Pocono Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Kyle Larson – Pocono is a great track for Kyle Larson and you can count on him contending for the win. Week in and week out this season the #42 team has performed at an elite level. Since 2014 at “The Tricky Triangle” Larson has an 8.8 average finish and has had a result between 5th and 12th every race. You have to love that level of consistency. When you pair his Pocono prowess with his increased level of performance on the track this season then you know he’ll be tough to beat. Last summer at Pocono Larson had a great car. He finished 6th, had the best average running position (5th), earned the 2nd best driver rating and led 37 laps. If the race ended conventionally he would’ve finished a few spots better. Last spring he had a good car and was likely better than his result but some pit strategy back fired because of an untimely caution. When the checkered flag waved he finished 11th. In August 2015 he had a quality afternoon. He earned the 6th best driver rating, had a 10th place average running position and finished 12th. In June 2015 he had a solid race. He finished 8th, earned the 13th best driver rating and had a 13th place average running position. In 2014 at Pocono he had a successful rookie season coming home with results of 5th and 11th. (Yahoo B Driver)

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Martin Truex Jr. – Martin Truex Jr. will be a factor at Pocono and I think he has a great chance to compete for the win. At Pocono Truex Jr. is a recent winner but he’s had misleading results in the last three races. Last summer he had a great car but finished 38th. His problems were flat tire related. In the race he started on the pole and led the opening 16 laps until the first caution. Then when the race went back to green while he was running in 3rd he had a cut tire and nailed the wall hard. Later he nailed the wall again. With all of his problems he crossed the finish line in 38th. Last spring he had a competitive car but it just wasn’t his afternoon. He had a few problems in his race and they started early. During the competition caution Matt DiBenedetto ran into him on pit road which caused damage to the #78. That was quite a setback. Later in the race during a round of pit stops he used strategy and climbed up to the lead but under caution he hit debris and that caused him to get a flat tire. When the checkered flag waved he finished 19th. In 2015 he had a great season and between the combined events he was arguably the best driver. Between the two races he had the best driver rating, best average running position (6.0), led the most laps and had a misleading 10.0 average finish. In August 2015 he was clearly top 3 strong but finished 19th after running out of fuel while running in 2nd with 2 laps to go. In June 2015 there’s no dispute he had the best car. He dominated the race, earned a near perfect driver rating, had a 2nd place average running position and led 97 laps. (Yahoo A Driver)

Jimmie Johnson – Pocono is a good track for Jimmie Johnson. In 30 races he has 4 wins, 11 top fives and 19 top tens. He’s also been a really safe fantasy option finishing in the top fifteen in 87% percent of his starts. 2016 was a tough year and he finished outside the top 15 both races. Last summer Johnson finished 16th. That race played out very unconventionally with its abrupt ending so I wouldn’t read into it too much. Performance he was likely top ten good. Last spring he had a great car and had top five potential but was caught up in a wreck that led to his 35th place finish. At the time of that incident he was running around 5th. In summer 2015 he ran well in a race that was full of pit strategy. When that race reached its conclusion he finished 6th and earned the 3rd best driver rating. In spring 2015 his race wasn’t incident free but he was impressive. He finished 3rd and earned the 4th best driver rating. On lap 87 he had a cut tire which caused a caution and that dropped him back to the mid-twenties. (Yahoo A Driver)

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