The NASCAR season is already heading into race three of their 36 race schedule. Before you know it, the “West Coast Swing” will be completed, and the “Short Track Swing” will begin. But first we have a triple header of racing in Sin City.
The Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series will all be competing this week at Las Vegas Motor Speedways (LVMS). If that is not enough racing for you, Brexton Busch (son of Kyle) will be racing in the Bandalaros Race on the Bullring. There is plenty of racing to keep you entertained this week and three opportunities to win some cash in our Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) lineups.
LAS VEGAS SCHEDULE
FANTASY PICKS SCHEDULE
There is a lot of on track activity scheduled for Friday. I will post the DFS picks for the Truck Series race ASAP after qualifying, but I need to take some time to watch the Xfinity Series practice too. The Truck Series picks should be posted during or right after the Xfinity Series qualifying Friday evening.
LAS VEGAS STRATEGY
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile intermediate track. The bumps and the wind tend to give the drivers the most trouble in this race. The tires will not wear as fast this week as they did in Fontana, but we can learn a lot from what we saw last Sunday. Speed is speed and the drivers who were fast last Sunday, should unload with some speed Saturday for practice. Track position is very important in this race so we need to pick the drivers who qualify up front.
Here are the top-five drivers from the last race at LVMS….
- Joey Logano (Led 32 laps and scored 18 Stage Points, Won the Race)
- Ross Chastain (Led 68 laps, scored 8 Stage Points, Finished 2nd)
- Ryan Blaney (Led 39 laps, scored 16 Stage Points, Wrecked while running 2nd)
- Daniel Suarez (Led 31 laps, scored 16 Stage Points, Finished 16th)
- Tyler Reddick (Led 32 Laps, Scored 2 Stage Points, Finished 6th)
* This is the race when Bubba Wallace intentionally wrecked Kyle Larson and took out Christopher Bell too.
You can watch the extended highlights of last year’s playoff race at LVMS in the NASCAR Race Rewind
FANTASY STATS FOR LAS VEGAS
There are three tracks that race similar to LVMS. These tracks include Kansas, Charlotte and Michigan. We can learn a lot by looking back at the drivers who were fast in those races combined with the two races at LVMS. Add in the race last week at Auto Club since that is the only data we have on an intermediate track this season, and we should have the stats we need to predict this race.
Here are the drivers sorted by Driver Rating in the races at Las Vegas, Kansas, Michigan and the race at Auto Club last week…
FINAL THOUGHTS FOR LAS VEGAS
The word in the NASCAR garage before the season is that the Chevy’s would have a slight advantage on the intermediate tracks because their cars had the best balance of aero and reduced drag. The Chevy’s took the top-four positions in the race at Auto Club Speedway and they took four of the top five positions in this race last year. I plan to use a lot of the drivers from Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and Trackhouse Racing in my lineups this week. That could change after practice and qualifying Saturday, but that is what I am thinking right now.
EARLY WEEK PICKS FOR LAS VEGAS
I still have more research to do, and I want to text to some of my friends who work in NASCAR to see what the garage is thinking for the race at Las Vegas. My “Early Week Picks” are posted below but be sure to check back later this week for my final picks.
ONE & DONE PICK: Ross Chastain
* If Kyle Busch wins the Truck Series race, the Xfinity Series race and then posts fast times in practice, I may switch to the No. 8 car.
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS: Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger
FANTASY LIVE PICKS: Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, (GARAGE) Daniel Suarez
Good luck this week!
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