Kansas 5-Hour Energy 400 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Joey Logano – Joey Logano would be a good fantasy NASCAR pick to win the Kansas 5-Hour Energy 400. I’ve been extremely high on Joey Logano this year on high-speed intermediate tracks. Between the four races on this track type I’ve had him ranked as my #1 Top Tier Elite driver three times and #2 Top Tier Elite driver once. Texas is the most recent 1.5 mile track visited and in that race Joey Logano went to victory lane. That afternoon he earned the best driver rating, led the most laps and had a 5th place average running position. At Kansas last season Joey Logano was very competitive. He started in 5th, had a 6th place average running position, led 33 laps, finished 4th and earned the 3rd best driver rating. His car in the race was very good and he even overcame other drivers pit strategies which shuffled him from the lead to about 13th. In spring 2013 at Kansas Logano didn’t perform that well. When Kyle Busch spun out the second time it collected him. Logano was running in 24th at the time of the incident. In fall 2012 on the new surface Logano started in 8th but ended up finishing 19th. In the race he ran in the top ten through the first two rounds of pit stops but then he got back in traffic and was never really competitive from there on. In the race his average running position was 14th. (Yahoo B Driver)

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Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson will be tough to beat in the Kansas 5-Hour Energy 400. He’s enjoyed a tremendous amount of success at this track throughout his career between the new surface and the old surface. Currently at this venue he has 10 consecutive top ten finishes. On the new Kansas configuration Jimmie Johnson is one of just two drivers who have finished in the top ten every race. The other driver who accomplished this feat is Front Runner Paul Menard. Between the three races on the new surface Johnson has a 6.0 average finish, 9.3 average running position and the second best driver rating. Last fall at Kansas Jimmie Johnson arguably had the best car. His strength was being good over long runs and he could pass drivers at will. In the race he started 3rd, earned the 4th best driver rating and finished 6th. His stats line is somewhat misleading because his race wasn’t incident free. On lap 87 there was a caution during the pit cycle. Just before the caution Johnson was leading and then when he was committed to pit road the caution came out. Because of how that circumstance worked Johnson couldn’t pit and he had to drive down pit road and lost a number of positions. When he blended back in traffic he was back in 17th. Also during the race on more than one occasion Johnson had trouble during restarts and lost a handful of positions. In spring 2013 Johnson had a very solid performance. He started in 21st but by lap 60 he climbed into the top ten. From there on he continued to pass cars and when the checkered flag waved he finished 3rd and earned the 3rd best driver rating. Also in that race he led 9 laps and had a 9th place average running position. In the first race at Kansas on the new surface Johnson had one of the best cars but his race wasn’t incident free. He started in 7th, led 44 laps and finished 9th. His 9th place result deserves an asterisk mark because his car was much better than that. The pivotal moment of the race for him was when Almirola brought out a caution during a pit cycle. Johnson was the leader at the time but almost immediately after he pitted a caution came out. That trapped him back in the pack and on lap #136 while he was running in 20th he backed the #48 car into the wall. This season on high-speed intermediate tracks Johnson has been strong as long as he’s avoided trouble. Look for Johnson to be a contender for the win in the Kansas 5-Hour Energy 400. (Yahoo A Driver)

Recommended Reading – Kansas Front Runner Rankings, Kansas Mid Pack Predictions, Yahoo C List Preview, Who will win at Kansas ?, Kansas Scouting Report Fall 2013, Kansas Scouting Report Spring 2013

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Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > Yahoo C List Preview