Drivers who you don’t want to be your fantasy pick for the Auto Club 400
Marcos Ambrose – Two mile intermediate tracks haven’t been friendly to Ambrose. He has sleeper potential at 1.5 mile tracks but that hasn’t transferred to their slightly bigger brothers. On two mile ovals he averages 16 points a race and has a 27.8 average finish. If that doesn’t scare you his 56.2 driver rating should (over 13 races). I know I won’t be picking Marcos Ambrose in the Auto Club 400.
Regan Smith – Smith’s average finish at Fontana is 25.5. Last year on intermediate tracks Smith lead a grand total of 11 laps. The problem here is that all 11 of those laps were at Darlington (doesn’t transfer to Fontana). In the second Michigan race last year he finished 13th so there is dark horse fantasy potential here. At Las Vegas two weeks ago he finished 15th but his average running position was 21st.
Aric Almirola – Almirola has only competed in four races at Auto Club. That doesn’t negate a 34.8 average finish. For whatever reason RPM lags in performance at 2 mile intermediate tracks. When you combine this with his track record I think he’s clearly a driver who you should avoid.
Juan Pablo Montoya – Montoya finished 10th last year at Auto Club Speedway, but did you know that this was his last top ten of the year on intermediate tracks! I know that’s not very comforting to me. Even more disconcerning was how he looked at Las Vegas. He finished 25th and had a 28th place average running position (51.8 driver rating). When you combine these factors together it should be a no brainier that he’s a driver to avoid.
Bobby Labonte – Labonte would be a good pick at Auto Club Speedway but were not in the early 2000’s anymore. In the COT Labonte has never finished better than 20th a Fontana. The best case scenario for him this week would be a low to mid 20’s finish. His 26th place finish at Las Vegas only cements my prediction for him.
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David Ragan – In the last three races at Auto Club Speedway Ragan’s finished 22nd, 32nd and 23rd. As I said many times before in other ifantasyrace.com preview content Ragan will finish right in front of the start and parkers. At Las Vegas he did manage to finish on the lead lap but his average running position was 26th. Does that excite you?
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Top Tier Elite > Front Runners > Mid Pack Projections > Drivers To Avoid
