Auto Club Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks
Kevin Harvick – Auto Club Speedway is Kevin Harvick’s home track and he performs like he has an advantage. He’s a past champion and over the last 9 races minus 2014 he has a 5.1 average finish and a 7.3 average running position. Last year at Auto Club Kevin Harvick was the class of the field and if it wasn’t for a late caution he would’ve won. Additionally in the race he earned the best driver rating, finished 2nd, led 142 laps and had a 4th place average running position. In 2015 he had a great car and once again finished runner-up. Also from that race it should be noted he had a 2nd place average running position, earned the 2nd best driver rating and led 34 laps. Over long runs he probably had the fastest car on the track. In 2014 he had a great car but his race wasn’t incident free and as a result he finished 36th. He had a flat tire on lap 19 while running in 3rd, and had another flat with 62 laps to go while running in 3rd, he didn’t bounce back from that. In 2013 he was top five strong but finished 13th after fading from 4th to his result during the Green-White-Checker. In 2011 he raced his way to victory lane after a last lap pass on Jimmie Johnson (video). Atlanta is similar to Auto Club Speedway and a few weeks ago at that venue Harvick led 292 laps and would’ve won if he didn’t get caught speeding on pit road. (Yahoo A Driver)
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Kyle Larson – Don’t overlook Kyle Larson at Auto Club Speedway despite his poor track record. I think this race is made for drivers like him. The cars will be hard to handle and that plays to his strength. Right now nobody is hotter than Larson at intermediate tracks. In the last three races on this track type he’s finished 2nd. Last year when the “Lowest Down Force Package” was used at Michigan, a similar 2.0 mile oval like Auto Club Speedway, Larson performed at a very high level. He finished 1st in August, and 3rd in June. In 2016 at Auto Club Speedway Larson was a disappointment and finished dead last after wrecking. Prior to wrecking he never ran well and looked like a low-twenties driver. In 2015 he ran well and had top ten potential but during the Green-White-Checker he had problems that dropped him deep in the running order to his 26th place finish. His average running position that afternoon was 12th. In 2014 he finished 2nd and earned the 10th best driver rating. Performance wise his result is a little deceiving because until about the last 10 laps the closest he got to the front was about 8th. During the final round of pit stops he took four tires and restarted in 9th. When the race restarted for the final time he sliced and diced his way up through the pack to 2nd. In the last three Xfinity races at Auto Club Larson has results of 1st, 7th and 8th. (Yahoo B Driver)
Further Recommended Reading – Auto Club Scouting Report, DraftKings Auto Club 2016 Driver Points
Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch is a super-elite performer at Auto Club Speedway. If he didn’t have problems in last year’s event he would have five straight top 3 finishes. Since 2011 at Auto Club Speedway he has the best driver rating, best average running position (4.2), led the most laps (361) and has a misleading 6.4 average finish. Last year at Auto Club Speedway he had a great car but finished a misleading 25th. He was easily top five strong but with 3 laps to go while he was running in 2nd he had a flat tire and got into the wall hard which brought out the Green-White-Checker. In 2015 he missed the race due to injury. In 2014 he had a good car and raced his way to victory lane after being the first driver off pit road during the GWC with four fresh tires. It should be noted that if there wasn’t a late caution he was likely poised to finish 4th. Additionally in that race he earned the 2nd best driver rating and had a 6th place average running position. In 2013 Kyle Busch won after Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin took each other out. For much of the race his car was in a zip code of its own. He led 125 laps, had a 2nd place average running position and had a near perfect 148.0 driver rating. In 2012 he started 2nd, finished 2nd, had a 2nd place average running position and led 80 laps. In 2011 he led 151 laps and finished 3rd after getting out raced at the end. (Yahoo A Driver)
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Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > The Low Tier
