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Rain will be a major factor and quite possibly could force the Sprint Cup Series to stay an extra day in the Pocono area. Despite the weather issues, we did get qualifying in on Friday and a practice session in on Saturday. However it sounds like the worse weather is still to come though. I hope we can get it in, but weather experts in the area are predicting a washout on Sunday. Personally I much rather have an full-length race on Monday than a part-race on Sunday. So how does the field stack up headed into this weekend race, after practice and qualifying? Your answers you seek are listed below. Enjoy!
Fantasy Nascar Update -
A:
1. Kyle Busch - I think Kyle Busch will have the car to beat whenever we go racing at Pocono. He stood out to me in practice and will roll off from the 12th starting position. The 18 car have struggled in recent weeks, but as I mentioned in my preview, I thought the 18 team was testing out different stuff. Don't expect similar results this week, because I think that team is motivated to get back to their old ways of doing things. So not shocking that, he looked strong in practice on Saturday. Rowdy have never won at Pocono, but he came very close last August. However he ran out of fuel on the last lap. I think he can get it done this time, as he is my pick to win!
My Overall Ranking: 1st
2. Kevin Harvick - The 4 car will roll off from the 4th starting position and have a very fast racecar this weekend. He arguably had the second-best car in final practice and posted a lot of laps in the lone practice session. It noticeable that he posted a lot of laps, because I feel like that says a lot how good of a car he has. Especially since only a select few posted an Ten-lap average on Saturday. Not only did he post plenty of laps, but he his lap times were consistently solid. Harvick not only have a very good car this weekend, but he been the best driver at Pocono over the past two seasons. So there really isn't a big surprise that Harvick unloaded so fast. I think he will give Kyle Busch and the other contenders all that they can handle.
My Overall Ranking: 2nd
3. Jimmie Johnson - Debated weather to give this spot to Kurt Busch or Jimmie Johnson, both drivers were pretty fast in that final session. I just thought that Johnson was a bit more consistent in his lap times. That not as important though, since Pocono's lap times don't usually drop off too much like we see at some of other tracks we visit. Johnson was very good in final practice, he started the final practice with a solid ten lap run. He was the only driver to start the session with such a run. His lap times were very competitively (and better than most) when compared to lap times other contenders were putting down. He didn't come back out, until later in the session again and continued to post strong lap times. Headed into the race, he is a top 5 driver in my opinion and should be one of the drivers to beat when we go racing. I have him across the line between 2nd-5th place range!
My Overall Ranking: 3rd
4. Kurt Busch - Kurt Busch will be a legit contender this weekend at Pocono. He showed very solid speed in final practice on Saturday and I am not surprised one bit. Kurt have always been a contender at Pocono and this weekend doesn't seems to be any different. The 41 car have been top 10 consistent all season long and he should be in for least another top 10 finish when the checkers wave at Pocono. Heading into the race, I have pinned as a borderline top 5/top 10 driver. There isn't a lot to hate about Kurt this weekend. He is consistent, he has a solid track record, good speed in the one-hour practice session,etc. I have Kurt crossing the line around 4th-7th place range.
My Overall Ranking: 4th
5. Dale Jr - This final spot came down to Dale Jr or Joey Logano, both drivers have struggled this season to be consistent. So I went with the track history route to make my decision. Hamlin have the edge from a career vantage point. But Dale Jr have one of the best drivers in the series here recently. And quite frankly when looking at his numbers since joining HMS, he have been easily one of the best drivers in the series. People in general just think that Dale Jr came good at Pocono over night, but that is far from the truth. Over the past 9 seasons, he has the 4th-best Average Finish in the series (11.7) among drivers who has a minimum 10 starts over that span. He also supports an 11.0 average running position, which ranks 2nd in that span. The fact that he haven't gotten recognition prior to the last couple seasons is solely because of lack of wins here.
