NASCAR has visited Auto Club Speedway only once per year.
Fortunately, that matters less on this two-miler than on any other track type. Auto Club was built from the same blueprint as Michigan International Speedway, only with four fewer degrees of banking. Weather conditions have switched both tracks over the years, but the drivers who run well on one consistently do so on the other.
Last year, five drivers swept the top ten on the sister tracks. Several others scored results in the teenagers in all three races. That same pattern is seen in the 20s and 30s. Players should look to last year’s Michigan race as a kicking off spot for the Auto Club 400.
Brad Keselowski, No. Two Penske Racing Ford, Yahoo! Group A
Along with his teammate Joey Logano, Keselowski has the longest active streak of top-10s on two-mile tracks. Dating back to a third-place finish in the Quicken Loans four hundred at Michigan, he has been almost ideal on this track type. He won at Auto Club in two thousand fifteen and swept the top five on the sister track. A player might also chose to take the straight Penske ticket this week because the stats on the No. Twenty two are almost identical.
Jimmie Johnson, No. Forty eight Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Yahoo! Group A
Johnson did not turn many goes last week in Phoenix International Raceway, but he eventually earned his very first top-10. He was only the fourth-best value in Yahoo’s Group A. His seventy four points for the Camping World 500K was less than what four B and two C drivers earned, but the effort was significant nonetheless. It eased him into the top sixteen in points and should have helped restore some of this team’s confidence.
Pursue Elliott, No. Twenty four Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Yahoo! Group B
Readers who have already taken a look at this week’s cheat sheets know Elliott is one of the top picks. Predicting an outright winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is almost unlikely because of all the variables that go into getting a position to contend late in a race, but the two-milers are fairly a bit more forgiving than brief, plane tracks with their taut corners. He is still seeking his very first win at the senior level, but Elliott came within one position of winning both of Michigan’s races last year. He finished sixth in the Auto Club four hundred while he was still amazingly inexperienced.
Kyle Larson, No. Forty two Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Yahoo! Group B
As incredible as this seems, Larson is still the only driver who has earned maximum Yahoo points at his level in more than one race. He was the top earner at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Group B and had the second-most points last week at Phoenix. Fantasy players had a peek of the future last summer at Michigan. Elliott and Larson put on a spirited battle for the win and the No. Forty two came out ahead. Larson crashed early in last year’s Auto Club 400, but he has success on this track. He finished 2nd in his rookie attempt in 2014.
Ryan Blaney, No. Twenty one Wood Bros Ford, Yahoo! Group B
Strategic alliances have long been a part of NASCAR, but they have not always born a lot of fruit. Last year, that switched in the Toyota camp as Martin Truex Jr. and Furniture Row was equal to the Gibbs’ guys. This year, the same thing is happening with the Wood Bros. and the Penske pals. Blaney has been on par with them for most of the season. His lack of practice has affected the final rundown on a duo of occasions, but he has spent more time in the top ten than the majority of his competitors.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. Seventeen Roush-Fenway Racing Ford, Yahoo! Group B
Roush-Fenway Racing is one of the most improved organizations in the field. Scaling back to two cars has helped concentrate their resources, but the real benefit seems to be that is has permitted the two youthfull Roushketeers to have a more prominent role within the organization. Intangibles are a big part of this sport, and the confidence with which Stenhouse and Trevor Bayne are interacting with the media is one of those factors that signal their strength. Last week’s fourth-place for the No. Seventeen finish at Phoenix certainly didn’t hurt either.
Erik Jones, No. Seventy seven Furniture Row Toyota, Yahoo! Group C
At Atlanta and Las Vegas, Jones spent enough time in the top ten to rank among the ten best. He was shuffled back into the top fifteen in both of those races. Last week, he was among the leaders for about two hundred fifty laps, which was the sixth-best in the field. This time, he surged after the final caution swinged and earned his very first career top-10. More will certainly go after and Jones seems to be identically comfy on unrestricted, intermediate speedways as he is on brief, vapid tracks.
Daniel Suarez, No. Nineteen Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Yahoo! Group C
Last week was a excellent one for the rookies. Suarez finished one spot ahead of Jones in seventh and also earned his very first career top-10. Unlike his freshman classmate, Suarez did not display any dominance along the way. The two laps he logged among the top ten at the end of the race were his only circuits among the leaders in his last three attempts. This team has a stellar record on two-mile tracks and the No. Nineteen has a excellent baseline that was set by Carl Edwards, but a top-15 is far more likely in the Auto Club 400.
