Richmond Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions – Toyota Owners 400
Well the biggest story of the weekend was the rain we had here on Friday, which washed out qualifying and gave Kevin Harvick the pole for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400, as the starting lineup was based on Practice #1 speeds.
Just kidding.
TONY STEWART IS BACK!
Smoke was medically cleared to return on Thursday afternoon, making Brian Vickers a late scratch for this weekend’s race. Stewart plans to race the full 400 miles here on Sunday and will start 18th. The full Richmond starting lineup can be found here. Going back to the rain…it did jumble up the schedule a bit so the Sprint Cup teams were only allowed one practice on Saturday, and it was in the morning. Those speeds can be found here, and our notes from that session can be found here. With only one real race practice this weekend, that means I’m going to be focusing a little more on track history when making picks for Sunday.
[themify_box ]Don’t be a pretender, become a contender. Use all of ifantasyrace’s exclusive content to help dominate your league. Click here to join Now![/themify_box]
Final Top 15 Ranking For Richmond
1. Kevin Harvick – Starts 1st – DraftKings Price: $10,600 – Yahoo! A Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Kevin Harvick is our pole sitter for this year’s Toyota Owners 400 thanks to qualifying being rained out on Friday. That’s not to say he didn’t earn it, though; the #4 Chevrolet was the fastest car in that initial practice session of the weekend, and it carried that speed on into Saturday as Harvick posted the 4th-fastest overall lap in Happy Hour along with the 2nd-best ten-lap average. Harvick is a three-time winner here at Richmond International Raceway and he finished 2nd in this race one year ago. Surprisingly, this #4 team hasn’t had a top 5 finish since the Fontana race back in March, but you know they’re going to be one to look out for here on race day. Harvick hasn’t finished worse than 14th here at Richmond since he joined Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, and that’s not going to change this weekend. He owns the 3rd-best average finish among active drivers at this track (10.8), and it should be noted that the winners of the last three races here have all started in the top 3. Can Kevin Harvick get to victory lane for the second time in 2016? We will find out, but he’s definitely going to be a contender.
2. Jimmie Johnson – Starts 3rd – DraftKings Price: $10,000 – Yahoo! A Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
This #48 team is coming off of its worst finish of the season (23rd) at Bristol and looking to get back on track here at Richmond. I’d say they have a pretty good shot at accomplishing that, too. The #48 Chevrolet will roll off the grid from 3rd in this year’s Toyota Owners 400, and this will be the thirteenth time that Jimmie has started inside the top 5 here at Richmond. In the twelve previous races, he has recorded just two results worse than 13th and went to victory lane three times. Currently, Jimmie is on a three-race streak of top 10s here at Richmond, and that includes his 3rd-place run in this race last season. Like I said earlier, I’m going to be focusing a little more on history at this track than practice speeds, but it should be noted that the #48 Chevrolet was at the top of the charts in Happy Hour on Saturday. In terms of ten-lap average, Johnson was the best as well. There’s no reason to think that Jimmie won’t be able to run top 5 here at RIR on Sunday, and we’ll have to see if he can get back to Richmond’s victory lane for the first time since the 2008 season.
3. Carl Edwards – Starts 4th – DraftKings Price: $10,300 – Yahoo! B Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Cousin Carl hasn’t finished better than 9th over the last four races here at Richmond, but that’s probably going to change this weekend. After his dominating win at Bristol last Sunday, Carl still has just one finish worse than 7th in this 2016 Sprint Cup season, and that extends his streak to 27 straight Sprint Cup races that he has completed all of the laps. He also has the best average finish of all drivers over that span (7.4). As far as Richmond goes, Edwards is pretty good here when he has a car that can compete. Edwards has had his fair share of solid runs at this race track, and he went to victory lane here in the fall 2013 race. Overall, Carl has a career average finish of 14th at Richmond with eleven top 10s in twenty-three total starts (47.8%). This #19 Toyota might be the fastest car in the Sprint Cup garage over the last month of action, and Edwards will roll off the grid from 4th once we get going here on Sunday. The #19 Toyota was 5th-fastest in Saturday’s final practice session and ranked 4th in ten-lap average. Edwards should be at least a top 5 threat in this year’s Toyota Owners 400, and a second straight win is well within reach for this team.
