Pocono 2 Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions

Pocono Raceway…”The Tricky Triangle.” Although as of late, it should be renamed “Rowdy’s Triangle.” Kyle Busch has won three of the last four races here at Pocono, and in the other event he finished 3rd, and at this point it’s almost approaching Phoenix levels. This weekend, though, it looks as though there are a few drivers that could give Rowdy a run for his money on Sunday. Fantasy-wise, Pocono is closest to Indianapolis, but seeing as we haven’t raced at Indy this year, I’d recommend going back and reviewing the first Pocono race of the season from back in June to get an idea of what to expect in Sunday’s Gander RV 400.

Kevin Harvick is tentatively on the pole for this weekend’s race with Joey Logano slated to line up 2nd. You can view the entire starting lineup by clicking here. Remember, there is post-qualifying inspection on Sunday morning, so those positions might change. With this weekend’s condensed schedule, there were two practice sessions here on Saturday, and you can find the speeds here: Practice #1 — Happy Hour. You should also read our in-depth notes for those sessions: Practice #1 — Happy Hour.

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Final Top 25 Fantasy NASCAR Rankings for Pocono 2

1. Kyle Busch – Starts 5th – DraftKings Price: $12,300 – FanDuel Price: $15,000 – Slingshot Price: $13,000

To put it simply, Kyle Busch has this place on lock, and he has another race-winning car this weekend. As Dale Jr. pointed out during the practice sessions on Saturday, Rowdy just has this ability to stay in the gas a lot better than any other driver, and until the rest of the field figures out how to do that, it’s going to be extremely difficult to beat Kyle Busch at Pocono. At this point, I’d say the only person that can truly beat him is himself. Rowdy has won three of the last four races here at Pocono and hasn’t finished outside of the top 3 here since the 2017 season. This weekend, he was 9th-fastest in Practice #1 on Saturday morning and then ended up 5th-fastest in Happy Hour with the 3rd-best ten-lap average. Like I said, it’s hard to see anyone beating Kyle this weekend except himself or his team.

2. Kevin Harvick – Starts 1st – DraftKings Price: $11,700 – FanDuel Price: $13,500 – Slingshot Price: $12,200

Kevin Harvick should contend in Sunday’s Gander RV 400. He’s finished either 2nd or 4th in five of the last six races at this track, and now that this #4 team has that ‘win’ monkey off of their back, I think we’re going to see a little uptick in performance from Harvick and his Ford. Speaking of which, horsepower is very important at a track like Pocono, so having the blue oval on the front of the car is a bit of an advantage for Harvick. Unfortunately that didn’t really show during the two practice sessions on Saturday, but that doesn’t concern me a whole lot. Harvick was still 6th-best on the ten-lap average chart in Happy Hour. I don’t think he’ll get another win on Sunday–especially considering he’s never been to victory lane at “The Tricky Triangle”–but Harvick should be a solid top 5 fantasy pick, as usual.

3. Erik Jones – Starts 4th – DraftKings Price: $8,300 – FanDuel Price: $9,400 – Slingshot Price: $10,900

I had Erik Jones ranked 5th coming into this weekend’s race at Pocono, and I’ve seen nothing to make me think that the #20 Toyota won’t be a top 5 car on Sunday. After a very rough start to the 2019 season, this #20 team is finally firing on all cylinders, with three 3rd-place finishes in the last seven Cup Series races overall along with five results of 8th or better over that same span. Here at Pocono? It’s even better. Jones started his Pocono career off with a bang, leading 20 laps and finishing 3rd in his first ever Cup Series start here, and in his four starts at “The Tricky Triangle” since then, Erik has tacked on two more top 5 finishes along with an 8th-place result in 2017. Jones was 7th-fastest in the opening practice session this weekend and then ended up fastest in Happy Hour later that day. He’s going to be a popular Fantasy NASCAR pick on Sunday, but can you really argue with those results?