My Overall Ranking: 5th
B:
1. Martin Truex Jr - Truex Jr starts further back than he have in recent races, but I think he will be just fine in the race. Truex have had speed all season long and it was only matter of time before he got that first win of the season (last week at Charlotte). This week, he isn't capable of dominating like last weekend at the 600. He qualified mid-pack for this week's race at Pocono, but showed some speed in final practice. However, I don't think it will be enough to straight up beat the 18, 4 and 48 cars who seems to be among the best in final practice. Even though I do feel like the 78 team hit on something in the later stages, that should give Truex a good opportunity to contend for least a top 10 finish and possibly a top 5 run.
My Overall Ranking: 7th
2. Carl Edwards - Edwards will roll off from inside the top 10, but I am just not convinced that the 19 team is where they want to be at the moment. It just seems like the 19 car have been off the last couple races, with 3 straight finishes outside of the top 10 (that not including the Talladega wreck either). To be fair, he got in a hole early at Kansas and wrecked at Dover. Then Charlotte, he put himself in a bad position with more penalties. Besides having some bad luck along the way, I just haven't seen the same speed out of that 19 car lately as we saw earlier in the season. Also Pocono isn't Carl's best racetrack. Especially with some of the tracks that are coming up like Kentucky, New Hampshire, Michigan, Sonoma, etc. Headed into the race, I view Edwards as a top 10 driver because let's be honest he will run inside the top 10 regardless what he shows in practice.
My Overall Ranking: 9th
3. Kyle Larson - There are a few drivers that could've been considered for the third spot in this tier of drivers. I went with the hot hand in Kyle Larson. I don't get the feeling he is as good as he been in recent weeks, but I do feel like he has a team that is very hungry to win a race. In practice, he was okay I guess. I cannot really say for sure. Since he never made more than 2 or 3 laps at a time. However he does have a very good track record at Pocono and have never finished worse than 12th place at this track. Not only that, but Kyle also have the most momentum I can ever recall entering a Sprint Cup race. He not only knows he can contend for top 5 and top 10 finishes, but he now believes that he can. I think that is the difference in Larson from year 1 in Cup and year 3. With that said, I think some of it has to do with the additional speed his team have found over the past 4 or 5 Sprint Cup races.
My Overall Ranking: 11th
4. Ryan Newman - Newman loves Pocono, he just loves this place and he is in my opinion the most underrated driver in the series here. Over the past 18 races here, he have managed 15 Top 14 finishes with an 11.3 average finish. Newman, not only is a consistent driver at Pocono but he have found a great deal of success with RCR by being consistent. This weekend, Newman will roll off from mid-pack, which I didn't really expect. I thought he would have qualified closer to the top 10. That's not too worrisome though. Newman should be able to battle his way up and into the top 15 and settle in somewhere around there. Headed into the race, I view him as a low-teen driver with some potential to sneak away with a top 10 finish. I have Newman finishing somewhere between 12th-15th place finish.
My Overall Ranking: 12th
5. Austin Dillon - Dillon will roll off from deeper in the field than I would've like him to, but I feel pretty good about his chances at Pocono. Dillon have found a good deal of success here and have never finished worse than 16th place. Dillon showed some good speed at start of final practice, not sure how good he is on the long runs here as he never really was on track long enough to see how good he was. But based on what I already know about Dillon, he is probably will be good for a top 15 finish after running somewhere just outside of the top 10 most of the race.
My Overall Ranking: 14th
C:
1. Ryan Blaney - I believe Ryan Blaney is gonna have himself one of his best race of the season at Pocono. For one, Pocono have produced some decent success for young drivers such as Hamlin, Larson, Dillon off top of my head. I also feel like Blaney have enough speed this weekend to contend for least a top 20 finish, if not better. Blaney also have some momentum headed into the weekend. Sure, he wasn't great at Charlotte but a place like Charlotte (with decent fall-off) are the venues that he have struggled with the most. I feel like Blaney have a good opportunity to make some noise. I have higher hopes for the 21 car than most do.
