The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams head to Las Vegas this weekend for the Kobalt 400. This is one of those races where the track is going to change drastically as the afternoon wears on, and because of that it’s going to be up to the crew chief to keep up with the track and make sure that the car is good at the end. We should see a few comers and goers on Sunday. Last weekend’s race at Atlanta taught us a few things, and well as made us question at least one major thing: what is going on with Joe Gibbs Racing? The Fords and Chevrolets have gotten off to a fast start this year but JGR is still sitting at the starting blocks. Expect another strong showing out of the Fords here in Sin City on Sunday, although it’s going to be hard for one driver to dominate this race like Kevin Harvick did at Atlanta last weekend.
Yahoo! A Group Early Picks and Rankings for Las Vegas
Brad Keselowski (9 starts remaining) – Fresh off his win at Atlanta, Brad Keselowski will be looking to make it two in a row here in Las Vegas on Sunday, and it really wouldn’t be that surprising if he pulled it off. He’s currently one of the best drivers when it comes to this low downforce package, and don’t forget that Brad won this race here last season. Additionally, Keselowski went to victory lane in the 2014 Las Vegas race, and is currently on a four-year streak of top 10 finishes here. Brad isn’t going to go out there and dominate the race like Kevin Harvick did last week, but you can bet that #2 Ford will be there at the end on Sunday.
Jimmie Johnson (9 starts remaining) – You can bet your bottom dollar that Jimmie Johnson won’t be getting any speeding penalties this week. He had two at Atlanta last weekend and those helped relegate “Seven Time” to his 19th-place finish. If those penalties wouldn’t have happened, though, you have to think Johnson would have been at least a top 10 car. Anyway, JJ is one of the best here at Las Vegas and has led at least 34 laps in each of the last five races in Sin City. He has also posted four finishes of 6th of better during that span. This #48 team is in a minor slump right now but all it takes is one good race to get out of that–and don’t forget that Johnson is a four-time winner here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
After last week’s blunder at Atlanta, Kevin Harvick will be out for blood in Sin City this weekend. And while it’s hard to imagine the #4 Ford being that dominant for a second week in a row, it’s not completely out of the question: he won this race back in 2015 and wound up 7th here last season. Joey Logano is another viable option in the A Group this week. The #22 Ford hasn’t been the greatest to start the 2017 season but Logano is getting the finishes and that’s all that matters in Fantasy NASCAR. Joey is on a three-race streak of top 10s here at Las Vegas and two of those were also top 5s. It’ll be between those four drivers as far as the two I go with this weekend. I’d recommend laying off of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas for the time being.
Pre-Lockdown A Group Rankings: (1) Kevin Harvick, (2) Brad Keselowski, (3) Jimmie Johnson, (4) Joey Logano, (5) Martin Truex, Jr., (6) Kyle Busch, (7) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., (8) Matt Kenseth, (9) Denny Hamlin
Yahoo! B Group Early Picks and Rankings for Las Vegas
Chase Elliott (8 starts remaining) – Being down to 7 Chase Elliott starts after just three races in the season isn’t going to be ideal, but how can you go against this kid right now? He’s knocking on the door of his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win week in and week out, and while the stat book shows that Elliott finished 38th in this race last season, you can’t forget that the #24 Chevrolet had an average running position of 13th in that race and that Chase was a legitimate top 10 threat before getting caught up in a wreck during a later restart. He’s going to have to look great in practice for me to start him on Sunday, but Chase Elliott should still definitely be on your Yahoo! roster this weekend even if you’re starting to think about starts.
Kasey Kahne (9 starts remaining) – When it comes to Fantasy NASCAR, the rule with Kasey Kahne is that you can pretty much only trust him when he has momentum. And after his top 5 run at Atlanta last weekend (and dating back to last season) Kahne now has three top 10s in the last six Cup races overall and will be looking to add another here in Sin City on Sunday. Overall, this hasn’t been too bad of a track for Kasey, who owns a career average finish of 13.5 here over the course of thirteen starts. He’s never been to Vegas Victory Lane, but he does have three top 5s and a total of seven top 10s–three of which have came in the last four races here. Hopefully this #5 team can qualify up front here on Friday and legitimately earn a top finish.
