The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be back to intermediate track racing and once again it will be under the lights. The race at Kentucky Speedway will be the seventh race for the Cup Series on a 1.5-mile track. The previous six races have been very entertaining. I expect the same in the Bluegrass State. The Quaker State 400 can be seen Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
NASCAR will have a condensed schedule this week. There will be two practices and qualifying Friday. The first practice is at 11:30 p.m. ET (NBSN) and final practice will be at 1:30 p.m. ET (NBCS). Qualifying will be Friday evening at 6 p.m. ET (NBSC).
* NASCAR will inspect the cars Saturday afternoon (around 3 p.m. ET). Any car that fails once will go to the back and be scored from the back in Fantasy NASCAR. Be sure to check the website Saturday evening for my updated picks. I may have to change some drivers depending how the inspection goes.
My early week pick for the pole is Austin Dillon. Richard Childress has chosen to trim out their cars so they can qualify up front. It has worked. Dillon has won three poles this season, including the last race on a 1.5-mile track at Chicagoland Speedway. The No. 3 car may not race well, but it should start up front Saturday night.
Each week I use different stats in my model to create the best rankings possible to give you an edge on the completion. I am focusing a lot more on what has happened on the intermediate tracks this season than what has happened at Kentucky in the past. I used Driver Rating, Average Finishing Position and Average Green Flag Speed on the 1.5-mile tracks in 2019, Average Finishing Position in the last 4 non-Superspeedway races (momentum is important in NASCAR) and Driver Rating at Kentucky for my rankings this week.
Here are the early week driver rankings for Kentucky…
|
Driver |
| 1. Martin Truex Jr. |
| 2. Kevin Harvick |
| 3. Brad Keselowski |
| 4. Alex Bowman |
| 5. Kyle Busch |
| 6. Joey Logano |
| 7. Chase Elliott |
| 8. Kurt Busch |
| 9. Ryan Blaney |
| 10. Jimmie Johnson |
| 11. Erik Jones |
| 12. Kyle Larson |
| 13. William Byron |
| 14. Aric Almirola |
| 15. Denny Hamlin |
| 16. Ricky Stenhouse |
| 17. Clint Bowyer |
| 18. Daniel Suarez |
| 19. Chris Buescher |
| 20. Ryan Newman |
| 21. Austin Dillon |
| 22. Paul Menard |
| 23. Daniel Hemric |
| 24. Michael McDowell |
| 25. David Ragan |
| 26. Bubba Wallace |
| 27. Matt Tifft |
| 28. Matt DiBenedetto |
| 29. Corey Lajoie |
| 30. Ty Dillon |
| 31. Ryan Preece |
| 32. Quin Houff |
| 33. Ross Chastain |
| 34. Landon Cassill |
| 35. Reed Sorenson |
| 36. Bayley Currey |
| 37. Cody Ware |
| 38. B.J. McLeod |
* I will post my final driver rankings Friday night.
**Stats from Driveraverages.com and NASCAR Media. Career stats from Racing-Reference.Info…
*** Photos from NASCAR Media
If you need any further advice with your team, look for me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR
If you like Fantasy NASCAR, LIKE my Fantasy NASCAR Tips Page on Facebook