Chicago Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions – MyAFibStory.com 400
No Worries With Penske Despite Weekend Struggles
The Sprint Cup teams have been dealing with weather more than usual at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend. They got Practice #1 in on Friday but qualifying was rained out so the starting lineup was set by the practice speeds. Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green on Sunday and to see where everyone else will line up for the MyAFibStory.com 400 click here. The good news is that there is 0% chance of rain for the actual race. We had two practice sessions on Saturday, the first starting at 10:00 am local time. Brad Keselowski didn’t even bother going on track very early because it was too cold. The results of Practice #2 can be found here, and the notes can be found by clicking here. Happy Hour was later on that afternoon and track conditions during that practice were closest to actual race conditions will be on Sunday. Click here for the results of Happy Hour and click here for the notes.
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Final Top 15 Ranking For The MyAFibStory.com 400:Portions of this content are hidden. To view this ifantasyrace advantage content log in or join the site
11. Paul Menard – Starts 2nd – Yahoo! B Group
Pre-Practice Rank: 19th (change: +8)
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**
There are quite a few things to like about Paul Menard this weekend as a sleeper pick in the MyAFibStory.com 400. What I like most about the #27 Chevrolet this weekend is that this team brought the same chassis (no. 480) that they used back at Michigan where Paul came home in 4th. Also, Menard was the fastest in Practice #2 on Saturday morning and ended up with a top 10 lap time in Happy Hour later that afternoon as well. He had the 3rd-best five-lap average in that first session on Saturday, and in Happy Hour he ranked 8th on the ten-lap average chart. Paul has just one top 10 in his seven career starts at Chicagoland Speedway and that was back in 2010. He generally qualifies a lot better than he races here, so keep that in mind. There’s always some upside to picking Paul Menard on the intermediate race tracks but, in my opinion, he tends to let people down more often than not, so exercise caution before picking the #27 this weekend.
12. Clint Bowyer – Starts 2nd – Yahoo! A Group
Pre-Practice Rank: NR (change: N/A)
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Due to a minor oversight, Clint Bowyer didn’t make it into my Pre-Practice top 20 rankings, but he’s there now. Statistically, Chicago is Clint’s 2nd-best track on the circuit (behind Sonoma) despite the fact that he’s never won here. What he has done, however, is post seven top 10 finishes in eight career starts, which is almost incredible. Unfortunately Bowyer has only ended up inside the top 5 once here at Chicago, and that was back in 2010. This team has to be riding high after their 3rd-place finish at Richmond last weekend, and the 6th-place qualifying “effort” here at Chicago on Friday should boost their spirits even higher. Bowyer is running chassis no. 802 for the MyAFibStory.com 400, which is the same one he used to finish 8th with back at Texas. In Practice #2 on Saturday, the #15 Toyota was 15th-fastest on the speed chart and 7th in terms of ten-lap average. In Happy Hour Bowyer was 19th-fastest on the overall speed chart and ranked 18th out of 19 drivers in terms of ten-lap average. I would’ve liked to see some better numbers out of the #15 Toyota this weekend but Bowyer shouldn’t be a terrible pick in the MyAFibStory.com 400.
13. Kasey Kahne – Starts 19th – Yahoo! A Group
Pre-Practice Rank: 13th (change: none)
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**
Kasey Kahne snuck into the Chase with his win at Atlanta a couple weeks ago and then returned to his normal ways at Richmond last Saturday night with a 17th-place finish. Mr. Inconsistency strikes again! That makes it three finishes outside of the top 15 for this team in the last four races. That being said, Chicagoland has been a pretty good track for Kasey over the last five or six years, as he hasn’t ended up worse than 15th here since the 2007 season. He also has three finishes of 6th or better over his last five starts here. In the MyAFibStory.com 400 on Sunday, the #5 Chevrolet will roll off the grid in 19th–which isn’t ideal–but it does seem like Kasey has a decent car in race trim. He had the best five-lap average in Practice #2 on Saturday and posed the 2nd-fastest lap behind Paul Menard. In Happy Hour, Kasey was 6th on the overall speed chart but didn’t show up on the ten-lap average chart. I think there are plenty of other options than the #5 this weekend with more upside potential.
14. Carl Edwards – Starts 3rd – Yahoo! B Group
Pre-Practice Rank: 14th (change: none)
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**
Any fantasy racer is going to notice that Carl Edwards will start 3rd on Sunday in the MyAFibStory.com 400 and that the #99 Ford had top 5 speed in both of the practice sessions on Saturday–including laying down the fastest lap in Happy Hour. However, I’m not sold, and I’m willing to say that Cousin Carl is fools gold this weekend. The car simply doesn’t have the long run speed that this team is going to need to have a good run this weekend. Sure, Edwards is able to put down a couple fast laps, but short-run speed isn’t going to win you this race. Carl owns a career average finish of 16.0 here at Chicagoland and has posted three top 5 finishes in nine career starts. All six of his other attempts have ended with Edwards outside of the top 10 when the checkered flag flew. Momentum-wise, the #99 team has a little bit–three finishes of 7th or better in the last five Sprint Cup events–but they haven’t been overly special on the intermediate tracks this season, which is concerning heading into this week’s race. The temptation is there, but I don’t think picking Carl Edwards is going to end well with fantasy owners this week.
15. Brian Vickers – Starts 16th – Yahoo! B Group
Pre-Practice Rank: NR (change: N/A)
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**
Brian Vickers had an engine issue here at Chicagoland last season that relegated him to a 38th-place finish. Hey, mechanical issues happen. However, I’m not going to let one bad episode keep me from picking Vickers–my sleeper of the race–this weekend. In his six other starts at this track, Brian has never finished worse than 14th and he has three top 10s to his credit. Not too bad. The #55 Toyota was decent in the practice sessions on Saturday, ranking 6th-fastest in Practice #2 and 14th-quickest in Happy Hour (on the overall speed charts). In terms of ten-lap average, Vickers was 5th-best in that final session. With their 13th-place run at Richmond last Saturday night, this team now has back-to-back top 15 finishes in Sprint Cup action and should be able to make it three in a row on Sunday in the MyAFibStory.com 400. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Vickers sneak around the top 10 at some point on Sunday.
The Next Ten:
16. Jamie McMurray
17. Austin Dillon
18. Denny Hamlin
19. Tony Stewart
20. Kyle Larson
21. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
22. Greg Biffle
23. A.J. Allmendinger
24. Martin Truex, Jr.
25. Danica Patrick
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Pre-Practice Rank: 19th (change: +8)
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**
Pre-Practice Rank: NR (change: N/A)
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Pre-Practice Rank: 13th (change: none)
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**
Pre-Practice Rank: 14th (change: none)
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**
Pre-Practice Rank: NR (change: N/A)
**Risk Factor: Medium Risk**
17. Austin Dillon
18. Denny Hamlin
19. Tony Stewart
20. Kyle Larson
21. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
22. Greg Biffle
23. A.J. Allmendinger
24. Martin Truex, Jr.
25. Danica Patrick
