The Cup Series will continue their playoffs this weekend when they travel to Homestead-Miami Speedway. There are only three races left in the season and we are on pace for one of my best seasons in Fantasy Live. My picks finished 18th overall in 2017. I am not sure we will make it inside the top-20, but my goal is to finish inside the top-25. The picks currently rank No. 32 out of 352K entries. I will do my best to finish these last three races with the best lineups possible.
CUP SERIES PRACTICE
The Cup Series had their normal practice session Saturday morning. The teams were broken up into two groups and they had 20-minutes to shake down their cars for the Straight Talk Wireless 400. Most of the teams were able to make some long runs in practice, but will that speed from a morning practice translate into speed on a hot track in the afternoon. NASCAR had this same schedule last year. Five of the drivers who posted top-10 speed on the single-lap chart finished in the top-10 last year. Only four of the drivers who posted top-10 speed on the 10-lap average speed chart finished in the top-10. We can look at the speeds from practice, but qualifying position was more important than practice speed last year.
Here are the practice speeds for the Straight Talk Wireless 400…
FANTASY LIVE STRATEGY
We have three races left in the regular season. There is no need to save allocations now. Once a playoff driver wins, he will likely take next week off to prepare for the championship race at Phoenix. I am using the best drivers possible and I will figure out the last two races once we get there. I already have Joey Logano locked into my lineup at Phoenix since he is almost a lock to run up front in that race and the playoff drivers score Stage Points this year. I will use some other playoff drivers this week and if they win, I will give them the week off at Martinsville.
FANTASY LIVE PICKS FOR HOMESTEAD
KYLE LARSON (2): I only have two allocations left with Larson. I plan to use one this week and if Larson wins, I will lock him into my lineup at Homestead with Joey Logano. Larson is just too good at Homestead to fade this week. He has led the most laps and won three of the four Stages in the Gen-7 car in Southern Florida. He should have won both races, but he hit the barrels at the entrance to pit road last year while racing Ryan Blaney for the lead. Larson has a great chance to win his 7th race of the season Sunday.
CHRISTOPHER BELL (2): Bell was upset with his 2nd place finish last week, but he should be happy with his position in the Playoff Standings. Bell sits 42 points above the cut line. His chances of advancing to Phoenix will be high if he can score a lot of Stage Points and finish in the top-five Sunday. Bell won this race last year and his car has the speed to score well for your Fantasy Live lineup this weekend. I have two allocations left with Bell and I plan to use one this week and another in Phoenix.
TYLER REDDICK (4): I used Reddick a lot so far in the playoffs, but I still have four allocations left with the No. 45 car. Reddick consistently ends up in my Garage. He finished five of his last six races outside the top-20. A trip to Homestead should be to cure to his playoff slump. Reddick finished three of his four races at Homestead in the top-four. I will use Reddick again this week and if he has problems AGAIN, I will put him back in the Garage.
DENNY HAMLIN (2): I bet $100 of Hamlin at 8-1 to win the championship before the season started. I thought I was holding the “Golden Ticket” before the playoffs began, but Hamlin has been racing like a driver who is more concerned with winning a lawsuit vs. NASCAR than he is about winning a race. I really need him to get his shit together and race like the driver I bet my money on. Hamlin is just too good at Homestead to fade this week. He “should” be a good pick if he can run like the driver who has finished 8 of the last 11 races at Homestead in the top-10.
MARTIN TRUEX JR. (2): I would love to see Truex win a race before he retires. He has been really good at Homestead in his career. Truex finished four of the last seven races in Southern Florida in the top-three. The No. 19 car posted the seventh-fastest long-run speed in practice and qualified 6th for the race. That is important because Truex typically does not practice well. Truex should have a good chance to finish up front Sunday.
(GARAGE PICK) WILLIAM BYRON (2): I thought about using Chase Elliott or Bubba Wallace since they qualified in the top-10, but Elliott stats at Homestead are not great and I do not trust Wallace. Homestead has been one of the best tracks for Byron. He won this race from the 31st starting position in 2021, so I am not too concerned with his starting position. Byron had the fastest car in practice. I am not sure what happened in qualifying, but he should be fine for the race.
* If you are out of allocations and need to know which driver to use Sunday, simply look at the Straight Talk Wireless 400 …
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.