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Fantasy Nascar Update -
1. Kevin Harvick - Weather you want to believe it or not, Kevin Harvick is still the man to beat in this series. And at Kansas, I gotta believe that he will be equality as tough as he has been all season. At Kansas, he is simply a stud. Over his last 4 races at Kansas, he is ranked 1st in basically every major category. He has compiled the best average finish (3.3), best average running position (4.0), best driver rating (127.1), most fast laps (174), 2nd-most laps led (200 - only 8 shy of Truex Jr's 208), tied for the most wins (2) and tied for the most top 5 (3). So yeah he has been pretty damn good! He is looking good again this weekend. He qualified 2nd and looks to be one of the cars to beat on Saturday. I think the #4 car will be tough to beat on the longer runs, this seems to be a common trend this season as well..
2. Kyle Busch - Rowdy use to be horrible here at Kansas. He did not score his first top 5 finish at this track until October 2014. In fact, he had just two top 10 finishes from 2004 to 2014. In his last 7 races, he does not have a single finish worse than 10th. In a span where he had 5 straight top 5 finishes from October 2014 to May 2017. In his last two races, he has finishes of 10th. In last fall's race, he led 112 laps on his way to a very disappointing 10th place finish. In 10 of 21 career starts, he has posted a driver rating above 100.0. Want to know something interesting? 6 of those 10 races (60%) were in the October races at Kansas. In his last 4 fall races at Kansas, Rowdy has compiled a series-best 5.8 average finish, 2nd-best average running position (7.3), 3rd-best driver rating (110.2), most top 5 finishes (3), most top 10 finishes (4) and most laps completed in the top 15 (95%). In practice, he looked very good. He had the best ten lap average in both practices on Saturday. He will start from 7th on Sunday afternoon!
3. Joey Logano - Logano is such a driver at Kansas and he does not get nearly enough respect for it! He had a tough season in 2017 at Kansas, but those are only two of his three finishes outside of the top 5 in his last 10 races at Kansas. When things go his way, Joey is consistent as any driver out there at Kansas. I would place him in the top 3 or 4, if he goes incident-free. He will start from the pole on Sunday afternoon and he should be considered a top 5 driver. I would not say that Joey has the speed to win, but I think he is right there to contend for a solid spot in the top 5!
4. Kurt Busch - I am a big believer in Kurt Busch this weekend. I love what the 41 team has done this season and I think he will be strong again at Kansas. This is considered a great track for him. In 5 of his last 7 races at this track, he has compiled 5 finishes of 8th or better. He will start from just outside of the top 10, but he has a really good car. I also love how consistent the No.41 car has been in his last 9 races (dating back to Michigan). In those 9 races, he has compiled 6 finishes of 6th or better. One of three finishes outside of the top 6 came last week at Talladega. It should be noted that he led 108 laps on his way to that 14th place finish. If he does not run out of fuel, I don't think he loses that event. I think having consistent results is just as important as having ton of speed. Kurt Busch has both of those!
5. Martin Truex Jr - I am not super high on Martin Truex Jr this weekend. I know some people may be higher on him, but I don't think he will be that good. I think 5th is honestly too high for him, but I will give him the benefit of that doubt. Truex Jr has been very good on the 1.5 mile tracks in 2018, so he does have that going for him. Sadly, we have only had one race on this type of track over the past two months. He finished 3rd in that event. However, he only has 2 top 10 finishes in his last 9 races this season. In 6 of his last 9 races this season, he has finished 14th or worse. He has no momentum right now and that is a big problem for me. If he does not have a good race on Sunday afternoon, I would not be shocked. It is crazy how bad finishes can pile up at an alarming rate.
6. Brad Keselowski - Keselowski should be a solid pick for Sunday's race. Personally, I really like the Penske cars' speed this weekend. They all qualified very well and displayed good enough speed in practice. Keselowski was the lowest qualifying Penske's car, but he will start from the 5th position. In final practice, he looked good. I thought he was good enough to stay in contention near the top 5. I also believe that Keselowski is one of those consistent drivers whom doesn't really have many bad races. Unless something goes soar with the car. Keselowski will need to win to advance though. I don't know if he can win, but I think his team will put him in a really good position to do so.
7. Chase Elliott - Chase Elliott is having a great season and everything beyond this point is just gravy. He is already having a career season at HMS and if he just might have what it takes to win the championship. But for that to happen, I think he need to take the next step on the 1.5 mile tracks. I think he has a little trouble on closing the deal on this type of track. As for this weekend, he has a lot of going for him. He qualified in the top 10 and has finished in the top 6 in 3 of his last 4 races this season. In his last 12 races this season, he has compiled 8 top 7 finishes in those races. He has 6 top 5 finishes in that span. Including 2 wins. All of those stats are since the New Hampshire's race. There might not be a better driver in the series right now.
8. Ryan Blaney - Blaney at Kansas is one of my favorite combination in the series. He is so smooth at Kansas and often get the results at an alarming rate. When I say alarming rate, I mean it as a very good thing. In 4 of his last 6 races at Kansas, he has finished in the top 6. In 2 of his last three races here, he has finished in the top 5. Overall, he has had 3 straight races with a driver rating above 100.0. Earlier this season, he finished 37th. He led 54 laps on his way to a 37th place finish. He had a battle with Kyle Larson that eventually sent him into the wall. Both him and Larson wrecked. Blaney went to the garage, while Larson battled back for a solid finish. Still, that might had been his best race of the season. I have high hopes for the No.12 team. Him and his teammates are all showing really good speed!
9. Kyle Larson - Kyle Larson should had won this race earlier this season and I blame it on his team. They made an adjustment on his car late and it forced him to fall back. He then got in a wreck with Ryan Blaney. I believe his team unmade that change and then the No.42 car went back to the front. That car was a bullet in that event. He led over 100 laps on his way to a 4th place finish. This weekend, he will have a much tougher task on hand. He need to win to advance and he will be starting at back of the field in a backup car. He wrecked in the opening practice session on Friday. I think Larson will be good, but I think the odds are heavily against him. If he wins, I would be very stunned. But then again, how great of a story would that be? Nearly everyone is counting him out at this point!
10. Aric Almirola - Almirola has looked very good of late (specially in the playoffs) and is coming off a win. The No.10 team has so much momentum right now. First win of the season and has 3 top 6 finishes in his last 5 races overall. He also led 64 laps at Dover, but finished 13th. Needless to say, he should had finished much higher in that event. Almirola looks good this weekend overall. He qualified well in the top 5 and had the 3rd-best ten lap average in final practice on Saturday. I don't think Almirola has any real reason to win, other than those important points. However, I think he may go out and try to win to just prove a point!
Just missed -
Clint Bowyer
Erik Jones
Denny Hamlin
Alex Bowman
Jimmie Johnson
***All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingSheetCheat.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