My Overall Ranking: 18th
2. Chase Elliott - I debated to rank Elliott or Blaney first in this tier, but in the end I went with the driver with the faster car in practice. Elliott wasn't far behind Blaney on speed and in the race I think they will run fairly close together overall for the race. I think Elliott may have the advanatage down the stench because of the style of race he runs. Typcially Elliott takes time to learn a track, before cracking the whip in crunch time. We saw that last weekend at Charlotte (where he finished 8th eventually). I think Elliott is a top 20 driver headed into the race and will have a chance to get a top 15 finish (and probably more).
My Overall Ranking: 19th
3. Ty Dillon - Dillon did not show much speed in final practice on Saturday, but they improved his car towards end of the session though. Still he definitely lacking some speed, but feel like they are in a better spot than they were early in that final session. Dillon have questionable equipment (despite being backed by RCR) and will most likely not finish better than 25th place. However with a couple mistakes and maybe a few wrecks, then he is pretty capable of finding a way closer to the top 20. Ty Dillon in my opinion is more matured Austin Dillon. Think back to Austin's rookie year in 2014, remember what he did so well that season? Just riding around and logging laps. Which led to solid finishes most weekend. Ty is in lesser equipment, but you can expect a similar approach from the young Dillon brother.
My Overall Ranking: 26th
Grouping Tier Rankings -
A -
1. Kyle Busch
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Kurt Busch
5. Dale Jr
6. Joey Logano
7. Brad Keselowski
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Matt Kenseth
B -
1. Martin Truex Jr
2. Carl Edwards
3. Kyle Larson
4. Ryan Newman
5. Austin Dillon
6. Kasey Kahne
7. Paul Menard
8. Tony Stewart
9. Greg Biffle
10. Jamie Mac
C -
1. Ryan Blaney
2. Chase Elliiott
3. Ty Dillon
4. Brian Scott
5. David Ragan
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
Rain will be a major factor and quite possibly could force the Sprint Cup Series to stay an extra day in the Pocono area. Despite the weather issues, we did get qualifying in on Friday and a practice session in on Saturday. However it sounds like the worse weather is still to come though. I hope we can get it in, but weather experts in the area are predicting a washout on Sunday. Personally I much rather have an full-length race on Monday than a part-race on Sunday. So how does the field stack up headed into this weekend race, after practice and qualifying? Your answers you seek are listed below. Enjoy!
Fantasy Nascar Update -
A:
1. Kyle Busch - I think Kyle Busch will have the car to beat whenever we go racing at Pocono. He stood out to me in practice and will roll off from the 12th starting position. The 18 car have struggled in recent weeks, but as I mentioned in my preview, I thought the 18 team was testing out different stuff. Don't expect similar results this week, because I think that team is motivated to get back to their old ways of doing things. So not shocking that, he looked strong in practice on Saturday. Rowdy have never won at Pocono, but he came very close last August. However he ran out of fuel on the last lap. I think he can get it done this time, as he is my pick to win!
My Overall Ranking: 1st
2. Kevin Harvick - The 4 car will roll off from the 4th starting position and have a very fast racecar this weekend. He arguably had the second-best car in final practice and posted a lot of laps in the lone practice session. It noticeable that he posted a lot of laps, because I feel like that says a lot how good of a car he has. Especially since only a select few posted an Ten-lap average on Saturday. Not only did he post plenty of laps, but he his lap times were consistently solid. Harvick not only have a very good car this weekend, but he been the best driver at Pocono over the past two seasons. So there really isn't a big surprise that Harvick unloaded so fast. I think he will give Kyle Busch and the other contenders all that they can handle.
