Well, how do you that performance? 😊 The Driver Group Game picks for the Coca-Cola 600 posted a perfect score. It has been a while since that has happened, but I will take it. These picks have been red hot for over a month. I am not holding back at Sonoma. I have the picks mapped out for the season, so I am not too worried about running out of allocations with any drivers. Let’s keep this hot streak going at Sonoma…
Driver Group Game A Picks
Group A Pick: Chase Elliott (5): What should we do with Chase Elliott this week? Everyone knows that he is the best driver on the road courses, but his average finishing position at Sonoma is 17.5. Elliott has only led 3 laps in his career at this track so we must fade him, right? Elliott worked with Jeff Gordon and Max Pappas after the last race at Sonoma to improve his road course skills. It worked. Elliott finished 1st, 1st, 1st, 21st and 1st in the road course races since the series last competed at Sonoma. Elliott will start from the front row, so he should score a lot of Stage points and have a good chance to win his 7th road course race.
Other Good Picks include: Martin Truex Jr. (5): Martin Truex Jr. was the driver I had penciled in as my starting driver in Group A at Sonoma. I had to erase his name after he finished 29th last week at Charlotte. The starting lineup is based off of NASCAR’s formula (which relies heavily on last week’s results), so Truex will start deep in the field Sunday. I still have Truex as the winner of this race but it may take the No. 19 car a lot of time to get to the front. Chase Elliott is the safer play, but Truex should be a good pick too if you are low on allocations with Elliott.
Group A Driver Rankings: 1) Martin Truex Jr. 2) Chase Elliott 3) Denny Hamlin 4) Kevin Harvick 5) Joey Logano 6) Ryan Blaney 7) Brad Keselowski
Driver Group Game B Picks
Group B Pick: Kyle Busch (4): Most people will be saving their allocation with Kyle Busch this week. I am not one of those people. Busch is by far the best pick in Group B Sunday. Busch has finished 2nd, 5th, 5th, 7th and 1st in his last five races at Sonoma. The only driver who has been better is Martin Truex Jr. I only have 4 allocations left with Busch but we have a lot of funky tracks coming up on the schedule. I do not plan to use Busch again until the race at Darlington, so I am not afraid to use another allocation with the No. 18 car this week.
Group B Pick: Alex Bowman (8): Alex Bowman is not the first name that comes to mind when people think of road course drivers, but he has been consistent. Bowman has finished 8th, 10th, 8th, 12th and 2nd in his last five road course races (8th place average finishing position). He has competed in two races at Sonoma in a Hendrick Motorsports car. Bowman finished 9th and 14th in those two races. He has a lot more road course experience now. Hendrick Motorsports is running too well right now to fade, so I will use the No. 48 car Sunday.
Other Good Picks: Kurt Busch (4): Kurt Busch was the driver I had penciled in for Group B at Sonoma but the No. 1 team is in a slump right now. Busch has finished 38th, 27th, 13th and 35th in his last four races. That is too much bad mojo for me to mess around with. The good news is that if Busch is ever going to get to Victory Lane, it could be this week. His average finishing position in his last 9 races at Sonoma is 4th. That is consistently good so he is worth a spot on your teams if you think you can reverse the curse.
Allocation Saver: Matt DiBenedetto (9): If you are one of those people who are scared of running out of allocations with your drivers, Matt DiBenedetto is a good choice this week. Sonoma is his home track and he had a chance to win the last race at the track. DiBenedetto started 19th and finished 4th. I am sure the Wood Brothers will bring the same setup to the track this week.
Group B Driver Rankings: 1) Kyle Busch 2) Alex Bowman 3) Kyle Larson 4) Kurt Busch 5) William Byron 6) Matt DiBenedetto 7) Christopher Bell 8) Erik Jones 9) Chris Buescher 10) Aric Almirola
Driver Group Game C Picks
Group C is going to be tough this week. The normal road course ringers are not options this week. The Xfinity Series is competing at Mid-Ohio so that means AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric will not be entered in the race. Michael McDowell has a 26th-place average finishing position at Sonoma and Chase Briscoe does not have any experience at this track since the Xfinity Series does not compete at Sonoma.
Group C Pick: Daniel Suarez (8): Daniel Suarez should be the best choice in Group C this week. He has a lot more experience at Sonoma than the other drivers in Group C and he has had some success. His average finishing position at Sonoma is 16th. Suarez is a good road course driver and he should have a good chance to finish in the top-15 Sunday.
Other Good Picks: Chase Briscoe (8): If Chase Briscoe had more experience at Sonoma, he would be my pick this week. Briscoe is competing in a race on Saturday, but that is not the same as competing against the Cup Series field. Briscoe is one of the best road course drivers in the Cup Series and his team has had a lot of success at this track. Clint Bowyer finished 2nd, 3rd and 11th in his last three races at Sonoma. Briscoe should be able to run in the top-15, even without any experience at the track.
Group C Driver Rankings: 1) Daniel Suarez 2) Chase Briscoe 3) Michael McDowell 4) Ryan Preece 5) Ross Chastain
Driver Group Game Team
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Good luck this week!
*Stats from Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet Pro
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