Las Vegas Kobalt Tools 400 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Kevin Harvick – Kevin Harvick will be a good fantasy NASCAR pick to win the Las Vegas Kobalt Tools 400. Last season at 1.5 mile tracks he was an elite performer and was arguably the best driver in the series. In the Chase at tracks of this length he won twice, had the best driver rating and a 4.2 average finish. In four of those five races he was a serious contender to win. For the season at 1.5 mile tracks he earned the best driver rating in the series. At Las Vegas Kevin Harvick has been a good performer. Since 2008 minus last year’s performance he has a 9.2 average finish, 9.5 average running position and the 5th best driver rating. In 2014 at Las Vegas Kevin Harvick had one of the fastest cars. Unfortunately we don’t know exactly how good he was because his race wasn’t incident free. In the event he started in 16th and on lap 122 he closed in on Kyle Busch for the lead. On lap 130 he passed him and drove away. With 73 laps to go his race went downhill because he was off pace and went to the garage because of brake rotor issues. Performance wise he led 23 laps and if his afternoon was incident free he looked like a lock for a top three finish. In 2013 he had a solid performance. He started 8th, finished 9th, earned the 9th best driver rating and had a 7th place average running position. In 2012 at Las Vegas Harvick started in 3rd, had an average running position of 7th and finished 11th. For the first 200 laps he ran exclusively in the top 7. Atlanta is a good barometer for Las Vegas. In that event his car handled well and he drove from the rear of the field up to the front. When the checkered flag waved he finished 2^nd, led a race high 116 laps and earned the best driver rating. (Yahoo A Driver)

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Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson will be one of the drivers to beat in the Las Vegas Kobalt Tools 400. At Las Vegas he always runs well. At this venue he’s been to victory lane four times and has a 9.2 average finish. In 61.5% percent of his starts he’s finished in the top six. Another strength of Johnson’s at Las Vegas is leading laps. In 11 of his 13 starts he’s paced the field. In the last three races he’s led +34 laps per race. Last season Johnson ran well throughout the event. He earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position (best), finished 6th and led 34 laps. Except for the final run of the event he essentially ran in the top three all race long. In 2013 Johnson had a very strong car. In that race he had a 3rd place average running position, finished 6th and led the second most laps (66). His driver rating ranked as the second best. In 2012 Johnson started in the rear of the field at Vegas. He didn’t stay back for long. In just 99 laps he raced his way up to the lead. The only driver who could stand in his way that day was Tony Stewart. The main difference between him and Smoke was that Stewart was much better on restarts. As a result Johnson finished 2nd and earned the 3rd best driver rating. Last season at high-speed intermediate tracks Johnson was one of the stronger performers and was typically a lock for a good result as long as he avoided trouble. At Atlanta Jimmie Johnson was very impressive enroute to victory lane. He overcame pit stop problems and closed the deal leading 92 laps and earning the 3^rd best driver rating. (Yahoo A Driver)

Recommended Reading – Front Runner Rankings, Mid Pack Predictions, Yahoo C List Fantasy Preview, Scouting Report, Who will win at Las Vegas

Joey Logano – In 2014 at 1.5 mile tracks Joey Logano was a fantasy ace and was my go to driver. Last season at these venues he scored the most points, had the best average finish (7.4), best average running position (6.8), ran the highest percentage of laps inside the top fifteen, won twice and had the 3rd best driver rating. As long as he avoided problems at tracks of this length he was a lock for a good result. In my opinion I think he was the best default fantasy option at 1.5 mile tracks on a week to week basis in 2014. At Las Vegas Logano has run fairly throughout his career. He has a 12.3 average finish and has had a result in the top sixteen in every start but one. Last season Logano had a good performance. He started on the pole, finished 4th, earned the 4th best driver rating and led 44 laps. During the opening run of the race nobody had anything for him and he drove away from the pack. Then during a pit stop on lap 47 he took four tires and much of the field took two. That dropped him from the lead back to 12th. Until the final run of the race when he rallied hard he typically ran around that range for much of the event. The lesson to be learned is that track position is crucial here because while he was back in the pack he looked like just another car and prior to that it looked like he had the dominant car. In 2013 Logano finished 12th and that’s about as good as he ran all afternoon because at one point he found himself a lap down and was the “Lucky Dog” recipient. At Atlanta Logano ran well. He started on the pole, led 84 laps, had a 4^th place average running position, finished 4^th and had the 4^th fastest green flag speed. (Yahoo A Driver)

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