Dover AAA 400 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Jimmie Johnson – It’s hard to go wrong if you make Jimmie Johnson your fantasy NASCAR pick to win the Dover AAA 400. At the Monster Mile he’s the all-time wins leader and on Sunday he’ll be going for his 10th win! One strength of Johnson’s at Dover is leading laps. Since September 2008 he’s led 2,420 laps and has averaged leading 201.6 laps per race. This is a 400 lap race so its mind boggling a driver has averaged leading more than half the event over the last 6 years. Also over this 12 race stretch he has a 4.9 average finish, 3.1 average running position and has the best driver rating by 28.8 points. I guess what I’m saying is that the competition really hasn’t been that close. In June Jimmie Johnson had a dominant performance. He started in 4th and took the lead on lap 82. Of the remaining 318 laps he paced the field for 272 of them. When the checkered flag waved he finished 1st, had a 2nd place average running position and earned a near perfect driver rating. Last fall he won his 8th race and passed Richard Petty and Bobby Allison on the Dover all-time win list. In that event he showed no mercy and won in dominant fashion. He earned the best driver rating, had a 2nd place average running position and led 243 laps. In spring 2013 at Dover he should’ve won but a self-inflicted mistake took away his shot at the win. In that event he looked lost for about the first quarter of the race but after Chad Knaus tuned it to his liking he clearly had the car to beat. His strength in the race was that his car could hug the bottom of the track better than anyone and maintain speed. In the closing laps Johnson looked like a lock to win but during a late pit stop Juan Pablo Montoya beat him off pit road and then Johnson jumped a restart. That led to him getting black flagged and finishing 17th with a car that should’ve won. Also in that race he led 143 laps and earned the 2nd best driver rating. In fall 2012 he once again had a car that was capable of winning but at the end he was forced to save fuel and drive conservatively. This is not a week where you should be thinking outside the box. This is a week where you should do the simple thing and make Jimmie Johnson your fantasy NASCAR pick to win the Dover AAA 400. (Yahoo A Driver)

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Kevin Harvick – Kevin Harvick was probably Jimmie Johnson’s biggest threat in June. Unfortunately Harvick’s race wasn’t incident free. On lap 165 while he was leading he had a flat tire. This cost him two laps because something knocked the valve stem off the wheel. Prior to his flat he led 24 laps. His Yahoo Race Chart does a good job portraying his level of competitiveness. If he didn’t have any problems he could’ve potentially been the driver to beat. In five of the six Dover races prior to June he came home with a result in the top ten. Over those six races he has the 3rd best average finish (8.2), 4th best average running position (9.5) and the 5th best driver rating. Last fall he had a solid race.  He ran between 12th and 16th through the first 300 laps but in the last 100 laps he drove hard and wheeled the #29 car to a 6th place finish. Also in the race last September he had a 13th place average running position and earned the 11th best driver rating. In spring 2013 he had a good performance. He started 7th, had a 7th place average running position, and finished 8th. In fall 2012 he finished 13th but that finish deserves an asterisk mark because he was a driver who got burned by an early caution during the pit cycle. If that didn’t happen I would put my money on him finishing in the top ten. In spring 2012 he unquestionably had one of the best cars and finished 2nd. In that event he started in 6th, drove up to 3rd, fell back to the high teens around the mid-point because of a long pit stop but rebounded by driving up through the field passing everyone except Jimmie Johnson. In 2011 Kevin Harvick finished 10th in both races. (Yahoo A Driver)

Further Recommended Reading – Front Runner Rankings, Mid Pack Predictions, Yahoo C List Preview, Scouting Report, Who will win the Dover AAA 400

Joey Logano – Joey Logano is a good fantasy NASCAR pick for the Dover AAA 400. Currently at the Monster Mile he has five straight top tens. The only driver with a longer top ten streak is Clint Bowyer. Over this stretch he has a 7.2 average finish, the 9th best driver rating and an 11.0 average running position. In June Logano had a good car but he was never really a contender for the win. He started in 3rd and ran right around that range for the first 60 laps. Then he started falling back a little in the running order. Over the last 140 laps he typically ran around 8th. When the checkered flag waved he finished 8th, had a 9th place average running position and earned the 9th best driver rating. One trait of his car that was notable is that long runs weren’t an area of strength. Last fall Logano had his best Dover race. He finished 3rd, had a 7th place average running position and earned the 6th best driver rating. In spring 2013 Logano had a great car. He started in 9th and finished 7th. What made that result so notable was that on lap 158 he had a flat left front and went two laps down. Before he had a flat he was running in the low double digits. In 2012 Logano had finishes of 10th and 8th. In the Nationwide Series Logano swept the Dover races in 2012 and 2013. (Yahoo B Driver)

Make sure you read the full spectrum of our Dover AAA 400 Fantasy NASCAR Rankings

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