The second round of the NASCAR Chase starts this weekend at Kansas Speedway. There will be 43 cars on the track at the 1.5-mile speedway but only 12 of them are eligible to win this years Sprint Cup.
Follow along below as Tireball Sports takes a look at some of the Fantasy NASCAR options for this weekend’s running of the Hollywood Casino 400 which will be held Sunday afternoon.
Five to Pick
Jeff Gordon – We continue to say this. Jeff Gordon is running the best he has since his last championship in 2001. Coming off a win last week it is easy to envision the driver of the No. 24 making it to the final round of the Chase. Three wins and 10 top-five finishes at Kansas are also on his resume.
Brad Keselowski – Another winner at Kansas, Keselowski would love to go ahead and win the first race of the second round much like he did in the opening round. He currently leads all drivers in wins this season with the Penske cars running as good as anyone. If there is a knock on Keselowski it is his 17th and 13th place runs in the last two Kansas races.
Joey Logano – We were not about to say pick Keselowski and avoid Logano. Right now the 24-year-old is telling everyone to forget any stats you have seen on him in the past. His four wins this season are more than he had entering the year and in the first round of the Chase he finished 4th or better in each race highlighted by a win at Loudon.
Jimmie Johnson – Are you still going with the Jimmie Johnson and crew do not seem right rhetoric? Watch them turn it on this week at Kansas were Johnson’s 7.6 average finish is by far the best in the sport. Johnson has not finished lower than 12th in the last seven Sprint Cup races this season a stat that does not bode well for the competition.
Kyle Larson – Kyle Larson is not in the Chase? Hard to believe but true. Still it has not prevented the No. 42 team from putting their best effort forward. In fact Larson and teammate Jamie McMurray have been running as well as anyone in recent weeks so ride them while they are hot. His worst finish in the last six races this season was a 12th at Bristol. In the first three Chase races this year he was 3rd, 2nd and 6th.0
Three to Avoid
Greg Biffle – It was not long ago that Greg Biffle was a sure pick at Kansas. Sure his numbers still look good overall but the driver of the No. 16 Ford Fusion has shown little to nothing this season. With him out of the Chase picture already do not expect Roush Fenway to suddenly step things up to finish out the season.
AJ Allmendinger – Another driver out of the Chase. Allmendinger has not finished better than 20th since the start of the 2011 season at Kansas. That alone should be enough to tell you that picking the No. 47 is a bad idea. Best finish since that Watkins Glen win? 13th.
Marcos Ambrose – There were a few ovals that Marcos Ambrose has really taken too, Kansas has is not one of them. Ambrose will leave NASCAR at the end of the season and if you want to know why simply look at his Kansas stats. Ten races, two top 10’s and zero laps led. Ambrose followed his second place run at Watkins Glen up with a 12th place run at Michigan and then fell completely off the radar. Best finish in the last six races? 24th. Ouch.
