Infineon Toyota / Save Mart 350 Fantasy NASCAR Mid Pack Predictions

Jamie McMurray – My fantasy NASCAR prediction for Jamie McMurray at Sonoma is that he’ll finish mid-pack in the Infineon Toyota / Save Mart 350. Last season he started on the pole but that was his lone highlight. In the event he had a 18th place average running position, finished 25th and only ran 43.6% percent of the laps in the top fifteen. McMurray’s race wasn’t incident free. On lap 73 he had a flat tire in turn #3 and went off-roading. At the time of the incident he was running in 17th. When circumstances got back to normal for him he was one lap down running in 36th. In 2012 he finished 19th and had a 20th place average running position. A typical afternoon for Jamie McMurray at Infineon is a teen’s finish. In 7 of the last 8 Sonoma races prior to last season he came home with a teens result. His only finish not in the teens ironically was his best race. In his non-teens finish race in 2007 he started on the pole, led 30 laps but ran out of gas at the end while leading which opened up the door for Montoya to win the race. Here’s a side by side Yahoo! Race Chart comparing him and Montoya. In 2004 McMurray had his best result and finished 2nd. Jamie McMurray’s primary strength at Infineon is his qualifying prowess. He’s started in the top 2 half the time over the last 8 races. (Yahoo B Driver)

[box type=”tick”]Desperate fantasy racers do desperate things. Smart fantasy racers get the ifantasyrace Advantage. Join now and read all of our full exclusive content[/box]

Matt Kenseth – Road course racing hasn’t been a strength of Matt Kenseth’s. He’s not as bad as you think but among the track types it’s a glaring hole on his resume. In his 28 starts on this track type he’s finished in the top ten 5 times. Just one of those top tens came at Infineon. Last season at Infineon Matt Kenseth finished 19th. In the race he performed much better than that. He started in 6th, had a 10th place average running position and earned the 13th best driver rating. His poor result can be chalked up to him being on old tires at the end and having to conserve fuel. Over the last 20 laps he faded from the top five to his eventual finish position. In 2012 he had a solid performance. In that race he started in 9th, had a 10th place average running position and finished 13th. He likely would’ve finished in 10th but he lost a few positions during the Green-White-Checker. In 2011 he finished 14th. At Watkins Glen last season he finished 23rd but in the six races prior to that he finished between 8th and 14th every race. (Yahoo A Driver)

Recommended Reading – Infineon Top Tier Elite Picks, Infineon Front Runner Rankings, Yahoo C List Preview, Fantasy Scouting Report – Infineon, Who will win the Toyota Owners 400?

Ryan Newman – Early in his career Ryan Newman was a good road course racer. I have no idea how he has lost his knack on this track type but it’s gone. In five of his first seven Infineon races he had a top ten result and a 9.4 average finish. In his last five Infineon races he’s been very mediocre. In four of those five races he had a result between 15th and 18th. Also over these 5 races he has an 18.2 average finish, 18.2 average running position and the 18th best driver rating. Last season Newman started in 30th, had a 21st place average running position and finished 15th. In 2012 he had a 22nd place average running position and finished 18th. At Watkins Glen Newman has a comparable track history and his success there is front loaded. Newman’s last top ten on a road course was in 2008. (Yahoo B Driver)

Make sure you read the full spectrum of our Infineon Toyota / Save Mart 350 Fantasy NASCAR Rankings

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