Pocono 2 Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions
The Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway is the 21st race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season and our second and final trip to “The Tricky Triangle” this year. Typically, the drivers that ran well in the first race here run well during the second, and that should be the case once again this weekend; if you remember back to June’s event, “The Big Three” ran up front all day, and it was Martin Truex, Jr. taking the win with Kyle Busch in 3rd and Kevin Harvick–who led the most laps that day–in 4th. Kyle Larson was runner-up in that race.
As far as practice and qualifying this weekend, NASCAR decided on a one-day show for that stuff, with everything happening on Saturday. Both practice sessions were held before qualifying, and the speeds can be found here: Practice #1 – Happy Hour. Our in-depth notes for those practices can be found here: Practice #1 – Happy Hour. Daniel Suarez was awarded the pole for Sunday’s big race after Harvick and Kyle Busch failed inspection, and the full starting lineup for the Gander Outdoors 400 can be found by clicking here.
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Final Top 25 Rankings for Pocono 2
1. Kevin Harvick – Starts 29th – DraftKings Price: $11,200 – FanDuel Price: $12,500
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Kevin Harvick hasn’t yet won at Pocono Raceway, but it’s going to happen soon. Could it be this weekend? Harvick obviously has that great Ford power underneath the hood, and he led over half the race here back in June before ultimately finishing 4th. Additionally, the #4 Ford currently has a four-race streak of top 5 finishes at “The Tricky Triangle” (including two runner-ups), and over the last eight races here overall, it’s came home inside that mark six times (with four total runner-ups). This weekend, Harvick was one of the fastest cars in practice (as usual), with the fastest lap in Practice #1 and the 2nd-fastest lap in Happy Hour. Typically the guys that do well in the June race here at Pocono have similar success in the July race, and that will be the case with Kevin Harvick this weekend as well. He had an absolute rocketship in both practice sessions on Saturday, and the entire garage is pointing at the #4 Ford as the car to beat on Sunday. He has to start at the back because he failed post-qualifying inspection but Harvick will end up near the front before it’s all said and done.
2. Kyle Busch – Starts 28th – DraftKings Price: $11,800 – FanDuel Price: $12,500
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
My thoughts about Kyle Busch this weekend are very similar to those that I had at Loudon a week ago: this #18 Toyota has lost a bit of its edge on the field, and it’s more than apparent when you look at the fastest laps. Since Charlotte and minus Daytona, Kyle Busch has posted just 87 fastest laps out of a possible 1,101 (7.9%), which is much lower than his overall season total of 13.1%. Does that mean he’s a bad Fantasy NASCAR pick, though? Hell no. It’s just that he’s not as dominant now as he was in the first four months of the season. Kyle Busch is still a solid top 5 fantasy NASCAR pick almost every weekend–including this one–and he’s finished inside that mark in seven of the last eight Cup Series races overall (the only race he didn’t was Daytona 2). This weekend, Rowdy isn’t the clear favorite, but he was 7th-fastest in Practice #1 and 13th-fastest in Happy Hour. What’s more important, though, is that he had top 5 overall average speed in both of those session. Busch is currently on a four-race streak of top 10 finishes at Pocono and is the defending winner of this race. He’ll definitely be a contender here on Sunday. For what it’s worth, Kyle held off Erik Jones for the Truck Series win here on Saturday.
3. Martin Truex, Jr. – Starts 8th – DraftKings Price: $11,500 – FanDuel Price: $12,500
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
Martin Truex, Jr. got his second career Pocono win here back in June and it really wouldn’t be all that surprising if he grabbed his third here this weekend. Truex only led 31 laps here back in June, but don’t let that fool you: he had a great car that day, and would’ve led more if it wasn’t for a bad pit stop in the middle of the race. It was actually quite impressive that the #78 Toyota ended up in victory lane that day. Overall, Truex has a career average finish of 14.9 at “The Tricky Triangle” but has finished 6th or better in each of the last three races here and has won two of the last seven. This weekend, the #78 Toyota has been fast, ending up 9th-best in the first practice session and then ranking 3rd-fastest in Happy Hour. Truex has just one finish worse than 4th in the last ten Cup Series races overall, and that number is about to be one in the last eleven after this weekend.
