Indianapolis Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions – Jeff Kyle 400

11. Tony Stewart – Starts 4th – Yahoo! B Group
Pre-Practice Rank: 19th
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**

It’s not very often that Tony Stewart shows much speed so we should have all taken notice when he laid down that blazing fast lap in the first round of qualifying on Saturday. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is Smoke’s home track and his record here is really good. Unfortunately for fantasy owners, Stewart has been nothing but a disappointment all season long thus far, so it’s impossible to trust him if you’re considering him for your roster(s). The good thing is Tony is one of the best drivers in the series at this track, with a career average finish of 8.5, and he has also went to victory lane twice at The Brickyard. Additionally, Smoke has ended up inside the top 10 in nine of the last eleven races at this track. I honestly think the #14 Chevrolet is good enough to run top 10 here on Sunday but it’s very difficult to recommend picking Stewart because of how he has been in 2015. It’s impossible for teams to fix major problems in one week, remember that…

12. Denny Hamlin – Starts 17th – Yahoo! A Group
Pre-Practice Rank: 11th
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**

I’m still kind of bitter towards Denny Hamlin because of his disappointing race last weekend at Loudon, so that may be affecting how I rank him this week at Indianapolis. Once again it looks like the #11 Toyota has some solid speed, as Hamlin was fastest off the truck and in Practice #1 on Friday. By Happy Hour, he slipped all the way down to 31st on the speed chart, but you have to take into consideration the fact that this #11 team worked solely on race runs during that final practice session. A lot of other teams did a qualifying run in Happy Hour. In that final session, Hamlin had the 6th-best ten-lap average, right there behind Harvick and Johnson, so that’s some good news. Denny is somewhat hit or miss here at Indianapolis, with four top 10s in nine career starts along with three results of 18th or worse. Momentum-wise, Hamlin has the 5th-best average finish in the series (9.8) over the last six Cup races.

13. Matt Kenseth – Starts 23rd – Yahoo! A Group
Pre-Practice Rank: 7th
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**

We are at a track that requires horsepower again so it will be interesting to see how the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas will perform. I feel like this organization has definitely hit on something as of late and all three of their drivers continue to run well pretty much every week–at least better than they were earlier in the season. Matt Kenseth is a very solid racer here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and there’s a reason he has three top 5s in the last four events here. It’s also worth noting that four of the last six overall Sprint Cup races have ended with the #20 Toyota inside the top 6. As far as this weekend, Kenseth hasn’t been overly impressive on the speed chart and actually got progressively worse after the cars got off the trucks on Friday. This team was definitely searching for speed on Friday, and during qualifying on Saturday they were as well, and will start mid-pack. I like Kenseth for a mid-pack finish on Sunday.

14. Martin Truex, Jr. – Starts 13th – Yahoo! B Group
Pre-Practice Rank: 12th
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**

Truex ran in the top dozen last weekend at Loudon–which is a good sign for this race team–but there’s still something off about the #78 Chevrolet. I can think of two reasons: they’re experimenting for the chase, or that head-on wreck at Sonoma messed with Truex’s head. I’m really starting to think that it’s the latter. When bad wrecks happen, whether the driver is injured or not, their driving style changes a bit. So keep that in mind if you’re going to put Martin on your fantasy roster(s) this weekend. The #78 Chevrolet made nice progression as Friday went on, starting out 10th-fastest in Practice #1, bumping up to 7th on the Practice #2 speed chart, before finally ending up 5th-quick in Happy Hour. My only issue with this team is that they didn’t really make any long runs, so it’s hard to get a read. Realistically I see Truex as an 8th to 12th place car heading into Sunday’s race.

15. Kasey Kahne – Starts 27th – Yahoo! B Group
Pre-Practice Rank: 10th
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**

If you read my fantasy NASCAR articles on any sort of a consistent basis, you know that I don’t really like Kasey Kahne. I’ve been burned by him about fifteen too many times in the past so it takes a lot for me to consider him. Well, let me tell you this: the #5 Chevrolet is going to be on some of my fantasy rosters this week. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one race track that Kasey Kahne is consistently good at, and it’s actually his 3rd-best venue on the NASCAR circuit. Kasey has never won here, but in eleven career starts he has posted six top 10 finishes. Even better is that Kahne has ended up 6th or better in each of the last two events at this track–making him one of just six Sprint Cup drivers to post top 10s in each. This weekend, the #5 looked sporty all day on Friday. Kasey was 3rd-fastest in Practice #2 and ended up 8th on the overall speed chart in Happy Hour. When it came to ten-lap average, the #5 Chevrolet was the best in that final session. As mentioned before, I think track position is going to be quite important on Sunday, and Kasey just missed it in qualifying and will start pretty far back. I think Kahne has the potential to run top 15 here in the Jeff Kyle 400 on Sunday. I would’ve said top 10 if he qualified better.

The Next Ten:

16. Jamie McMurray
17. Clint Bowyer
18. Paul Menard
19. Ryan Newman
20. Danica Patrick
21. David Ragan
22. Austin Dillon
23. Greg Biffle
24. Chase Elliott
25. Ryan Blaney