The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gallops into Texas Motor Speedway for the seventh race of the season, the Duck Commander 500. Brian Brown took a look at past performances, season trends, and spoke with NASCAR contacts to predict how the field should finish on Saturday.
When: Saturday, April 9; 7:46 p.m./et.
Weather: Partly cloudy with a high around 80 degrees; wind out of the SE at 14 mph. There is a ZERO percent chance of precipitation.
The Track: Texas MotorSpeedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 quad-oval. It has intermediate 24 degree banking on the turns and surface at Texas has great grip allowing cars can run wide-open the entire way around. This is the ninth stop at a 1.5 mile track this season.
Key to Race: CAN ANYONE BEAT JIMMIE?
Jimmie Johnson has been fantastic during the last two 1.5 mile races and there is no reason for that trend to end. His stiffest competition will likely come from Matt Kenseth or Kyle Busch. But, Johnson won last year’s spring race at the track in dominating fashion and will be tough to beat again.
Qualifying Procedures:
40 cars will attempt to qualify for 40 spots.
Fantasy Cheat Sheet:
Top 5
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson dominated at Texas last year. He should be used in all leagues.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Busch has been great at Texas lately. He is a nice choice in all leagues.
No. 22 Joey Logano: Logano won the 2014 spring race at Texas. He will be fast once again.
No. 4 Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished inside the top three in both starts at Texas last year. He is a great choice.
No. 20 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has been awesome at Texas the past five years. He is a great choice.
6 to 10
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior cracked the top 10 in both races at Texas last year. He is a strong option.
No. 2 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski has had eight great runs at Texas during his career. He is usually a good shoe on 1.5 mile tracks and should be near the top five when the checkers fly.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin is usually very fast on 1.5 mile tracks. He is a good option.
No. 19 Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fifth at Texas last fall. He is a great choice this weekend.
No. 41 Kurt Busch: Busch has four top 10 finishes in six races this season. He will finished outside the top five this weekend.
11 to 20
No. 78 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex Jr. has had past success at Texas and we love how he drove at the track last year. He is worth using in most leagues.
No. 31 Ryan Newman: Newman has averaged a 13th place finish the past 10 races at Texas. We like him as a second driver in most leagues.
No. 5 Kasey Kahne: Kahne has found past success at TMS and is worth using as a third driver.
No. 3 Austin Dillon: Dillon hasn’t been great at Texas so far in his career, but he is driving fantastic so far this season.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle won the 2012 spring race at Texas and he has been fast in the past 13 races at the track. He is a third driver option in all leagues this weekend.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: Jamie Mac has nine top 10 finishes in 22 career starts at TMS. This is a good weekend to get him active on your roster.
No. 24 Chase Elliott: Elliott shouldn’t have any issues at TMS. He is a fine choice.
No. 42 Kyle Larson: Larson has finished in the top 10 in two of the last four races at Texas. He is just a third driver in deep leagues.
No. 43 Aric Almirola: Almirola has averaged an 18th place finish at Texas in his career. He will finish right around his average.
No. 27 Paul Menard: Menard has been a top 20 driver at Texas for most of his career. He is a nice sleeper pick.
21 to 30
No. 47 A.J. Allmendinger
No. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
No. 6 Trevor Bayne
No. 14 Brian Vickers
No. 15 Clint Bowyer
No. 21 Ryan Blaney
No. 10 Danica Patrick
No. 13 Casey Mears
No. 44 Brian Scott
No. 23 David Ragan
Field Fillers:
No. 7 Regan Smith
No. 95 Ty Dillon
No. 98 Cole Whitt
No. 32 Jeffery Earnhardt
No. 34 Chris Buescher
No. 38 Landon Cassill
No. 46 Michael Annett
No. 30 Josh Wise
No. 55 Reed Sorenson
No. 83 Matt DiBenedetto
My NASCAR LIVE Team for this Week:
A.J. Allmendinger
Race Winner: Jimmie Johnson
Manufacturer: Chevy
My Yahoo! Fantasy NASCAR Team for this Week:
B. Greg Biffle
