The 2023 NASCAR Season is nearing the championship face and that means we only have four races to climb to the top of our league standings. The picks for the Charlotte Roval scored 387 points. That is a good start, but we need more races like that and then we should be close to where we want to be after the race at Phoenix. I will do my best to get us there. It all starts with another trip back to Las Vegas. The South Point Casino 400 can be seen Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
STRATEGY FOR LAS VEGAS
The strategy for the Driver Group Game is to simply play the best drivers you have available. I want to use my top drivers at Las Vegas and Homestead and try to find short track specialists at Martinsville and Phoenix. All drivers are in play for the Driver Group Game at Las Vegas.
Here are the picks for the South Point Casino 400 …
GROUP A DRIVERS
WILLIAM BYRON (2): Byron completely smoked the field last March at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He qualified second, led 176 of the 271 laps, won both Stages and went to Victory Lane. Byron also won the last race on a 1.5-mile track at Texas. That win gave his team three weeks to prepare their car for Las Vegas, since Byron was locked into the Round of 8. Byron dominated the last race at Las Vegas and he will have a good chance to do it again Sunday.
KYLE LARSON (4): Hendrick Motorsports has dominated the races at Las Vegas in the Gen-7 car. Larson led 63 laps (second-most behind William Byron), finished second in both Stages (behind William Byron) and finished second in the race (behind William Byron). The No. 5 and No. 24 cars for Hendrick Motorsports dominated the last race at Las Vegas and they have been two of the best cars on the 1.5-mile tracks this year. I will play both Hendrick Motorsports drivers this week.
(OTHER PICK) DENNY HAMLIN (4): If you do not want to put all of your eggs in the Hendrick Motorsports basket; pivot to Hamlin from Kyle Larson. Both cars have had speed at nearly every track, but Hamlin has been a bit more consistent. Hamlin finished second at Kansas and fifth at Texas in the playoffs. The No. 11 car should run up front again Sunday and compete with the Hendrick Motorsports cars for the win.
GROUP A DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) Kyle Larson 2) William Byron 3) Denny Hamlin 4) Christopher Bell 5) Ross Chastain 6) Chase Elliott 7) Ryan Blaney 8) Joey Logano
GROUP B DRIVERS
BUBBA WALLACE (2): The driver was has surprised me the most this year is Wallace. I always considered him a Superspeedway only driver, but he has been good at nearly ever track this year. Wallace finished fourth at Las Vegas in March. He also finished fourth at Kansas, fourth in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and third in the last round of the playoffs at Texas. That is a lot of top-five finishes on the 1.5-mile tracks. I see no reason why Wallace won’t show up with the same speed this weekend.
KYLE BUSCH (2): Busch started out his career sucking at his home track. Now he is one of the best drivers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Busch has finished five of his last six races in Sin City in the top six. Busch has been a top-10 driver on the 1.5-mile tracks when he keeps his car off the wall. He has Las Vegas figured out, so I will take a chance with Rowdy at his home track.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (1): Keselowski only finished 17th at Las Vegas in March, but he was able to score Stage Points in both Stages and scored bonus points for leading laps. The No. 6 team has improved a lot over the summer. Keselowski finished ninth at Kansas and seventh at Texas in the playoffs. He should be able to finish in the top-10 again Sunday.
ALEX BOWMAN (8): I really wanted to play Martin Truex Jr. in this spot, but I just cannot do it. I will pivot to Bowman. The No. 48 car finished third at Las Vegas in March (behind William Byron and Kyle Larson) and he won this race last year. You cannot have too many Hendrick Motorsports drivers in your lineup this week. I would love to be able to use Bowman and save my other drivers for one of the final races.
(OTHER PICK) MARTIN TRUEX JR. (1): I only have one allocation left with Truex. I am sure glad I used him early in the season, because he is in the biggest slump since he joined Toyota. Truex has finished 18th, 36th, 19th, 17th, 18th and 20th in the playoffs this year. Those stats do not scream, “PLAY ME.” His stats at Las Vegas are some of the best though. Truex has only finished outside the top-eight at Las Vegas one time since 2016. He “should be a safe pick, but I trust Alex Bowman a bit more right now.
GROUP B DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) Bubba Wallace 2) Kyle Busch 3) Brad Keselowski 4) Tyler Reddick 5) Alex Bowman 6) Martin Truex Jr. 7) Chris Buescher 8) Kevin Harvick 9) Erik Jones 10) Daniel Suarez
GROUP C DRIVERS
AJ ALLMENDINGER (1): I have one allocation left with Allmendinger and I may use it Sunday. Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the best 1.5-mile track for Allmendinger. He finished ninth in this race last year and 18th in March. The choices in Group C are not very good on the 1.5-mile tracks. Allmendinger has been one of the best, so I will have him in my lineup.
TY GIBBS (3): I still have three allocations left with Gibbs for the final four races. His weakness this year has been the 1.5-mile tracks. Gibbs has only finished one of the five races on the 1.5-mile intermediate tracks in the top-15. It was at Kansas in the playoffs. This team is too good to struggle so badly. I will at least have Gibbs in my lineup for qualifying points this weekend.
(OTHER CHOICE) RICKY STENHOUSE JR. (3): Stenhouse is the driver you need to pivot too if you are running low with your allocations with Ty Gibbs. Stenhouse has not been great at Las Vegas, but he has had some success at the other 1.5-mile tracks. Stenhouse finished 12th at Kansas, seventh at Charlotte and ninth at Texas. He is probably a safer choice than Gibbs, but I want to take a chance with the upside with the Joe Gibbs Racing car this weekend.
GROUP C DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) AJ Allmendinger 2) Ty Gibbs 3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 4) Carson Hocevar 5) Corey LaJoie
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
XFINITY SERIES PICKS
John H. Nemechek will start last because his car had a leak and he did not make a qualifying lap. I am not worried about it. Joe Gibbs Racing will fix the car and JHN will finish both Stages and the race up front.
I switched out John H. Nemechek for Cole Custer as soon as they made the announcement. So I will start Cole Custer. I tried to send out a Tweet, but the lineups already locked. You should be good with Nemecheck in your lineup. Austin Hill looked horrible in practice, so I would fade him.
Good Luck This Weekend!
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