My Overall Ranking: 2nd
3. Jimmie Johnson - Debated weather to give this spot to Kurt Busch or Jimmie Johnson, both drivers were pretty fast in that final session. I just thought that Johnson was a bit more consistent in his lap times. That not as important though, since Pocono's lap times don't usually drop off too much like we see at some of other tracks we visit. Johnson was very good in final practice, he started the final practice with a solid ten lap run. He was the only driver to start the session with such a run. His lap times were very competitively (and better than most) when compared to lap times other contenders were putting down. He didn't come back out, until later in the session again and continued to post strong lap times. Headed into the race, he is a top 5 driver in my opinion and should be one of the drivers to beat when we go racing. I have him across the line between 2nd-5th place range!
My Overall Ranking: 3rd
4. Kurt Busch - Kurt Busch will be a legit contender this weekend at Pocono. He showed very solid speed in final practice on Saturday and I am not surprised one bit. Kurt have always been a contender at Pocono and this weekend doesn't seems to be any different. The 41 car have been top 10 consistent all season long and he should be in for least another top 10 finish when the checkers wave at Pocono. Heading into the race, I have pinned as a borderline top 5/top 10 driver. There isn't a lot to hate about Kurt this weekend. He is consistent, he has a solid track record, good speed in the one-hour practice session,etc. I have Kurt crossing the line around 4th-7th place range.
My Overall Ranking: 4th
5. Dale Jr - This final spot came down to Dale Jr or Joey Logano, both drivers have struggled this season to be consistent. So I went with the track history route to make my decision. Hamlin have the edge from a career vantage point. But Dale Jr have one of the best drivers in the series here recently. And quite frankly when looking at his numbers since joining HMS, he have been easily one of the best drivers in the series. People in general just think that Dale Jr came good at Pocono over night, but that is far from the truth. Over the past 9 seasons, he has the 4th-best Average Finish in the series (11.7) among drivers who has a minimum 10 starts over that span. He also supports an 11.0 average running position, which ranks 2nd in that span. The fact that he haven't gotten recognition prior to the last couple seasons is solely because of lack of wins here.
My Overall Ranking: 5th
B:
1. Martin Truex Jr - Truex Jr starts further back than he have in recent races, but I think he will be just fine in the race. Truex have had speed all season long and it was only matter of time before he got that first win of the season (last week at Charlotte). This week, he isn't capable of dominating like last weekend at the 600. He qualified mid-pack for this week's race at Pocono, but showed some speed in final practice. However, I don't think it will be enough to straight up beat the 18, 4 and 48 cars who seems to be among the best in final practice. Even though I do feel like the 78 team hit on something in the later stages, that should give Truex a good opportunity to contend for least a top 10 finish and possibly a top 5 run.
My Overall Ranking: 7th
2. Carl Edwards - Edwards will roll off from inside the top 10, but I am just not convinced that the 19 team is where they want to be at the moment. It just seems like the 19 car have been off the last couple races, with 3 straight finishes outside of the top 10 (that not including the Talladega wreck either). To be fair, he got in a hole early at Kansas and wrecked at Dover. Then Charlotte, he put himself in a bad position with more penalties. Besides having some bad luck along the way, I just haven't seen the same speed out of that 19 car lately as we saw earlier in the season. Also Pocono isn't Carl's best racetrack. Especially with some of the tracks that are coming up like Kentucky, New Hampshire, Michigan, Sonoma, etc. Headed into the race, I view Edwards as a top 10 driver because let's be honest he will run inside the top 10 regardless what he shows in practice.
My Overall Ranking: 9th
3. Kyle Larson - There are a few drivers that could've been considered for the third spot in this tier of drivers. I went with the hot hand in Kyle Larson. I don't get the feeling he is as good as he been in recent weeks, but I do feel like he has a team that is very hungry to win a race. In practice, he was okay I guess. I cannot really say for sure. Since he never made more than 2 or 3 laps at a time. However he does have a very good track record at Pocono and have never finished worse than 12th place at this track. Not only that, but Kyle also have the most momentum I can ever recall entering a Sprint Cup race. He not only knows he can contend for top 5 and top 10 finishes, but he now believes that he can. I think that is the difference in Larson from year 1 in Cup and year 3. With that said, I think some of it has to do with the additional speed his team have found over the past 4 or 5 Sprint Cup races.
