All-Star Race Fantasy NASCAR Preview

1) Kyle Busch (Starting – 7th) Kyle Busch will be tough to beat in the All-Star Race. He’s the defending champion and in 6 of the last 7 races he’s finished in the top ten. In the All-Star Race a new rules package is being used and I’ve long viewed Joe Gibbs Racing as the quickest team at adapting to change. Kyle Busch himself has won many races of firsts (First COT race, first race at Kentucky) so he’s proven himself to be a quick learner. This year at 1.5 mile tracks he’s been extremely strong. He won at Texas, has a 5.0 average finish and a 5.5 average running position. Last year in the All-Star Race Busch raced his way to victory lane, in the two races prior to that he had results of 6th and 10th. In points paying races at Charlotte he’s been strong. In 2017 in both Charlotte races he was fast. Last fall he finished a misleading 29th, but before he had his first problem on lap 137 he was running in 2nd. Last spring he finished 2nd, earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 4th place average running position and led 63 laps. Additionally he won Stage #1, finished 4th in Stage #2 and finished 2nd in Stage 3. One attribute I really like about Kyle Busch is his pit crew. It’s a short race which will make every stop that more important. (DraftKings $9,700 / FanDuel $12,500 )

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2) Kevin Harvick (Starting – 4th) Kevin Harvick will be the favorite to win the All-Star Race. A new rules package is being used but in Fantasy NASCAR often “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” This year at 1.5 mile tracks he’s been the class of the field winning 3 of the 4 races. In the one race he didn’t win he finished 2nd, if he didn’t have multiple problems on pit road he probably would’ve won that race too. I will note his strength in those events was being good over long runs. Long runs won’t win this race. In the All-Star Race he’s been strong. He’s a past champion and over the last four races his average finish is 5.25. In two of those four races he’s finished runner-up. In points paying races at Charlotte he’s been exceptional having finished in the top ten in 9 of the last 10 races. Last fall Harvick had a great car. He won Stage #1, won Stage #2, earned the best driver rating, had a 2nd place average running position, led a race high 149 laps and finished a misleading 6th. He was really 2nd place good but with 10 laps to go he had a slow stop that dropped him from 2nd to 6th. Last spring he finished 8th despite having to make an unexpected pit stop on lap 124 while he was running in the top five. (DraftKings $10,000 / FanDuel $15,000 )

3) Kyle Larson (Starting – 16th) Kyle Larson will be a contender in the All-Star Race despite starting in 16th. He’s been in two All-Star Races and in both events he’s been in position to win. Last year he finished runner-up and led 57.1% percent of the race. In 2016 he arguably had the best car but he finished an asterisk mark 16th. In that event while he was leading he got into the wall which doomed him to his poor result. This year in points paying races at 1.5 mile tracks Larson has been strong and in his incident free races his average finish is 5.3. Kansas is the most recent 1.5 mile track visited and in that event he led 101 laps and finished 4th. On Saturday night look for Larson to be rim rider and be a serious contender to win. With restricted engines running the high-line might be all that more important. (DraftKings $9,400 / FanDuel $9,000 )