Homestead Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Kevin Harvick – After his statement win at Texas you know Kevin Harvick will be tough to beat at Homestead. He’s an elite Homestead performer and he’s entering the race with a ton of confidence. When Harvick’s in clutch situations he almost always comes up big. On Sunday I would look for Harvick to finish in the top five and be a serious threat to win. At Homestead, Harvick is a recent winner, has 9 straight top tens and an impressive 6.9 average finish. In the last three races here, he’s had results of 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Last year at Homestead Harvick had a great car and was a consistent front runner. He started on the pole, finished 3rd, had a 3rd place average running position, earned the 2nd best driver rating and led the second most laps (79). In 2015 he had a very strong showing and finished runner-up. Additionally he had a 4th place average running position, earned the 4th best driver rating and led 46 laps. In 2014 he had a clutch performance and raced his way to the championship. Additionally he earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position and led 54 laps. In the Playoffs at 1.5 mile tracks Harvick has a 3.75 average finish and has had a result in the top three in 3 of the 4 races. (Yahoo A Driver)

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Martin Truex Jr. – Martin Truex Jr. has been historically great at 1.5 mile tracks and he’ll be the driver to beat at Homestead. He recently tested here and word from the test is that he was impressive. This year at 1.5 mile tracks he’s been the class of the field. Over the ten combined races at tracks of this length he has 6 wins, a 2.7 average finish, a 4.7 average running position, has the best driver rating and has led 1,054 laps. In the last five races at these venues he’s had results of 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st and 2nd. I will note that second makes me nervous. I think that might be in his head more than we think. Homestead has been a great track for Truex Jr. and he’s knocked on the door to victory lane having finished in the top six 42% percent of the time. Last year at Homestead he finished a misleading 36th after wrecking late in the race. He was top ten good but beyond his wreck his race was far from incident free. He had a disastrous pit stop and then with 61 laps to go he was burned by a caution when he was short pitting. Just prior to his strategy gamble he was running in 7th. In 2015 he had an OK race. He finished 12th and had a 10th place average running position. (Yahoo A Driver)

Kyle Busch – Championship contender Kyle Busch will be one of the favorites to win at Homestead. He’s a recent winner who’s finished in the top seven in 4 of the last 5 races. His team has had a few weeks to prepare for this race so you know they’ll have their A-game. Last year, Busch had a great car but came up short. When the checkered flag waved he finished 6th, had a 5th place average running position and earned the 4th best driver rating. What makes that more impressive he that he overcame an unexpected pit stop for a flat tire while running in 5th on lap 137 that dropped him a lap down. It should be noted until late cautions started coming out he was running in 2nd and was poised to win the championship. In 2015 Kyle Busch had a great car and raced his way to victory lane. It should be noted however that if there wasn’t a late caution and Brad Keselowski didn’t pick the wrong lane to restart in then he likely wouldn’t have won. Performance wise he was really 3rd place good. In addition to finishing first it should be noted he earned the best driver rating, had a 2nd place average running position and led 41 laps. In 2014 he finished 39th after breaking his axle around lap 117 on it road while running in 5th. In the two races prior to that he had results of 7th and 4th. On Sunday look for Busch to finish in the top five and compete for the win. (Yahoo A Driver)

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