Indianapolis Samuel Deeds 400 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks
Jimmie Johnson – You can’t go wrong if you pick Jimmie Johnson to win the Indy Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard. He is a risky prospect though. He’s traditionally either a hero or a zero. He has four wins but has finished 18th or worse six times. His one middle ground finish was a 9th back in his rookie season. Last year at Indianapolis Jimmie Johnson had the dominant car and put on a clinic. In the race he started in 6th and raced his way up to the lead in the first 30 laps. In the event last season he led 99 laps, had a second place average running position and earned a perfect 150.0 driver rating. His next most recent victory at Indy was in 2009. Between his wins he had finishes of 19th and 22nd. Like I said he’s either a hero or a zero. Pocono is the most similar track on the schedule and earlier this year Johnson crushed the competition. In that race he started on the pole (rained out), finished first, had a 1.0 average running position and led 80% percent of the race. My prediction is Jimmie Johnson will win the Indy Samuel Deeds 400. (Yahoo! A Driver)
Matt Kenseth – Matt Kenseth ranks in my book as the best driver who’s never won at Indianapolis. He’s been the runner-up twice and since 2002 he’s only finished lower than 12th on three occasions. One of those was in the 2008 tire fiasco and another one was last season. In the race last year he had a top ten car but struggled late and had problems during restarts. Then with 28 laps remaining he was running in the teens but got collected up when Joey Logano spun. In 2011 Kenseth finished 5th and led 10 laps. What makes his 5th place result stand out is that it ranked as the second highest finish from a non-hyper mileage driver. Also in 2011 he had the second best driver rating and second best average running position. This is a race where the best of the best of a season typically shine and Kenseth has certainly been one of the elite performers. (Yahoo! A Driver)
Remember what happened at Indy last year? Read our Indy Recap Review
Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch has been very good at Indy. Minus a 2009 engine failure he’s only finished outside the top ten once (15th in 2008). In last season’s race at Indy the #18 Toyota was Jimmie Johnson’s biggest threat at the end. In the race he finished 2nd, earned the second best driver rating and had a 4th place average running position. In his next two most recent races at Indy he’s finished 8th and 10th. In eight races at the Brickyard his average finish is 11.8. One area of performance he needs to work on is starting near the front. He’s only qualified in the top ten once (last year) and has a 21.1 average starting position. At Pocono in June he finished 6th and earned the third best driver rating. (Yahoo! B Driver)
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Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > C List
