After a brief trip back to the short track roots of the sport at Martinsville. We are saddling up our horses and riding back west to the first race at Texas Motor Speedway. I’m going to go over some solid guys that you need to watch, and even a few underdog picks as well.
Chevy Camp
Over all this camp half of them have been solid and the other half not so much. Hendricks for some reason just have not been able to grasp this new aero package on the mile and half-tracks. HMS best mile and a half average finish as a team was at Las Vegas. They had an average finish of 13.75 and with who we are talking about that is kind of lackluster. Honestly the bright spot of that team is once again Chase Elliott who recently finished second at Martinsville. Chase on mile and half-tracks thus far this year has an average twelfth place finishing spot, and a best finish of ninth at Vegas.
The bright spot really of the Chevrolet camp has really been the Chip Ganassi drivers. CGR though as a whole has been more solid then HMS. Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch have an average team finish on mile and half-tracks of eighth. My belly up racing colleague Rattlesnake and me touched on it briefly in the recent Chairgatin’ podcast about the number one Camaro. Kurt has been solid all year thus far for CGR with a 3rd place finish at Atlanta, and average finish on mile and half-tracks of fourth.
So with that being said my drivers from the Chevy camp are going to be Chase Elliott, and Kurt Busch. In the last four races at Texas, Chase and Kurt both have averaged an eighth place finishing position. They haven’t exactly been dominating but have over all been solid and I think you can count on them to finish solidly in the top ten.
Ford Contenders
Can you really go wrong with anyone in this camp right now? I mean Penske has dominated this year with three teams wins. The only driver from that team without a win being my first pick of Ryan Blaney. Ryan has an average sixth place finishing spot at Texas. He’s also led 188 laps in the previous four races. He is overdue this year for a win in my opinion. He has performed solidly and it’s time for him to get into victory lane. While I am on the Penske roll, you can’t count out Joey Logano. The Pennzoil driver has been just as solid at Texas with an average finishing spot of fourth. He’s also led 88 laps in the past four races. Either of these drivers would work in your lineup for Sunday. Like I said before though you can’t go wrong with this camp and that leads me to my next pick.
“Happy Harvick” should always be on your list of who to watch when coming to this mile and a half track. Harvick has won two of the last four races and led a combined 379 laps. Kevin also has the second longest top ten streak currently with nine finishes in a row at Texas. If you haven’t used up your NASCAR regular season ten uses on Harvick you should for sure put him in the lineup or at least your garage.
Dominant Toyota’s
This first driver is really a no brainer. Honestly if you have enough uses left out of the ten uses allowed. I want to know what have you been doing the last couple weeks? Kyle Busch should always be on your list of who to watch. The “Candy-man” has led a combined 276 laps in the past four races, and got one win last spring. His average finish here is a bit deceiving at thirteenth, but you should for sure not count out Kyle Busch or his JGR teammate.
Martin Truex Jr. has kind of been the forgotten driver this year. After joining Joe Gibbs racing he hasn’t exactly been the dominant guy we got used to seeing. While he’s been solid he just hasn’t been able to get to victory lane. That could possibly change this weekend. Martin doesn’t have a win at Texas, but has led 156 laps in the four races. Both of these JGR drivers have solid chances at getting the checkered flag.
Underdogs to Watch
I’m going to briefly go over a few “underdog” picks who you can throw in your lineup for maybe some solid points. These are the guys you may have not used as much this year, but have a decent year going. Maybe even they have a solid history at Texas.
I covered his two teammates earlier in the Toyota group, and really debated on putting him in the group. Eric Jones and the number twenty team average a tenth place finish at Texas. He also has led 64 laps, and has only finished outside the top ten once in the last four races. This young gun has showed some promise this year, but has hit some bad luck along the way. Look for him to shock some people maybe this week, and the rest of the season.
Another teammate of a guy I previously covered. Kyle Larson has led 74 laps in the last four races. His average finish here is not great, but he has finished second twice. Also you can’t discourage his season thus far he hasn’t finished outside of the top twenty all year. With his lowest finish being eighteenth at Martinsville.
So, some of you may get a good kick out of this pick. I went back and forth though between the two Roush teammates. I finally decided on Ricky Stenhouse. This guy has showed consistent speed in the early part of races then somehow, some way falls off. Yes, his highest finish at Texas is eleventh, but this track used to be Roush’s playground in the early 2000’s. I think if he can keep his nose clean he could pull out a career best finish this weekend.
Conclusion
With arguably one of the coolest trophies on the line this weekend it could shape up to be a good race. This new aero package has livened up the racing at tracks like Texas. While Texas has never been high on my list of races to watch I am remaining optimistic for sure due to the aero package. There is one thing though I will be watching Sunday from my workplace regardless, and so should you. As for these guys I covered above if you need a good week in fantasy play this week. I have confidence any of them could gain you some solid points in the fantasy league. Maybe even help you win an office pool, or some bets amongst buddies. Until next time race fans, follow @bellyupracing, and my personal twitter @Nascar4Every1 for some awesome coverage of the sport we all love .
