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Well no Jeff Nathans this weekend available to write up his weekly Fantasy Nascar post, so I will do my best to fill his shoes. You can check out my Fantasy Nascar Picks and Sleeper picks later when they come available as well. So today will be a very busy day for your truly.
I don't know what to really expect for Sunday's race honestly. It will be quite a bit warmer and we only got one practice session on Saturday. That's not a good combination to have for a unpredictable track like Pocono Raceway. All we can do is use our knowledge and pick the fastest cars. Here's how they are stacking up headed into Sunday's race!
My Top 10:
1. Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch is my pick to win this weekend. Last spring, Kurt Busch went to victory lane without his crew chief, so why cannot another Busch? I think it is only matter of time, before he find that first win of 2017. Kyle is too talented and too good of a racer not to win soon. He is starting on the pole and had a very fast car in practice. If there was downside to Kyle at Pocono, it would be that he always seem to run into some sort of bad luck. He been close so many times to winning at track, will this be the weekend? I wouldn't be shocked one bit. He sure seem to have the car to do it.
2. Matt Kenseth - Kenseth is turning the corner and will be back to victory lane soon. He is starting from 3rd and I think he has a great car at Pocono. At one point in his career, this would be considered one of his worst track. In his RFR days, he dreaded coming here. Over the past few seasons with JGR? He has loved it, including going to victory lane back in August 2015. In his last 4 races here (past two seasons), Kenseth has posted 7.75 average finish with the best driver rating among all drivers. That 105.5 average driver rating tells me: 1) He is not lucking into that 7.75 average finish 2) He can back up his performances, including this weekend. So far, I love what I seen from him and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.
3. Kevin Harvick - Harvick will be a strong contender for the win on Sunday afternoon. He was a driver that stood out to me on both Friday and Saturday. The No.4 team and SHR as a whole are getting stronger. Which also means that Harvick is getting closer to going back to victory lane. This may had been the best weekend of the season, since Atlanta for Harvick. In past weeks, he was pretty good. But for whatever reason, I just seen more from him at Pocono. Don't forget this is a really great track for Kevin. In 3 of the past 5 Pocono races, he has posted 3 Top 4 finishes. He will have a great shot to make it 4 of last 6 Pocono races. Harvick had the best ten-lap average in Saturday's final practice session.
4. Martin Truex Jr - A lot of people will be on the Martin Truex Jr bandwagon this weekend, but honestly I will gamble and go against him. The past three races, he has been amazing. Most laps led , while finishing in the top 3 in all three races. Including leading the second-most laps and finishing 3rd at Dover last weekend. Which was probably his worst race since Talladega. This weekend, he just haven't looked that great. Sure, he qualified 2nd. But I am not convinced that he is nearly as good as he was the past couple weeks. In practice, you just knew that he would be strong. This weekend? Not so much. The first thing that stands out is he didn't run many laps. That's usually a discouraging sign for us fantasy nascar folks. Let's be honest, he will be good but I think there is room to try to fade him. I still think he can finish in latter part of the top 5, but I don't think he goes out and dominance, either.
5. Kyle Larson - Believe it or not, Kyle Larson scored his first top 5 finish since Texas at Dover (last week). Dover was a milestone for Kyle Larson to a certain extention. Back at Bristol, Kyle Larson set a record for most laps led (202) by a CGR driver. At Dover, he broke his record by leading a race-high (and career-high) 242 laps. Still finished 2nd though. He will look for some revenge at Pocono. He's been pretty good this weekend. Larson qualified 7th and had a good car in final practice. He did spin out, but he didn't get any damage. He was near top of the board like usual and seems to have good top 5 speed for Sunday's race.
6. Brad Keselowski - Keselowski unloaded real quick this weekend and been one of the drivers with the most speed on both Friday and Saturday. He will start from inside the top 10 and should make up the leaderboard, while eventually challenging for a top 5 finish. Or at least close to it. He looked really good in final practice and overall seemed pretty pleased with the speed in his Ford. In fact, he has had a lot of speed the past couple races. He just didn't have any good luck. I don't think he will have three straight bad races, because of bad luck. I have the No.2 car as close to a top 5 guy. If it wasn't for his bad luck, I would had ranked a few spots higher maybe.