My Overall Ranking: 11th
4. Ryan Newman - Newman loves Pocono, he just loves this place and he is in my opinion the most underrated driver in the series here. Over the past 18 races here, he have managed 15 Top 14 finishes with an 11.3 average finish. Newman, not only is a consistent driver at Pocono but he have found a great deal of success with RCR by being consistent. This weekend, Newman will roll off from mid-pack, which I didn't really expect. I thought he would have qualified closer to the top 10. That's not too worrisome though. Newman should be able to battle his way up and into the top 15 and settle in somewhere around there. Headed into the race, I view him as a low-teen driver with some potential to sneak away with a top 10 finish. I have Newman finishing somewhere between 12th-15th place finish.
My Overall Ranking: 12th
5. Austin Dillon - Dillon will roll off from deeper in the field than I would've like him to, but I feel pretty good about his chances at Pocono. Dillon have found a good deal of success here and have never finished worse than 16th place. Dillon showed some good speed at start of final practice, not sure how good he is on the long runs here as he never really was on track long enough to see how good he was. But based on what I already know about Dillon, he is probably will be good for a top 15 finish after running somewhere just outside of the top 10 most of the race.
My Overall Ranking: 14th
C:
1. Ryan Blaney - I believe Ryan Blaney is gonna have himself one of his best race of the season at Pocono. For one, Pocono have produced some decent success for young drivers such as Hamlin, Larson, Dillon off top of my head. I also feel like Blaney have enough speed this weekend to contend for least a top 20 finish, if not better. Blaney also have some momentum headed into the weekend. Sure, he wasn't great at Charlotte but a place like Charlotte (with decent fall-off) are the venues that he have struggled with the most. I feel like Blaney have a good opportunity to make some noise. I have higher hopes for the 21 car than most do.
My Overall Ranking: 18th
2. Chase Elliott - I debated to rank Elliott or Blaney first in this tier, but in the end I went with the driver with the faster car in practice. Elliott wasn't far behind Blaney on speed and in the race I think they will run fairly close together overall for the race. I think Elliott may have the advanatage down the stench because of the style of race he runs. Typcially Elliott takes time to learn a track, before cracking the whip in crunch time. We saw that last weekend at Charlotte (where he finished 8th eventually). I think Elliott is a top 20 driver headed into the race and will have a chance to get a top 15 finish (and probably more).
My Overall Ranking: 19th
3. Ty Dillon - Dillon did not show much speed in final practice on Saturday, but they improved his car towards end of the session though. Still he definitely lacking some speed, but feel like they are in a better spot than they were early in that final session. Dillon have questionable equipment (despite being backed by RCR) and will most likely not finish better than 25th place. However with a couple mistakes and maybe a few wrecks, then he is pretty capable of finding a way closer to the top 20. Ty Dillon in my opinion is more matured Austin Dillon. Think back to Austin's rookie year in 2014, remember what he did so well that season? Just riding around and logging laps. Which led to solid finishes most weekend. Ty is in lesser equipment, but you can expect a similar approach from the young Dillon brother.
My Overall Ranking: 26th
Grouping Tier Rankings -
A -
1. Kyle Busch
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Kurt Busch
5. Dale Jr
6. Joey Logano
7. Brad Keselowski
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Matt Kenseth
B -
1. Martin Truex Jr
2. Carl Edwards
3. Kyle Larson
4. Ryan Newman
5. Austin Dillon
6. Kasey Kahne
7. Paul Menard
8. Tony Stewart
9. Greg Biffle
10. Jamie Mac
C -
1. Ryan Blaney
2. Chase Elliiott
3. Ty Dillon
4. Brian Scott
5. David Ragan
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
