Texas Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions
Well, the Easter break didn’t help shake off the weird weekend situations in NASCAR. This season it seems like we haven’t had one race without some kind of controversy in practice and/or qualifying, and this weekend at Texas was no different; after qualifying was ended early due to lightning on Friday, the first practice session on Saturday was ran in freezing temperatures and–in my opinion–basically worthless. It was a little bit warmer in Happy Hour, but the teams only got about 25 minutes, and it’s going to be a lot hotter at the track on Sunday. So keep that all in mind when analyzing the practice data and starting position before making your Fantasy NASCAR picks for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
Kurt Busch is on the pole for this weekend’s race with teammate Kevin Harvick alongside (and other teammate Clint Bowyer in 3rd). The full starting lineup for Sunday’s race can be found by clicking here. And as mentioned before, there were two practice sessions on Saturday, and you can find the practice speeds here: Practice #2 — Happy Hour. Be sure to read our in-depth practice notes as well for each of those sessions: Practice #2 — Happy Hour.
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Final Top 25 Rankings for Texas
1.Kevin Harvick – Starts 2nd – DraftKings Price: $11,500
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
There’s no reason why Kevin Harvick shouldn’t be on your short list of drivers that will probably win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. If you remember back to the fall Texas race last season, Harvick went to victory lane, but he didn’t just win, he passed Martin Truex, Jr. to win. It was at that point that this #4 team made their statement of what’s to come in the future, and we’ve since seen them dominate at Atlanta and Las Vegas this season. When you add in the fall Texas race to that equation, Harvick has an average finish of 1st, an average of 144 laps led per race, and a driver rating of 143. Dominant. “Happy” finished 4th in this race one year ago and has wound up 6th or better in six of the last seven Texas races. The exception there? A 10th-place finish in the spring race in 2016. In Happy Hour this weekend, the #4 Ford was 2nd-fastest on the overall speed chart and had the best ten-lap average. There’s no reason to go against Harvick in any Fantasy NASCAR league this week.
2. Martin Truex, Jr. – Starts 6th – DraftKings Price: $10,600
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile track and Martin Truex, Jr. is the king of 1.5-mile speedways. Need I say more? Yes, it seems like Truex might be getting shoved off of his throne by Kevin Harvick right now, but the #78 Toyota is still a near guarantee for a podium finish. Truex finished 8th and 2nd in the two races here at Texas last season and actually hasn’t wound up worse than 9th since 2014. Don’t expect that to change this weekend. Martin will roll off the grid from 6th for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, and the #78 Toyota should be a top 5 car all race long. Truex ended up 5th-fastest in the final practice session on Saturday.
3. Kyle Busch – Starts 8th – DraftKings Price: $10,400
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Kyle Busch didn’t show blazing fast speed during the practice sessions on Saturday, but his teammates were plenty fast, and that’s going to translate to a solid day for this #18 team on Sunday. Also, Kyle isn’t too shabby here at Texas, as he’s been to victory lane twice (both in spring races, 2016 and 2013) and has an overall average finish of 12th in the Lone Star State, which is good enough for 4th-best among active drivers. “Rowdy” had a couple hiccups in the two races here last season–he finished 15th and 19th–but before that he had a five-race streak of top 5 finishes at this track, and there’s no reason why he won’t get back on that horse this weekend. For what it’s worth, Kyle finished 2nd at Las Vegas earlier this year.
