Indianapolis Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series makes its annual stop at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400. If you watched the Xfinity race on Saturday, and enjoyed the great on-track action, be sure to temper your expectations a bit because it’s going to be a lot of follow the leader in the Cup race on Sunday. If you remember back to the Pocono race last month, you can expect Sunday’s event to play out in pretty much the same way. Track position is going to be king, and most of the drivers that qualified up front on Saturday should finish there on Sunday as well. Kyle Busch is on the pole for the race this weekend and is going for his third straight Brickyard 400 victory. The full starting lineup can be found by clicking here.
There was a condensed schedule at Indy this weekend, as the Cup Series had two practices on Saturday morning/afternoon followed by qualifying in the evening. The practice speeds from those two sessions can be found here: Practice #1 — Happy Hour, and, as always, our in-depth practice notes can be found here: Practice #1 — Happy Hour.
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Final Top 25 Ranking For The Indy Brickyard 400
1. Kevin Harvick – Starts 2nd – DraftKings Price: $9,900 – Yahoo! A Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Despite having just one victory here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (back in 2003), Kevin Harvick is still one of the best drivers in the series here in the Cup Series. “Happy” has an average finish of 9.9 over sixteen career starts at this track, and that’s right behind Kyle Busch’s 9.0. Kyle Larson is the only driver ahead of Harvick and Kyle Busch, as he has an average finish of 7.0 in three career starts here. Momentum-wise, this #4 team isn’t quite as strong as they need to be, but they’re close to getting back to a potential winner week in and week out. Harvick grabbed another top 5 finish at Loudon last weekend, and he could very well nab a second here this weekend. In last month’s Pocono race–which is a track somewhat similar to Indy–Harvick ended up finishing 2nd despite nearly blowing up after missing a shift. He was 2nd-fastest in Happy Hour practice and had the 3rd-best ten-lap average in that session. Harvick also qualified on the outside pole for this weekend’s Brickyard 400. I don’t see Kyle Busch being as dominant this year as he was in 2016, so the #4 Ford should be able to lead a good portion of this race as well.
2. Kyle Busch – Starts 1st – DraftKings Price: $10,500 – Yahoo! A Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
There’s no reason to go against Kyle Busch this weekend. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is often thought of as a momentum track, and the #18 Toyota has been the best car without a win over the last two months of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing. The biggest problem that this team has had, though, is shooting themselves in the foot. The good news for them is that The Brickyard is a huge track, so minor mistakes aren’t as big here–unless, of course, the drivers speeds on pit road twice in the last third of the race. As far as speed goes this weekend, the #18 Toyota wasn’t quite as impressive as it was last year, but then again Kyle Busch absolutely dominated the 2016 Brickyard 400. Kyle still had the 2nd-best ten-lap average in Happy Hour on Saturday so I’m not too worried about his lack of speed on the overall chart (13th). Busch has finished 1st or 2nd in four of the last five races here at Indianapolis and could easily add a fifth in the last sixth here on Sunday. He’ll start from the pole on Sunday and that’s a huge advantage at this track.
3. Denny Hamlin – Starts tth – DraftKings Price: $9,500 – Yahoo! A Group
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
This #11 got the monkey off their back with their win at Loudon next weekend, so that should help Denny Hamlin a bit this weekend, as he’s not a driver that performs well under pressure. He’s also on a three-race streak of top 5 finishes here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so in addition to getting a bit of a momentum boost last weekend, the #11 team should have some extra pep in their step with that. Hamlin was the fastest car off the truck this weekend, ranking P1 in the first practice before winding up 17th-best in Happy Hour. It’s worth noting that the #11 Toyota was probably in race trim for that entire final session, though, as Hamlin made 32 circuits around this 2.5-mile track. Him, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth were the only drivers to run more than 20 laps. In the last five Cup races overall, Hamlin has posted four top 5 finishes, and he should make it five of six here on Sunday.
