Richmond Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Kyle Busch – Richmond is a great track for Kyle Busch and he’ll be one of the drivers to beat. It’s one of his very best tracks and it’s home to his second best average finish (6.9). At Richmond Busch has 4 wins, has finished in the top five 65% percent of the time and in the top ten 74% percent of the time. The spring Richmond race has historically been one of his best events of the season. Only once in his career in this particular race has he finished lower than 4th. Recently at Richmond he’s performed at very high-level. Over the last three races he has a 4.3 average finish and a 4.3 average running position. Last fall at Richmond he had a strong car and finished 9th. Additionally in the race he earned the 5th best driver rating and had a 6th place average running position. It should be noted he was better than his result. He used late pit strategy that wasn’t to his benefit. Until the final caution came out he was running in 3rd. In spring 2016 he had a great car and if Carl Edwards didn’t nudge him out of the way he would’ve won. In addition to his second place result he earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position and led 78 laps. In fall 2015 when the checkered flag waved he finished 2nd, earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 4th place average running position and led 9 laps. In that race he was strong over long runs and short runs. I view Phoenix as a reverse Richmond and in that race this spring Busch had the best car, led 114 laps but a late caution took away a certain victory. (Yahoo A Driver)

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Kyle Larson – Kyle Larson has been performing at an elite level week in and week out. I think it’s a good idea to stick with the hot hand. Kyle Larson has been a steady performer at Richmond. He has an 11.3 average result and has finished between 11th and 16th in 5 of his 6 races. Last fall he had a career day and came home with a runner-up result. In the race he was very strong and overcame an unexpected pit stop that dropped him a lap down. During the Green-White-Checker he pitted and drove up from about 10th up to his second place finish in two laps. If the race didn’t have the late caution he probably would’ve finished around 6th. Last spring at RIR he started 15th, finished 15th and had a 16th place average running position. In fall 2015 he had a pretty good afternoon. Just before the mid-point it looked like he had top five potential. When the race reached its conclusion he earned the 10th best driver rating, had a 10th place average running position and finished 12th. In spring 2015 he had a quality performance and was a low double-digits driver. In the race he started 12th, finished 12th, earned the 12th best driver rating and had a 13th place average running position. This spring at Phoenix Larson finished 2nd. (Yahoo B Driver)

Kevin Harvick – Kevin Harvick is an elite performer at Richmond who’s poised to be one of the drivers to beat. At Richmond he’s a three-time winner who’s finished in the top ten 63% percent of the time. Recently at Richmond he’s performed at a very high-level. In 4 of the last 5 races he’s finished in the top five. Last year at Richmond he had a great season. He scored the second most points and was the only driver who swept the top five. Last fall Harvick had a strong showing and when the checkered flag waved he finished 5th. That’s impressive when you take into account he got a speeding penalty. Last spring he started on the pole, finished 5th, earned the 3rd best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position and led 63 laps. From a strength perspective I thought he likely had the 4th best car. In August 2015 I think his team did a lot of experimenting so you can’t read too much into him. That afternoon he finished 14th and had an 11th place average running position. In spring 2015 he had one of the best cars but didn’t have anything for Kurt Busch who dominated the race. In that event Harvick finished 2nd, earned the 2nd best driver rating and had a 4th place average running position. This spring at Phoenix Harvick finished 6th. (Yahoo A Driver)

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Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > The Low Tier