Auto Club 400 Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions

This weekend’s Auto Club 400 race in Fontana, California (Auto Club Speedway) marks the fifth Sprint Cup race of the 2016 season and completes the “NASCAR Heads West” portion of the schedule. After this week, we will be on a break for a week for Easter, so that gives us all a time to take a much-needed break before heading to Martinsville for the first race of April. Staying at this week’s event, though, we saw a similar schedule here at Fontana that we did last week in Phoenix: practice and qualifying on Friday, and then two practices on Saturday–one in the morning and one a bit later. The results for the two Saturday sessions can be found here: Practice #2 — Happy Hour, and don’t forget to read our in-depth notes for each: Practice #2 — Happy Hour. As far as the starting lineup, Austin Dillon won the pole for this year’s Auto Club 400 and the rest of the qualifying results can be found here.

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Final Top 15 Ranking For Fontana

1. Kevin Harvick – Starts 2nd – DraftKings Price: $10,500 – Yahoo! A Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**

The #4 team is fresh off their Phoenix win and looking for two in a row here at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday. Harvick ran 2nd in this race last year, and unless you haven’t been watching NASCAR for the past two years, you know it isn’t too far fetched to think he won’t be able to get to victory lane again here on Sunday. Harvick quietly qualified 2nd for this year’s Auto Club 400, which is exactly where he started in last year’s Fontana event as well. I say quietly because there was so much hoopla surrounding the cowboy hat kid. Moving on… Harvick has just one win in 22 career starts at this race track, but he has finished 7th or better in five of his last seven starts here and should easily make it six of his last eight after this weekend. The #4 Chevrolet had some of the best long run speed during both practice sessions on Saturday and ranked 4th in ten-lap average in both of them. Harv isn’t going to get you max points in games like DraftKings or FOX Fantasy Auto, but there probably isn’t a more “sure” fantasy pick in the garage right now. For what it’s worth, this is Kevin’s home race track, but you could say that for about a quarter of the field this week.

2. Kyle Busch – Starts 6th – DraftKings Price: $10,300 – Yahoo! A Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**

“Rowdy” has yet to finish worse than 4th in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, and unless he has mechanical issues or something of that sort on Sunday, I don’t see that changing as we head into the off week. Kyle Busch might be the best driver here at Auto Club Speedway currently, and he will be trying for three wins a row here on Sunday. Yes, Kyle missed last year’s Fontana race because of his leg injuries, but he won here in 2014 and 2013 (and back in 2005). He also ended up 2nd in the 2012 Fontana race and 3rd in 2011. Overall, “Rowdy” has ended up 10th or better in twelve of his last fifteen starts at this race track, eight of which were also top 5s. This weekend, the #18 Toyota has looked solid, as usual. Kyle went out and qualified 6th for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 and ended up with the 4th-fastest lap (and best ten-lap average) in Practice #2 on Saturday morning. In Happy Hour, Rowdy was just 16th on the speed chart but had the 6th-fastest ten-lap average. It’s actually kind of surprising that Kyle Busch hasn’t won yet in 2016, but it’s bound to happen soon. Will it be this weekend? You definitely can’t count the defending Sprint Cup champion out…

3. Carl Edwards – Starts 5th – DraftKings Price: $9,100 – Yahoo! B Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**

Cousin Carl made us quickly forget about his disappointing finish at Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago by almost knocking the king off of his throne in Phoenix. That makes it three top 5 finishes for this #19 team through the first four 2016 Sprint Cup races, and they look to be well on their way to a fourth here at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday. The #19 Toyota has been impressive since it came off the truck, as Carl qualified 5th on Friday ahead of teammate Kyle Busch. Then, in Practice #2 on Saturday morning, Carl went out and laid down the fastest lap before posting the 2nd-best speed in Happy Hour later that day. The most significant stat of the weekend, though? Edwards was 3rd on the ten-lap average during that final practice, and you should know by now that when he shows up there, he has a really good race car. Honestly, going into Sunday, I view Edwards as one of the drivers to beat despite the fact that he has finished just 13th and 10th in the last two races at Fontana. Before that, though, he had a streak of three straight results of 6th or better at this track, and he went to victory lane here back in 2008. I’d be surprised if the #19 wasn’t a factor in this year’s Auto Club 400, especially with the way this team has been running as of late.