Bristol IRWIN Tools Night Race Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Matt Kenseth – Matt Kenseth will be a good fantasy NASCAR pick to win the Bristol IRWIN Tools Night Race. He’s won here four times and since the August 2012 reconfiguration I would argue he’s been the strongest performer. This spring he had a great car and raced his way to victory lane. In the race he started first, earned the best driver rating, had a 3rd place average running position and led 47 laps. Last August Kenseth was fast. He finished 3rd, earned the 5th best driver rating, had a 7th place average running position and led 62 laps. One notable strength of his performance was that he was good on old tires. In spring 2014 he had a great car and his 13th place finish underrates him in my opinion. In terms of his PROS Rankings I have him slated in at #1. Also in the race he earned the best driver rating and led 165 laps. His race wasn’t without adversity. While he was running near the front under caution Timmy Hill ran into the back of him which caused substantial damage to his rear. Fortunately it was mostly cosmetic and nothing was structurally wrong with his car. After it was repaired he was able to drive up to the front again. Then late in the race he got scuffled back because of pit strategy and for whatever reason he couldn’t battle his way to the front again. In 2013 Matt Kenseth had a fast car in both races. In the August 2013 race he took two tires during his final pit stop and held off Kasey Kahne for the win. Also in that race he earned the #1 position in our PROS Rankings, earned the best driver rating, led the most laps and had a 7th place average running position. What really made his performance remarkable is that around the mid-point he got a speeding penalty. In spring 2013 Kenseth finished 35th. That poor result can be attributed to a wreck. In the race he was running in 2nd but leader Jeff Gordon had a flat tire and shot right up the track in Kenseth’s path which led to massive damage to the #20. In that race he started in 12th and cracked the top five in the first 20 laps. Also in the race he led 85 laps and earned the 6th best driver rating. In the first race on the current configuration he wrecked while he was battling Tony Stewart for the lead. (Yahoo A Driver)

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Kevin Harvick – Kevin Harvick has been one of the best Bristol drivers recently but he’s had problems finishing events. In 3 of the last 4 races he’s finished in the 30’s. His most recent Bristol top ten was in 2011. Earlier this year he had one of the strongest cars but his race wasn’t incident free. On lap 310 Johnson spun Burton and that led to Harvick wrecking because he wasn’t able to avoid the carnage. At the time of the incident he was running in 3rd. Prior to wrecking he led 184 laps. Despite his problem he still earned the 4th best driver rating. Last August he had a great performance. He started on the pole, earned the 4th best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position, finished 11th and led 75 laps. In the race he performed better than his result. His chance at getting a good finish was dashed on lap 432 under yellow when he got a speeding penalty while running around 7th. If his race was incident free he likely would’ve finished in the top five. In spring 2014 he also had a strong showing but walked away with a poor result. He started in 27th and by lap 100 he was up to 4th. Between laps 100 and 450 he was a driver who consistently ran in the top 8. I would estimate his average running position over this portion of the race was around 5th. With about 50 laps to go his day went up in smoke, literally when his engine blew up. Despite not completing about a tenth of the race he still earned the 8th best driver rating, had an 8th place average running position and led 28 laps. (Yahoo A Driver)

Further Recommended Reading – Front Runner Rankings, Mid Pack Predictions, Who will win at Bristol?, Bristol Scouting Report

Joey Logano – Joey Logano will be one of the drivers to beat on Saturday night. He’s the defending champion and since the reconfiguration he’s been one of the strongest performers. Earlier this year he had a strong car but his race wasn’t incident free. On lap 19 he was running in 4th but Keselowski got loose and then Logano ran into him. That sent him to the garage and as a result he finished 40th. Last August he had an impressive performance. He reeled in Matt Kenseth for the lead late and then held off Keselowski for the win. In addition to finishing first he also earned the best driver rating, had a 4th place average running position and led 76 laps. In March 2014 Logano had a very fast car but walked away with a misleading result. He started in 4th and through the first 90 laps I would estimate his average running position was around 2nd. Then around lap 100 he lost his power steering. That led to him free falling through the field and eventually coming in for a long pit stop to fix the issue. Since the race had a high attrition rate he was able to finish 3 laps down in 20th. In August 2013 he had a very good race. He started in 6th and finished 5th. Also in the race he earned the 7th best driver rating. What makes his result remarkable is that the race wasn’t incident free. On lap 107 Kyle Busch got into the wall and Logano had hard contact with him. In the 2013 Bristol spring race he was extremely competitive. In that race he had a top five car and was running in 2nd around lap 350 until Denny Hamlin spun him. In the first race on the current Bristol configuration he started 4th, finished 8th and led 139 laps. (Yahoo A Driver)

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