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Notes -
1-Jamie Mac: JMac looked solid all weekend. He have shown speed in every session (including nice long run speed at times) and starts 2nd. What stood out was his starting position though.
2-Brad Keselowski: Brad K unloaded a bullet folks. And the last thing you want to give a driver with momentum + an fast car is the pole. Unfortunately for the field he does start on the pole. He dominated earlier this season and started 13th. Keselowski is my pick to win.
3-Austin Dillon: Dillon never shows his full hand in practice. In Saturday sessions , he wasn't bad. Posted lap times which floated with Top 20. Expect him to finish just outside the top 15 realistically.
4-Kevin Harvick: Harvick been pretty good this weekend. Funny we aren't talking about Harvick being the car to beat. He was about the 2nd best overall. Its pretty close between him , Gordon and Johnson. Displayed awesome long run speed and should be top 5 heading in.
5-Kasey Kahne: Kahne at times looked good , but overall faded. He at best should be an top 15 option. There are better choices with more potential this weekend.
10-Danica Patrick: I really like Danica as a sneaky dark horse for an top 15. She posted strong lap times inside the top 20 all weekend. With a little luck she could pull it off. Realistically expect a finish from 17th - 24th.
11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin and JGR cars just seemed off just a bit. None of them really stood out from the pack. They should be fine , as usually the Gibbs cars don't show what they have until raceday. Top 10 is likely.
14-Smoke: Folks time to give up. He basically being used as a test crash dummy as Smoke have the same setup as Harvick. In other words , Smoke is testing during practice.
16-Greg Biffle: The Biff have been very unhappy with the car all weekend long. It really been a struggle for a few weeks for the 16 car. Avoid him at all costs.
18-Kyle Busch: Rowdy wasn't bad. He was top 10 in my opinion. Top 5 is reachable , but unlikely. Depends how Dave and 18 crew keep up with the track. He posted the 5th best 10 lap average. His lap times were also solid on an 15 lap average run. He is a nice dark horse.
20-Matt Kenseth: Kenseth wasn't happy with his car initially , but his team continued to work on car and got Kenseth pretty good late in practice. He almost an top 10 lock in my opinion.
22-Joey Logano: Logano wasn't great , but he was still top 10. I think he will finish closer to the top 5 in the race. Logano showed nice long run speed late in a run. He is an good option with solid upside.
24-Jeff Gordon: Gordon was my early pick to win , but after practice he not anymore. Still Gordon looked very strong. He wasn't the car to beat. He posted top 5 lap times mostly. Late in final practice ,Gordon knocked off Keselowski from the top of the leaderboard. Note Keselowski was on old tires.
27-Paul Menard: Menard troublesome type track been the flats. He only recorded one top 10 (Martinsville). On Saturday , Menard struggled overall. Never was happy with the car. There are better options.
31-Ryan Newman: Newman was very strong overall. He posted some fast laps in both sessions on Saturday. I thought he was top 10 overall , but a top 5 is very doable for Newman.
42-Kyle Larson: Larson was pretty good I guess. His teammate Jamie Mac stood out to me more. Not because of their qualifying positions. But because JMac been a little better overall. Don't expect that to stop Larson though.
48-Jimmie Johnson: Johnson was strong all weekend. He posted some fast laps. He seems to fall off too much though. Still an top 10 option. Johnson is a good option.
88-Dale Jr: Dale been better this weekend then the first time around at New Hampshire. He starts 11th and like his teammates seems to be strong on the long run. He is easily top 10 material.
99-Carl Edwards: Last week , Edwards was fool gold (as I advised) and this week it the same deal. Edwards seems to good for a few laps , but then drops like a rock. He really a bad value for a lot of formats.
Also check out : Nascar Behind The Wall an great blog with awesome articles Nascar related.
Well that's it! Only 7 more weeks folks. Remember if you need help with your lineup..just send me a tweet
Twitter - @JeffNathans