7. Kurt Busch - Kurt has had a up and down season so far with mix finishes every other race it seem. Last week at Dover was agubly his most impressive showing of the season. Yes, I know, he wrecked out and finished outside of the top 35. That's not what I am talking about here though. I was referring to him before it happened. Those first couple runs, he was running top 3. Before that Ricky Stenhouse Jr caution, he was catching (then leader) Martin Truex Jr and running 2nd. Not something we seen much this year from him. He may be a little better this weekend, at least he was in practice. He loved the speed in his car and will be starting from 5th place.
8. Jimmie Johnson - Jimmie is coming off his 3rd win of the season and is looking to make it number four. Well, he proabbly have some work to do, if he want to win another race at Pocono. He will start from outside of the top 12 and doesn't seem to have the most speed, either. I am sure the 48 team will get him better before the checkers, but as of right now he is only a top 10 driver. Johnson is always a threat to contend for a top 5 finish, but Chad and the boys will have to make some changes to that car though. Headed into Sunday's event, I would say he is somewhere between 7th-12th place most likely.
9. Joey Logano - It has been pretty tough to be Logano over the past couple weeks, but they are turning the corner it look like though. The past couple races, he has qualified outside of the top 20 and looked nothing beyond top 15 in practice. He qualified in the top 12 and looked top 10 good in practice. That a lone is a improvement for that 22 team. I am not going to say that their problems are gone, but he is certainly headed in the right direction though. I like what the way the 22 team is headed right now. He isn't nearly as good as his teammate for tomorrow race, but I think he will be in the ballpark before the checkers wave. As of right now, I would say that he is at top 10 driver!
10. Ryan Blaney - Ryan Blaney is coming off back-to-back bad races with terrible luck, much like Brad Keselowski is. Blaney is coming off back-to-back bad races for different reasons though. I think he can rebound on Sunday though. He will start from the 4th spot, while I don't think he is a top 5 good, I do believe he is capable of a top 10. Last season, he was one of the few drivers that swept both races in the top 10. I wouldn't say that this is one of the first track we think of Blaney on. I was actually surprised to learn he finished in the top 10 twice in 2016 here. It's hard to catch me off guard like that. And he's solid so far this weekend! I think he is a driver worthy of a 7th-14th place finish. Somewhere in that range is the likely outcome for him, in my opinion.
Just missing on -
Ryan Newman
Jamie Mac
Chase Elliott
Denny Hamlin
Have a question or want to chat?
Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
Well no Jeff Nathans this weekend available to write up his weekly Fantasy Nascar post, so I will do my best to fill his shoes. You can check out my Fantasy Nascar Picks and Sleeper picks later when they come available as well. So today will be a very busy day for your truly.
I don't know what to really expect for Sunday's race honestly. It will be quite a bit warmer and we only got one practice session on Saturday. That's not a good combination to have for a unpredictable track like Pocono Raceway. All we can do is use our knowledge and pick the fastest cars. Here's how they are stacking up headed into Sunday's race!
My Top 10:
1. Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch is my pick to win this weekend. Last spring, Kurt Busch went to victory lane without his crew chief, so why cannot another Busch? I think it is only matter of time, before he find that first win of 2017. Kyle is too talented and too good of a racer not to win soon. He is starting on the pole and had a very fast car in practice. If there was downside to Kyle at Pocono, it would be that he always seem to run into some sort of bad luck. He been close so many times to winning at track, will this be the weekend? I wouldn't be shocked one bit. He sure seem to have the car to do it.
2. Matt Kenseth - Kenseth is turning the corner and will be back to victory lane soon. He is starting from 3rd and I think he has a great car at Pocono. At one point in his career, this would be considered one of his worst track. In his RFR days, he dreaded coming here. Over the past few seasons with JGR? He has loved it, including going to victory lane back in August 2015. In his last 4 races here (past two seasons), Kenseth has posted 7.75 average finish with the best driver rating among all drivers. That 105.5 average driver rating tells me: 1) He is not lucking into that 7.75 average finish 2) He can back up his performances, including this weekend. So far, I love what I seen from him and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.
3. Kevin Harvick - Harvick will be a strong contender for the win on Sunday afternoon. He was a driver that stood out to me on both Friday and Saturday. The No.4 team and SHR as a whole are getting stronger. Which also means that Harvick is getting closer to going back to victory lane. This may had been the best weekend of the season, since Atlanta for Harvick. In past weeks, he was pretty good. But for whatever reason, I just seen more from him at Pocono. Don't forget this is a really great track for Kevin. In 3 of the past 5 Pocono races, he has posted 3 Top 4 finishes. He will have a great shot to make it 4 of last 6 Pocono races. Harvick had the best ten-lap average in Saturday's final practice session.
