The NASCAR Cup Series will travel to Pocono Raceway this weekend. This is the track with many nicknames. It is the Honeymoon Capitol of the United States, “The Tricky Triangle” and it can now be called “Denny Hamlin’s Playground.” Hamlin has dominated the races at Pocono and now he enters the race after winning back-to-back races after starting last. Can anyone beat Hamlin at Pocono? It will be fun to find out. The Great American Geteway 400 can be seen Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on Prime Sports.
Here are my picks for your season long Fantasy NASCAR games…
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR POCONO
GROUP A DRIVERS
DENNY HAMLIN (6): Pocono is the best track for Hamlin. He finished 2nd, 2nd and 1st in his last three trips to The Tricky Triangle. He also scored Stage Points in every Stage and he won the pole for this race last year. Hamlin enters the race this week after back-to-back wins. There is no reason to save allocations with Hamlin Sunday. He is almost a lock for a two-five finish Sunday.
CHASE ELLIOTT (8): I was thinking about using two Toyota’s and pairing Chase Briscoe with Denny Hamlin. Briscoe led the most laps and won the race at Pocono last year. I like Briscoe, but I will pivot to the other Chase this weekend. Elliott has finished every race at Pocono in the Gen-7 car in the top-10. That includes a trip to Victory Lane in 2022. Elliott won at Texas and he had one of the best cars last week at Michigan. The No. 9 car should be the biggest threat to Hamlin Sunday.
GROUP B DRIVERS
CHRIS BUESCHER (5): Buescher is always good at these large intermediate tracks. He won his first race at Pocono in 2016 and he finished 4th at The Tricky Triangle last year. Buescher looked fast last week at Michigan until a hood pin popped off of his can and sent him back in the field. Buescher still rallied back to finish 9th. Pocono is a good track to take a chance with Buescher.
BUBBA WALLACE (6): This pick was tough. The stats suggest playing Brad Keselowski in this spot, but I like the speed that the Toyota’s have right now over what the Fords have shown this year. Wallace has finished four of his last five races at Pocono in the top-11. The only race he failed to finish in the top-11 was last year when he got a flat tire and hit the wall. Wallace looked good last week when he finished 3rd. The speed from Michigan should translate into speed at Pocono.
ERIK JONES (9): I do not care that Jones races for Legacy Motorsports and they are not a top-tier team in the Cup Series. Jones is running hot right now and Pocono is one of his best tracks. Jones finished 12th at Texas, 13th at Charlotte, 11th at Nashville and 2nd last week in Michigan. His average finishing position in the Gen-7 car at Pocono is 11th. I doubt many people in my leagues will use Jones, so I could pick up some ground on the competition if he runs well “again” Sunday.
TYLER REDDICK (3): I am quickly running out of allocations with Reddick, so I have no intentions of using Reddick in my starting lineup Sunday. I am going to gamble that the drivers listed above will be fast this weekend and I will use Reddick for qualifying points. The No. 45 car has been fast this year. Reddick has a good chance to win the pole and he will be a good insurance policy to have at the bottom of Group B, just in case the other drivers have problems in practice.
* BRAD KESELOWSKI (7): The numbers say you must play Keselowski at Pocono. He finished 9th and 7th in his last two races at The Tricky Triangle. The only reason I faded Keselowski is because he finished 34th at Nashville and 34th at Michigan. I believe in momentum, so I used Bubba Wallace over Keselowski. You can take a chance with Keselowski if you do not trust Erik Jones this weekend.
GROUP C DRIVERS
DANIEL SUAREZ (7): I was not expecting Suarez to be so good after his switch from Trackhouse Racing to Spire Motorsports. Suarez won the race at Charlotte and he finished 6th last week at Pocono. That speed should translate into speed at Pocono. His teammate, Carson Hocevar gets all of the attention, but Suarez has a better average finishing position than Hocevar on the oval tracks this year.
CARSON HOCEVAR (3): I am quickly running out of allocations with Hocevar, so my plan this week is to use Hocevar for qualifying points and Daniel Suarez in the race. Pocono is one of the fastest tracks and Hocevar is one of the fastest drivers. He should have a good chance to win the pole Saturday. Hocevar is also a good backup plan just in case Suarez does not look very good this weekend.
* ZANE SMITH (8): Smith is your driver if you want to save your allocations with Carson Hocevar or if you do not trust Daniel Suarez. Smith has been running well lately. He finished 10th at Charlotte, 9th at Nashville and Smith was running in the top-10 last week in Michigan when he hit the wall. Smith should have a lot of speed again this weekend.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
SPEEDWAY COLLECTIVE PICKS
GROUP A DRIVERS: My picks for Group A in the Speedway Collective game will be Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick. They have been the two best drivers on the intermediate tracks this year. There is no reason to try and be cute with the picks in Group A. Simply select these two Toyota’s and move onto the next group.
GROUP B DRIVERS: The picks for Group B will be Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski. The two RFK Racing drivers have been really good at Pocono. Buescher has the fourth-best average finishing position in the Gen-7 car at Pocono and Keselowski ranks third. I used Bubba Wallace in the Driver Group Game, so I will take a chance with Keselowski in this format.
GROUP C DRIVERS: Carson Hocevar is a lock for Group C. I plan to only use Hocevar for qualifying points, but I will use him if I need to. Erik Jones has been really good at Pocono and he has been on a hot streak over the last month.
GROUP D DRIVERS: Daniel Suarez has been good at Pocono, but I am out of allocations with the No. 7 car. I would use Suarez if I could. I will pivot to Zane Smith and Austin Dillon. Both of these drivers had some solid speed at Michigan. That speed should translate into speed at the Tricky Triangle this week.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
FANTRAX PICKS
* Each league in Fantrax is different. Some leagues have bench drivers and award qualifying points and others do not. The two leagues that I am playing in do not have bench drivers. Also, most leagues (including mine), do not require your lineup to be set until minutes before the race starts. My picks will change after practice and qualifying for most races. If you need bench drivers, you can use my picks from the Driver Group Game.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
Good Luck Sunday!
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