The Cup Series travels to Southern Florida this weekend to compete at Homestead-Miami Speedway. I would love to see Homestead as the championship race once again because the racing has been outstanding. Don’t get me wrong, Phoenix is a great track too, but I would like to see a rotation instead of one track sitting in that spot on the schedule every year. If you like passing and a lot of strategy in your races, the Dixie Vodka 400 is for you. The race at Homestead can be seen Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
STRATEGY FOR HOMESTEAD
There are only three races left in the 2022 season. I am quickly running out of allocations with my top drivers and I am sure most of you are too. Do not panic. The people you are competing against in the Fantasy Live game are also running low on allocations with the top drivers. The people who have a lot of allocations left with Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano and William Byron are probably so far down in your weekly rankings that you probably do not have to worry about them. Simply continue to use the best drivers possible this week. We can find drivers we have more allocations left with to use at Martinsville next week.
Here are the picks for the Dixie Vodka 400 …
TYLER REDDICK (1): I only have one allocation left with Reddick and I am using it Sunday. Homestead is by far the best track for Reddick left on the schedule. He has competed in two Cup Series races at Homestead and Reddick finished 2nd and 4th. His car has speed again this weekend. Reddick posted the third-fastest speed in practice and qualified seventh for the race. Reddick will be up against the wall scoring a lot of Stage Points with a good chance to win Sunday.
KYLE LARSON (2): Larson is either going to dominate the race at Homestead or crash his car. That is just what he does in Southern Florida. Larson will join Tyler Reddick at the top of the track and will pass a lot of cars. He will also score a lot of Stage Points. The good news is that we have a Garage Driver as an insurance policy just in case Larson does hit the wall. He should be a lock for a top-10 finish though “if” he keeps his car clean Sunday.
WILLIAM BYRON (1): Byron won the race at Homestead last year and he will have a good chance to get back to Victory Lane Sunday. The No. 24 car has been fast in the playoffs on the 1.5-mile tracks and they look fast again this weekend. Byron posted the fastest speed in practice and he won the pole for the race. I will use my last allocation with Byron Sunday.
DENNY HAMLIN (2): Hamlin won at Homestead in 2020. Can he do it again this week? I would not bet against him. Hamlin has been outstanding on the 1.5-mile tracks this year. He won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, finished 2nd at Kansas and 5th last week at Las Vegas. The No. 11 car looks dialed in for the race Sunday. Hamlin destroyed the field in the test at Homestead a few months ago. He said after qualifying that he really likes his car this week. Hamlin will have a good chance to win “if” he can avoid pit road mistakes.
CHRISTOPHER BELL (2): There is a lot to like about Bell this week. He is backed into a corner after Bubba Wallace took him out last week. The No. 20 team is almost in a “must win situation.” The last time they were in this situation Bell went to Victory Lane at the Charlotte Roval. Bell was one of the best drivers Darlington (the most similar track to Homestead). Bell finished 5th and 6th in the two races at “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” Bell starts second so he should score a lot of Stage Points and have a good chance to finish in the top-10 Sunday.
GARAGE DRIVER CHASE ELLIOTT (3): Homestead is not the best track for Elliott. He did finish 2nd in Southern Florida in 2020 so he proved he can finish up front at the track. I am using Elliott because he still has a chance to win the championship. The No. 9 team will use their pit strategy to ensure Elliott scores the most points possible. That is good news for his team and good news for our Fantasy Live teams. The No. 9 car starts third so Elliott has the track position to use strategy to their advantage Sunday.
BONUS PICKS
Fantasy Live has a new Bonus Picks section this year. Instead of selecting the winning team or manufacturer, we will earn 10 bonus points for selecting the driver who finishes the best in a Head-to-Head matchup. Here are my picks for the matchups…
JOEY LOGANO vs. RYAN BLANEY (My Pick: RYAN BLANEY)
KYLE LARSON vs. KYLE BUSCH (My pick is KYLE LARSON)
CHASE BRISCOE vs. WILLIAM BYRON (My pick is WILLIAM BYRON)
CHASE ELLIOTT vs. DENNY HAMLIN (My pick is DENNY HAMLIN)
Good luck and be sure to follow me on 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.
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