Pocono Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions

Rain is typically the story whenever we stop at Pocono Raceway, and there were plenty of concerns about the weather forecast coming into this weekend as well. Thankfully, the rain held off through Friday and Saturday and both practices and qualifying were able to completed without a hitch. Additionally, the weather looks good for Sunday, so we should be able to get the full 400 miles in at “The Tricky Triangle.” Pocono is a 2.5-mile track where strategy and fuel mileage come into play more than most Fantasy NASCAR players would like. That’s just how things go here, though, so we kind of just have to adjust.

This event’s defending champion, Ryan Blaney, is on the pole for this Sunday’s Pocono 400 with Ford teammate Kevin Harvick alongside. The full starting lineup for this weekend’s race can be found by clicking here. There was just one post-qualifying practice scheduled for this weekend, and you can see those results here: Happy Hour. I’d highly recommend you read our in-depth notes from that session as well, simply because there isn’t a lot of speed data. You can do so here: Happy Hour.

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Final Top 25 Rankings for Pocono

1. Kevin Harvick – Starts 2nd – DraftKings Price: $11,600 – FanDuel Price: $13,500
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**

Kyle Busch checked Charlotte off his list last weekend, now look for Kevin Harvick to check Pocono off his list this weekend. Yep, what you’ve heard is true: Kevin Harvick has never won at Pocono Raceway over his 34 career starts. You know what they say, though, 35th time’s a charm…or something like that. Anyway, even though he’s never won here, “Happy” has finished 2nd four times at this track, including in both races last season. Overall, he has ten top 5 finishes to go toward his total fifteen top 10 finishes, and his average career finish here is 13th. This weekend, the #4 Ford is going to start from the outside pole, but it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Harvick lead the first lap of the race (and many more thereafter). Harvick was in “a league of his own” according to other drivers during Happy Hour on Saturday, and it’s not like we haven’t seen domination at a track like this before (Kyle Busch at Indianapolis). Harvick’s the guy to beat heading into Sunday (shocker, I know) and is a viable option in all Fantasy NASCAR formats.

2. Kyle Busch – Starts 5th – DraftKings Price: $11,300 – FanDuel Price: $12,000
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**

Here’s a stat for you: Kyle Busch has one (one!) top 5 finish at Pocono in the last twelve races here. Surprising, huh? What’s not surprising, though, is that that lone top 5 was a win here from the pole last July. He led 74 of the 160 laps that day, which was a great performance. However, Kyle’s race here last June might’ve been even more impressive, as he started on the pole and led 100 of the 160 laps. Unfortunately, he finished 9th that day thanks to a late caution and other people having fresher tires. As far as this weekend goes, the #18 Toyota ended up 5th during qualifying on Friday and then put down the fastest lap in Happy Hour along with the 5th-best ten-lap average. I think it’s going to be hard for anyone to beat Harvick here on Sunday, but if someone is going to do it, Kyle Busch has the best chance.

3. Kyle Larson – Starts 13th – DraftKings Price: $10,400 – FanDuel Price: $10,900
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**

I’m expecting a very good race out of Kyle Larson in Sunday’s Pocono 400, and if there are some wacky things that happen toward the end of it, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised at all if the #42 Chevrolet ended up in victory lane. This team has been knocking on the door of victory pretty loudly as of late, and they really just need a few lucky breaks to happen during a race to get that first win of the season. As far as Pocono goes, Larson has a pretty solid record here, with an overall average finish of 11.6 in eight career starts and only one result worse than 12th. He’s finished 8th or better in half of his starts here and even posted a top 5 in his first attempt back in 2014. As far as this weekend goes, though, I think we’re looking at a career-best day from Larson. He flat-out said he’s the 2nd-best car behind Kevin Harvick, and the speed chart backs that up; Kyle was 6th-fastest in Happy Hour overall but had the 2nd-best ten-lap average behind…yep, Kevin Harvick. Larson did have the best fifteen-lap average during that session but you have to note that Harvick didn’t run that many consecutive laps. Look for Larson to grab his fifth top 5 finish of the season on Sunday, building some momentum before we head to Michigan next week, where he has won the last three races in a row.