Texas Duck Commander 500 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks
Kevin Harvick – It’s hard not to consider Kevin Harvick the favorite to win the Texas Duck Commander 500. At 1.5 mile tracks he’s been the man to beat going back to last year. In the last five races at tracks of this length he’s finished in either 1st or 2nd. In 3 of those 5 races he went to victory lane. Also over this 5 race stretch he has the best driver rating, an insanely good 3.6 average running position, has run the highest total number of fastest laps and has paced the field more than anybody. This year the good times have obviously continued to roll on. At Atlanta he finished 2nd and at Las Vegas he finished 1st. At Texas Harvick should be able to maintain his momentum. Dating back to 2012 minus his engine failure last spring he has an 8.2 average finish and the 8th best driver rating. Last fall at Texas Kevin Harvick looked extremely strong. In that event he ran up front all afternoon but was never a serious threat to Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson. He started in 5th, had a 4th place average running position, earned the 2nd best driver rating, finished 2nd and led 2 laps. Last spring at Texas Harvick had a very short race. He started in 3rd and on lap 28 while he was running in 2nd his engine blew up. In the 9 races prior to that event he was extremely consistent and finished between 5th and 13th every race but one. In fall 2013 Kevin Harvick had a fast car and was able to pass people in the middle to upper grooves of the track. In that race he finished 8th, earned the 8th best driver rating and had a 9th place average running position. In spring 2013 at Texas Kevin Harvick started in the back of the pack due to an engine change. That wasn’t too much of a problem for him though. He had a great car that worked well in the top line. By lap 100 he had driven up to the top ten. From that point on though he didn’t get much closer to the front. In the middle portion of the race I would estimate his average running position was around 9th. With about 50 laps to go in the race he was burned by a caution at an unfavorable time during the pit cycle. That dropped him from about 9th to the high teens. His car in the closing segment wasn’t as strong as it was before and he only managed to rally up to a 13th place finish. In 2012 Harvick had a pair of 9th place finishes. (Yahoo A Driver)
[themify_box ]Want to be a better fantasy racer? Get the ifantasyrace Advantage. Content for 8 drivers in this post is exclusive for members. Join now and read all of our full exclusive content![/themify_box]
Never miss another post. Sign up for email notifications.
Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson will be a good fantasy NASCAR pick to win the Texas Duck Commander 500. This season at 1.5 mile tracks he’s arguably been the best driver. He out dueled Kevin Harvick for the win at Atlanta and was the leader at Las Vegas until he had a loose wheel. In his 23 races at Texas he has 4 wins, 11 top fives, 17 top tens and 20 top fifteens. Currently at Texas Johnson has three straight wins in the fall event. Last fall Jimmie Johnson had an awesome performance. In that event he started 3rd, had a 2nd place average running position, earned the best driver rating and led 191 laps. In spring 2014 Johnson had a long afternoon he would like to forget. In the race he qualified in 16th and on lap 12 Junior went into the grass and kicked up debris which damaged the front of the 48. Then later in the race on lap 44 Johnson had a cut tire and had to make an unscheduled pit stop which dropped him three laps down. That setback couldn’t be overcome because cautions were too infrequent. In fall 2013 Jimmie Johnson had a dominating performance. Proof of that is his perfect 150.0 driver rating. Also in the race he started 3rd, had a 2nd place average running position and led 255 laps. He even overcame a little adversity when he had a slow pit stop with a quarter of the race remaining which dropped him from the lead to 4th. In April 2013 he wasn’t a threat to win but he did have a solid evening. In that race he earned the third best driver rating and finished 6th. In fall 2012 Johnson won the pole, won the race and led the most laps. It’s important to note in that event Keselowski probably had him beat if Johnson wasn’t aided by some late cautions. In spring 2012 he had the best car but an off the lead lap Ryan Newman slowed him down. That allowed Biffle to catch up and pass him. In that race he led 156 laps, earned the second best driver rating and finished second. (Yahoo A Driver)
Further Recommended Reading – Texas Front Runner Rankings, Mid Pack Predictions, Yahoo C List Preview, Texas Scouting Report (What happened last fall), PROS Rankings (Who subjectively had the best car last fall), Who will win the Texas Duck Commander 500
Joey Logano – Joey Logano is the defending champion of the Texas Duck Commander 500 and he’ll be a good driver to have on your fantasy team. Since he’s been a member of Penske Racing he’s arguably been the best driver at Texas. In his four races for the organization he has a 5.3 average finish (tied for best), 8.3 average running position (tied for best) and has finished in the top five in 3 of the 4 races. Last fall Joey Logano was top five good but finished 12th after having some late adversity. His first problem happened with about 38 laps to go on pit road after Brett Moffitt got into the wall. At the time he was running in 4th but he had a long pit stop that dropped him to 23rd. Shortly after that with 31 laps to go he had a flat tire and spun by himself. From that point on he raced hard and rallied to his eventual 12th place result. In spring 2014 Logano was extremely strong and raced his way to victory lane. In the event he earned the best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position and led 108 laps. The strength of his car was maintaining speed over long runs. In 2013 Logano performed very well. In fall 2013 he started 12th, had a 4th place average running position, finished 3rd and earned the 3rd best driver rating. In April 2013 he had an eventful race and was forced to start in the back after pre-race inspection issues. Late in that race he used pit strategy which got him into the top five. When the checkered flag waved he finished 5th. This season at 1.5 mile tracks Logano has been very strong. At Atlanta he started on the pole, finished 4th, had a 4th place average running position, earned the 2nd best driver rating and led 31 laps. At Las Vegas he was also strong rallying to a 10th place finish after getting two pit road speeding penalties. Also in that event he had an 8th place average running position and led 47 laps. Between the two races he’s tied for scoring the 4th most points. (Yahoo A Driver)
Portions of this content are hidden. To view this ifantasyrace advantage content log in or join the site
Make sure you read all of our Texas Duck Commander 500 Fantasy NASCAR Rankings Content
Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > Yahoo C List Preview