4. Martin Truex Jr - A lot of people will be on the Martin Truex Jr bandwagon this weekend, but honestly I will gamble and go against him. The past three races, he has been amazing. Most laps led , while finishing in the top 3 in all three races. Including leading the second-most laps and finishing 3rd at Dover last weekend. Which was probably his worst race since Talladega. This weekend, he just haven't looked that great. Sure, he qualified 2nd. But I am not convinced that he is nearly as good as he was the past couple weeks. In practice, you just knew that he would be strong. This weekend? Not so much. The first thing that stands out is he didn't run many laps. That's usually a discouraging sign for us fantasy nascar folks. Let's be honest, he will be good but I think there is room to try to fade him. I still think he can finish in latter part of the top 5, but I don't think he goes out and dominance, either.
5. Kyle Larson - Believe it or not, Kyle Larson scored his first top 5 finish since Texas at Dover (last week). Dover was a milestone for Kyle Larson to a certain extention. Back at Bristol, Kyle Larson set a record for most laps led (202) by a CGR driver. At Dover, he broke his record by leading a race-high (and career-high) 242 laps. Still finished 2nd though. He will look for some revenge at Pocono. He's been pretty good this weekend. Larson qualified 7th and had a good car in final practice. He did spin out, but he didn't get any damage. He was near top of the board like usual and seems to have good top 5 speed for Sunday's race.
6. Brad Keselowski - Keselowski unloaded real quick this weekend and been one of the drivers with the most speed on both Friday and Saturday. He will start from inside the top 10 and should make up the leaderboard, while eventually challenging for a top 5 finish. Or at least close to it. He looked really good in final practice and overall seemed pretty pleased with the speed in his Ford. In fact, he has had a lot of speed the past couple races. He just didn't have any good luck. I don't think he will have three straight bad races, because of bad luck. I have the No.2 car as close to a top 5 guy. If it wasn't for his bad luck, I would had ranked a few spots higher maybe.
7. Kurt Busch - Kurt has had a up and down season so far with mix finishes every other race it seem. Last week at Dover was agubly his most impressive showing of the season. Yes, I know, he wrecked out and finished outside of the top 35. That's not what I am talking about here though. I was referring to him before it happened. Those first couple runs, he was running top 3. Before that Ricky Stenhouse Jr caution, he was catching (then leader) Martin Truex Jr and running 2nd. Not something we seen much this year from him. He may be a little better this weekend, at least he was in practice. He loved the speed in his car and will be starting from 5th place.
8. Jimmie Johnson - Jimmie is coming off his 3rd win of the season and is looking to make it number four. Well, he proabbly have some work to do, if he want to win another race at Pocono. He will start from outside of the top 12 and doesn't seem to have the most speed, either. I am sure the 48 team will get him better before the checkers, but as of right now he is only a top 10 driver. Johnson is always a threat to contend for a top 5 finish, but Chad and the boys will have to make some changes to that car though. Headed into Sunday's event, I would say he is somewhere between 7th-12th place most likely.
9. Joey Logano - It has been pretty tough to be Logano over the past couple weeks, but they are turning the corner it look like though. The past couple races, he has qualified outside of the top 20 and looked nothing beyond top 15 in practice. He qualified in the top 12 and looked top 10 good in practice. That a lone is a improvement for that 22 team. I am not going to say that their problems are gone, but he is certainly headed in the right direction though. I like what the way the 22 team is headed right now. He isn't nearly as good as his teammate for tomorrow race, but I think he will be in the ballpark before the checkers wave. As of right now, I would say that he is at top 10 driver!
10. Ryan Blaney - Ryan Blaney is coming off back-to-back bad races with terrible luck, much like Brad Keselowski is. Blaney is coming off back-to-back bad races for different reasons though. I think he can rebound on Sunday though. He will start from the 4th spot, while I don't think he is a top 5 good, I do believe he is capable of a top 10. Last season, he was one of the few drivers that swept both races in the top 10. I wouldn't say that this is one of the first track we think of Blaney on. I was actually surprised to learn he finished in the top 10 twice in 2016 here. It's hard to catch me off guard like that. And he's solid so far this weekend! I think he is a driver worthy of a 7th-14th place finish. Somewhere in that range is the likely outcome for him, in my opinion.
Just missing on -
Ryan Newman
Jamie Mac
Chase Elliott
Denny Hamlin
Have a question or want to chat?
Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