Kyle Larson (9 starts remaining) – In order to win some, you have to lose some (I think that’s how the saying goes anyway). Kyle Larson made the boneheaded mistake of taking the high line at Atlanta last week–which is ironic because that’s usually where he’s at his best–and that allowed Brad Keselowski to drive right past him and on to victory lane. Still, a 2nd-place finish isn’t terrible, but you have to wonder whether Larson would make that decision a second time if he could go back… Anyway, expect the #42 Chevrolet to be a top 5 threat once again here at Las Vegas on Sunday. He’s never finished that high in Sin City (Larson’s top result has been 8th so far) but this #42 car is probably the best it has ever been for the young phenom, and he’s at the point in his career where it’s time to prove you belong here. So far, he’s done just that.
Ryan Newman (9 starts remaining) – “The Rocketman” might have disappointing fantasy owners quite a bit at Atlanta last weekend but that doesn’t take away how strong the #31 Chevrolet was all day. And don’t forget that Newman really came along there at the end of 2016 on the intermediate race tracks; if he’s able to go mistake-free here in Las Vegas on Sunday, you should expect a solid top 10 finish out of him. This has actually been Newman’s best track on the circuit as of late, as he has posted four finishes of 7th or better in the last six events. It’s quite early in the season to start thinking about start save options in the B Group but then again you always have to be thinking about that. I’m comfortable with two “great” drivers in my B Group along with two “should be good” drivers.
Austin Dillon is another solid Fantasy NASCAR option this weekend. He had a top 10 car at Atlanta but didn’t get the finish, and don’t forget that he wound up 5th here at Las Vegas last season. His reliability is questionable but if the #3 team can have a mistake-free race, Austin has top 10 potential on Sunday. One driver to keep an eye on is Clint Bowyer. He only has three top 10 finishes in eleven career starts here at Las Vegas but then again it’s very hard to bet against the Fords right now. Speaking of which, this is Kurt Busch‘s home track, and he’s the defending pole winner of this race. He went on to finish 9th last year. He should have top 10 potential once again this weekend.
Pre-Lockdown B Group Rankings: (1) Chase Elliott, (2) Kyle Larson, (3) Ryan Newman, (4) Kurt Busch, (5) Kasey Kahne, (6) Austin Dillon, (7) Ryan Blaney, (8) Jamie McMurray, (9) Clint Bowyer, (10) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (11) Trevor Bayne, (12) A.J. Allmendinger, (13) Danica Patrick, (14) Paul Menard, (15) Chris Buescher, (16) Aric Almirola
Yahoo! C Group Early Picks and Rankings for Las Vegas
It’s starting to look like it may be taking Daniel Suarez some extra time to get used to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, and because of that it’d be better to hold off on rostering him until later in the year. Hopefully he improves a bit by then and we can expect some high teens finishes out of the rookie as opposed to results in the 20s. Anyway, this week, I’m taking the same strategy that I did at Atlanta last weekend and going with Erik Jones and Ty Dillon as my two C Group drivers. We got a nice 15th-place finish out of Dillon last weekend and anything close to that would be satisfactory here in Sin City on Sunday. However, if Erik Jones looks good in practice, he’s definitely an option to start for the Kobalt 400, as the #77 Toyota looked pretty good at Atlanta last weekend and was inside the top 10 for quite a bit of the race (Jones ended up finishing 14th).
Pre-Lockdown C Group Rankings: (1) Erik Jones, (2) Daniel Suarez, (3) Ty Dillon, (4) Landon Cassill, (5) David Ragan, (6) Michael McDowell, (7) Matt DiBenedetto
