Charlotte Bank of America 500 Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Rankings Picks

1) Jimmie Johnson – Chase time is Jimmie Johnson time. That’s why it’s easy to be confident picking him. So far in the Chase he’s scored the same amount of points as Matt Kenseth, has the most top fives (3) and is the only driver who’s finished in the top ten every race. His 4.0 average finish ranks as the best. At Charlotte Jimmie Johnson is a six-time winner but his most recent victory was in fall 2009. Since then he has two 3rd place results and four finishes of 22nd or worse. In almost all of the races where he had a  poor result he had a good car but had some sort of problem whether it’s crashing in the closing laps or having an engine expire when the checkered flag was in sight. Earlier this year at Charlotte Johnson had a good car that had top 5 potential but he came home with a 22nd place result. What happened to him is that there was a caution during a pit cycle and he got burned when the yellow flag came out. That trapped him back in the field and then with 58 laps to go he spun and got damage. This season on 1.5 mile tracks Johnson has had good cars but has yet to go to victory lane. Typically on this track type he’s had about a 5th place car. On Saturday night Johnson will start in 4th. He’ll be driving his Dover car that went to victory lane just a few weeks ago. In Friday’s practice sessions the 48 car looked good. Chad Knaus seemed pleased with the car and they even quit practice 15 minutes early. In practice #2 he had the best 10 lap average and in Happy Hour his ten lap average ranked as the 6th best.

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2) Kurt Busch – Charlotte could finally be the track that Kurt Busch takes Furniture Row Racing to victory lane. He’s been knocking on the door for a long time and it has to open at some point, right? Kurt Busch has been very strong on 1.5 mile tracks recently. In the last four races on tracks of this length he has the best average finish (4.0), scored the second most points and hasn’t had a result worse than 6th. At Charlotte earlier this season Kurt Busch had a great car. He was fast in the All-Star race and in the Coca Cola 600 the 78 car was very strong. In the longest race of the year he finished 3rd, led 8 laps, had a 5th place average running position and earned the 2nd best driver rating. In the 2010 Coca Cola 600 Kurt Busch drove the #2 to victory lane. On Saturday night Kurt Busch will start in 10th. 76.1% percent of the races held at Charlotte have been won from a top ten starting position. The 78 car is very fast this week. Kurt Busch seems focused and in Happy Hour he had the best 10 lap average speed.

Recommended Reading: Happy Hour Notes, Practice #2 Notes, Happy Hour Speeds, Practice #2 Speeds, Big Board Speed Chart, Qualifying Results, PROS Rankings, Recap Review

3) Kevin Harvick – This season on 1.5 mile tracks the case could be made Kevin Harvick is the best default safe pick. In the 8 races on this 1.5 mile track type he has 2 wins, 3 top fives and 6 top tens. By comparison Kenseth who belongs in the safest debate only has 4 top tens. Also in the races at these tracks he has the second best average finish (7.3) and the third best driver rating. At Charlotte this May Harvick got his second win at this venue. In the race by no means did he have the best car but he was able to take advantage of the situation at the end. In the last six Charlotte races Harvick has the 2nd best average finish (6.7) and the 8th best driver rating. On Saturday night he’ll start in 2nd. The driver who’s started in this position has went on to win 15.6% percent of the time so statistically this has been the premier starting spot. In the Bank of America 500 Harvick will be piloting the chassis he drove to victory lane last week. In Happy Hour his car was tight nearly the entire session. He said his car was acting like how it did last week. However it was acting last week, it couldn’t have been to bad. In practice #2 Harvick had the 5th best ten lap average and in Happy Hour his ten lap average ranked as the 15th best.